The media was again incredibly frustrating at the 4pm covid update yesterday, and in this mornings Herald.
Having Audrey Young doing a grumpy old woman routine asking the same gotcha question a million times ("why are we not told these business now?", and the switcheroo "why were this businesses blindsided by releasing their information before informing them?") was bad enough but her personal annoyance has become the subject of her piece this morning in the paper, where for some vague reason the PM needs to be involved to rev up the MOH over some quibble that Audrey doesn't like.
What is frustrating is ONE WHOLE YEAR after the COVID pandemic began the main media companies are STILL treating the pandemic as primarily a POLITICAL story, using courtier journalists who were excoriated by the public for their addiction to the gotcha dialogue of banter politics and viewing everything through the lens of horse race political analysis. Why was Audrey Young there? Why has the NZ Herald still not got a health journalist to cover this story?
The media operate with an insular and defensive arrogance that cannot accept criticism. indeed, they interpret criticism only as proof of their own infallibility.
The MSM seems to have learnt nothing from the blow covid dealt to their reputation last year.
"The MSM seems to have learnt nothing from the blow covid dealt to their reputation last year."
They are incapable of reforming themselves. When public discourse has been emptied of any real debate due to a the broader Nat-Lab neoliberal consensus – all that is left is courtier-like gossip, squabbling over trivialities, playing favourites, tribal allegiance and settling scores from past grievances.
There is one word to describe the MSM's attitude – elitism.
They really do believe they are a cut above the public. I know because many years ago I worked in broadcasting. The well used phrase to describe the public then was "the peasants".
The people staffing the businesses involved would have known they'd been on-site at the same time as this person via the app if they were scanning on entry like they're supposed to. If Audrey wants someone to blame for them not knowing about it, start there.
just having a read, but jfc way to go with the negative framing. Rogernomics wrecked NZ and we still haven't recovered. Not the best introduction to fast radical change needed for the climate/ecological emergencies.
"This time, Carr and his fellow commissioners (and the governments that receive their advice) will need to succeed where leaders of the 1980s failed, by transforming the country without the mass pain and job losses that accompanied Rogernomics."
if they want people to get on board, telling them it's going to be worse than Rogernomics is a really, really bad thing to do. Yes, there are good things in the piece, but the overall framing, the stuff that stressed people will process at the gut level, is telling us that it's going to be bad, that there will be losers. Some people like myself will respond with anger, others will simply just switch off. People already feeling despair will have to put effort into not despairing more and some won't want to or be able to. People who know climate action is important but don't have that active in their lives yet will be less like to engage and make the changes needed.
Putting in counterbalances to all that helps mitigate it, but it's still a shit framing.
Comparisons with Rogernomics could have been done without that framing and in ways that help us learn from the mistakes of the past.
Using the example of Rogernomics as a yardstick for the level of change required is logical in the NZ context as there is nothing else within living memory to use as a comparison….whatever anyone thinks of those reforms there is no doubt it was visionary, radical and implemented at pace…all elements that are required now.
Binary?…..meh
And I may add that not everyone shares your apparent abhorrence of the term, as subsequent election results have shown.
I never ever saw Rogernomics as visionary but more a return to the laissez-faire economics of our past. Indeed we are seeing exactly the same results (increased inequality, slum landlords, churches profiting off the poor) that we saw previously under it's strictures.
Visionary was the abandonment of it for a more collective, caring society with concepts like a fair days work for a fair days pay, where education and public transport was valued as a public good, where utilities were run by the state and not for extracting profit, where benefit rates were set to enable people to be part of society.
Rogernomics was simply a tried and true recipe for capitalism to work with minimal fettering.
large numbers of people don't want to 'do it again', and tying something they really don't want to experience to climate action is not going to help them to change. It's more likely they will switch off or resist.
In case it's not clear, many, many people in NZ have had their quality of life seriously negatively impacted by Rogernomics. Why on earth would they want to do that again? On top of what is already being experienced.
Those same people you refer too are likely the same people who have been calling for the reversal of Rogernomics since its implementation….are you telling them they must continue to rely on incrementalism?….thats what weve had since the 80's.
Carr is announcing that incrementalism needs to be over….so now the opportunity is there to redo Rogernomics….we can take that opportunity or not.
Not everybody in NZ will look at this with an academic mind analysing the probabilities of getting out of the next cycle of economic renewal (which incidentally I would say it is) alive, refreshed and nothing lost but so much gained.
There is a lot of transition required before anything applicable is sustainable and livable. Mind you, some would argue that the earth can do without people very nicely. This interim time will be difficult as the current economic model does work on a winner takes all platform.
UBI would be a solution, but it takes so much courage to tax those multinationals and those who amass the resources right now, I really cannot see this cotton wool brigade doing anything at all. And I may add I have been through the Rogernomic years and seen a lot of carnage. People seem to forget Enron etc… those who have pilfered the resources paid for by taxpayers. Oops, sounds familiar… 16 Billions later…These people will not change, ever. This is the lesson and lets not repeat this please.
