Open mike 25/03/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 25th, 2022 - 247 comments
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247 comments on “Open mike 25/03/2022 ”

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  1. Dennis Frank 1
    25 March 2022 at 6:39 am

    Labour bites the bullet. Will it spit it out?

    Cabinet will on Monday consider the next steps in developing a plan for Aotearoa to realise its international obligations around Māori self-determination. Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson will take a paper to Cabinet with recommendations about developing a draft plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

    New Zealand signed up to the Declaration in 2010 through then-Māori Affairs Minister and Māori Party co-leader Pita Sharples, under a National-led Government. New Zealand is one of 148 countries that support the Declaration. Canada last year backed the Declaration with legislation and will have a plan in place by next year.

    If New Zealand enacts the plan by the end of this year it will be the first country in the world to do so.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cabinet-to-consider-next-steps-on-maori-self-determination-un-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples/DNMY6QJLIRFL3LLA3BR7SJXOIE/

    Is this govt up to making history? Timidity has characterised it so far. Reluctance to discuss co-governance has been prolonged. Seymour has therefore called Labour's bluff by getting ACT to adopt a referendum policy. If Luxon is smart he'll say National will wait till Labour produces something real.

    • Hongi Ika 1.1
      25 March 2022 at 6:58 am

      National don't have any policy I am aware off.

    • DB Brown 1.2
      25 March 2022 at 7:32 am

      Timid as in calling a lockdown faster than most everyone else.

      Timid as in calling a terrorist a terrorist, not a 'disturbed individual'.

      Timid as in changing gun laws.

      Timid as in standing up to Trump.

      Timid as in raising the minimum wage while the business community claim the sky is falling.

      Timid as in letting the clownvoy bury itself in its own stupidity before moving on it.

      Timid as in still operating while being under attack by mealy mouthed nobodies for the entire duration.

      Unlike those BRAVE tax cutting Nats, with their fiscal holes and their homeless MIQ visitors and their rivers of refugees and their unprecedented levels of whinging. And ACT the dog whistling dork sidekick, and their incel fan club.

      • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 1.2.1
        25 March 2022 at 7:59 am

        yes

      • Dennis Frank 1.2.2
        25 March 2022 at 8:18 am

        Timid as in comparison to the first Labour govt. You know, the one that built plenty of state houses because the poor had nowhere to live? Notice how timid this current govt has been in explaining why it can't replicate that performance.

        No, you may respond, they're actually being brave in copying National while pretending they aren't. As in their economic policy, for example. I call it deceitful rather than brave, because they pretend they're helping the poor.

        Six months since Stuff reported this:

        Earlier this month, Finance Minister Grant Roberston commented that he “still wants house prices to keep rising, but at a slower rate”.

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300411965/how-do-we-slow-the-property-market

        So why is he operating the exact opposite of an economic policy to help the poor? Because Labour are full of shit, right?

        • Ad 1.2.2.1
          25 March 2022 at 8:26 am

          Labour has put more into marae housing than anyone.

          Labour has also put out a fairly audacious model of Maori co-governance with 3 waters.

          Labour in its previous term put $3 billion into the provinces – and if you track it most of it went to Maori business.

          You apparently are a supporter of the Green Party, the laziest and least effective political party we've had since Social Credit.

          Nothing the Greens want will ever happen unless they persuade Labour that it is worth it.

          Start there.

          • Dennis Frank 1.2.2.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 8:41 am

            whataboutism, deployed to evade the point… 🙄

            • Incognito 1.2.2.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 8:53 am

              Irony much? Wasn’t the point “timidity”?

              Discuss, without emojis, if you can.

            • Ad 1.2.2.1.1.2
              25 March 2022 at 8:55 am

              You started with a critique on Labour's response to Maori co-governance.

              Face up to the consequence of your own point and be prepared to lose, again.

              Labour have also devolved several $$billion in health care expenditure to Maori health organisations than any previous government.

              Labour have also passed the legislation for a specific, delegated, funded national Maori health organisation.

              Labour have also gone through the public service tooth and nail to ensure that they more than comply with their Treaty partnership obligations. Plenty of faults some will have, but all account for their Treaty measures in Select Committee.

              It is high time Green supporters like you got off your high fucking horse and demonstrate how their single useful initiative in 2 terms – the Carbon legislation – will form co-governance frameworks for Maori. But they won’t because it is a neo-liberal palimpsest about to be blown away by global events,

              Labour are the superior government partners to Maori, compared to any other party in Parliament.

              Forgot to mention: Labour have a massive and broad Cabinet and Maori caucus, which is strong and active. That’s co-governance at the heart of power.

              The Greens can hold their Maori caucus in a phone booth and still have room for 4 Golriz Gharamans to slide in.

              Labour will have no problem whatsoever demonstrating deeper Maori self-determination.

              The Greens can't.

              • Dennis Frank …
                25 March 2022 at 9:28 am

                I'm not here to defend the Greens. I agree with the principle of co-governance and have said so often enough previously. I haven't noticed any public statements from the Greens supporting Labour's stance but they could be waiting for policy, right?

                My initial framing (@#1) was sceptical, not critical. I believe Labour's steadfast refusal to acknowledge the principle is due to timidity – but it could also be due to pragmatism. Their pakeha neoliberals feature that as their primary collective trait, so it's feasible. And liberals aren't famous for taking stands on principle.

                Your huffing & puffing on behalf of Labour awaits the verdict of history – it will all have been worth it if they reach consensus on the proposal(s) Willie is about to present to them. If they prove themselves brave rather than timid, I'll give them credit for it. Then it's just a matter of whether they legislate it or defer it for public verdict in the election campaign…

                • Ad …
                  25 March 2022 at 9:35 am

                  Not only is the policy out there in black and white, it is deep into the middle of institutional reform.

                  Why the Greens fail to support the 3 Waters policy is beyond belief.

                  Intitutional reform done well is near-imperceptible to the politically ignorant eye and impossible to reverse. That's why you Dennis can't see it.

                  Whether you give credit to Labour for anything, well that amounts to nothing.

                  As expected you have failed to provide any alternative model for any public institution.

                  And you failing to defend Labour from the Orewa-scale shitstorm that Act is about to throw down, is again pretty typical of the Greens.

                  You have brought no criticism of the myriad evidence and examples I've provided, so your opinion is utterly worthless.

                  You want to bring up Maori self-determination again, next time bring a fact with you.

                  • Dennis Frank …
                    25 March 2022 at 10:13 am

                    Look, if Labour were willing to cite their delivery on policies that accord with the co-governance principle (as you appear to be suggesting) then they would say so. Can you provide any such evidence of them doing that? I thought not.

                    That's why I'm sceptical. They're so timid they're even too scared to make such claims lest they give racists a target.

                    You have brought no criticism of the myriad evidence and examples I've provided

                    That's due to you missing my point again. Why would I want to criticise Labour delivery that seems worthwhile??

      • Louis 1.2.3
        25 March 2022 at 3:16 pm

        yes DB Brown.

      • Kiwijoker 1.2.4
        25 March 2022 at 3:27 pm

        yes

      • Patricia Bremner 1.2.5
        25 March 2022 at 3:40 pm

        Yes DB, yesdevil Jacinda and C/o should be deaf, such is the cacophony.

        Some well off are gong to really squeal when they have to consider the planet and others first. To quote Dennis “They will be clutching their pearls.”

    • Blade 1.3
      25 March 2022 at 7:34 am

      Labour are in a no win situation here. I heard Luxon the other day during a radio interview. He was talking about Three Waters and a Maori Health Authority organisation – both would be heading south under a National government. Luxon went on to say '' we are all New Zealanders.'' Unfortunately no one has had a word with Luxon and told him most Maori only consider being a New Zealander an add-on to being Maori. That is a fatal flaw in his understanding of race relations.

      • Hongi Ika 1.3.1
        25 March 2022 at 7:47 am

        Maori are te tangata whenua always will be, just like Indians will always be Indians and Cjinese will always be Chinese, and New Zealanders secound as they come from New Zealand.

        • RedLogix 1.3.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 9:28 am

          I am emphatically not a second class New Zealander

          • Ad 1.3.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 9:39 am

            Come back to New Zealand.

            All is forgiven 🙂

            Anyway done you have some distant East Coast Maori lineage?

            • RedLogix 1.3.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 9:46 am

              Yes – that's the ironic stupidity of this racist divisiveness. And it isn't all that distant – my paternal grandfather.

          • Hongi Ika 1.3.1.1.2
            25 March 2022 at 11:25 am

            Red no one said you were a Second Class Citizen, you can identify as Tangata Whenua if you feel like it or Tangata Titiriti whatever takes our fantasy.

          • Blade 1.3.1.1.3
            25 March 2022 at 12:26 pm

            ''I am emphatically not a second class New Zealander.''

            No, you aren't a second class citizen, but in modern New Zealand, er, I mean Aotearoa, you and all other Europeans ( and those not classed as Maori) will be treated increasingly as second class citizens.

            That's a problem for Luxon. ACT is already feeling the heat.

            I don't think Luxon understands that to stop this incessant bs and funding around Maori, he will need to pass policy making him the most hated man in New Zealand.

            Here's an example of what Luxon will face should he be prepared to stand up for all New Zealanders.

            https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/david-seymour-defends-xero-founder-rod-drury-after-national-m-ori-authority-chair-matthew-tukaki-calls-for-product-boycott-over-act-donation.html

            • Drowsy M. Kram 1.3.1.1.3.1
              25 March 2022 at 1:00 pm

              Māori longevity is second class. If being "treated increasingly as second class citizens" is a ‘concern’, might an extra 5+ years of life (on average), compared to those bloody first class Maaris, be some consolation?

              Some may consider the 7-year disparity between the average life expectancy of Māori and non-Māori to be (at least partly) an outcome of systemic racism.

              And some sensitive souls will perceive the 'pale, stale, male' epithet to be racist, ageist and sexist.

