I don't know what Chris Finlayson's been up to since he left Parliament but it hasn't killed his smarminess or his view that people other than he and his mates are stupid.
It was said on RNZ this morning that he was going back to contribute to getting the rules around the use of video from Parliament changed .
According to him the world has moved on and the rules need to be updated for the social media of today. We all know times move quickly and things move quickly.
We also know that the world didn't move that quickly in less than two years from when certain restrictions were included in the rules, to where they are no longer necessary.
Finlayson and his worthy leader no doubt had a part in formulating those rules. He is saying this brief time later that after the intellectual rigour they applied to constructing them the essence of part of them no longer applies?
What changed, what moved quickly is that they were no longer in power. What would have been argued on grounds of principle from high and mighty positions of power suddenly are being argued in a diametrically opposite way, ostensibly on grounds of principle.
The high and mighty are well suited to the worm holes. Finlayson should crawl back there.
Prior to becoming a politician Finlayson had a law practice which, as far as I know, continues to exist. I recall him saying on leaving politics that he was planning to resume his legal career.
That being the case then it is likely National hired him to represent them at the select committee hearing. That being the case then he would be representing his client (the Nats) and not himself.
As someone who seems to have specialised in copyright, contractural interpretation and other similar legal matters prior to entering parliament, then it seems probable Finlayson was hired in his capacity as a high flying barrister to represent them.
After all, they have lots of Chinese money at their disposal. You know… this "quid pro quo" thing which appears fashionable among some of the world's political elite these days.
I studied Latin for some years and while I came across many fine phrases (and use them occasionally,) sometimes English is great for being succinct and accurate.
Nice enough guy overtly @Anne…….shame about the sense of Tory entitlement and bitchiness he's adopted. Kind of a 'Dontcha know who I am?" – in an "I've paid my dues", sophisticated sort of way .
Better to just give him a knighthood and wish him a happy life in retirement. Maybe even a brass plaque on a front row seat in some remote venue where the NZSO plays.
Give him a bloody subscription for life even, or the keys to Miramar Penninsula, or even a guest column on Granny Herald
An interesting question for our times: why are so few Repugs willing to lift even their smallest finger to try to tame the turd tornado spattering up the walls of the Oval Office? After all, Pence would sign off on any judges the Heritage Foundation puts in front of him, and any tax cuts or other reactionary legislation, so it's not as if they would lose any ability to actually do anything.
I do hope that people in the USA are reading your comments Andre and that of other wise heads here. One can only hope that all the close attention we give to the USA here actually penetrates the outer stratosphere of the USA consciousness.
As for Brexit, it is also very interesting in all its manifestations as Halloween draws close.
One columnist spreads her interest wide to take in the Remainers.
Clever incompetents in Parliament have catastrophically overplayed their hand
The trouble with the Remainers is not their arrogant inability to grasp when they have lost, but their blindness to when they have won. So when Boris Johnson triumphantly returned from Brussels clutching the best bad deal possible, the eyes of MPs gunged up so quickly with spiteful, green anger that they failed to spot their finest chance to wreck Brexit.
Fatuous Remainer MPs have just become the useful idiots of the Leave cause – Sherelle Jacobs Daily Telegraph Columnist
Her image shows a 20-30 year old looking pleased with herself for getting a piece into the paper which comes from a different viewpoint – though a doubtfully valid one.
What a blast hearing Dogal Stevenson talking to John Campbell at this morning on TVNZ one ‘Breakfast’ show at 7.40am today when John asked Dogal; “what would you advise todays newreaders to do”?
Dogal said very carefully after deep reflection “well I would say to him; (from memory- my words)
“just loosen up, – you don’t want to be a slave to a BBC as an adjunct; – talk to your listeners audience as they are your own people, and you will receive far more empathy and respect for speaking the truth.”
Then from memory I recall Dogal said, he still searches for the truth as a newsreader, and mostly listens to RNZ as our public broadcaster, in the hope that that he is hearing the truth, and others are to biased today.
Yes we need to get that free to air public TV channel we were promised by Labour started soon as the election process is now in full swing putting out so much fake media hype now that is is often difficult to know what is the truth any more.
