Do it, England, For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me. Till I know 'tis done, Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. Hamlet, Act IV, scene III
I found the three R’s in National’s Education Policy. It wan’t that hard to find in the one-page policy document pamphlet comprising just 3 bullet points this time under the new National motto less is more that was checked personally by Luxon for errors because he knows the basics like no other:
And for every woman who has been assaulted and injured by a transgender activist I would expect some half dozen transgender people have been assaulted and injured by anti-transgender activists.
It is about the safety of both groups, not just Ms Pansy Parker as she would have us believe.
your expecting is something in your own head Anne. I've not seen any evidence that women speaking at LWS events have been violent towards TRAs. But your making shit up is noted.
In the livestream I saw a man pull another man off the band rotunda, but it was already a very scary event by that stage and I expect people were reacting out of adrenaline. Police weren't there, reports of assaults of women are already coming in.
who is peddling homophobia and how are they connected to KJK?
which fans are you talking about? The right wing politicians supporting KJK isn't a secret.
citation please for the claim that she is a 'big fan' of Tucker Carlson
citation for "in Auckland her supporters can stand alongside Brian tamaki..screaming abuse at trans people…"
was Kim Hill at the protest?
I haven't modded in bold yet, but I expect answers to all those, backed up by evidence, before you comment on anything else again. You're in premod until that happens.
The reason I am doing this is to support robust debate, rather than random reckons without back up and rumourmongering. You are of course still free to express your opinions
your response to my moderation comment is in Spam. You've been away and seem to not know how things work here. The onus is on you to provide evidence for claims of fact, and that means quotes of the relevant words and links (and timestamps if it's audio/video). I'm not doing your work for you. If you want to make claims of fact *you have to do the mahi. Reread the Policy.
As I explained, it’s in Spam. You didn’t link and quote, which I also explained is the evidence required. Banned until Monday because I’m not wasting any more of my time on this. Up your game when you come back please.
I did hear a rumour that Tamaki's lot might show up (sorry no ref), but clearly that didn't happen.
Instead, the reality was women being assaulted and abused in a public park, by a frenzied, insane mob. Stirred up by all the bullshit you just repeated.
It is disappointing that KJK takes interviews with some dodgy groups, and is prone to swearing and rude remarks. She's a lightning rod attracting even worse behaviour from trans activists. She's divisive even amongst gender critical folks. Doesn't call herself a feminist. Hangs out with evangelicals but is an atheist.
But KJK reveals truth to those who are willing to see.
… because if the crowd at Albert Park today actually cared about "trans rights" they would be doing something supportive of transgender people, not yelling and screaming at women who want to speak about their own lives and experiences.
I was speaking in general terms weka. It is well known that transgender people have suffered a huge amount of intimidation and physical assaults over the years and it continues. I know from personal experience (not anything to do with this issue) how people who intimidate and hurt others for perceived offences operate… and they rarely get caught and brought to justice.
I also know that women are far more likely to be bullied and harassed than men because I'm a woman who has experienced that in a particularly nasty and frightening way.
But that is not the subject matter in this case. It is about irrational hatred towards a group of people who happen to be different. It seems to me that the issue of safety from transgender folk has been blown up out of all proportion to reality.
"It is well known that transgender people have suffered a huge amount of intimidation and physical assaults over the years and it continues."
Well-"known" but not well evidenced. Self-selected surveys I have seen include under acts of violence and intimidation items such as: misgendering, and someone looking at me too long or suspiciously.
"It is about irrational hatred towards a group of people who happen to be different. "
Asking for the maintenance of single-sex provisions for women is not irrational hatred.
Standing for the protection of sexual orientation is not irrational hatred.
Demanding the removal of queer theory from education is not irrational hatred.
Asking for evidence based care that does not harm is not irrational hatred.
After assaulting KJK and a few unprotected middle aged women, the brave TRAs went down to Queen St to try and disrupt the Destiny Church march and provoke a scene. Tamaki's march was a model of restraint in the face of some awful abusive behaviour.
Looks like there was a race element here as well, an entitled bunch of privileged white university brats trying to bully a peaceful march of (mostly brown) adults from South Auckland.
Tamaki’s march was a model of restraint in the face of some awful abusive behaviour.
That’s one view. Another view is that he’d already laid down the gauntlet – Tamaki knows how to work the media as well as he knows how to manipulate people & crowds.
Earlier on Saturday, Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki and a group of around 40 motorcycles passed Albert Park, revving their engines and yelling at counter-protesters.
Got renamed to "Green Party blog", then forgotten about. Last post on the wayback machine is from 2018. Someone killed it in Feb/March 2019 as the later site snapshots are just a 404 page.
Wayne Brown has been channelling his inner Trump: he fucks with facts and goes for full effect. However, Brown apologists maintain that these are the characteristics – calling them qualities would be a stretch – needed for leadership in Auckland City. Given they knew what Brown’s like, calling them apologists is a euphemism; the deliberate disruption & destruction of local government was carefully planned if not signalled and the dog-whistle worked a treat.