              But one example cuts deeper than the other. Being non-Māori is definitely the healthy 'choice' in NZ, and that’s not choice, imho.

              Ethnic inequities in life expectancy attributable to smoking [NZMJ, 2020]

              Contribution of smoking to the life expectancy gap—Māori
              Among Māori men, 2.1 years (28.4%) of the 7.4 year gap in life expectancy was attributable to the higher mortality rates from smoking attributable deaths. Among Māori women, the contribution from smoking attributable deaths was 2.3 years (32.9%) of the 7.0 year gap.

              Drivers of inequity
              Factors contributing to the pervasive and persisting ethnic health inequities are multifaceted and complex. Three main pathways have been identified: (i) differential access to the determinants of health or exposures leading to differences in disease incidence, (ii) differential access to healthcare and (iii) differences in quality of care received. These pathways are driven by different levels of racism, particularly institutionalised and personally mediated or interpersonal racism.

              • Incognito …
                25 March 2022 at 1:16 pm

                Blade and (other?) ACToids appear to fear that they will be dragged down and treated the same way as Māori have been (and live shorted lives on average) instead of hoping that Māori will be treated more equally compared to (and live as long as) their Pākehā brothers and sisters here in NZ. In other words, according to them, it is a zero-sum situation, and a dollar spent on Māori is therefore not spent on Pākehā. This overly simplistic argument seems to have lot of sway with many especially with neo-liberals.

                • Blade …
                  25 March 2022 at 3:49 pm

                  ''Blade and (other?) ACToids.''

                  I have never voted ACT. I class them as the arse end of socialism. They are a socialist party. It's just they expect a return on other peoples money they dish out… unlike Labour.

                  Me thinking I will be dragged down and my life expectancy shortened because Maori get millions of dollars to help them not help themselves, never crosses my mind. However, accountability and self help does cross my mind.

                  If you have anyone working in the health industry, many will tell you Maori make their lives a misery. Missed appointments, abuse, turning up outside visiting hours with half the hapu, theft… and worst of all, failing to follow medical advice.

                  Hospitals give Maori their own whanau rooms, they have hospital liaison teams, the departments are all named in Maori…karakia is on demand….and still their mortality rate is poor…even with their own Hauora healthcare. I'm tired of hearing Maori spokespeople in the media being asked to describe the typical racism and poor service in healthcare Maori face and not being able to. They go off on some strange odyssey.

                  My suggestion for finding poor health indicators: start with vape shops and KFC. I did a tally at a KFC drive through while waiting for my order.blush 20 cars; 11 identifiable as Maori. There's a non colonial health problem for you. KFC family packs – between $40-$70. Lucky there's food banks and WINZ to visit when the dollars run out.

                  In another incident, I picked up discharge papers and a script from my local hospital lying in the gutter. The discharge papers were for a young Maori woman who had been in hospital with sepsis( a killer condition).

                  The discharge papers said it was imperative she take and finish her course of antibiotics. I had a hell of a job tracking her down. Finally got her phone number and rang her. I gave her my address and she said ''oh, ok, thanks'' Never heard from her again.

                  You have two problems, Incognito:

                  1- Accepting the fact reality trumps ideology ( most of the time).

                  2- Explaining how a solid core of Maori who look after themselves and were able to roll up for Covid vaccinations without government funding; a free hangi and karakia, were able to do so all by themselves?

                  I'm more than prepared to discuss the other side of the coin from my own personal experiences…but not while people offer excuses for Maori failure.

                  • DB Brown …
                    25 March 2022 at 5:59 pm

                    Strange you sound just like a nurse I've heard describing Aboriginals. At the time she sounded veeeeery racist. She's not, but she sure had some racist reading materials to get her fired up.

                    It's amazing how easily some fall for the manipulation of others. Clever people finding the bias they seek because personal experience sees the trees cover the woods in frustration. It's understandable perhaps, but it's not accurate.

                    Did you ever wonder why there might be such striking similarities in the behaviours of two colonised people?

                    On both side of the Tasman dog whistling media and their fanboys continued to rain judgement upon others as 'failures' in their limited world view. This does NOTHING for reconciliation, and merely fans the flames.

                    But maybe you want that?

                    And while the trappings of redress are being ever so slowly and begrudgingly rolled out the dysfunction of many generations of abuse are not so easily healed.

                    This whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps stuff is nonsense. We pushed them down. You keep kicking.

                  • Incognito …
                    25 March 2022 at 6:01 pm

                    Me thinking I will be dragged down and my life expectancy shortened because Maori get millions of dollars to help them not help themselves, never crosses my mind.

                    Interesting. How does this square with this:

                    … you and all other Europeans ( and those not classed as Maori) will be treated increasingly as second class citizens.

                    What does it even mean when you say that you will be treated as second class citizen?

                    You’re incorrect that no efforts are made to help Māori help themselves. This is exactly where it is heading! Yet, you and others are flipping your lids in epic unhinged rants. You don’t want to help a drowning man until and unless he learns to swim and saves himself. Bloody poor excuse that he couldn’t swim. \sarc

                    • Blade …
                      25 March 2022 at 7:31 pm

                      ''Did you ever wonder why there might be such striking similarities in the behaviours of two colonised people?''

                      Yes, and I have also seen the striking similarities when colonial powers get the boot, or leave a colonised country.

                      ''On both side of the Tasman dog whistling media and their fanboys continued to rain judgement upon others as 'failures' in their limited world view.This does NOTHING for reconciliation, and merely fans the flames. ''

                      ''But maybe you want that?''

                      Then we both have a problem don't we.

                      No, I want historical grievances settled. I want accountability from Maori…and I want the government(s) to know that their way of doing things may not be good for all.

                      ''This whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps stuff is nonsense. We pushed them down. You keep kicking.''

                      Why do you think we spend millions on Maori.? Where does the money go. Why does nothing improve? Does that ever cross your mind? Or does your liberalism stop you from seeing beyond the noble savage who has been hard done by by Colonel Colonial?

                      A cure would be giving Maori a taste of a favela slum. That would clear the sinuses and focus the mind. For Labour, 20 years in the wilderness may focus their minds on future liberal kowtowing to minority groups without accountability.

                      Of course that's fantasy stuff. But I look forward to your korero as things become worse in all regards for New Zealand, particularly race relations.

                    • Blade …
                      25 March 2022 at 7:49 pm

                      @ Incognito

                      ''What does it even mean when you say that you will be treated as second class citizen?''

                      I won't, I'm Maori. But if you don't have Maori blood, or believe you are Maori…like all those taonga wear Pakeha, I'm afraid the future isn't bright for you in Aotearoa.

                      Let me give you just one benign example:

                      My cousin is doing a prelim six month course to ready her for a full polytech social workers course. All Maori in the course received a $400 education support package. Guess what Pakeha got?

                      This is happening up and done the country. Free computers, cell phones etc. As Billy TK said '' it's not easy being a Maori nowadays.''laugh

                      I don't consider I'm ranting. I'm just offering an opposing view many on this blog take exception to.

                      I just want fairness for everyone. In times past, little time was wasted on Maori and their aspirations. Now we have done a 360, and Pakeha are now in the same situation of Maori circa 1950s

                      Something has to give?

                    • Incognito []
                      26 March 2022 at 11:24 am

                      You won’t explain what you mean? Okay, that’s helpful \sarc

                      And yet you’re repeating your same allegations, without support or explanation, such as this ominous “the future isn’t bright for you in Aotearoa” and this inconsistent and confused gem:

                      Now we have done a 360, and Pakeha are now in the same situation of Maori circa 1950s

                      A “360” isn’t what you think it is and the second part of your ‘sentence’ is something you may have plucked from a dystopian site somewhere on the dark web. Though I’m sure you can vividly remember what it was like being Māori (or Pākehā) in NZ in “circa 1950s”.

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  25 March 2022 at 5:10 pm

                  Fearful and constitutionally incapable of putting themselves in 'feral' shoes – I don’t envy their predicament.
                  sad

      • DB Brown 1.3.2
        26 March 2022 at 7:24 am

        You speak for most Maori do you? Or maybe, after hearing you for only one day, you are here to rubbish them. I think you are scum, and a coward.

    • Muttonbird 1.4
      25 March 2022 at 8:11 am

      Not content with the theft from Maori by force and deception over the two centuries of White Settlement, ACT now wishes to tear up the only document preventing them from stealing what little Maori have left.

      • Blade 1.4.1
        25 March 2022 at 8:18 am

        Yep, just like tribes used to do to each other by ''right of conquest.'' I do hope that ACT, in their rush to steal the last of Maori owned lands, don't take Maori as slaves, or worse, reinstate the smoked head trade.

        • Blazer 1.4.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 8:24 am

          Only problem with your theory…Maori were not conquered.

          They signed a treaty guaranteeing them…rights.

          • Blade 1.4.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 8:33 am

            Which version of the treaty did they sign… or understand? And what of those tribes who didn't sign the treaty? They are now fair game for ACT …and maybe National?

            • Descendant Of Smith 1.4.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 9:05 am

              Yeah cause Europeans never did conquest or get conquered?

              (Anyone would think it isn't happening right now somewhere in Europe?)

              And regardless of which treaty was signed there is ample evidence of the treaty being breached and of much of this breaching done through the courts and legislative systems. It is one of the reasons we can have a good robust Waitangi tribunal examination and remedy – because Maori were not really conquered in battle – they were mainly deprived of what they owned through means that left behind lots of evidence of wrong-doing.

              None of your points are actually relevant – you are doing racist dog-whistling at it's worse. I'm jut a little surprised you didn't hark back to cannibalism as well to go full racist.

              https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/europes-hypocritical-history-of-cannibalism-42642371/#:~:text=Europe%20boasts%20the%20oldest%20fossil,to%20extract%20marrow%20and%20brains.

            • Blazer 1.4.1.1.1.2
              25 March 2022 at 8:01 pm

              What do you mean 'they'?