Yes public TV on a reasonable budget and no highly priced front people. Let's get able people who earn a reasonable screw and go for ugly ones – it's time we had our day in the sun.
"Yes we need to get that free to air public TV channel we were promised by Labour started soon as the election process is now in full swing "
As I replied to you @ Cleangreen once before (not sure if it was here or on TDB.)
Please don't hold your breath. You are probably already down as some disgruntled old coot whose vote won't make a difference in your twilight years anyway
Ideologically, the foxes are in charge of the chicken coup and the chickens are busy convincing their partners how dainty the taste of a Chardonnay is. So its better to just smile and watch them all jump off a cliff, and watch the onlookers clutch their pearls afterwards
chanting “Oooh! I say!”
Yes we are petty much stuffed now, like the movies always portray the masses as idiots when a huge disaster comes our way such as in the movie "The day after tomorrow
It correctly makes us all look quite stupid like chickens for sure. .
The hearing was mostly cordial, barring a stern rebuke from Mr Mallard to Massey University Professor Claire Robinson after her criticism of Labour's position.
The review was initiated after Labour complained that the Opposition had used official footage of Labour backbencher Deborah Russell without her permission in breach of one of Parliament's rarely enforced rules.
"But to be a vote for change Labour would have had to get more votes than National. In fact National got 20,574 more votes in 2017 than it did in 2014."
hello MMP is calling Claire…the left has multiple choice of parties.
And she lies by omission as National got less votes as a % of the total vote a whopping -2.59%. Saying they 'won' by getting more votes by number and by party was the National partys constant claim.
I keep getting good, hopeful feelings that problems are being dealt with in a timely, not time-wasting fashion, now that the Labour Coalition is in. Please God let this political do-wonders group stay in and we can have hope for the future. It can't please us all, all the time, but it is trying for most of the time. The others are gungy ghastly greedy and bottom-feeders.
They're trying @grey. But there's a lot of shit to push uphill and they've been slow to start, and slow to even recognise where many of the roadblocks are/have been.
Their worst enema comes from quite a few in the senior ranks of the public service. Now that I've come of age, I'm privy to the conversations and opinions of a bunch of retired senior public servants. I hadn't quite realised how much they're in agreement with what I've noticed quite independently of what they'd seen and experieinced. Kind of like a blatent display of a Master of the Universe culture, previously limited to the private sector.
Whereas once it was all a matter of self preservation through obfuscation, spin et al (as in "Yes Minister" fashion), NOW those same traits come with outright political partisanship in so many cases.
Not sure if it was in here or TDB that I was reminded of the word 'spiv' which reminded me of grifters, but its become a bit sad that many of the coalition MPs have taken this long (2 years in) to appreciate the level of 'pushback' that's occurred, and many still don't appear to have noticed how many of their 'officials' have the skills of the best used car salesman.
Some Ministers and MPs in the coalition are/have been simply too 'nice', and the used car salesmen are, and have taken advantage of it.
Pushing back, to the extent they're trying to show just who is boss; 'working to rule' on policies they dislike or don't agree with, slowing it all down; and crying victim if and when anyone even attempts to call them to account.
I'm glad you have confidence because what worries me most is that this government COULD be teetering on a loss come 2020, given a senior public service that's by and large its enemy and almost completely unaccountable for its many failures (a matter of record that could rival a bLip list, an almost non-existent 4th Estate, and an electorate that's becoming increasingly disinterested and feeling alienated.
If you’ve got one or two crystals I could clutch, I could return the favour, maybe as a tour guide to the new home of the Dalai Lama
The government is under fire for not going far enough with its Emissions Trading Scheme. Farmers won't have to start paying for their emissions until 2025, as long as they make progress in finding ways to measure and price emissions at the farm level. Greenpeace says the government's Emissions Trading Scheme shows pleas from tens-of-thousands of students for climate action have fallen on deaf ears. Corin speaks to the Climate Change Minister James Shaw in our Wellington studio.
and – Good work that engineer
8:15 am today
Engineer reveals dozens of building mistakes
From Morning Report, 8:15 am today 3.24m A structural engineer who helped trigger investigations into seismically-flawed building designs has revealed dozens of common but serious mistakes he is finding during reviews. The consequences of design faults include a 60-metre high transmission tower that snapped in half. Phil Pennington reports.