There is no denying Douglas (et al) had a vision for a very different future for NZ from that that would have developed under the existing settings…..acknowledging such is not approval of the vision.
telling them it's going to be worse than Rogernomics is a really, really bad thing to do.
On that I really have to agree. Dumbarse framing all round.
Personally I think most people are at some level, perhaps even subconsciously, quite ready to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and move onto the next stage. They'd greet a constructive pathway to get there with some relief and joy even.
"The shifts required to run our economy without fossil fuels will make the economic changes of the late 1980s “look like a trial period”, in the words of Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr."
yes Pat, and as you know that's not what we were talking about.
You and I and James Shaw all know we need to be doing much more. Getting enough of NZ on board so that the govt is free to act needs approaches that don't put people off. Tying climate action to Rogernomics is daft, for all the reasons explained.
Using the 80s reforms (rogernomics) to quantify the scale of change needed is sensible especially as many of those required to drive that change are the beneficiaries of those rerforms….they will be encouraged to accept that change as an opportunity.
you dont like the 'framing'…thats fine, it isnt aimed at you..its aimed at those who dont wish to risk that which they have (opposed to change) …if you look at the demographics of the climate change recalcitrants they are overwhelmingly National and Act supporters…..or supporters of Rogernomics if you like…those that opposed the effects of 'Rogernomics already support change.
Anyone who pretends there was anything positive about Rogergnomics will not have my confidence for whatever carbon strategy they bodge up. Is this fellow a scientist? If not, his prescriptions will likely be inadequate. If he likes Rogergnomics, his measures will be characterised by the massive corruption that consumed all of what should have been the public benefits of Rogergnomics.
Might as well sack him now – no credibility whatsoever.
You suggest that I am a Troll. May I suggest that, at least when it comes to discussions about the Cullen Fund you, Madam, are ignorant.
The Cullen Fund is probably the silliest thing that any New Zealand Government has done in this century. All we are doing is borrowing money for a group of Investment Bankers to invest in overseas assets. Can I introduce you to Michael Littlewood. He was the founder of the Retirement Policy and Research Centre at the University of Auckland. He is the foremost New Zealand expert on the subject.
I suggest that you read the linked article where he explains why the Cullen Fund is crazy and will do exactly nothing to reduce the future cost of New Zealand Super. He proposes that the scheme should be wound up and the money already in it shpuld be used to help pay for the Covid Recovery. I fully agree with him.
As Michael proposes
"Can someone in the Government please explain to New Zealanders why we taxpayers will be borrowing $25.13 billion to pass on to the fund's Guardians to invest on our behalf?"
"The fund will not reduce the future cost of NZ Super by one dollar – it may very partially 'smooth' the incidence of funding that cost but will not change it. The Government’s contributions won’t change the cost of NZ Super; neither will a stellar nor a poor investment performance by the fund's guardians."
"The cost of any pension scheme, private or public, is the benefits actually paid by the scheme (plus administration costs) and that doesn’t have anything to do with how it is paid for."
"Its presence has mistakenly led some to believe that the fund makes New Zealand Superannuation more secure and sustainable. It doesn’t. The fund is a political placebo; a fiscal hall of mirrors."
Please read the whole linked article. The scheme is nuts and should be wound up.
Trolling is so subjective, an example of the subjectivity of the term is that this comment in no way seems like trolling to me, ironically enough it seems like a reasoned rebuttal to the claim of being termed a troll from where I am sitting…
Funny how two different people can read or hear the same thing but take away different interpretations and meaning isn't it?
It has been brought to our attention that one Sir Peter Ivan Talijancich KNZM, hereafter known as TALLEY, has been dumping filthy pollutants down the drain and outraging fine, decent "Kiwis", or oiks.
We would like to point out that the rogue TALLEY is an aberration, an abomination, an irritant, a boor, and a cad. An arsehole, if one were to employ the vernacular. The rest of New Zealand’s, and indeed the Empire’s, knights, however, are men of the highest character. As one of our esteemed number said of himself some years ago after indulging in a seven minute radio rant against cheeky darkies, we are GOOD MEN.
So let’s condemn this errant knight TALLEY by all means, but let us also praise good men and true, like the following exemplars of moral courage and intellectual excellence…..
Sir Paul Holmes, Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, Sir James Savile, Sir William Gallagher,
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Sir Peter Leitch, Sir Jeremiah Mateparae, Sir John Key, Sir Clive Woodward, Sir Robert Jones
Ah, Sir Talley–what a splendid record “Talleys” company towns and fish businesses have…
decapitation at sea, cleaner hoisted under chin by meat hook on chain, worker crushed to death by badly stacked frozen carcasses, worker burned almost to death, life ruined, at AFFCO Moerewa in boiler explosion, legal action taken against meatworkers personal use of Facebook, Women fish filleters discriminated against on basis of sex, Open Country Cheese lockout, Waikato 2009, Invercargill workers recruited and transported to actively scab on Dairy Workers Union members! Security guards harassment of union delegates and organisers, Need I go on…
Time and again Talleys lose in all Employment Courts, Authorities and other forums, but they go there to make unions use up valuable membership funds on legal expenses and time off organising. Scum of the earth, should be closed down for good and prohibited from running a business again.