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said Parker would likely receive the same response in Wellington should she speak in the capital on Sunday, and encouraged Wellingtonians to turn up at the counter-protest.
Is Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau inciting violence?
I voted for in the vain hope that she would leave all this political posturing aside and get on with work that Wellingtonians want done, you know water, buildings, aprks, rubbish collection, recycling…… But no such luck and now I'm beating myself around the head about being so stoopid.
So, this popped up in my inbox today – and blew me away.
Not content with transforming KiwiSaver, Simplicity is now planning to out-build Kāinga Ora. Duncan Greive meets a pair of of unlikely revolutionaries trying to fix housing – a task which seems impossible, even for the state itself.
The aim is to deliberately build long-term rentals, owned by Simplicity (the Kiwi saver fund company) – in order to derail many of the issues associated with renting. [There seems to be a sale side too – and I didn't get a clear picture of how these work together]
So far, it seems to only be in Auckland – though if they can get a big enough handle on the issue here – it will be a game changer, and able to be rolled out to other cities.
This article is mostly focused on the build side of things (and the way that having a consistent and coherent plan can reduce a lot of the building costs). It remains to be seen if they can convert Kiwis to long-term renting.
One area not covered, was the actual cost of the rent (below-market is a pretty loose description)
“Where almost all other large-scale home-builders develop to sell to the private market, Simplicity Living is building to own forever, and to rent out at below-market rates. The scale the pair has planned is vast: the manifesto talks of 10,000 to 15,000 homes over the next decade or so, but Stubbs believes the real ceiling might be far higher.
“The really big, hairy dream is to have one in 10 New Zealanders living in these things,” he says. That means a minimum of 200,000 houses – around three times the current number of state houses. That’s not an inapt comparison for Stubbs. “We think of it as the new state house,” he says. What that means is, if successful, Simplicity won’t just augment the government’s role in housing – it will far surpass it.”
It will be fascinating to do a comparison in a couple of years to see what the comparable turnover is.
I'm not convinced that removing shared amenities (they reference swimming pools and gyms), in order to save money, is necessarily the way to go. It adds an extra cost onto the local government in order to provide what used to be backyard or garage amenities. But, that's a minor quibble.
Really interesting partnership. And has me cheering them along.
The vision outlined in that excellent article is something similar when we started out in 2001 and built to rent a number of units. We quickly ran into some harsh realities and fast hit the financial limit of what we could do. The key sentence that leapt out at me is:
Simplicity is basically what would happen if The Opportunities Party were a business, and TOP mostly polls at the margin of error. To succeed at the scale they are dreaming of, they will be greatly helped by governmental goodwill, but their whole posture – let alone the lobbying of rivals – makes that far from a given.
Build to rent is a bloody good idea, but it depends on a stable financial and political environment to make it work – and we just have not had that.
I have 7000sqm of flat land, within 300m of a metro train station, that is essentially free. It could readily support 8 or so high quality residential or light commercial units. We have been siting on it for 20 years now – but every time I run the numbers it just does not stack up. A combination of stupid planning, permitting, insane permitting and building costs, interest rates all over the shop and a highly uncertain regulatory environment just stops us every time. TBH I have kind of given the dream away and short of just selling it on, I have no sense of what I want to do now.
The Brealy's are clearly operating at a much greater scale than us, and have a far deeper industry skillset and clout – yet everything he speaks to, we have encountered ourselves. I have a close friend who has done something similar with a large block of land in West Auckland – and he can tell all manner of horror stories.
There are so many aspects to this challenge that anyone who proposes simple silver bullet solutions is a fool. But one aspect that we have yet to understand how to intensify its towns and cities, without turning them into anti-human, soulless ghettos. In this Alexander's A Pattern Language remains the archetype criminally neglected by the planning and building professions.
Still you have to wish Brealy well – and I will follow his progress with interest.
I laughed my head off when the KO head was quoted as claiming that they were "efficient and systems-driven". I have a friend working for them, and he tells me that the KO cost over-runs are legendary.
Yeah we have our own modest wee Housing NZ story as well. Promise you one thing, fail dismally to deliver.
The one key factor that Simplicity Living has going in it's favour for the moment, is that while interest is not a tax deductible expense for all existing rental investors, it is for anyone building new. That gives them an edge I am sure they will be running with.
But again I am not sure I would bank on this long-term.
[NB: article from a couple of days ago, so late-arriving submissions may have changed this – but I doubt it]
This is the budget which is proposing swingeing cuts across just about every community service that we use on a daily basis.
Is this just a reflection of the standard political engagement profile? Those are the people who vote.
Is it a statement of belief that politicians don't listen to communities in any case? I'd agree with this in general, but this area has a lot of diverse opinions around the council table – it's one time that submissions (lots of them) could really make a difference.