The way that builders go broke and don't pay their subbies is a shock to me, filled with the belief of building being one of our strong industries that was flourishing, blah blah. My relations just had a very nice house built and watched over it all the time, I think similar to a civil engineer as he is a retired builder. The supposed builder confessed that it was beyond him before the job was done, he was running a ponzi, paying off past debts from the current job, and it caught up with him. And he and his family were known to my relation, not fly-by-nights. In the end he was paid for the job, but didn't pay all his subbies, and my relation had to bargain with them to get them to sign off their work so the Council would issue a 'pass-notice' or whatever it's called. He had to pay some in full, so double for that part. Shocking! The house is pretty good but he had to finish off some parts himself. His knees are a bit shot, but he managed.
It should be a steady job and with good tradesmen getting good pay. But SNAFU is our codesign in NZ since neoliberalbloodyeconomics and the bloody Labourtroika/Treasury takeover. Can we pull ourselves out of the smelly bog – I hope.
Well I have heard queries about whether they are reliable but don't know. Why is the Master Builder crowd not being used more – don't know. My builder relation would have thought that knowing the person and his family, he would be okay.
People can look into the eyes of an assured bloke and form an opinion that their job knowledge and outcome will be okay. Silly but in law when you hold yourself out to be something then you should stand behind it and I guess that prompts people to accept others who seem to know what they are doing.
And on my 'namesake' day we received the word that an Iwi is challenging OMV CEO in an international court .
A good move there, – we all need to support them not leave them in solitude;.
We we wrote this in support today too.
CEAC support Iwi Leaders Group lawsuit against OMV CEO
25th October 2019.
Press Release: Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre.
CEAC support Climate change Iwi Leaders Group lawsuit against OMV CEO
On this ‘St Crispin’s day 25th October’, (a day that the English celebrate annually their victory against the French during the Agincourt 100yr war.)
We fully support the Iwi legal challenge against another polluter and ‘climate spoiler’ such as OMV is.
QUOTE;
“ An iwi leader has announced the initiation of a lawsuit to be filed at the International Criminal Court against Rainer Seele, the CEO of Austrian oil giant OMV”.
This was another very good Iwi policy that has considered the health ,safety and wellbeing of all citizens, and we commend the Iwi for making a bold stand against those corporate interests who wish harm upon our NZ citizens and we stand together with them in support and solitude.
No Right Turn nails it – shaw knows this stuff better than most and this is what he managed to sort – pathetic and disgraceful – if this is the big moment it fizzed worse than Dot-idiot and the big nothing.
Against this background, saying that agriculture, our biggest polluter, doesn't have to do anything until 2025 is committing to failure. And if we are to meet the emissions reduction targets necessary for human survival, it forces us towards policy paths that are extreme, like an actual cow-cull, rather than being able to reduce cow numbers by efficiency gains through the business cycle. We could afford to piss around like that in 2000, and maybe in 2008 (if we'd actually followed-through, rather than giving them a free ride). But now, we are out of time. You cannot compromise with physics, and anyone who thinks you can is trying to kill us. http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/10/climate-change-you-cannot-compromise.html
Well, I think take a tender for the jobs of running the country – and have each person with watchers who answer to the people for the performance of their lad or lass. . All coming from the citizens and having first done a public, civic management diploma and social anthropology one also, and also a farming and horticulture course – those being our main positive products. (Less emphasis on rockets and space, and more on food and maintaining the planet in a livable condition.)
They will be responsible for ensuring that the administration does what has been agreed upon in an appropriately professional way, getting the best out of staff while treating them with respect. We will save on paying wannabe celebrities with good hair and good teeth, who put in an appearance and say the things that suit their Party, performing when the key at their back is turned – for older; or the touch button is pressed – that's the younger ones.
I agree – imo disrespecting all of the climate action marchers, the school strikers, the people that WANT real change, disrespecting Greta and our children will only lead to misery for everyone
Picture this. Jacinda Ardern standing in the middle of Queen St on the bonnet of a tractor with her middle finger raised as ten of thousands of climate strikers stream by.
The Waitangi Tribunal has decided to hold an urgent inquiry into Oranga Tamariki's practices in taking Māori children from their mothers.