Hard to tell who are the adhominems amoung [sic] that group.
Every one of them is, or was, a reprehensible human being. They were chosen to show the low calibre of person that can be the recipient of royal "honours".
[Oh my, an orgy of ad homs by the ad hom Master himself!
I counted 10 “reprehensible human being[s]” and they are obviously easy targets.
However, you’d been warned only three days ago to lift your game and stop the ad hommery.
Take 10 days off, one day for each “reprehensible human being” and next time it will increase.
However, if you cannot help yourself, just say the word and we can all save ourselves a lot of time and make it a permanent ban without undue delay – Incognito]
Are you also banning others for giving their opinions?
Re-read the Moderation(s) note and read it properly. You have form, you have been warned, you are begging for a permanent ban here and only just got let off the hook recently for another of your faux pas, for which you gave a sincere and genuine apology. You have not obtained impunity from banning.
Take heed of the Moderation notes and lift your game or accept the consequence of your refusal.
I see you have commented on my thread…why? just stop micro managing everyone.
" If this were a relationship, a counsellor might suggest breaking up and separating, amicably and while there still is smidgen of (self-)respect left … "
That is the remark you left me…maybe you need to look at your relationship with Morrissey, as it is obvious to everyone you single him out and treat him quite unfairly.
Why do you take it personal when it was clearly directed at a number of commenters? FYI, it was a comment, not a moderation. If you can’t handle it, ignore it or go somewhere else instead of whining here.
You don’t think the question is valid? It is obvious to everyone that you are stuck in a groove that creates a bad vibe. Your avoidance is telling, sadly 🙁
I/we have been more than fair to Morrissey. Anyway, it is none of your business how we manage The Standard. Read the Policy.
If it were only Talley it wouldn't be so bad – for all that he has few redeeming features. That story reveals ongoing systematic corruption and government collusion with it. The laws have been on the books for decades – but never enforced. A majority of companies are failing repeatedly. It just isn't good enough.
Councils are due a mighty hefty 'please explain' and maybe they too need to be fined if they fail or decline to enforce the laws we have.
It's about time they were hunted – persistent lawbreakers setting bad examples for their marginally less corrupt corporate mates. What are we, Russia? Kleptocrats don't belong here.
I thought you were calling him a prostitute at first there, and perhaps rightly so; in abandoning social acceptability for money. But then this got stuck in my head until I played it through:
Now, you said it was yesterday (yesterday's another day)
Had a lot of make believe, I don't know if it's you or
If it's me
oh, I don't know, (I don't know)
Tally ho (tally ho!)
With the “lamb’s brains”, bathtub drooling (around 2:05), and general fever-dreaminess of the video, it is tempting to retcon it’s meaning as what happens to those exposed to polluters slime.
Chelsea Clinton is mocked after claiming that she told her son Aidan, four, that 'it’s the 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century' and he responded 'Yeah, but it’s cooler it's Joe Biden's first full day in the White House'.
The post attracted attention from Twitter users who responded with disbelief ….
I was at a childs birthday party on the 22nd and I commented that next February it would be 2/2/2022. As well 22/2/2022 in the same month. The 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century is very rare.
And so you were. However the part I thought was really clever was the understatement at the end when you said "The 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century is very rare.". Very rare indeed. For the life of me I cannot see how it can be described as anything other than the much stronger statement the it is unique.
Further proof ( if you needed it ) that the death cult a.k.a. neoliberal capitalism must be swept away, just an the Ancient Regime was thrown out in 1789.
The rich are a real problem to the health of humanity and the earth’s ecosystems.
Oxfam? They are, of course. one of those groups that manage to get themselves registered as a charity. Thus they don't pay tax and any donations they get become eligible for a tax deduction by the donor.
Thus for every $1,000 they receive as a donation means that the tax revenues of the State are reduced by $330 dollars. That is money that could help provide all those nice things that Oxfam say they are in favour of.
Bugger them. They, just like Greenpeace, the Helen Clark Foundation and hundreds of others of their ilk, are registered as charities. They are merely political pressure groups and, just like the political parties, should be wholly financed by their adherents. They shouldn't have a big chunk of their funds come from tax deductions that could be spent on genuinely useful activities by the Crown.
I should note that I have a vested interest in the activities that Oxfam are whinging about. Like John Hart I am also significantly better off than I was a year ago. Some years ago I put quite a lot of money into FPH. They are manufacturers of things that are genuinely useful to humanity during this pandemic. That is quite different to the actions of people like Oxfam who are about as useful as tits on a bull.
???? Greenpeace is far more than simply a pressure group. It's an activist organization as well.
Do you think Oxfam should not study structural and political causes of poverty? Do you think they should just stay quiet and leave it to the politicians?
While doing the 'over there' pointing at China and the treatment of Uighurs, they conveniently overlook the fact that the worst abuses, that so far have not been conclusively proven, have been perpetrated on an alleged one million people. While not diminishing the seriousness of such human rights abuses, the same Deputies have no qualms about overlooking the manner in which the Israeli Government treats the two million Gazans who live in an open prison and in the West Bank who constantly face indiscriminate human rights abuses perpetrated by the IDF and settlers in the name of the Zionist State.