              You just stated that 'you' are…Maori!

              Surely you mean…'we'!laugh

              • Blade …
                25 March 2022 at 8:16 pm

                Yes, correct, if I was agreeing with everything Maori were doing. Also, I can repair to my Scottish heritage…and maybe my drop of Spanish blood and TRY to see things from their view points, The Scots were very tribal laddie. I have a great Scottish coat of arms?

                But shame on you, Blazer, for not knowing we are a multi racial society full of diversity and candy floss.

                Your correct response should have been the old liberal standards – uncle Tom, or ''you are filled with self hate.''

                I like the self hate trope.cheeky

        • Patricia Bremner 1.4.1.2
          25 March 2022 at 1:08 pm

          Or Blade, Europeans quoting the bit in the Bible about slaves and enacting that again!! See how silly the reverse sounds?

          We are in different times. We signed up to a Treaty. Then we signed up to an agreement regarding indigenous people. Now we live by it. Nobody said it was going to be easy or even comfortable, as we all acknowledge our ethnocentrism.

      • AB 1.4.2
        25 March 2022 at 9:42 am

        It would be a mistake to imagine that ACT really cares about democracy or national unity. Mostly it represents the interests of people who fear that any formal recognition of things Maori or a Maori worldview might impair their ability to privately enrich themselves at the expense of the planet and other people. The main concern is that natural resources and revenue streams that they might, or already do, profit from become inaccessible to them.

        For a party that for years colluded in a little rort that gave them an electorate seat and thereby distorted the proportionality of parliament, to get on their high horse about democracy is a bit funny. These days of course they would win it legitimately, courtesy of the parade of four reckless Covid clowns inhabiting the National Party leadership.

  2. Blade 2
    25 March 2022 at 8:07 am

    A really interesting discourse on China and a little on the Ukraine from former Aussie PM, Kevin Rudd. Rudd, who speaks Mandarin, and is President and CEO of Asia Society, has a new book out called ''The Avoidable War.''

    His interview with Mikey starts at 7.00.

    https://weekondemand.newstalkzb.co.nz/WeekOnDemand/ZB/auckland/2022.03.24-08.00.00-D.mp3

    [lprent: That is interesting – somewhere along the line the automatic audio feature failed. I will have a play with this weekend. ]

  3. Francesca 3
    25 March 2022 at 8:28 am

    An interesting commentary on how Russia/India ties have been strengthened with the rubles for gas dictate, possible consequences of the move,and the swift(heh, no pun)rollout of the alternatives to SWIFT

    India, one of the major economies and the largest democracy in the world has already been trading with Russia under Rouble – Rupee exchange agreements for many decades. Indian banking and finance lawyers privately say that India’s finance ministry along with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank of Russia is “racing against time” in exploring options to “internationalise” Russian version of the SWIFT version – SPFS, starting with India as a launch base outside Russia (being helped by the fact that India has reservations in dealing with China’s CIPS – China’s version for SWIFT – though it is ready to accept expansion of China’s UnionPay card payment system subject to restrictions)

    https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/03/russia-counter-sanctions-unfriendly-nations-by-requiring-gas-payments-in-roubles-dallas-fed-predicts-2022-global-recession-if-russian-energy-supply-remains-restricted.html

    • Ad 3.1
      25 March 2022 at 8:48 am

      Yeah nah.

      India are despite historic Russian ties, at least as vulnerable to US economic sanction as China.

      Russia is playing against India since Russia has very strong links to Pakistan, and is a major arms supplier to Myanmar, and is a formal strategic partner with China.

      India may be unable to avoid sanction under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if it continues to purchase Russian arms of a certain caliber.

      It's also a member of QUAD, which is about to understand why it was formed just in time for this scale of global instability.

      India will be expected to act like a responsible great power seeking to uphold what remains of a rules-based international order. That's the one on which New Zealand among others depend for their continued existence.

      Looking the other way on Russian misbehavior—or worse, appearing to endorse it—would show that New Delhi is not a reliable like-minded democratic partner. They will be punished for it.

      • Blazer 3.1.1
        25 March 2022 at 9:09 am

        In summary, India will be expected to do what it's told!

        At the forefront of U.S foreign policy is maintaining the status of the U.S Dollar as the worlds reserve currency for international trade.

        Ever since the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944 this has been the backbone of American prosperity.

        Along with their dominance at the IMF, it has been a foundation, that is now under serious threat.

        Even the Saudis, who have a petro dollar reinvestment arrangement in exchange for security guarantees are becoming increasingly rebellious.

        The BRIC countries have been accumulating gold for years and they have the desire and intent to move away from dollar denominated debt.

        The U.S achieved its role by being a consistent creditor to the world,now it is a debtor, subsidised by the rest of the world.

        • RedLogix 3.1.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 9:18 am

          In summary, India will be expected to do what it's told!

          In summary India will be expected to not cheerlead for the naked aggressor in the most dangerous conflict since the end of WW2.

          The moment Putin threatened first-strike nuclear action on NATO if they directly interfered, he became a pariah. As long as he remains in power Russia will be isolated – and any nation who supports them even covertly – will be at high risk of being tainted with the same brush.

          • Blazer 3.1.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 9:24 am

            A completely unnecessary conflict…!

            Ukraine misread the situation.

            Zelenskyy: Western nations share ‘responsibility’ for casualties | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

            • RedLogix 3.1.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 9:26 am

              You really should read past the headline of your links

              • Blazer …
                25 March 2022 at 9:28 am

                I read the whole thing…he wants no fly zones.

                The point is Zelensky expected alot lot more support than was forth coming.

                • RedLogix …
                  25 March 2022 at 9:35 am

                  So now it's the US fault for not wanting to immediately escalate the conflict into nuclear conflagration?

                  Is there nothing you cannot twist into making the US the root cause of all evil in the world?

                  • Byd0nz …
                    25 March 2022 at 12:28 pm

                    ‘US the root cause of all evil in the world?’

                    well it is, and future history will show this.

                    The US has only experienced a few years of peace, (about 13) and not even consecutive years. To talk peace and US in the same sentence means you need to spell peace, piece , coz it’s always about getting a piece of someone else’s land or resources.

                  • mikesh …
                    26 March 2022 at 11:06 am

                    Although there were warnings, particularly from Biden, that Russia was about to invade, Zelenskyy seems to have made no attempts (though I'm not really sure on this point) to organize talks with Putin, talks which may have avoided the devastation that this war has caused. Now, even if they succeed in defending Ukraine, the price they will have paid will be enormous.

                    Zelenskyy seems to have relied on NATO support. That would have to be seen as a mistake.

      • Francesca 3.1.2
        25 March 2022 at 9:17 am

        India , of course may be looking for different partners, and doesn't have a particularly benign view of its previous colonial owners

        They certainly seem to have a vibrant and diverse media .This talk show is entertaining , lively and instructive

  4. Dennis Frank 4
    25 March 2022 at 8:38 am

    Why Putin has history with Ukraine:

    Putin is not the first Russian ruler to deny Ukraine’s right to exist. On the contrary, Ukraine denial is a common thread running through Russian history that stretches back hundreds of years and remains widespread in today’s Russia. However, few have ever embraced this doctrine of denial as fervently as Putin, who has made clear that ending Ukrainian independence is a sacred mission which will define his place in history.

    The current war is merely the latest and most dramatic stage in this long-term campaign. Putin’s first bid to end Ukrainian independence came in 2004 and saw him personally visit Kyiv on the eve of the country’s presidential election to campaign for the pro-Kremlin candidate.

    This hubristic intervention backfired disastrously, enraging millions of otherwise apolitical Ukrainians and helping to spark mass pro-democracy protests that came to be known as the Orange Revolution. Ukraine’s embrace of democracy and historic turn towards the West in the years following the Orange Revolution infuriated Putin and further convinced him of the need to reassert Russian control over the country.

    Putin has made no secret of his Ukraine obsession. Indeed, he has repeatedly sought to explain why he believes Ukrainian statehood is both an accident and a crime. In a 7,000-word July 2021 essay entitled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” Putin argued that Ukrainians were in fact Russians and dismissed the entire notion of a separate Ukrainian identity. “I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia,” he concluded.

    In a series of lengthy anti-Ukrainian diatribes delivered on the eve of the current war, Putin went even further, condemning the entire country as an illegitimate “Anti-Russia” that could no longer be tolerated.

    Putin’s personal attacks on Ukraine have been accompanied by years of relentless Kremlin propaganda designed to dehumanize Ukrainians. Since 2014, Russian TV audiences have been spoon-fed a daily diet of grotesque lies depicting Ukrainians as the modern-day successors to Hitler’s Nazis. The Russian public has been primed to see Ukraine as part of Russia and encouraged to view any Ukrainians who disagree as traitors or Nazis. The entire notion of Ukrainian identity has been demonized and equated with the worst criminals of world history. Unsurprisingly, all the available evidence indicates strong Russian public support for an invasion that has shocked and appalled audiences elsewhere around the world.

    Meanwhile, accounts of arrests in areas under Russian occupation appear to confirm pre-invasion fears over the existence of Kremlin “kill lists.” A growing number of elected officials, journalists, activists, former military servicemen and religious leaders have been abducted by Russian forces in a sinister echo of Stalin-era terror tactics.

    [Peter Dickinson is Editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert Service. This article is based on an address delivered by the author to Swiss members of parliament at the Federal Palace in Bern on March 15.]

    The writer binary-frames two outcomes: genocide or Russia defeated. The third obvious contender is negotiated peace. His bleak outlook rules that out. His thesis that compromise is impossible is based on Putin's inner world-view, as revealed here.