Is it that the methodology of submission (e-questionaire) is offputting? Can't argue with that – I hate them, myself. And, it's likely to disproportionately exclude the elderly (who are otherwise great submitters to Council) – and lower-income residents without stable internet (these surveys are even worse on a mobile phone) [cf the similar exclusion of people evident from the latest Census]
Or, are we (as a city) just so hopeless that we can influence the outcomes of our local government (even when it directly affects us) that we've just given up?
This level of response is not giving those who oppose the cuts a whole lot of ammunition.
There has been a huge push to engage people in this process, particularly across social media. The submission forms are available on-line, in multiple languages, and if you don't want to write a submission, you can complete an on-line questionnaire that acts as a submission builder. A number of lobby/political groups have issued submission guides, including the Greens.
"Is it a statement of belief that politicians don't listen to communities in any case? "
Possibly, that has certainly been a problem in Auckland for some time.
Across eastern Europe, the addresses of Russian embassies are being changed as a form of protest against the war in Ukraine. In the Latvian capital, Riga, the section of Antonijas Street where the Russian embassy is located is set to be renamed Ukrainian Independence Street. And in Vilnius, Lithuania, the previously unnamed road on which the embassy sits (the address for which used to refer to the nearest main street) has now become Ukrainos Didvyrių g.: Ukrainian Heroes Street.
Exposures to uranium are not new, or uncommon. Many thousands of workers have been exposed to various uranium compounds over many years through processing of uranium from its ore to production of fuel elements. The health of such workers has been investigated, many of whom received higher intakes than do most soldiers on a battlefield. No clear evidence for any excess of cancers or kidney disease has been seen in these workers and their overall mortality is less than that in the general population because of a “healthyworker effect”. Despite the limitations of these studies, the absence of observed effects in uranium workers makes it unlikely that the risks of cancer or kidney disease from depleted uranium have been greatly underestimated.
Reports on the health hazards of depleted uranium munitions have concluded that exposures to depleted uranium likely to occur on the battlefield will probably not lead to any measureable excesses of cancers. However, risk assessments have had to estimate intakes of depleted uranium in the battlefield using poor data for the concentrations and properties of depleted uranium oxides in aerosols released during test firings, and using modelling procedures to predict the resulting concentrations of depleted uranium in tissues and organs, and the radiological and toxicological risks. The problem comes in trying to decide whether there are long-term effects. Without satisfactory data, and until there are better estimates of the actual intakes of depleted uranium on the battlefield, it may be prudent to remain open-minded.
Yes DU is an undesirable substance to be flinging about, but nor is there firm evidence of it being as hazardous as some people would like you to think it is. I agree it would be a much better world if the uranium was put to better use in breeder reactors to produce energy. Maybe you could get in touch with your good mate Poots and ask him to arrange something.
Your just showing you have lost your fucking mind. As you went and defend using depleted uranium rounds.
Any side using depleted uranium is engaging in war crimes. Because as Iraq so clearly showed, it was after the fact, when people live in the areas of the spent rounds – the real problems happen.
Fuck putin and his gaggle of oligarchs. But me saying that means nothing to you, because you want a cheap shot. And can't get your head around the fact their are truly fucked up actions in war which should be considered war crimes. Like invading another country, and using depleted Uranium rounds.
OK so I have done a quick scan of your referenced report and the summary on page 11 states:
In this report, it is concluded that the radiation doses from DU do not pose a radiological hazard to the population at the four studied locations in southern Iraq. The estimated annual committed effective radiation doses that could arise from exposure to DU residues are low, always less than 100 µSv/a and only to a few, if any, individuals, and therefore of little radiological concern. The estimated radiation doses are less than those received on average by individuals from natural sources of radiation in the environment
I could quote more of it, but it seems to continue in much the same vein.
DU is potentially something of a chemically toxic substance, and if a sufficiently large dose is consumed it can be harmful to the kidneys. But then again there are a bazillion substances that are chemically toxic one way or another, many found on the battlefield environment.
All three reports we have quoted between us so far on this thread agree that from a radiological aspect DU is a very modest radiological hazard. The reason is not hard to understand; DU is an alpha emitter; relatively large and heavy particles that have very little penetrating power. Typically stopped by the layer of dead skin or a plastic bag, all alpha emitters have to be ingested and become absorbed within a cell before they can possibly cause DNA replication damage. In addition uranium is a very large atom and is not easily absorbed through the cell wall, and the vast majority of it ingested or inhaled is excreted through the faeces within a day or two. The small faction that makes it's way into the bones is the site of potential concern.
However U-238 (the isotope consisting of 99.3% of DU) has a very long half-life, which means the rate of atoms disintegrating is very low. So low that the normal cellular and immune system mechanisms that ordinarily repair DNA damage can easily keep up. In other words the rate of the dose is well below the threshold where it might create a detectable excess hazard.