Chief Judge Wilson Isaac rejected Crown arguments that the issues should be examined in the current internal Oranga Tamariki inquiry or two others by the Children's Commissioner and Chief Ombudsman.
He said: "I conclude there are sufficient grounds for an urgent inquiry into a specific contemporary issue concerning a risk of significant and irreversible prejudice to Māori arising from current Oranga Tamariki policy and practice."
…Judge Isaac said the Tribunal would focus on two things:
"Having regard to the rising and disproportionately high number of tamariki Māori taken into state care under the auspices of Oranga Tamariki, is Crown legislation, policy and practice inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty and the Crown's Treaty duties to Māori? "
And:
"If so, what changes to Crown legislation, policy and practice are required to ensure Treaty compliance."
Revealed: how the FBI targeted environmental activists in domestic terror investigations
This article is more than 1 month old
Protesters were characterized as a threat to national security in what one calls an attempt to criminalize their actions.
Helen Yost, a 62-year-old environmental educator, has been a committed activist for nearly a decade. She says she spends 60 to 80 hours a week as a community organizer for Wild Idaho Rising Tide. She’s been arrested twice for engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.
Yost may not fit the profile of a domestic terrorist, but in 2014 the FBI classified her as a potential threat to national security. According to hundreds of pages of FBI files obtained by the Guardian through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) lawsuit, and interviews with activists, Yost and more than a dozen other people campaigning against fossil fuel extraction in North America have been identified indomestic terrorism-related investigations.
The investigations, which targeted individual activists and some environmental organizations, were opened in 2013-2014, at the height of opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline and the expansion of fossil fuel production in North America.
The new Foia documents reveal the bureau’s motivation for investigating a broad cross-section of the environmental movement and its characterization of non-violent protesters as a potential threat to national security.
The new Foia documents reveal the bureau’s motivation for investigating a broad cross-section of the environmental movement and its characterization of non-violent protesters as a potential threat to national security.
However, in the file closing the case, it appears that Yost has been watchlisted, which is standard for named subjects of FBI domestic terrorism investigations, according to Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice. Being watchlisted can lead to heightened scrutiny from law enforcement and delays or additional screenings when traveling. Yost said she had not traveled overseas since the FBI investigation.
Yost, who was contacted by an FBI agent when the case was still active, said she was not surprised by the agency’s actions. Surveillance was a form of suppression, she said, and this was another attempt to criminalize the actions of “normal people” working to protect natural resources. But she remains undeterred.
The Wealthier countries need to step up and donate putea to help the poor country's of Te Papatuanuku. They have the lowest carbon footprint and will be suffering the most from Global warming that's a fact.
Almost $US10 billion pledged to help tackle climate change
Wealthier countries on Friday have promised nearly $US9.8 billion over the next four years to an international fund to help poorer nations develop cleanly and adapt to climate stresses.
Most of the donors making fresh contributions came from Europe, though New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Canada also committed funds, with New Zealand and South Korea pledging to double previous donations.
However, the United States will not contribute, because president Donald Trump decided to stop paying into the fund.
The funding is still a drop in the ocean compared with the estimated $3 trillion to $7 trillion a year needed to shift the world's economy onto a more sustainable and climate-friendly path, Mr Glemarec said
The fund so far has allocated about $5.2 billion to 111 projects in 99 countries.
They range from green, low-cost housing in Mongolia's polluted capital and a methane-fuelled rapid-transit bus system in Karachi to restoring climate-threatened ecosystems in Namibia
Time are changing fast our realities opinions can change just as fast now is the time to make sure that the information we are receiving is not being distorted by Wealthier people $$$$$$$$$$. In reality the best phenomenon for all is the best for Te Papatuanuku= equality for all equal income distribution and being caretaker of Papatuanuku and her creations for the next generations our mokopuna. Our society needs to learn respect our Tipuna and our mokopuna future respect for the past and future over our greed.
Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more?
It’s not about foreign trolls, filter bubbles or fake news. Technology encourages us to believe we can all have first-hand access to the ‘real’ facts – and now we can’t stop fighting about it.