    Can Putin be stopped? The first step is to recognize the terrible reality of his destructive intentions. As Yale historian Timothy Snyder recently tweeted, “When Putin says that there is no Ukrainian nation and no Ukrainian state, he means that he intends to destroy the Ukrainian nation and the Ukrainian state. Everyone gets that, right?”

    https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/vladimir-putins-ukraine-war-can-end-in-only-two-ways-genocide-or-defeat/

    Well, no, everyone doesn't! Everyone assumes that peacemaking is feasible because Putin can be forced to compromise – call this a faith-based view! At what point will the evidence to the contrary become overwhelming??

    • RedLogix 4.1
      25 March 2022 at 9:58 am

      Your last paras nails it. In my view Putin inner world view of a Rus moral superiority is not much removed from Hitler's more openly expressed claims for the Ayrian people.

      Yet the perverse outcome of his paranoid delusions is that a few weeks ago the EU was content to trade their way into normalising relations with Russia, and NATO was a wobbly defensive entity that few saw much future purpose for.

      All that has changed in a moment. Now the EU and NATO really do want to crush Putin – and if this means crushing Russia to do so – they will. However long it takes.

      All that negotiations can achieve now is to temporarily freeze the conflict.

      • Blazer 4.1.1
        26 March 2022 at 11:26 am

        ' NATO was a wobbly defensive entity that few saw much future purpose for.'

        Interesting…opinion.

        One does wonder if that was the case, why Ukraine was so fervent about wanting to join this 'wobbly' pact.

        It seems that Zelensky has relied on NATO to support him full bore against Russian interventions ,and the primary reason he would not entertain Russias demands.

        • RedLogix 4.1.1.1
          26 March 2022 at 11:41 am

          Your persistent victim blaming here is repellant.

          • Blazer 4.1.1.1.1
            26 March 2022 at 12:06 pm

            Open both your …eyes.

            'Earlier this month when The Intercept’s Ryan Grim was able to get a word in edgewise at a White House press briefing amid the throngs of mass media reporters demanding to know why Biden still hasn’t started World War 3, Press Secretary Jen Psaki gave a very revealing answer.

            “So, aside from the request for weapons, President Zelensky has also requested that the US be more involved in negotiations toward a peaceful resolution to the war. What is the U.S. doing to push those negotiations forward?” asked Grim.

            “Well, one of the steps we’ve taken — a significant one — is to be the largest provider of military and humanitarian and economic assistance in the world, to put them in a greater position of strength as they go into these negotiations,” Psaki answered, completely dodging the question of whether the US was actually doing anything to help negotiate peace.

            Blinken has made no effort to talk to Lavrov…at all.

    • Peter 4.2
      25 March 2022 at 10:34 am

      "Putin argued that Ukrainians were in fact Russians and dismissed the entire notion of a separate Ukrainian identity. “I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia,” he concluded."

      So as a true megalomaniac, his life mission is to put the world to rights and that's what he's doing now. His 'getting a life' is to ensure that lots of other lose theirs.

    • Mike the Lefty 4.3
      25 March 2022 at 4:16 pm

      Adolf Hitler often said that if you tell big lies and tell them often enough, then eventually they become the truth.

      You can see who Putin gets his inspiration from.

  5. Sanctuary 5
    25 March 2022 at 8:46 am

    The media discourse around Seymour's latest racist brain fart highlights an aspect of MMP that needs wider consideration.

    Let's face it – under FPP Seymour would be an obscure "controversial" backbencher from Epsom at best, ACT would not be a party in parliament and the Maori party would be largely ignored and would oscillate between zero, one or two seats on the opposition benches. The public debate would be between the two "broad church" main parties spokes persons who between them would represent the vast bulk of voters.

    Instead, an extremist party – ACT – whose core support is 1-2% (their current number of MPs is Judith's gift to the nation) sets the media "noise" and is debated with by the Maori party, who have similar levels of support. So we are having a race debate dominated by the representatives of two parties that between them do not represent 95%+ of voters.

    • Belladonna 5.1
      25 March 2022 at 8:54 am

      All of which, from the perspective of the right, would be said about the Green Party as well.
      The representation of these elements of society, which were being totally ignored by both of the 'main' parties in the FPP era, was the strong driver to proportional representation.

      The Left had an unprecedented in MPP level of popular support following the last election – an outright majority for Labour, with support from the Greens taking them close to 2/3 of parliament.

      • Sanctuary 5.1.1
        25 March 2022 at 9:10 am

        The main driver of the move to MMP was public outrage at the arrogant wielding of unbridled executive power between 1975-91 and a desire to punish both main parties by knobbling them electorally.

        • Descendant Of Smith 5.1.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 9:47 am

          I think at the time it also represented a desire for a more population reflective diversity in parliament.

          In those of a political bent there may have been anger etc but I think the vast majority who supported it just wanted to see more of themselves there. This was also occurring elsewhere in NZ – Puao Te Ata Tu for instance recognised that social welfare staffing did not reflect the people that that government department was serving and needed to do so.

          There was a maturing of the political system – a natural evolution. Opponents of MMP like to cast it as only an angry response but that is dismissive and self-serving. The diversity has definitely increased as has the range of views. I continue to think this is a good thing.

          • Dennis Frank 5.1.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 10:18 am

            it also represented a desire for a more population reflective diversity in parliament

            Correct. That's why I voted for it. Sanctuary's punishment explanation probably motivated plenty of others but I'd known the left & right were both wrong for half my life by then…

          • Sanctuary 5.1.1.1.2
            25 March 2022 at 10:29 am

            Diversity was definitely a major selling point of MMP at the time, but I would argue simple political anger at the subversion of the democratic will by abuse of executive power in collusion with parts of the bureaucracy was the main reason MMP won. People had had enough of Treasury running the country via a simple majority of cabinet.

            I agree that MMP represented a maturing of our electoral system and I think after 25 years we should be mature enough to acknowledge the obvious flaws of MMP. Several aspects of the electoral system need reform, and we also need to acknowledge that MMP is a system designed to prevent radical change.

            This means (for example) doing much about the housing crisis is impossible since both our main parties need to dominate the middle ground to govern – and since two thirds or so of New Zealanders still own their own home (and they probably make up 80% of active voters) no major party is particularly interested in altering the status quo if that means upsetting that decisive voting bloc.

            The real tragedy of the Greens is their complete inability to grasp the nature of MMP politics. Their MPs often fail to make the transition from activist to member of parliament, two quite different roles. So they agitate and froth mouthing lazy platitudes and epithets on behalf of the excluded instead of rolling their sleeves up and making the system work to create new status quos that include their constituency – a status quo the electoral system will then work to protect.

            • Peter 5.1.1.1.2.1
              25 March 2022 at 10:37 am

              One of the funny things for the Greens (I wouldn't call it a real tragedy) is all those outside it who keep telling them what they should do.

            • Belladonna 5.1.1.1.2.2
              25 March 2022 at 12:44 pm

              This means (for example) doing much about the housing crisis is impossible since both our main parties need to dominate the middle ground to govern – and since two thirds or so of New Zealanders still own their own home (and they probably make up 80% of active voters) no major party is particularly interested in altering the status quo if that means upsetting that decisive voting bloc.

              However, this would be true under a FPP system as well. Both of the major politicial parties have one eye on the next election at all times. They know perfectly well that the swathe of central voters will 'punish' any radical change at the ballot box.

              And given that the last radical change was the 4th Labour government of Lange and Douglas bringing in a wholesale privization of the state sector [yes, I'm over-simplifying] – middle NZ (and their allies) are rightfully wary of any move towards radical solutions.

              • Just Saying …
                25 March 2022 at 2:43 pm

                Wow I can post without too much of the usual techno palaver again.

                Belladonna, I'd be happy if it was just one eye on the next election. How I see it is that actually, both eyes are on the next election, with a need to give some appearance of following the agenda of the party. The justification is that actually governing in accord with that agenda in a manner that would bring more than cosmetic change would cause it to lose the next election Which would bring a worse outcome in regard to that agenda etc.

                Which is stalemate. Hence the rise and rise of the shallow, careerist 'leftist' politician, and politics as mere game becoming ever more prevalent. The public (who are interested) are reduced to fantasy and cheering on 'our' team, as if that team was relevant beyond the game. In fact parliamentary teams bear about as much relation to the actual lives of supporters and to their personal and collective nation-state and physical environment aspirations, as do the All Blacks to their fans.

                There are certainly those closer to the game and therefore with personal real-world interests, but for most, its just a daydream.

            • Ed1 5.1.1.1.2.3
              25 March 2022 at 2:57 pm

              Diversity yes, but more diversity of political opinion than of either gender or ethnicity. The examples of the Social Credit party getting over 20% of votes and only 2 out of 92 seats in 1981, and Values which gained over 5% in 1978 with no seats. Many who disliked the policies of either Social Credit or Values still saw the election results as unfair. It probably helped MMP that National (Muldoon) gained power in 1978 with 39.8% of votes and 55 seats compared to Labour (Bill Rowling) with 40.4% of votes and 40 seats (Social Credit retained 1 seat won shortly before in a by-election, despite getting 16.1% of votes). It still took until 1996 to get the first MMP election . . .

    • DB Brown 5.2
      25 March 2022 at 11:04 am

      Some media have always leapt for the loudest soundbite, even back when it wasn't called a soundbite. They so love controversy, the worst the better the bottom line, which is the bottom line.

      Some would say bottom line feeders.

      MMP didn't create the hunger for a tantalising headline. Greed does that.

      • Belladonna 5.2.1
        25 March 2022 at 12:46 pm

        Think it's a little unfair to characterize this as 'Greed'

        Bad news sells papers – this is just as true in the digital age as it was in the print era.

        • DB Brown 5.2.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 1:38 pm

          Well, if they make persons of little consequence or rare opinion seem of more import than they are by magnifying their nonsense – to sell papers… call it what you will.

          I did mention it was not new.

          "Bad news sells papers" That's not an excuse for magnifying idiot opinions though, is it.