The current Deputies lack morality and discredit themselves with their intention to use the Holocaust Memorial Day as a vehicle for pushing a dubious political agenda. The Guardian is also compromised in that it hastily surrendered its journalistic integrity by removing its report – no doubt at the behest of the Board of Deputies.
The Board of Deputies are hardline, militant supporters of the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza. It's encouraging to see many people, including yourself, aom, calling them out for their hypocrisy.
Another hardline supporter of Israeli aggression who posed as a humanitarian was the late Elie Wiesel. When he spoke at Saint Louis University on December 1, 2009, three women challenged him to break his silence about Gaza and to travel with them on the Gaza Freedom March to see for himself the devastation caused by Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and the ongoing siege….
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TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
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The media was again incredibly frustrating at the 4pm covid update yesterday, and in this mornings Herald.
Having Audrey Young doing a grumpy old woman routine asking the same gotcha question a million times ("why are we not told these business now?", and the switcheroo "why were this businesses blindsided by releasing their information before informing them?") was bad enough but her personal annoyance has become the subject of her piece this morning in the paper, where for some vague reason the PM needs to be involved to rev up the MOH over some quibble that Audrey doesn't like.
What is frustrating is ONE WHOLE YEAR after the COVID pandemic began the main media companies are STILL treating the pandemic as primarily a POLITICAL story, using courtier journalists who were excoriated by the public for their addiction to the gotcha dialogue of banter politics and viewing everything through the lens of horse race political analysis. Why was Audrey Young there? Why has the NZ Herald still not got a health journalist to cover this story?
The media operate with an insular and defensive arrogance that cannot accept criticism. indeed, they interpret criticism only as proof of their own infallibility.
The MSM seems to have learnt nothing from the blow covid dealt to their reputation last year.
I assume you’re referring to this:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/audrey-young-where-is-jacinda-arderns-collectivism-when-it-is-needed-for-covid-19/EL5P6LGK4G5DHKPNFBOQCSFZ4Q/ [paywalled]
Can you please add the link yourself from now on, thanks?
"The MSM seems to have learnt nothing from the blow covid dealt to their reputation last year."
They are incapable of reforming themselves. When public discourse has been emptied of any real debate due to a the broader Nat-Lab neoliberal consensus – all that is left is courtier-like gossip, squabbling over trivialities, playing favourites, tribal allegiance and settling scores from past grievances.
There is one word to describe the MSM's attitude – elitism.
They really do believe they are a cut above the public. I know because many years ago I worked in broadcasting. The well used phrase to describe the public then was "the peasants".
Tawdrey Young hacks away at the govt on behalf of the national party as per usual.
Granny's been consistently favouring the political aspect over the health/public safety angle from day 1.
Thanks for that TC, couldn't agree more.
The people staffing the businesses involved would have known they'd been on-site at the same time as this person via the app if they were scanning on entry like they're supposed to. If Audrey wants someone to blame for them not knowing about it, start there.
I posted this link on lprent's post on frog hoping. I thought I would put it here too.
Mark Cohen in a series of korero concerning regenerative ag and our relationship (or lack thereof) with nature.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1jzWwbwNOI
40 minutes well spent, especially those of us in the lower Te Ika a Maui.
Happy holiday.
"The biggest economic transformation since the 1980s is coming – and many of us don’t even know it."
Rather, it should be, but time will tell if they have the vision (and will) to implement it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/124001781/the-change-thatll-make-rogernomics-look-like-a-trial-period
just having a read, but jfc way to go with the negative framing. Rogernomics wrecked NZ and we still haven't recovered. Not the best introduction to fast radical change needed for the climate/ecological emergencies.
jfc???
and ..
"This time, Carr and his fellow commissioners (and the governments that receive their advice) will need to succeed where leaders of the 1980s failed, by transforming the country without the mass pain and job losses that accompanied Rogernomics."
Jesus F'ing Christ
Ah..ic…so many acronyms its hard to keep up
Funnily enough I misunderstood
to mean you were challenging my objection to the article, not that you didn't understand what jfc meant.
if they want people to get on board, telling them it's going to be worse than Rogernomics is a really, really bad thing to do. Yes, there are good things in the piece, but the overall framing, the stuff that stressed people will process at the gut level, is telling us that it's going to be bad, that there will be losers. Some people like myself will respond with anger, others will simply just switch off. People already feeling despair will have to put effort into not despairing more and some won't want to or be able to. People who know climate action is important but don't have that active in their lives yet will be less like to engage and make the changes needed.
Putting in counterbalances to all that helps mitigate it, but it's still a shit framing.
Comparisons with Rogernomics could have been done without that framing and in ways that help us learn from the mistakes of the past.
Or we can carry on pretending that nothing really has to change
you can keep on with your binary thinking Pat. It's pretty clear that I'm not arguing for head in the sand at all.
Using the example of Rogernomics as a yardstick for the level of change required is logical in the NZ context as there is nothing else within living memory to use as a comparison….whatever anyone thinks of those reforms there is no doubt it was visionary, radical and implemented at pace…all elements that are required now.