As I said above, I would much sooner they did not waste perfectly good uranium on munitions, but honestly I am not seeing the war crime here.
As for the cheap shot – hell I was being restrained for someone who is out of their fucking mind.
They Ammunition's are never cleaned up, they linger for years and whilst it may only effect small percentage of the population. Your argument, not mine.
What it does do to the people it does effect, is to fuck their lives completely. Now that is going to happen year on year, for how ever long it takes for this compound that has been introduced into the environment via war.
I'm not arguing nuclear contamination, I'm arguing the fact this is a long term toxin introduced into the environment for no good reason. There I think we agree.
I get the cancer rates in Iraq have settled down, but their have been flare ups recently in Southern Iraq,This after the whole toxicity of war had settled down somewhat. The north of Iraq has normal cancer and deformity rates.
I think poisoning the environment in war, is a war crime. I also think Russian heads should be on the chopping block/hangman's noose for the use of Cluster munitions and fléchettes (evil little fuckers) as they also in the end – target civilians and stay in the environment for a bloody long time.
We absolutely agree on the horror of war – there have been moments I have sat behind my computer screen this past year in a state of despair at what we can all see if you choose to go looking for it.
Wars are obsolete means of conflict resolution, and they are a blemish on our progress and civilisation as human beings.
They have got to be criminalised and eliminated, and humans, as individuals in societies, should resort to civil means of resolving issues, such as those mentioned above, as well as resorting to courts as the ultimate option.
Neither wars nor politicians should be left to determine the way we conduct ourselves and the course of life on our planet.
There is really no need to deploy DU A/T Rd's into Ukraine as the Russians haven't to my knowledge deployed any of it MBT's with DU Armour & thence the need for DU Rounds as the standard Tungsten Sabot Rd had trouble penetrating DU Armour.
The concern with DU Rounds actually comes being use as Artillery Rds for the 155mm Artillery Guns & anyone who understands the dark arts of Gunnery be it from MG's in Sustain Fire Support Role to the Big stuff. When you start chucking around Lead, HE, Smoke/ WP for Target Indication it can get very messy & now throw DU Artillery Rds!
You are just asking for Bloody Trouble now & no wonder there is DU shrapnel spread around like a dog's breakfast causing all sorts of issues.
I'm no fan of DU munitions unless used against highly hardened targets that uniquely justifies their use.
I understand and accept that DU will be controversial when used in munitions – but all the analysis I have read suggests there are plenty of other things that are routinely used on the battlefield, both during and long after (mines for example) – that are of equal if not greater concern.
Do we rational, social animals devote too much time and effort going for the jugular?
How to Encourage More Climate-Friendly Habits, According to Science
[24 March 2023]
As it turns out, when it comes to taking action to stop climate change, the best way of changing people’s behavior is what the researchers termed “social comparisons,” which resulted in an average 14% change in people’s behavior. Basically, when people see that other people have taken a specific action, they’re likely to copy it.
…
And while it doesn’t do much to simply know that a certain product is more eco-friendly, if people see others buying that product instead of the dirty one, they’re much more likely to choose it themselves. “After all,” Bergquist says, “we are a highly social animal.”
A Nordic Airforce. Smart move indeed. But then the Nordic countries have a reputation for sanity and smartness. NZ should align themselves to them despite the geographical distance. We have much in common with them.
Of course Russia would never use the depleted uranium munitions manufactured to be used in the T-80BV tanks ugraded to be able to fire depleted uranium munitions.
Russia has a significant number of different DU-rounds in its arsenals. There are reports of mass production of the improved Svinets-1 and Svintes-2 depleted uranium ammunition, for which the T-80BVM tanks were modernized during the last years. It seems that Russia didn’t abandon its DU programme, but on the contrary – it has increased production volumes and is actively modernizing outdated tanks to make them capable of firing DU ammunition. Even though there are no reliable reports yet, considering the DU-capable tanks being used in the invasion, ICBUW fears use of DU in Ukraine.
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As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/Bulletin editor Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark maintains that Cook Islands, a realm of New Zealand, should have consulted Wellington before signing a “partnership” deal with China. “[Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown] seems to have signed behind the backs of his own ...
COMMENTARY:By Saige England Mediawatch on RNZ today strongly criticised Stuff and YouTube among other media for using Israeli propaganda’s “Outbrain” service. Outbrain is a company founded by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military and its technology can be tracked back to a wealthy entrepreneur, which in this case could ...
Luxon said protesters linked to Destiny Church "went too far" by disrupting Pride events in Auckland, while church leader Brian Tamaki said he told protesters, "I want you to storm the library they're in." ...
Hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving our shores due to infrastructure project delays, creating "significant" risk to our nation's development, says the head of New Zealand's engineering body. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
I see the Hosking Newstalk ZB duo is to go to London for the coronation.