          • Belladonna 5.2.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 5:28 pm

            'Idiot' opinions is a matter of perspective.
            Truly 'idiot' opinions (e.g. Flat Earth, tinfoil helmets, creationism) don't get traction in the mainstream media.

    • mikesh 5.3
      26 March 2022 at 12:14 pm

      It is high time we rid ourselves of the threshold. Doing so would mean that the actual support for each party would be reflected in the number of parliamentary seats that it gained. In that case there would be no need for special arrangements like the one in Epsom.

      Voters would be also be encouraged to vote for their preferred party instead of passing it over, thinking that it had no chance of reaching the threshold anyway; or voting for some other party just to make sure that party got over the 5% mark.

      We should also look for some formula that would get rid of overhangs.

  6. Sanctuary 6
    25 March 2022 at 8:51 am

    I expect the people will rise up and replace the current government in Honiara, with the new authorities then requesting police assistance from Australia and NZ, in 3, 2, 1…

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/300549709/china-to-sign-first-pacific-security-deal-which-will-give-them-warships-on-australias-doorstep

  7. pat 7
    25 March 2022 at 8:51 am

    "For Tokomaru Bay, this is the second severe flood in less than a year.

    The town was hit by extensive flooding in June last year, which left Hatea-a-Rangi School students out of their classrooms for eight months while repairs were completed.

    Tamariki had only been back on site for a few weeks before water went through the school for a second time.

    Hatea-a-Rangi Board of Trustees chair Lillian Ward said the students were once again 'school-less'.

    "It has really devastated us … our children especially – they were so proud to move into what they called a 'brand spanking new school'.

    "It took eight months to fix the school after 20 June. We wouldn't have a clue what the timeframe will be on this one but … this time around it is more devastating," she said."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/463954/tairawhiti-flood-damage-will-take-about-a-year-to-clean-up

    "Houston, we have a problem"

    • Belladonna 7.1
      25 March 2022 at 9:03 am

      Flooding twice in 2 years. Sounds like it's built on a high-risk area of the floodplain.
      Time to re-locate.

      • pat 7.1.1
        25 March 2022 at 9:05 am

        Yes , it may be wise to relocate….which of course takes resources, much like the constant repairs.

        Finite resources.

    • Ad 7.2
      25 March 2022 at 9:04 am

      Managed retreat. Same for Westport.

      • DB Brown 7.2.1
        25 March 2022 at 9:34 am

        Yep. Get the housing and other stuff nature will trash out of there. Harsh but…* Take a whip to our forestry managers to create buffer zones and alternate plans for forest slash (rather than leaving it to smash bridges and coat riparian zones in rain events).

        I suggest they work together in creating boilers that make (mostly) power and charcoal. Use the charcoal to scrub flue gases and organic waste streams then use the spent charcoal as fertiliser/soil amendment/carbon sequestration. Then, we might stop bitching about forestry if it actually heals soil, cleans air, and punches above its weight with regards to carbon. Right now forestry is greenwashed pest species monocultures that can destroy landscapes well beyond their allocation.

        Locals might turn the floodplains into annual cropping land. Old school. No fertiliser required. A few earthworks here and there to let the floodplains flood, under direction…

        *One could stand and fight, but they'd need to take on the oil industry, the transport industry, the industry industry… it's a fair sight bigger job than building a seawall. And now that rain arrives in 'biblical' proportions we'll need more than thoughts and prayers to, pardon me, weather the storm.

    • pat 7.3
      25 March 2022 at 9:40 am

      "Let’s start with some basics, for the sake of those of my readers who haven’t waded their way through the fine print of the paper. The central idea of catabolic collapse is that human societies pretty consistently tend to produce more stuff than they can afford to maintain. What we are pleased to call “primitive societies” – that is, societies that are well enough adapted to their environments that they get by comfortably without huge masses of cumbersome and expensive infrastructure – usually do so in a fairly small way, and very often evolve traditional ways of getting rid of excess goods at regular intervals so that the cost of maintaining it doesn’t become a burden. As societies expand and start to depend on complex infrastructure to support the daily activities of their inhabitants, though, it becomes harder and less popular to do this, and so the maintenance needs of the infrastructure and the rest of the society’s stuff gradually build up until they reach a level that can’t be covered by the resources on hand."

      https://www.resilience.org/stories/2011-01-20/onset-catabolic-collapse/

      • Dennis Frank 7.3.1
        25 March 2022 at 10:24 am

        evolve traditional ways of getting rid of excess goods

        Op-shops serve this purpose well. However the problem lies upstream from them. The problem lies in garages all over the nation. You can tell by the cars parked in front of the garage door because they no longer fit inside. Consumer crap!

        • Puckish Rogue 7.3.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 10:30 am

          My wife and I frequent op shops quite regularly, unless its for a specific item of clothing, some of the finds we've made make your head spin

          A tagged Benetton dress at 200 pounds for 15 dollars is pretty hard to pass up though the nz made 2XL Swandri in pristine condition for 130 was my favourite

          Savemart, if you're prepared to do a bit of travelling, has really good clothing.

          • Sabine 7.3.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 1:05 pm

            Best find i had was a Trelise Cooper Leather Jacket for 75 NZD. Was a nice affordable present for someone.

            • Puckish Rogue 7.3.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 1:10 pm

              Amazing what some people will throw out.

              I guess everyone has different priorities

              • joe90 …
                25 March 2022 at 1:26 pm

                My expensive brand hunter SO is obsessed with pre-worn clothes shops. Goes through the racks like a dose of lactulose and it's look at this, look at this, it's only $22. It's a $200 garment.

                • Puckish Rogue …
                  25 March 2022 at 1:52 pm

                  Makes perfect sense to me.

                  An icebreaker top needed a, small, black patch so I got a an ice breaker merino top (thats basically going to be sweated in and bush bashed) for cheap

                  I've got a macpac duck down puffer jacket for cheap (no stains) but the holy grail for me (since I got the Swanni) will be a Swazi jacket (Tahr or similar)

        • Sabine 7.3.1.2
          25 March 2022 at 10:42 am

          Or like in my neighbour case the garage was transformed into a room for the daughter and her child who are homeless and did not cope well one of our rundown homeless motels.

        • Belladonna 7.3.1.3
          25 March 2022 at 5:48 pm

          Major reasons that cars are not in garages around here: Garage turned into a bedroom (sometimes for a family); in older houses, modern cars are too wide to fit in – can't open the car doors); too many cars at the house to fit into the garage (e.g. 3 people with cars living there, only 2 garage spaces).
          Not really seeing the 'garage filled with crap' as a significant factor (though, ironically, it is for me – as my basement is damp – so out-of-season clothes, sewing fabric, christmas decorations, etc. actually are stored in the garage – though, in addition to, not instead of, the car)

          My Mum is a great de-cluttering minimalizer. Unfortunately, that means that she relies on me to either supply whatever it was that she's gotten rid of (extension power cord, navy blue reel of cotton), or transport her to buy a new one…..

          • pat 7.3.1.3.1
            25 March 2022 at 5:54 pm

            Dennis missed (?) the more important aspect of the section he quoted…" usually do so in a fairly small way"…..I dont think 8 billion can be considered small, or even 5.1 million….more population demands more intensive systems.

            • Belladonna 7.3.1.3.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 8:19 pm

              Also that living minimalist lifestyles pre-supposes either a very short and easily accessible supply chain (your blacksmith down the road forging you a new knife); or access to a highly-developed and extensive supply chain (you can hop online and order the new Cat7 cable, which will be manufactured in China, shipped to NZ, and delivered to your door).

              When you don't have security over either of these things, retaining stuff 'just in case' becomes a more valid strategy. 'I'm going to store this 'old' Cat5 cable just in case I need one, and can't get a replacement'

              I know that we're building and retaining a lot more supply inventory at work than we used to (3-6 month buffer).

              • pat …
                25 March 2022 at 8:23 pm

                and there are too many things that need to be kept 'just in case'…a lot of wasted production which makes the problem worse.

                We have been operating at the extreme limits of our capacity, an accident waiting to happen….and it is.

    • Sanctuary 7.4
      25 March 2022 at 10:00 am

      The amazing thing about that item is that almost all private homes in Tokomaru Bay had their foundations elevated after cyclone Bola in 1988, so flooding of private property has been limited. Yet here we are, in 2022, building a school which doesn't meet a requirement that should have been obvious to anyone with eyes to observe unique aspects of the local built environment. Unfortunately, the failure to use curiosity and intuitive reasoning to inform planning decisions appears to be a recurring characteristic of much of the infrastructure building in New Zealand.

      The other question is the ongoing viability of the current agriculture model in a region whose transport infrastructure is poor, easily degraded and expensive to repair and where the environment is subject to very high levels of erosion. Again, these are questions that have been asked – and unanswered – for at least fifty years.

    • weston 7.5
      25 March 2022 at 10:41 am

      In times past houses and buildings that were flooded were simply cleaned dryed out and reinhabitated so whats changed ?.Building methods and materials have changed , so now instead of a solid tongue an groove floor normally made from quality timber and which can stand being wet and dry again for a hundred years ! we use particle board which is cheap and fast to install but turns back into sawdust in no time if it gets wet .

      compounding the problem is the universal use of plaster board wall linings which again is fast to install and relatively cheap but is just paper glued on to a thin veneer of plaster and doesnt like getting wet !!.

      Its like we all live in fairy land where nothing bad or adverse ever happens !?Modern building methods were supposedly evolved because this was deemed "progress " but what kind of progress is it when a house can be made completely unlivable with a single inundation of water requiring huge sums to remedy ?? Something is very wrong .

      • DB Brown 7.5.1
        25 March 2022 at 11:14 am

        Very good points.

      • joe90 7.5.2
        25 March 2022 at 12:16 pm

        we use particle board

        Not any more.

        compounding the problem is the universal use of plaster board wall linings

        Are you suggesting we go back to fibrous plaster and sap-wood sarking and scrim, or is there another affordable miracle lining material that doesn't mind getting wet?