Binary?…..meh
And I may add that not everyone shares your apparent abhorrence of the term, as subsequent election results have shown.
do you know what I mean when I say framing?
I already said that there's no problem with comparing with Rogernomics, it's about how it's done.
Logic is necessary but not sufficient to get people on board.
Rogernomics as visionary… meh. If people experience Rogernomics as harmful, that's what they will take into this framing.
Yes weka, I know what framing means…do you know what yardstick means?
However people experienced Rogernomics they will know they have done it before and can do it again….the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown.
visionary
adjective
UK /ˈvɪʒ.ən.ri/ US /ˈvɪʒ.er.i/
visionary adjective (ABLE TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE)
with the ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc. will develop in the future:
I never ever saw Rogernomics as visionary but more a return to the laissez-faire economics of our past. Indeed we are seeing exactly the same results (increased inequality, slum landlords, churches profiting off the poor) that we saw previously under it's strictures.
Visionary was the abandonment of it for a more collective, caring society with concepts like a fair days work for a fair days pay, where education and public transport was valued as a public good, where utilities were run by the state and not for extracting profit, where benefit rates were set to enable people to be part of society.
Rogernomics was simply a tried and true recipe for capitalism to work with minimal fettering.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laissezfaire.asp#:~:text=The%20driving%20principle%20behind%20laissez,part%20of%20free%20market%20capitalism.
I wish we could dispense with calling it Rogernomics like it was something unique. Rogernomics, Thatcherism, Reganism, same shit different country.
@ Solkta
Unfortunately that is what it is widely defined as in NZ….and it serves as shorthand for a complexity that most over a certain age understand.
large numbers of people don't want to 'do it again', and tying something they really don't want to experience to climate action is not going to help them to change. It's more likely they will switch off or resist.
In case it's not clear, many, many people in NZ have had their quality of life seriously negatively impacted by Rogernomics. Why on earth would they want to do that again? On top of what is already being experienced.
Why?…to do it better.
Those same people you refer too are likely the same people who have been calling for the reversal of Rogernomics since its implementation….are you telling them they must continue to rely on incrementalism?….thats what weve had since the 80's.
Carr is announcing that incrementalism needs to be over….so now the opportunity is there to redo Rogernomics….we can take that opportunity or not.
Opportnuity to un-do rogernomics would be more persuasive.
spot on Sacha.
Not everybody in NZ will look at this with an academic mind analysing the probabilities of getting out of the next cycle of economic renewal (which incidentally I would say it is) alive, refreshed and nothing lost but so much gained.
There is a lot of transition required before anything applicable is sustainable and livable. Mind you, some would argue that the earth can do without people very nicely. This interim time will be difficult as the current economic model does work on a winner takes all platform.
UBI would be a solution, but it takes so much courage to tax those multinationals and those who amass the resources right now, I really cannot see this cotton wool brigade doing anything at all. And I may add I have been through the Rogernomic years and seen a lot of carnage. People seem to forget Enron etc… those who have pilfered the resources paid for by taxpayers. Oops, sounds familiar… 16 Billions later…These people will not change, ever. This is the lesson and lets not repeat this please.
Again..
visionary
adjective
UK /ˈvɪʒ.ən.ri/ US /ˈvɪʒ.er.i/
visionary adjective (ABLE TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE)
with the ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc. will develop in the future:
There is no denying Douglas (et al) had a vision for a very different future for NZ from that that would have developed under the existing settings…..acknowledging such is not approval of the vision.
Hitler was a visionary. Funny how people don't call him that though..
Nah he had a vision for himself and his mates.
The rest of New Zealand could get stuffed – and it did.
yes he was…as was Stalin…as said, it dosnt mean you support the vision, but democracy allows us to decide which visions are implemented….if we engage
"Opportnuity to un-do rogernomics would be more persuasive."
Then take it.
telling them it's going to be worse than Rogernomics is a really, really bad thing to do.
On that I really have to agree. Dumbarse framing all round.
Personally I think most people are at some level, perhaps even subconsciously, quite ready to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and move onto the next stage. They'd greet a constructive pathway to get there with some relief and joy even.
Assume you havn't read the article…..
"The shifts required to run our economy without fossil fuels will make the economic changes of the late 1980s “look like a trial period”, in the words of Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr."
cant see 'worse' anywhere
Rogernomics harmed many individuals and the country as a whole. That was the trial period for what we are about to do next.
Worse doesn't need spelling out.
"Climate Change Minister James Shaw has said he thinks many people will be shocked by how much New Zealand needs to cut its emissions.
But the alternative – inaction and climate catastrophe – would be worse."
The worse is indeed spelt out
yes Pat, and as you know that's not what we were talking about.
You and I and James Shaw all know we need to be doing much more. Getting enough of NZ on board so that the govt is free to act needs approaches that don't put people off. Tying climate action to Rogernomics is daft, for all the reasons explained.