We live in a time of political fury and hardening cultural divides. But if there is one thing on which virtually everyone is agreed, it is that the news and information we receive is biased. Every second of every day, someone is complaining about bias, in everything from the latest movie reviews to sports commentary to the BBC’s coverage of Brexit. These complaints and controversies take up a growing share of public discussion.
Much of the outrage that floods social media, occasionally leaking into opinion columns and broadcast interviews, is not simply a reaction to events themselves, but to the way in which they are reported and framed. The “mainstream media” is the principal focal point for this anger. Journalists and broadcasters who purport to be neutral are a constant object of scrutiny and derision, whenever they appear to let their personal views slip. The work of journalists involves an increasing amount of unscripted, real-time discussion, which provides an occasionally troubling window into their.
.
Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more? – podcast
This mentality now spans the entire political spectrum and pervades societies around the world. A recent survey found that the majority of people globally believe their society is broken and their economy is rigged. Both the left and the right feel misrepresented and misunderstood by political institutions and the media, but the anger is shared by many in the liberal centre, who believe that populists have gamed the system to harvest more attention than they deserve. Outrage with “mainstream” institutions has become a mass.
Public life has become like a play whose audience is unwilling to suspend disbelief. Any utterance by a public figure can be unpicked in search of its ulterior motive. As cynicism grows, even judges, the supposedly neutral upholders of the law, are publicly accused of personal bias. Once doubt descends on public life, people become increasingly dependent on their own experiences and their own beliefs about how the world really works. One effect of this is that facts no longer seem to matter (the phenomenon misleadingly dubbed “post-truth”). But the crisis of democracy and of truth are one and the same: individuals are increasingly suspicious of the “official” stories they are being told, and expect to witness things for themselves.
Reasons we cannot agree on what’s true |
On one level, heightened scepticism towards the establishment is a welcome development. A more media-literate and critical citizenry ought to be less easy for the
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Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
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Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
The boycott is a fundamental tool of protest. By choosing who we buy from, we can send a message, and hopefully change corporate behaviour. Historically, boycotts have been effective, for example over apartheid in South Africa and Israel, in forcing divestment from Myanmar, and in ending bus segregation in the ...
Jan Rivers spoke at the Abortion Legislation Select Committee in favour of the bill, but in opposition to calls from other submitters to exchange the word ‘woman’ for ‘person’ throughout the bill. Jan is a supporter of the feminist group Speak Up For Women and has recently written an excellent ...
I checked my traffic stats:I was intrigued by 'monica29' - who was this very dedicated individual? I clicked on the link, to be greeted with ...Ho, hum.Spreadin' the word, spreadin' the word. Doesn't matter who hears it, as long as it gets out there. ...
There have been three polls since the election was announced, and I will shamelessly steal YouGov / UK Polling Report's Anthony Wells' summary of them:Survation – CON 34%, LAB 26%, LDEM 19%, BREX 12%, GRN 1% Ipsos MORI – CON 41%, LAB 24%, LDEM 20%, BREX 7%, GRN 3% YouGov ...
The following article is translated from Lutte Ouvrière, the weekly newspaper of the organisation usually known by the same name in France. When, for the second time this year, Chilean President Piñera announced an increase in the price of Metro tickets from 800 to 830 pesos, students in the high ...
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, They're Yours: Is there any person more vulnerable than a jilted lover on the rebound? Or, anything more certain than that the charmer, the predator, the glib spinner of lies and promises will seek such broken people out? Yes, of course, he will love every one of ...
Though Jonathan Romain is a fairly high profile Rabbi, writing in several papers and popping up on TV and the radio, this story doesn't seem to have made it to the Guardian yet, so I'll take the unusual step of linking the Stephen Pollard edited Jewish Chronicle:Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain ...
There's an election afoot, and that is when noted opinion formers such as myself get to make wild fools of ourselves by pretending we have the faintest idea what will happen.So, here is my absurdly optimistic prediction:Labour - 285Conservative - 262SNP - 53Lib Dems - 20PC - 5Ireland - 18 ...
Image Credit:Increase Social Media Traffic & Website Traffic I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your ...
Belinda CridgeI was reading my son a story last night. A great tale of derring-do of five mountaineers scaling the Matterhorn for the first time. One in the party had tried six times previously and failed, this was the last attempt before winter closed another season. They tried a ...