        • DB Brown 7.5.2.1
          25 March 2022 at 12:42 pm

          Really, we've stopped with the particle board? That is good news if it is so.

          Gib board is relatively benign. Some outfit has started recycling it too, at least in Auckland. It is useless in water. But, our houses shouldn't be in water…

          "Its like we all live in fairy land where nothing bad or adverse ever happens"

          That. A pressing need for architects, planners, engineers et al to remove ones head from ones ass.

          Many of our buildings are inefficient power drains unfit for purpose. But when the desirable outcome is flash, rather than function…

          Housing should be efficient, resilient, planned with knowledge of sun and wind and tide. Knowledge of the catchment, the history… So that it is a shelter from the storm, not a liability.

          One time we raced out after a cyclone to ‘save’ some isolated islanders, who, when we arrived asked, ‘why are you here?’

          They, and their houses, survive cyclones. All the western buildings were liabilities, with iron sheets flying about in the storm.

          Function over flash. The above was taught in uni (Environsci 101), I’ll try find a link to the event.

        • weston 7.5.2.2
          25 March 2022 at 4:29 pm

          Well if the alternative is having to rebuild or otherwise repair something of vital intrinsic necessesity as our home then yeah maybe we should or we could improve on the old ideas ..what about building a reinforced mould with all of the wiring pluming etc fitted on top of one of those modern concrete insulated floors and filling the whole thing all the internal walls and maybe the roof too with some type of concrete mix it would fucking near last forever could concievably be cheap and impevious to floods ?

          • DB Brown 7.5.2.2.1
            25 March 2022 at 6:16 pm

            I think governments and their training institutions should send engineers architects and permaculture people to places historically and currently ravaged by weather and learn from their indigenous folks pronto.

            Better design. In line with nature, but not necessarily primitive. Best of both worlds could be achieved with good planning and open minds.

            The scary thing is we keep seeing stuff we didn't imagine only a few years back. We need to imagine worse winds and rain than we've ever seen, and design like our buildings are subject to that.

            That rain the other morning in Auckland that was a record… I have a 4 metre section of gutter on a greenhouse, 150 mm (cleared, I checked) downpipe that, at one point, could not divert the amount of water falling on a mere 16 sq m. It started overflowing along the length of the gutter. That’s a LOT of water.

            We could instead reverse greed, corporate control, CO2 levels, LOL!

    • Belladonna 7.6
      25 March 2022 at 8:11 pm

      In a case of serendipity – this came through a feed from another site.

      Referencing the US school situation, with ageing school buildings, combined with climate change and increases in natural disasters (floods being the most common and the most costly) – with 2021 at an all-time-high – up from the previous all-time high in 2020.

      https://www.npr.org/2022/03/21/1084912552/climate-change-schools

      • pat 7.6.1
        25 March 2022 at 8:19 pm

        It is essentially insurance….we spread the risk and use our resources to make good our losses, if those loses exceed our ability to make good the model ceases to work.

        And insurance (a major component of the financial system) is teetering on the edge of viability.

        Again, nothing to do with money.

  8. Puckish Rogue 8
    25 March 2022 at 9:12 am

    An interesting bottom line.

    Whether I agree with it or not I do like it when a minor support party does something like this because whats the point of being in power if you don't try to instigate changes you believe in

    The Green Party could take note…

    'Revealed exclusively to 1News, party leader David Seymour says it would be a bottom line if forming a Government with National.'

    ACT proposes that the next government passes legislation defining the principles of the Treaty, then ask the people to vote on it becoming law.

    The Treaty Principles Act would say:

    1. All citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties
    2. All political authority comes from the people by democratic means, including universal suffrage, and regular and free elections with a secret ballot
    3. New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity is illegal.

    [Links required for all the bits & pieces that you copied & pasted – Incognito]

  9. Descendant Of Smith 9
    25 March 2022 at 9:27 am

    Pity then ACT voted against prisoners being able to vote. Only the Greens wanted all prisoners to be able to vote.

    "Prisoners serving sentences of less than three years are set to vote at this election, after Parliament partially removed a blanket ban on prisoner voting rights.

    All prisoners were banned from voting in 2010, prior to then prisoners with sentences of three years or less could vote.

    Today, Parliament voted with Labour, the Green Party and NZ First in favour, while National, ACT and Jami Lee Ross voted against allowing prisoners serving sentences of three years or less to vote."

    And where do permanent residents fit in – they are allowed to vote currently. What of their political rights and duties – how will they differ? Will they still be able to vote?

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2020/06/24/prisoner-voting-rights-bill-passes-in-parliament/

    • Puckish Rogue 9.1
      25 March 2022 at 9:32 am

      Nope.

      Prisoners lose all sorts of rights when they go to prison. Voting should always be one of them.

      • Descendant Of Smith 9.1.1
        25 March 2022 at 9:38 am

        I care little that you don't think prisoners should be able to vote just pointing out the inconsistency in saying all New Zealanders as if he means it when the evidence is that he doesn't.

        • Puckish Rogue 9.1.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 9:42 am

          Its not inconsistent at all.

          Go to prison you lose your right to vote, stay out of prison you vote.

          No matter who you are.

          • Descendant Of Smith 9.1.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 9:51 am

            Doesn't happen now. And remand prisoners haven't been convicted of anything and may never be to boot.

            Prisoners as a matter of principle should always have a say on who governs them – it is those lawmakers who decide to take away their liberty and through what means. I'd argue that they should be first in line for voting rights.

            • Puckish Rogue 9.1.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 10:02 am

              No.

              Prisoners already get enough special treatment.

              This is not about prisoners rights, its about people wanting to signal how progressive they are.

              The more you make prison like the outside world the less of a deterrent prison becomes, its enough of a joke already.

          • McFlock 9.1.1.1.2
            25 March 2022 at 3:41 pm

            ISTR having this argument before.

            The role of prison is to protect society from the currently dangerous and to rehabilitate them so they are no longer dangerous. The phrasing in the Crimes Act of "is liable to" also suggests a repayment of debt.

            So I'm not sure how relevant the right to vote is to those purposes, at least any more than a general right to breathe.

            I can see how it might disenfranchise people in demographic groups who are over-represented in the prison population, however. Especially if it is merely a step in the American slide from "no voting while in prison" to "no votes after release from prison".

            • Puckish Rogue 9.1.1.1.2.1
              25 March 2022 at 3:50 pm

              'Especially if it is merely a step in the American slide from "no voting while in prison" to "no votes after release from prison".'

              Good thing I haven't said anything remotely like that then isn't it.

              • McFlock …
                25 March 2022 at 3:57 pm

                to clarify, yeah. Not you.

                I just can't see any other point to disenfranchising current prisoners (not even a plan I can disagree with – I just don't see an angle), so I do believe that was the longer term goal in 2010.

                It's bounced around quite a bit, though.

                • Puckish Rogue …
                  25 March 2022 at 4:16 pm

                  Think of it this way then, if voting rights are so important for prisoners and prisoners are clambering for them (if they are they haven't moaned to me about it) then consider it an incentive to not commit crimes in the future

                  I'm absolutely not being facetious at all

                  But seriously what ticks me off the most about this is people are doing this because its easy, its simple.

                  Voting rights for prisoners yeah lets do it, lets make them feel a part of the community and they'll re-enter society so much easier

                  Maybe they will, maybe the idea of voting and taking part in a democracy is just the spur these guys (and girls) need to inspire them to change

                  But there are far more worthy and needed issues that can be done that will integrate the crims back into society far more successfully than voting will

                  More money into rehabilitation and finding the staff to run it, more money into numeracy and literacy as above, more money into mental health and addiction issues as above, more money trades training as above, more money into understanding that women aren't actually punching bags would also be good

                  Fantastic, job done?

                  Nope, not by a long shot.

                  The crims now out of prison, where will he/she go…back to the same cesspool of crime and drugs and poverty and hopelessness they came from most likely

                  Work a minimum wage job getting up early or…knock over a house or two and sell some drugs (yes that comes from the crims mouths)

                  Instead lets give all crims the vote and we can collectively pat ourselves on the back for doing a good thing and ignore all the other issues

                  • McFlock …
                    25 March 2022 at 4:47 pm

                    Now I'm the one who said none of that.

                    Voting is a right. Doesn't matter if we choose to exercise it, it's a right we are free to choose to exercise.

                    Removal of this right for prisoners without a decent reason is removal of a right without good reason. It doesn't matter if it's a big deal to prisoners or not.

                    It's not patting ourselves on the back for doing a good thing, it's a basic minimum of ensuring people in society don't have their rights pointlessly removed.

                    If there's a point to it, fine. Especially a compelling reason of how it's for the good of society or protecting people. Sure. If they do something bad, their base character bars them from office, because they might corrupt the office or draw it into disrepute simply by someone of such poor character being able to hold that office. Fine.

                    But there's no compelling reason to remove the right to vote from prisoners, is there?

                    • Puckish Rogue …
                      25 March 2022 at 4:54 pm

                      True, that started out as a reply and then morphed into a rant aimed at well no one really

                      On the other hand I see no compelling reason to give the vote to someone that chooses to ignore the laws and rules of the country either and since prison is, unfortunately, all too brief it is only a temporary removal of a right

                    • McFlock …
                      25 March 2022 at 5:33 pm

                      The compelling reasons are:

                      • that it's a right
                      • that the preservation of that right is essential for the functioning of a democracy
                      • that this right is no different to any other right irrelevant to the justification for imprisonment: should we remove all rights from prisoners, legalising slavery, murder, and torture as long as the victims are prisoners? Why this right but not those?

                      It doesn't matter if the removal is "temporary". It's still an arbitrary removal of a right without justification, and could easily lead to an acceptance of permanent removal of that or any other right.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    25 March 2022 at 5:41 pm

                    …and since prison is, unfortunately, all too brief…

                    Punitive Pucky – 'lock 'em up and throw away the key'?