Using the 80s reforms (rogernomics) to quantify the scale of change needed is sensible especially as many of those required to drive that change are the beneficiaries of those rerforms….they will be encouraged to accept that change as an opportunity.
for the third time, using a comparison with Rogernomics isn’t wrong, it’s how they’ve done it this time. i.e. the framing.
you dont like the 'framing'…thats fine, it isnt aimed at you..its aimed at those who dont wish to risk that which they have (opposed to change) …if you look at the demographics of the climate change recalcitrants they are overwhelmingly National and Act supporters…..or supporters of Rogernomics if you like…those that opposed the effects of 'Rogernomics already support change.
Carr isnt as silly as he looks
Is this a case of lets kill the patient or are we happy with substantial human collateral?
Anyone who pretends there was anything positive about Rogergnomics will not have my confidence for whatever carbon strategy they bodge up. Is this fellow a scientist? If not, his prescriptions will likely be inadequate. If he likes Rogergnomics, his measures will be characterised by the massive corruption that consumed all of what should have been the public benefits of Rogergnomics.
Might as well sack him now – no credibility whatsoever.
can't tell how much of the poor framing was Carr or the journos.
Where in the article is there any positive reinforcemnt of the effects of 'Rogernomics'.?…time for some rational thought
my house just shook.
series of quakes on the East Coast in the last half hour
https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake
Isolation hotels in Rotorua. There would need to be an evacuation plan.
were the quakes that big?
Quakes are not big enough for an evacuation. This does not rule out an evacuation being required were a stronger earth quake to occur.
2. Will the Common Wealth Games go ahead in Birmingham in 2022?
3. Is it possible to combine the Common Wealth and the Olympic Games and hold them at two different venues?
2. probably not
3. why?
3. why?
The planning which has occurred by the host countries and the athletes.
Fair point. I meant why combine them and use different venues?
I was thinking outside the box so both games could be held in a modified form.
Edit Commonwealth.
Key knighted Talley.
And we now find another reason why that was such a wonderful decision.
They dump their contaminants down the drain.
What a wonderful company!
What a wonderful man!
And further evidence of New Zealand being such a clean green nation.
They dump https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/435111/revealed-the-companies-dumping-contaminants-down-the-drain
"Key knighted Talley"
Oh well. The Government of the day got a fair number of such things wrong didn't they?
I mean they knighted Michael Cullen! How low could they go?
Hoping that the very civilised Mr Cullen has time to finish his book – so we get to read about how deranged Douglas and co were.
Alwyn Cullen introduced Kiwi Saver and the so called "Cullen Fund" now worth 54 billion plus. You "Sir" are a troll.
You suggest that I am a Troll. May I suggest that, at least when it comes to discussions about the Cullen Fund you, Madam, are ignorant.
The Cullen Fund is probably the silliest thing that any New Zealand Government has done in this century. All we are doing is borrowing money for a group of Investment Bankers to invest in overseas assets. Can I introduce you to Michael Littlewood. He was the founder of the Retirement Policy and Research Centre at the University of Auckland. He is the foremost New Zealand expert on the subject.
I suggest that you read the linked article where he explains why the Cullen Fund is crazy and will do exactly nothing to reduce the future cost of New Zealand Super. He proposes that the scheme should be wound up and the money already in it shpuld be used to help pay for the Covid Recovery. I fully agree with him.
As Michael proposes
"Can someone in the Government please explain to New Zealanders why we taxpayers will be borrowing $25.13 billion to pass on to the fund's Guardians to invest on our behalf?"
"The fund will not reduce the future cost of NZ Super by one dollar – it may very partially 'smooth' the incidence of funding that cost but will not change it. The Government’s contributions won’t change the cost of NZ Super; neither will a stellar nor a poor investment performance by the fund's guardians."
"The cost of any pension scheme, private or public, is the benefits actually paid by the scheme (plus administration costs) and that doesn’t have anything to do with how it is paid for."
"Its presence has mistakenly led some to believe that the fund makes New Zealand Superannuation more secure and sustainable. It doesn’t. The fund is a political placebo; a fiscal hall of mirrors."
Please read the whole linked article. The scheme is nuts and should be wound up.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121584355/we-should-use-nz-super-fund-billions-to-help-pay-for-covid19-recovery
[You were definitely diversion-trolling, for which you receive a one-week ban in return.
In addition, you get another week for your arrogant ad hom, which was uncalled for.
For a supposedly clever man, you’re a slow learner – Incognito]
LOL Alwyn, a man who worked in tax evasion schemes no less!!
Have you got the right Michael Littlewood?
Good to see a shift in position Alwyn, from the recent concern that dementia suffers would shortly bankrupt the country.
See my Moderation note @ 7:01 PM.
Where does it say “For diversion trolling and arrogant put downs of other commenters”?
Oh well, I guess it doesn’t.
Trolling is so subjective, an example of the subjectivity of the term is that this comment in no way seems like trolling to me, ironically enough it seems like a reasoned rebuttal to the claim of being termed a troll from where I am sitting…
Funny how two different people can read or hear the same thing but take away different interpretations and meaning isn't it?
Thanks for posting that Ed. Just unbelievable though. Sickening. Why are there not more prosecutions, and with meaningful penalties?