What a great opportunity. How about they be the New Zealand koha to the monarch to celebrate the occasion?
Do it, England, For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me. Till I know 'tis done, Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. Hamlet, Act IV, scene III
I found the three R’s in National’s Education Policy. It wan’t that hard to find in the one-page policy
documentpamphlet comprising just 3 bullet points this time under the new National motto less is more that was checked personally by Luxon for errors because he knows the basics like no other:Not forgetting the other R's of the Nats
Rugby
Racing
beeR
flog off assets to ouR mates
loweR wages
higheR Rent
Run away to Hawaii with ill-gotten gains
Before leaving Australia, she told the Herald she had been contacted by police ahead of her arrival..”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/posie-parker-tour-of-nz-anti-trans-activist-kellie-jay-keen-minshull-poised-for-rally/EOWRBWVHK5HY3KV4XJ7TECCE2E/
Its not so much about your safety sweetie. Its about keeping an eye on you and your offensive blithering.
Go LQBTQIA+. Give her a blast she will never forget.
Women have been assaulted and injured at Let Women Speak events Anne. By gender identity activists. So it is absolutely about KJK's safety.
And for every woman who has been assaulted and injured by a transgender activist I would expect some half dozen transgender people have been assaulted and injured by anti-transgender activists.
It is about the safety of both groups, not just Ms Pansy Parker as she would have us believe.
your expecting is something in your own head Anne. I've not seen any evidence that women speaking at LWS events have been violent towards TRAs. But your making shit up is noted.
In the livestream I saw a man pull another man off the band rotunda, but it was already a very scary event by that stage and I expect people were reacting out of adrenaline. Police weren't there, reports of assaults of women are already coming in.
Sometimes it pays to look around and see who you are standing alongside..
So the champion of those peddling homophobia under a cloak of feminism…is funded by the american evangelicals…is supported by nazis…
Her fans claim to be surprised that right-wing politicians are alongside them..(.really…?..that displays breathtaking political naivete..)
She is a big fan of tucker carlson ..(who is one of the foulest creatures drawing breath…who specializes in peddling lies and bigotry ..)
And here in Auckland her supporters can stand alongside Brian tamaki..screaming abuse at trans people…
I mean…w.t.f…!
Lie with dogs and you get fleas..
Meanwhile I am standing over here.. standing behind the likes of chloe swarbrick…kim hill..and carmel sepuloni…
I know which group I prefer…
you seem confused about a few things Phil.
I haven't modded in bold yet, but I expect answers to all those, backed up by evidence, before you comment on anything else again. You're in premod until that happens.
The reason I am doing this is to support robust debate, rather than random reckons without back up and rumourmongering. You are of course still free to express your opinions
your response to my moderation comment is in Spam. You've been away and seem to not know how things work here. The onus is on you to provide evidence for claims of fact, and that means quotes of the relevant words and links (and timestamps if it's audio/video). I'm not doing your work for you. If you want to make claims of fact *you have to do the mahi. Reread the Policy.
I pointed you to all my sources…
Why won't you let readers see that..?
As I explained, it’s in Spam. You didn’t link and quote, which I also explained is the evidence required. Banned until Monday because I’m not wasting any more of my time on this. Up your game when you come back please.
I did hear a rumour that Tamaki's lot might show up (sorry no ref), but clearly that didn't happen.
Instead, the reality was women being assaulted and abused in a public park, by a frenzied, insane mob. Stirred up by all the bullshit you just repeated.
It is disappointing that KJK takes interviews with some dodgy groups, and is prone to swearing and rude remarks. She's a lightning rod attracting even worse behaviour from trans activists. She's divisive even amongst gender critical folks. Doesn't call herself a feminist. Hangs out with evangelicals but is an atheist.
But KJK reveals truth to those who are willing to see.
Tamaki and posse were in (ironically) Queen Street.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/486680/posie-parker-rally-hundreds-counter-protest-at-albert-park
… because if the crowd at Albert Park today actually cared about "trans rights" they would be doing something supportive of transgender people, not yelling and screaming at women who want to speak about their own lives and experiences.
You can stand with whoever you like Phillip, but shame on you for shutting down an event to let women speak
Did you go there as you intended, phil?
I was speaking in general terms weka. It is well known that transgender people have suffered a huge amount of intimidation and physical assaults over the years and it continues. I know from personal experience (not anything to do with this issue) how people who intimidate and hurt others for perceived offences operate… and they rarely get caught and brought to justice.
I also know that women are far more likely to be bullied and harassed than men because I'm a woman who has experienced that in a particularly nasty and frightening way.
But that is not the subject matter in this case. It is about irrational hatred towards a group of people who happen to be different. It seems to me that the issue of safety from transgender folk has been blown up out of all proportion to reality.
I have researched the rates of homicide in NZ of transgender people.
It is lower than males and females. Last one was in something like 2009 and it was in the context of a drug deal gone wrong.