                    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/376381/watch-who-s-in-prison

                    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ex-inmate-takes-prison-operator-serco-to-court-over-alleged-degrading-treatment/JSSIWYJXRGIHPDG7A7FDIMNVFI/

                    Otoh, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    25 March 2022 at 9:57 pm

                    Calls for (more) punitive sentencing, and incarceration conditions, tap into something primal (an eye for an eye), so following this approach will satisfy some, but it is flawed, imho.

                    Exploring alternatives requires an open mind, and considerable resources to implement effectively.

                    Reducing prison population, reducing recidivism rates and helping reintegration into communities
                    https://www.nzhowardleague.org.nz/

                    Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review [Sept 2021]
                    Based on a much larger meta-analysis of 116 studies, the current analysis shows that custodial sanctions have no effect on reoffending or slightly increase it when compared with the effects of noncustodial sanctions such as probation. This finding is robust regardless of variations in methodological rigor, types of sanctions examined, and sociodemographic characteristics of samples.

                    The criminal justice system is broken.
                    New Zealand has one of the highest incarceration rates in the developed world. Around 9000 people are in prison at any one time. That’s just under 200 prisoners per 100,000 people, compared to somewhere between the 30 and 60 in the Nordic countries. This is worse than it used to be: the rate was just 83 in 1980.

                    The logic behind imprisonment is that it keeps people safe by deterring crime and rehabilitating offenders. But when you dig deeper, there’s little evidence that it actually works that way.

                    About 60 per cent of New Zealand prisoners will reoffend, and 40 per cent will be reimprisoned within two years of being released. Numerous international studies show that prison only deters offending in certain limited cases — mainly white-collar crime by white middle-class men.

                    Instead of protecting society by reducing overall harm, prison exacerbates many existing social problems.

                    Generations of disadvantage: a view from the District Court bench. Ethel Benjamin Law Foundation Commemorative Address 2018
                    It is even worse for young offenders in prison. More than four out of five prisoners under the age of 20 have been in state care.
                    …
                    Those in youth justice residences are 10 times more likely to have a mental health disorder than youth generally. As a recent study concluded – rather chillingly – in New Zealand youth justice residences, “some form of psychological need was the rule rather than the exception.”
                    The pattern repeats in the adult jurisdiction. More than a third of offenders have a mental illness, while nine out of ten prisoners have a diagnosable lifetime mental illness disorder.
                    …
                    The prevalence of neurodisabilities is equally high amongst adult offenders: 95% of female prisoners, and almost half of all prisoners have a traumatic brain injury, and as many as 70% of prisoners have significant literacy problems, a strong marker of future criminal offending.
                    …
                    Overall, Māori are six times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Māori.

                    Prison Policy Initiative
                    The strongest predictor for recidivism: poverty

                    • KJT …
                      25 March 2022 at 10:05 pm

                      A rather thoughtful prison officer I knew, said most of the prison population would be avoided if we helped youngsters with literacy, a stake in society, job opportunities, mental health and education, before they offended. I.E. Addressed poverty!
                      Sending them to “crime University” usually results in a lifetime of disaffection and recidivism.

                      Interesting that the only crimes where prison has evidence of a real deterrant effect, is on White collar crime. They type of criminal that is least likely to be imprisoned.

                    • Puckish Rogue …
                      25 March 2022 at 11:46 pm

                      Yeah it's not hard to work out what the issues are, a couple of weeks in the wings and you realise just how messed up a lot of them are

                      I would also add in somehow reaching the mum as well because Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is no joke and very prevalent in prisoners

                    • Incognito …
                      26 March 2022 at 11:39 am

                      I’m detecting a sub-text with some here that many in prison are messed up and cannot make good decisions & choices to save themselves, which is indeed an issue and in fact, it is the issue. This would be (another?) reason why those people should not have a say in elections that may possibly influence outcomes for all of us law-abiding citizens and upstanding members of society, God forbid. For example, prisoners might vote for the ‘wrong’ political party!! Thus, voting should be reserved for those who have shown that they’re worthy of exercising this right. You can guess how one can show/prove his/her ‘worthiness’. To Hell with democratic principles and Human Rights, meritocracy rules! And keeping up appearances …

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      26 March 2022 at 2:22 pm

                      Voting
                      Dementia doesn’t change your right to vote.

                      If you are living with dementia, you have a right to vote.

                      That’s the case whether you live at home, in a residential care facility or a secure dementia unit. Everyone with dementia has a right to vote, regardless of capacity. [my emphasis]
                      https://alzheimers.org.nz/get-support/living-with-dementia/voting/

                      Expressing the opinion that citizens in prison should be deprived of their right to vote is fine. But if citizens are actually being deprived of that right then (as McFlock said) there should be a decent/compelling reason. Punitive impulses do not a decent/compelling reason make, imho.

          • mikesh 9.1.1.1.3
            26 March 2022 at 1:36 pm

            Go to prison you lose your right to vote, stay out of prison you vote.

            Why?

      • mac1 9.1.2
        25 March 2022 at 9:42 am

        Part of the injustice of removal of inmate's voting rights was that sentenced criminals who avoided jail time still could vote.

        A prisoner with a vote is still potentially engaged fundamentally with society.

        Losing one's liberty and being fined or otherwise sanctioned is most understandable when dealing with a criminal. But what has removal of an adult's voting right got to do with fair punishment?

        • Puckish Rogue 9.1.2.1
          25 March 2022 at 9:50 am

          Where'd punishment come into it?

          • mac1 9.1.2.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 9:50 am

            What other reason, then?

            • Puckish Rogue 9.1.2.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 9:57 am

              To me its rather simple.

              You have chosen, in breaking the law enough to be incarcerated, that you do not want to follow the laws of the country.

              So while you're in prison you do not get to participate in the running of country, including the creating of laws, until you are out of prison.

              Want to vote, stay out of prison.

              • mac1 …
                25 March 2022 at 10:32 am

                Why stop at incarceration? All who do not follow the rules of the country should be so sanctioned.

                Tax evaders, speeders, red light runners, non-indicators, those who fail to check the rear vision mirror regularly- fair cop.

                Can we introduce a property ownership qualification, as well?

                And minimum education standards?

                And sex, age and mental acuity?

                Over the top?

                What we're debating here is why you want to limit the vote to the incarcerated, because you would limit that basic human right.

      • Incognito 9.1.3
        25 March 2022 at 10:37 am

        To me, it comes across as vindictive without any other reasonable purpose. Even more so when you consider that general elections are typically held every three years. For example, somebody serving four years in prison may be excluded once from participating in the democratic process just like all of his/her other fellow Kiwis. I thought we were ‘one people’!?

        • arkie 9.1.3.1
          25 March 2022 at 10:47 am

          Agreed, it makes a mockery of the historic goal of our democratic system: universal suffrage.

          The removal of the franchise of prisoners is a mark on our storied record:

          • 1853 – British government passes the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, granting limited self-rule, including a bicameral parliament, to the colony. The vote was limited to male British subjects aged 21 or over who owned or rented sufficient property and were not imprisoned for a serious offence. Communally owned land was excluded from the property qualification, thus disenfranchising most Māori (indigenous) men.
          • 1860 – Franchise extended to holders of miner's licenses who met all voting qualifications except that of property.
          • 1867 – Māori seats established, giving Māori four reserved seats in the lower house. There was no property qualification; thus Māori men gained universal suffrage before other New Zealanders. The number of seats did not reflect the size of the Māori population, but Māori men who met the property requirement for general electorates were able to vote in them or in the Māori electorates but not both.
          • 1879 – Property requirement abolished.
          • 1893 – Women won equal voting rights with men, making New Zealand the first nation in the world to allow women to vote.
          • 1969 – Voting age lowered to 20.
          • 1974 – Voting age lowered to 18.
          • 1975 – Franchise extended to permanent residents of New Zealand, regardless of whether they have citizenship.
          • 1996 – Number of Māori seats increased to reflect Māori population.
          • 2010 – Prisoners imprisoned for one year or more denied voting rights while serving the sentence.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffrage#New_Zealand

      • weston 9.1.4
        25 March 2022 at 10:50 am

        Why exactly do u think prisoners should lose the right to vote puck ?

        • Puckish Rogue 9.1.4.1
          25 March 2022 at 10:54 am

          You have chosen, in breaking the law enough to be incarcerated, that you do not want to follow the laws of the country.

          So while you're in prison you do not get to participate in the running of country, including the creating of laws, until you are out of prison.

          • weston 9.1.4.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 11:03 am

            Seems excessivly punitive to me dont we want them to retain a sense of belonging to the community ? What are we afraid of by letting them vote ?or is it just that "bread an water " thing ?

          • Incognito 9.1.4.1.2
            25 March 2022 at 11:28 am

            Breaking one law or even a couple of laws doesn’t mean complete and utter rejection of all society and doesn’t justify that society, in return, rejects all human rights of the convict. They’re convicted and sentenced to prison time, not to lose other human rights as well – it’s unlawful.

            • Puckish Rogue 9.1.4.1.2.1
              25 March 2022 at 11:33 am

              'They’re convicted and sentenced to prison time, not to lose other human rights as well – it’s unlawful.'

              Are you sure thats what you really think?

              https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/whole.html#DLM225507

              18Freedom of movement

              • (1)Everyone lawfully in New Zealand has the right to freedom of movement and residence in New Zealand.

                (2)Every New Zealand citizen has the right to enter New Zealand.

                (3)Everyone has the right to leave New Zealand.

                (4)No one who is not a New Zealand citizen and who is lawfully in New Zealand shall be required to leave New Zealand except under a decision taken on grounds prescribed by law.

          • Robert Guyton 9.1.4.1.3
            25 March 2022 at 5:36 pm

            Those who break the law, Pucky, but don't get caught, can still vote, alright?