A Message from the Knights of the British Empire
It has been brought to our attention that one Sir Peter Ivan Talijancich KNZM, hereafter known as TALLEY, has been dumping filthy pollutants down the drain and outraging fine, decent "Kiwis", or oiks.
We would like to point out that the rogue TALLEY is an aberration, an abomination, an irritant, a boor, and a cad. An arsehole, if one were to employ the vernacular. The rest of New Zealand’s, and indeed the Empire’s, knights, however, are men of the highest character. As one of our esteemed number said of himself some years ago after indulging in a seven minute radio rant against cheeky darkies, we are GOOD MEN.
So let’s condemn this errant knight TALLEY by all means, but let us also praise good men and true, like the following exemplars of moral courage and intellectual excellence…..
Sir Paul Holmes, Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, Sir James Savile, Sir William Gallagher,
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Sir Peter Leitch, Sir Jeremiah Mateparae, Sir John Key, Sir Clive Woodward, Sir Robert Jones
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/-we-should-not-be-calling-him-sir-businessman-s-knighthood-questioned-6328823
@ Morrissey, Exactly right…+1
Ah, Sir Talley–what a splendid record “Talleys” company towns and fish businesses have…
decapitation at sea, cleaner hoisted under chin by meat hook on chain, worker crushed to death by badly stacked frozen carcasses, worker burned almost to death, life ruined, at AFFCO Moerewa in boiler explosion, legal action taken against meatworkers personal use of Facebook, Women fish filleters discriminated against on basis of sex, Open Country Cheese lockout, Waikato 2009, Invercargill workers recruited and transported to actively scab on Dairy Workers Union members! Security guards harassment of union delegates and organisers, Need I go on…
Time and again Talleys lose in all Employment Courts, Authorities and other forums, but they go there to make unions use up valuable membership funds on legal expenses and time off organising. Scum of the earth, should be closed down for good and prohibited from running a business again.
Hard to tell who are the adhominems amoung that group.
Maybe we should have an official list of people who declined Knighthoods?
Hard to tell who are the adhominems amoung [sic] that group.
Every one of them is, or was, a reprehensible human being. They were chosen to show the low calibre of person that can be the recipient of royal "honours".
[Oh my, an orgy of ad homs by the ad hom Master himself!
I counted 10 “reprehensible human being[s]” and they are obviously easy targets.
However, you’d been warned only three days ago to lift your game and stop the ad hommery.
Take 10 days off, one day for each “reprehensible human being” and next time it will increase.
However, if you cannot help yourself, just say the word and we can all save ourselves a lot of time and make it a permanent ban without undue delay – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 4:41 PM.
Re-read the Moderation(s) note and read it properly. You have form, you have been warned, you are begging for a permanent ban here and only just got let off the hook recently for another of your faux pas, for which you gave a sincere and genuine apology. You have not obtained impunity from banning.
Take heed of the Moderation notes and lift your game or accept the consequence of your refusal.
I see you have commented on my thread…why? just stop micro managing everyone.
" If this were a relationship, a counsellor might suggest breaking up and separating, amicably and while there still is smidgen of (self-)respect left … "
That is the remark you left me…maybe you need to look at your relationship with Morrissey, as it is obvious to everyone you single him out and treat him quite unfairly.
Oh, it was “your” thread?
Why do you take it personal when it was clearly directed at a number of commenters? FYI, it was a comment, not a moderation. If you can’t handle it, ignore it or go somewhere else instead of whining here.
You don’t think the question is valid? It is obvious to everyone that you are stuck in a groove that creates a bad vibe. Your avoidance is telling, sadly 🙁
I/we have been more than fair to Morrissey. Anyway, it is none of your business how we manage The Standard. Read the Policy.
OK stop micro managing 'us' then…
If it were only Talley it wouldn't be so bad – for all that he has few redeeming features. That story reveals ongoing systematic corruption and government collusion with it. The laws have been on the books for decades – but never enforced. A majority of companies are failing repeatedly. It just isn't good enough.
Councils are due a mighty hefty 'please explain' and maybe they too need to be fined if they fail or decline to enforce the laws we have.
Talley – ho
A huntsman's cry to the hounds on sighting a fox.
It's about time they were hunted – persistent lawbreakers setting bad examples for their marginally less corrupt corporate mates. What are we, Russia? Kleptocrats don't belong here.
You got it.
I thought you were calling him a prostitute at first there, and perhaps rightly so; in abandoning social acceptability for money. But then this got stuck in my head until I played it through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVkC8W_-a-8
With the “lamb’s brains”, bathtub drooling (around 2:05), and general fever-dreaminess of the video, it is tempting to retcon it’s meaning as what happens to those exposed to polluters slime.
In areas of water management Councils have/are failing all over this country.
WDC stand around like stunned mullet wibbling about their failures. They seem to be expecting sympathy for the 'we don't know how to fix it' atitude.
They've failed along with many others, times up so get on with it central govt.
Does the minister see her goal as fixing the problem or waiting out the complainers until she gets a more prestigious portfolio?