"It is well known that transgender people have suffered a huge amount of intimidation and physical assaults over the years and it continues."
Well-"known" but not well evidenced. Self-selected surveys I have seen include under acts of violence and intimidation items such as: misgendering, and someone looking at me too long or suspiciously.
"It is about irrational hatred towards a group of people who happen to be different. "
Asking for the maintenance of single-sex provisions for women is not irrational hatred.
Standing for the protection of sexual orientation is not irrational hatred.
Demanding the removal of queer theory from education is not irrational hatred.
Asking for evidence based care that does not harm is not irrational hatred.
Where is your evidence Anne that women assaulted trans activists.
Yes they did give Kelly a blast. I have just watched fortage of the crowd mobbing her and of course she was assaulted. Do you condon that Anne?
A small middle aged women who just wanted to hold a rally to let women (mostly left wing lesbian femisnists) speak
We now have mob rule in NZ.
Why didn't the cowards go and try and pick a fight with Tamaki and his boys on bikes if they wanted a fight.
After assaulting KJK and a few unprotected middle aged women, the brave TRAs went down to Queen St to try and disrupt the Destiny Church march and provoke a scene. Tamaki's march was a model of restraint in the face of some awful abusive behaviour.
Looks like there was a race element here as well, an entitled bunch of privileged white university brats trying to bully a peaceful march of (mostly brown) adults from South Auckland.
That’s one view. Another view is that he’d already laid down the gauntlet – Tamaki knows how to work the media as well as he knows how to manipulate people & crowds.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300839091/antitrans-activist-posie-parker-leaves-country-after-chaotic-auckland-rally
Whatever happened to frogblog…?
Got renamed to "Green Party blog", then forgotten about. Last post on the wayback machine is from 2018. Someone killed it in Feb/March 2019 as the later site snapshots are just a 404 page.
Wayne Brown has been channelling his inner Trump: he fucks with facts and goes for full effect. However, Brown apologists maintain that these are the characteristics – calling them qualities would be a stretch – needed for leadership in Auckland City. Given they knew what Brown’s like, calling them apologists is a euphemism; the deliberate disruption & destruction of local government was carefully planned if not signalled and the dog-whistle worked a treat.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/auckland-pulls-a-brexit-on-the-mayors-casting-vote
Just wondering does anyone know what’s happened to Sabine, Swordfish and Pukish Rogue?
miss their commentary
swordfish (@swordfish7774) is still around AFAICT. no sign of the other two.
Sabine always comes and goes. PR does to a bit.
I reckon finally came over to the left ,as he seems intelligent, but can't yet face the humble pie he'd have to eat to admit it!!
Pucky that is, sorry brain's seems to be a bit muddled at the moment,
Thanks Roblogic
Let’s hope people who shop at Tescos and Sainsbury’s don’t read this.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/25/like-youre-in-a-horror-movie-pollution-leaves-new-zealand-wetlands-irreversibly-damaged?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I think we may have something of a problem co ordinating and co operating to change society to rapidly reduce our carbon/methane emissions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300839091/antitrans-activist-posie-parker-escorted-out-of-auckland-rally-set-to-announce-whether-tour-will-continue
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said Parker would likely receive the same response in Wellington should she speak in the capital on Sunday, and encouraged Wellingtonians to turn up at the counter-protest.
Is Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau inciting violence?
She's parroting Green Party dogma.
I voted for in the vain hope that she would leave all this political posturing aside and get on with work that Wellingtonians want done, you know water, buildings, aprks, rubbish collection, recycling…… But no such luck and now I'm beating myself around the head about being so stoopid.
I'll be more careful next time.
So, this popped up in my inbox today – and blew me away.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/25-03-2023/inside-the-radical-plan-to-build-the-new-state-house-and-change-renting-forever
The aim is to deliberately build long-term rentals, owned by Simplicity (the Kiwi saver fund company) – in order to derail many of the issues associated with renting. [There seems to be a sale side too – and I didn't get a clear picture of how these work together]
So far, it seems to only be in Auckland – though if they can get a big enough handle on the issue here – it will be a game changer, and able to be rolled out to other cities.
This article is mostly focused on the build side of things (and the way that having a consistent and coherent plan can reduce a lot of the building costs). It remains to be seen if they can convert Kiwis to long-term renting.
One area not covered, was the actual cost of the rent (below-market is a pretty loose description)
“Where almost all other large-scale home-builders develop to sell to the private market, Simplicity Living is building to own forever, and to rent out at below-market rates. The scale the pair has planned is vast: the manifesto talks of 10,000 to 15,000 homes over the next decade or so, but Stubbs believes the real ceiling might be far higher.
“The really big, hairy dream is to have one in 10 New Zealanders living in these things,” he says. That means a minimum of 200,000 houses – around three times the current number of state houses. That’s not an inapt comparison for Stubbs. “We think of it as the new state house,” he says. What that means is, if successful, Simplicity won’t just augment the government’s role in housing – it will far surpass it.”