          • weston 9.1.4.1.4
            25 March 2022 at 8:23 pm

            Hey puck sorry to ask u that question so far down the thread i hadnt realised you,d already run the gauntlet so to speak cause this morn i was reading from the bottom up trying to have a rest from the armchair generals !!

  10. mac1 10
    25 March 2022 at 10:04 am

    Why give them back the vote after release? They flouted the laws. Why link it to time in prison?

    Unless it's punishment?

    • Puckish Rogue 10.1
      25 March 2022 at 10:12 am

      • Incognito 10.1.1
        25 March 2022 at 11:08 am

        Moronic reply

        • Puckish Rogue 10.1.1.1
          25 March 2022 at 11:16 am

          The question got the reply it deserved

          • mac1 10.1.1.1.1
            25 March 2022 at 11:30 am

            Thank you, my woke-baiting, virtue-hating friend. End of debate- no, too strong a word, end of exchange.

            • Puckish Rogue 10.1.1.1.1.1
              25 March 2022 at 11:36 am

              I'm not your friend and if you think you can do better, join me and have a go yourself, theres plenty of roles all over NZ:

              https://www.seek.co.nz/Corrections-Officers-jobs?sortmode=KeywordRelevance

              • Incognito …
                25 March 2022 at 11:42 am

                BS argument, again, it is not about doing a better or worse job as Correction Officer. It’s about prisoners’ voting rights being taken away, unlawfully, may I add.

                • Puckish Rogue …
                  25 March 2022 at 12:08 pm

                  'It’s about prisoners’ voting rights being taken away, unlawfully, may I add.'

                  I wish it was.

                  I would take it away from those that already have it but its about giving it back to those that don't have it.

                  [By default, you cannot not have a basic human right, which would contravene the BORA.

                  If you want to play silly board games here I suggest you’d take the weekend off. This is your warning – Incognito]

                  • Incognito …
                    25 March 2022 at 12:21 pm

                    Mod note

                  • Puckish Rogue …
                    25 March 2022 at 12:33 pm

                    Sorry I'm not really sure how to reply to this because the double negative is a bit confusing.

                    • Incognito …
                      25 March 2022 at 12:44 pm

                      Don’t be a dick in your comments and play stupid semantics games. The default state of a living in NZ is being free (i.e. not in prison unless convicted) and having voting rights (citizens and permanent residents).

                      I’ve warned you and am very close to revoking your commenting privileges here. As such, it is (much!) better if you don’t reply at all and simply take heed, which is why it was called a “warning” in the Mod note to you.

                • Jimmy …
                  25 March 2022 at 3:11 pm

                  I think if someone has done something bad enough to be sent to prison for (and I believe its has to be pretty bad these days to get prison time) then they obviously do not care about breaking laws, then as part of the punishment, they should not get to vote or have a say in society.

                  I think I actually agree with Puckish Rogue.

          • Incognito 10.1.1.1.2
            25 March 2022 at 11:33 am

            You’ll get the treatment you deserve, if you keep this up.

            • Puckish Rogue 10.1.1.1.2.1
              25 March 2022 at 11:38 am

              We both know how this is going to end so you may as well just ban me now.

              • Incognito …
                25 March 2022 at 11:45 am

                Aren’t you a Correction Officer? So, why don’t you self-correct your debating skills and behaviour here and lift your game?

                If it ends the way you want, you’ll get what you wish for.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  25 March 2022 at 1:20 pm

                  Pucky's just being silly – give him the Spanish archer.

                  • Incognito …
                    25 March 2022 at 1:28 pm

                    He may be silly, but is he stupid? That may be the key difference.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      25 March 2022 at 1:37 pm

                      I think it's stupid for someone to drive moderators close to expelling them. So, yes 🙂

                    • Incognito []
                      25 March 2022 at 1:54 pm

                      It’s never an easy call when I first wear my commenter hat and next my Moderator one. It seems to confuse people here so much that they cannot follow simple suggestions or guidelines and they seem to think that I want to ‘win’ by using any means, which would be grossly unfair, of course. Actually, it says a lot more about those confused people than about me – I just enjoy a good game of sparring.

                    • Ed1 …
                      26 March 2022 at 12:18 pm

                      It has been a silly thread – Puckish has repeatedly asserted that the ban on voting is justified, without giving any reason. How does the ban help rehabilitation,; why is it justified – and if the ability to vote is withdrawn, what else could be withdrawn? The assertion that it is illegal has been shown to be false, but also keeps getting repeated.

                      My view is that the ability to vote is one way of telling a prisoner that he or she are still New Zealanders; that they have a mind, and can make a difference; it is a recognition that they can make a difference without drugs, violence, or generally breaking laws. If removing the ability to vote is justified; where should the line be drawn – making meals cheaper by only requiring minimum nutritional needs are met? Penal labour gangs with menial work to demonstrate degradation? Removal of the ability to take education courses? I cannot see how the ability to vote reduces the likelihood of rehabilitation, or creates any significant problem for prison authorities; it just seems a petty restriction that in practice is unlikely to make much difference at all to the overall composition of parliament.

                    • Incognito []
                      26 March 2022 at 12:36 pm

                      PR raised many good points but it was sad to see his self-strangulation with regard to the voting rights of prisoners.

    • Sabine 10.2
      25 March 2022 at 11:22 am

      Yes, indeed Prison is punishment. Oh my. And if people don't want to get deprived of their freedom and be incarcerated they better not break the law. Who knew?

      • Incognito 10.2.1
        25 March 2022 at 11:35 am

        Missing the point, it’s not about incarceration, it’s about voting rights. Keep up.

  11. Bazza64 11
    25 March 2022 at 10:18 am

    Item in this morning’s Herald. An Otago shopper ordered some non-perishable grocery items from Amazon Australia & saved 35%. 5 days to deliver. Maybe a one-off special but could be a good option for shoppers struggling to meet their weekly budget & if enough people did it might be a wake up call for our super ?markets.

    [Link required – Incognito]

  12. Anne 12
    25 March 2022 at 11:21 am

    Matthew Hooton claims Labour has "re-branded" Jacinda Ardern. Can't say I've noticed any change. She looks the same and she speaks the same. I suspect its another load of Hooton bullshit.

    I don't do Herald subscription so if anybody can provide the link I wouldn't mind reading the article. Thanks.

    • mac1 12.1
      25 March 2022 at 12:06 pm

      Heh, National has done more than 'rebrand' their leader. They've changed the product five times since Ardern became PM.

      English, Bridges, Muller, Collins, Luxon. Lest we forget.

  13. Ad 13
    25 March 2022 at 11:31 am

    Almost worth doing a post on Larry Fink's latest letter to shareholders, particularly since BlackRock controls US$10 Trillion in assets. None of which are in Russia.

    Larry Fink’s Chairman's Letter to Shareholders | BlackRock

    Those countries such as ourselves that have relied for the last 40 years on a free-trade rules-based order will need to draw ever closer to the more powerful countries and markets closest to us.

    Fink also has useful things to say on the differing near-term and longer-term impacts on Net Zero goals from the current crises.

    Fink as Chair has more financial power than all but the largest global government heads. So his advice is worth tracking.

  14. Hongi Ika 14
    25 March 2022 at 11:40 am

    The Perrenial Racist Winston Peters has come out against the Co-Governance Maaori Model, showing his true colours again. Seymour Guns and Winnie vying for the racist votes.

  15. Red lion seratus 15
    25 March 2022 at 11:46 am

    How bout stark contrasts : the first place getter an emblem of denialism, the old order & share bloody minded 'do what I want ': spark up the diesel burning Ford Ranger. The number two position , the future now, hitech & efficient: able to travel 350km for the price of a couple of lagers.Silicon wizardry hits the tarmac in the form if The Tesla. What greater sign of the denial vs acceptism could we get?

  16. Dennis Frank 16
    25 March 2022 at 12:10 pm

    National resets all over the place…

    National will begin the formal process of selecting a candidate to run in Tauranga next week. Party President Peter Goodfellow said nominations would open next Tuesday. "Our local members are looking for a candidate who is passionate about fighting for the issues that matter to communities across Tauranga. Like addressing the crushing cost-of-living crisis, restoring local democracy, and delivering better transport solutions to get the city moving," Goodfellow said.

    He didn't explain why Tauranga is currently static. Could the retiring MP, a simple chap called Simon, be to blame? Nah, situation too complex.

    National leader Christopher Luxon said the party is trying something different as it looks for a candidate to run in the Tauranga byelection

    Gosh, that sounds horribly like an intellectual challenge to his cohorts. Imagine the dismay. Conservatism is all about doing the same shit all the time. Trying something different is radical to any conservative. Talk about cat amongst pigeons. Female Nats entering an orgy of pearl-clutching will have to fight off male colleagues trying to clutch them too. Distract them with resets!

    "We have reset our candidate selection processes. We did that over Christmas" … Luxon said the party wanted to "reset" some of its "core processes" – and not just candidate selection. He said this included a "reset around code of conduct and dispute resolution", which was done over the summer.

    But there's more!

    Luxon said over the summer the party rolled out "National 101", a course for people interested in candidacy

    Now you might think he meant National 1.01 – you know, conservatives are traditional, blah blah blah. However the punctuation mark keeps failing to show up every time it gets mentioned. So I suspect they are trying to innovate – widening their recruitment pool to include the punctuationally-challenged. Most of the younger generations, in other words. Older Nats will struggle with all this new stuff…

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxon-rolls-out-national-101-to-get-better-candidates-for-parliament/J74VDJJJHUC2QBIJDZ2HJDPX3E/

  17. Jimmy 17
    25 March 2022 at 3:22 pm

    Heard on Newstalk ZB, that someone has just taken delivery of a new Tesla and received the $8,625? rebate, and two days later have listed it for sale at close to the full retail price saying "why wait 8 months for delivery". So he gets to pocket most of the $8,625 rebate if he can sell it close to retail price.

    https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/tesla/model-3/listing/3517910603?bof=DPBYQA4i

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  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

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