Went on their face book and told them I would not buy their products any more. Have found a better vegan yoghurt at half the price.
Très, très uncool. No. 1: CHELSEA CLINTON
Chelsea Clinton is mocked after claiming that she told her son Aidan, four, that 'it’s the 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century' and he responded 'Yeah, but it’s cooler it's Joe Biden's first full day in the White House'.
The post attracted attention from Twitter users who responded with disbelief ….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9175573/Chelsea-Clinton-mocked-Twitter-posting-exchange-son.html
Chelsea Clinton made a goat of herself after the Christchurch massacre in 2019….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faiK4M7LXc4&feature=emb_logo
Très, très uncool is compiled and presented by Serena Sopwith-Fotherington, for Daisycutter Sports Inc.
I was at a childs birthday party on the 22nd and I commented that next February it would be 2/2/2022. As well 22/2/2022 in the same month. The 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century is very rare.
I would think that the second date is even better if you use a 2 digit month.
It is then properly symmetrical with the digits reading 22022022
That is a special being a palindrome date
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome#:~:text=A%20palindrome%20is%20a%20word,such%20as%20madam%20or%20racecar.
Thanks for that, I had not thought about it. I thought I was being clever!
"I was being clever".
And so you were. However the part I thought was really clever was the understatement at the end when you said "The 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st century is very rare.". Very rare indeed. For the life of me I cannot see how it can be described as anything other than the much stronger statement the it is unique.
What a precocious 4yo little Aidan is tobesure. By precocious I mean annoying.
Très, très cute: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/bravo/news/124045797/kate-middleton-and-prince-williams-new-puppy-will-pawsitively-melt-your-heart
Graeme Hart gains $3.4 billion during COVID.
Further proof ( if you needed it ) that the death cult a.k.a. neoliberal capitalism must be swept away, just an the Ancient Regime was thrown out in 1789.
The rich are a real problem to the health of humanity and the earth’s ecosystems.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/435132/graeme-hart-s-3-point-4b-gain-proves-need-for-taxing-wealth-oxfam
Oxfam? They are, of course. one of those groups that manage to get themselves registered as a charity. Thus they don't pay tax and any donations they get become eligible for a tax deduction by the donor.
Thus for every $1,000 they receive as a donation means that the tax revenues of the State are reduced by $330 dollars. That is money that could help provide all those nice things that Oxfam say they are in favour of.
Bugger them. They, just like Greenpeace, the Helen Clark Foundation and hundreds of others of their ilk, are registered as charities. They are merely political pressure groups and, just like the political parties, should be wholly financed by their adherents. They shouldn't have a big chunk of their funds come from tax deductions that could be spent on genuinely useful activities by the Crown.
I should note that I have a vested interest in the activities that Oxfam are whinging about. Like John Hart I am also significantly better off than I was a year ago. Some years ago I put quite a lot of money into FPH. They are manufacturers of things that are genuinely useful to humanity during this pandemic. That is quite different to the actions of people like Oxfam who are about as useful as tits on a bull.
Just as well Oxfam aren't billionaires isn't it. Think of all the tax revenue we'd be losing.
They are merely political pressure groups…
???? Greenpeace is far more than simply a pressure group. It's an activist organization as well.
Do you think Oxfam should not study structural and political causes of poverty? Do you think they should just stay quiet and leave it to the politicians?
"they should just stay quiet and leave it to the politicians".
No, not at all. However I don't think that they are a Charity, and they certainly shouldn't be treated like one.
That doesn't mean in any shape or form that they should be silenced.
Good on you, alwyn.
The Board of Deputies (UK) have now provided a classic example to explain the term 'virtue signalling' through a report that was quickly removed from the Guardian this morning!
While doing the 'over there' pointing at China and the treatment of Uighurs, they conveniently overlook the fact that the worst abuses, that so far have not been conclusively proven, have been perpetrated on an alleged one million people. While not diminishing the seriousness of such human rights abuses, the same Deputies have no qualms about overlooking the manner in which the Israeli Government treats the two million Gazans who live in an open prison and in the West Bank who constantly face indiscriminate human rights abuses perpetrated by the IDF and settlers in the name of the Zionist State.
The current Deputies lack morality and discredit themselves with their intention to use the Holocaust Memorial Day as a vehicle for pushing a dubious political agenda. The Guardian is also compromised in that it hastily surrendered its journalistic integrity by removing its report – no doubt at the behest of the Board of Deputies.
The Board of Deputies are hardline, militant supporters of the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza. It's encouraging to see many people, including yourself, aom, calling them out for their hypocrisy.
Another hardline supporter of Israeli aggression who posed as a humanitarian was the late Elie Wiesel. When he spoke at Saint Louis University on December 1, 2009, three women challenged him to break his silence about Gaza and to travel with them on the Gaza Freedom March to see for himself the devastation caused by Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and the ongoing siege….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wkR1IUUE8
Being in opposition in NZ now must be a nightmare.
Anything you say about Covid,the largest ship in port will be seen to be barking at cars. (Sorry for the mixed metaphor)
But Bishop and Seymour just can’t help themselves. Terriers or labradors?