It will be fascinating to do a comparison in a couple of years to see what the comparable turnover is.
I'm not convinced that removing shared amenities (they reference swimming pools and gyms), in order to save money, is necessarily the way to go. It adds an extra cost onto the local government in order to provide what used to be backyard or garage amenities. But, that's a minor quibble.
Really interesting partnership. And has me cheering them along.
The vision outlined in that excellent article is something similar when we started out in 2001 and built to rent a number of units. We quickly ran into some harsh realities and fast hit the financial limit of what we could do. The key sentence that leapt out at me is:
Build to rent is a bloody good idea, but it depends on a stable financial and political environment to make it work – and we just have not had that.
I have 7000sqm of flat land, within 300m of a metro train station, that is essentially free. It could readily support 8 or so high quality residential or light commercial units. We have been siting on it for 20 years now – but every time I run the numbers it just does not stack up. A combination of stupid planning, permitting, insane permitting and building costs, interest rates all over the shop and a highly uncertain regulatory environment just stops us every time. TBH I have kind of given the dream away and short of just selling it on, I have no sense of what I want to do now.
The Brealy's are clearly operating at a much greater scale than us, and have a far deeper industry skillset and clout – yet everything he speaks to, we have encountered ourselves. I have a close friend who has done something similar with a large block of land in West Auckland – and he can tell all manner of horror stories.
There are so many aspects to this challenge that anyone who proposes simple silver bullet solutions is a fool. But one aspect that we have yet to understand how to intensify its towns and cities, without turning them into anti-human, soulless ghettos. In this Alexander's A Pattern Language remains the archetype criminally neglected by the planning and building professions.
Still you have to wish Brealy well – and I will follow his progress with interest.
I laughed my head off when the KO head was quoted as claiming that they were "efficient and systems-driven". I have a friend working for them, and he tells me that the KO cost over-runs are legendary.
Yeah we have our own modest wee Housing NZ story as well. Promise you one thing, fail dismally to deliver.
The one key factor that Simplicity Living has going in it's favour for the moment, is that while interest is not a tax deductible expense for all existing rental investors, it is for anyone building new. That gives them an edge I am sure they will be running with.
But again I am not sure I would bank on this long-term.
I really don't know what to think about this…..
Most feedback on the highly controversial Auckland Budget has been from those who are Pakeha and over 45.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-03-2023/youll-never-guess-which-groups-are-over-represented-in-auckland-budget-feedback
[NB: article from a couple of days ago, so late-arriving submissions may have changed this – but I doubt it]
This is the budget which is proposing swingeing cuts across just about every community service that we use on a daily basis.
Is this just a reflection of the standard political engagement profile? Those are the people who vote.
Is it a statement of belief that politicians don't listen to communities in any case? I'd agree with this in general, but this area has a lot of diverse opinions around the council table – it's one time that submissions (lots of them) could really make a difference.
Is it that the methodology of submission (e-questionaire) is offputting? Can't argue with that – I hate them, myself. And, it's likely to disproportionately exclude the elderly (who are otherwise great submitters to Council) – and lower-income residents without stable internet (these surveys are even worse on a mobile phone) [cf the similar exclusion of people evident from the latest Census]
Or, are we (as a city) just so hopeless that we can influence the outcomes of our local government (even when it directly affects us) that we've just given up?
This level of response is not giving those who oppose the cuts a whole lot of ammunition.
There has been a huge push to engage people in this process, particularly across social media. The submission forms are available on-line, in multiple languages, and if you don't want to write a submission, you can complete an on-line questionnaire that acts as a submission builder. A number of lobby/political groups have issued submission guides, including the Greens.
"Is it a statement of belief that politicians don't listen to communities in any case? "
Possibly, that has certainly been a problem in Auckland for some time.
Can we do this too please?
Trolling as govt policy
Lets not. People have lost their collective minds over this shitty war.
What next, saying depleted Uranium shells are harmless? Which now seems to be the propaganda the western media is pushing.
Tell that to my Kurdish friends in Iraq, and they will spit in your face.
IEAA article on DU
Another on the Lancet. (Dated 2002)
Yes DU is an undesirable substance to be flinging about, but nor is there firm evidence of it being as hazardous as some people would like you to think it is. I agree it would be a much better world if the uranium was put to better use in breeder reactors to produce energy. Maybe you could get in touch with your good mate Poots and ask him to arrange something.
Your just showing you have lost your fucking mind. As you went and defend using depleted uranium rounds.
Any side using depleted uranium is engaging in war crimes. Because as Iraq so clearly showed, it was after the fact, when people live in the areas of the spent rounds – the real problems happen.
Fuck putin and his gaggle of oligarchs. But me saying that means nothing to you, because you want a cheap shot. And can't get your head around the fact their are truly fucked up actions in war which should be considered war crimes. Like invading another country, and using depleted Uranium rounds.
OK so I have done a quick scan of your referenced report and the summary on page 11 states:
I could quote more of it, but it seems to continue in much the same vein.
DU is potentially something of a chemically toxic substance, and if a sufficiently large dose is consumed it can be harmful to the kidneys. But then again there are a bazillion substances that are chemically toxic one way or another, many found on the battlefield environment.
All three reports we have quoted between us so far on this thread agree that from a radiological aspect DU is a very modest radiological hazard. The reason is not hard to understand; DU is an alpha emitter; relatively large and heavy particles that have very little penetrating power. Typically stopped by the layer of dead skin or a plastic bag, all alpha emitters have to be ingested and become absorbed within a cell before they can possibly cause DNA replication damage. In addition uranium is a very large atom and is not easily absorbed through the cell wall, and the vast majority of it ingested or inhaled is excreted through the faeces within a day or two. The small faction that makes it's way into the bones is the site of potential concern.
However U-238 (the isotope consisting of 99.3% of DU) has a very long half-life, which means the rate of atoms disintegrating is very low. So low that the normal cellular and immune system mechanisms that ordinarily repair DNA damage can easily keep up. In other words the rate of the dose is well below the threshold where it might create a detectable excess hazard.
As I said above, I would much sooner they did not waste perfectly good uranium on munitions, but honestly I am not seeing the war crime here.
As for the cheap shot – hell I was being restrained for someone who is out of their fucking mind.
They Ammunition's are never cleaned up, they linger for years and whilst it may only effect small percentage of the population. Your argument, not mine.
What it does do to the people it does effect, is to fuck their lives completely. Now that is going to happen year on year, for how ever long it takes for this compound that has been introduced into the environment via war.
I'm not arguing nuclear contamination, I'm arguing the fact this is a long term toxin introduced into the environment for no good reason. There I think we agree.
I get the cancer rates in Iraq have settled down, but their have been flare ups recently in Southern Iraq,This after the whole toxicity of war had settled down somewhat. The north of Iraq has normal cancer and deformity rates.
I think poisoning the environment in war, is a war crime. I also think Russian heads should be on the chopping block/hangman's noose for the use of Cluster munitions and fléchettes (evil little fuckers) as they also in the end – target civilians and stay in the environment for a bloody long time.
We absolutely agree on the horror of war – there have been moments I have sat behind my computer screen this past year in a state of despair at what we can all see if you choose to go looking for it.
You might find some food for thought here:
There is really no need to deploy DU A/T Rd's into Ukraine as the Russians haven't to my knowledge deployed any of it MBT's with DU Armour & thence the need for DU Rounds as the standard Tungsten Sabot Rd had trouble penetrating DU Armour.
The concern with DU Rounds actually comes being use as Artillery Rds for the 155mm Artillery Guns & anyone who understands the dark arts of Gunnery be it from MG's in Sustain Fire Support Role to the Big stuff. When you start chucking around Lead, HE, Smoke/ WP for Target Indication it can get very messy & now throw DU Artillery Rds!
You are just asking for Bloody Trouble now & no wonder there is DU shrapnel spread around like a dog's breakfast causing all sorts of issues.
I'm no fan of DU munitions unless used against highly hardened targets that uniquely justifies their use.
I understand and accept that DU will be controversial when used in munitions – but all the analysis I have read suggests there are plenty of other things that are routinely used on the battlefield, both during and long after (mines for example) – that are of equal if not greater concern.
And on a brighter note:
Do we rational, social animals devote too much time and effort going for the jugular?
The largest air force in Europe. Poots will be delighted.
https://twitter.com/nukestrat/status/1638991916250329088
A Nordic Airforce. Smart move indeed. But then the Nordic countries have a reputation for sanity and smartness. NZ should align themselves to them despite the geographical distance. We have much in common with them.
You get the Russians are paranoid as fuck at the best of times. So how is this a good idea?
In my opinion, its more of the deluded dick waving by all the world leaders, who fail us at every turn.
Of course Russia would never use the depleted uranium munitions manufactured to be used in the T-80BV tanks ugraded to be able to fire depleted uranium munitions.
Russia has a significant number of different DU-rounds in its arsenals. There are reports of mass production of the improved Svinets-1 and Svintes-2 depleted uranium ammunition, for which the T-80BVM tanks were modernized during the last years. It seems that Russia didn’t abandon its DU programme, but on the contrary – it has increased production volumes and is actively modernizing outdated tanks to make them capable of firing DU ammunition. Even though there are no reliable reports yet, considering the DU-capable tanks being used in the invasion, ICBUW fears use of DU in Ukraine.
https://www.icbuw.eu/depleted-uranium-weapons-state-of-affairs-2022/
And if they use them we should consider it a war crime.
Well a number of NGO's are trying to get them banned & rightly so in my opinion!