As introduced, the Zero Carbon Bill included an expansive secrecy clause, which would have covered virtually all decisions by the Climate Change Commission over our most important policy area. The Ministry for the Environment admitted this was a mistake (or as they put it, an "oversight"), and the select committee ...
Rachael Shaw, Victoria University of WellingtonWhen we think about animals storing food, the image that usually comes to mind is a squirrel busily hiding nuts for the winter. We don’t usually think of a small songbird taking down an enormous invertebrate, tearing it into pieces and hiding these titbits ...
. . NZ First’s success in putting the euthenasia bill to a public referenda may not be the victory they believe it to be. They may even have sounded the death-knell for a second Labour-NZ First-Green coalition. On 23 July this year, NZ First MP, Jenny Marcroft, submitted a Supplementary ...
Interesting contrasting pictures in the Guardian:Corbyn gets the classic positive shot - low angle and a clear background, making him look authoritative (of course, being Corbyn, he doesn't do authoritative very well).Where as Johnson gets pictured with children at some sort of mad-hatters' tea party:Begging the question, who is the ...
Paternalism is contentious. Arguments for state action to protect us from ourselves are fraught. I come down pretty heavily on the anti-paternalism side of the argument, but I’ve heard respectable defences of paternalism. But policy around vaccination is hardly paternalistic. There’s a clear market failure that could be pointed to ...
I’ve been reading Jules Verne’s novel Twenty thousand leagues under the sea, considered as one of the very earliest science fiction stories. In brief, Monsieur Aronnax and a couple of sidekicks are taken prisoner by Captain Nemo and his mysterious crew and treated to an underwater voyage around the world ...
The climate crisis is going to mean some pretty big changes in our country, both from its impacts and the policies required to address them. Most obviously, whole suburbs are going to be underwater by 2100, meaning people and businesses are going to have to relocate to higher ground. But ...
Yesterday a dairy company was fined $483,000 for repeatedly failing to report listeria in its facility. Its a serious fine for a serious crime: listeria is a serious disease, and they were effectively trying to kill people with it. But there's another story hidden in there, and its not a ...
Gay men see the excesses of trans activism and are increasingly speaking out. A new Facebook group addressing ‘gender identity’ and contemporary trans activism has been set up for gay men, by gay men. The following is the group’s Statement of Intent, Group Rules, and link to the group for ...
Criminal Enterprises: Gangs are not welfare institutions. Nor are they a substitute for the family their members never had. They are ruthless, violent, criminal money-making machines. That is all.OKAY, first-things-first. Gangs exist for one purpose – and only one. They are a sure-fired, time-tested institution for making crime pay – ...
Prof Nick Wilson, A/Prof George Thomson, A/Prof Simon Hales, Prof Michael BakerThe NZ Ministry for the Environment has produced a valuable discussion document with many good ideas for improving the health of waterways in New Zealand. But there are important gaps. In this blog we consider three big-ticket items ...
Finding reality needs more than wishful thinking. The problem is that statistical arguments often provide a jargon to confirm biases. Image credit:Accurate Thinking Versus Wishful Thinking in Gambling I worry at the way some ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters will travel to the Republic of Korea and Japan next week. “The Republic of Korea and Japan are two of New Zealand’s closest partners in the region with whom we share common values and ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced today that New Zealand is leading a police support mission in Bougainville as the region prepares to vote in a non-binding referendum on its political future. “New Zealand has accepted an invitation ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is defending Immigration New Zealand (INZ) after it instructed officials to stop granting visas as an exception to instructions. He has also lashed out at immigrant leaders upset with the tightening of the rules, saying they had an “elevated sense of entitlement”. Members of ...
A change to the End of Life Choice Bill was passed in Parliament, meaning if politicians decide to vote for the law it must be approved by the public first. A binding referendum was a condition insisted on by New Zealand First, and Jenny Marcroft’s supplementary order paper (SOP) successfully ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), through its skills and employment programme,Te Ara Mahi, is investing a further $1.6m into Tairāwhiti’s workforce development, said Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “This PGF funding follows on from significant PGF investment earlier this ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says the Government’s steps to reduce farm livestock emissions are necessary and timely. Today the Government and farming leaders announced a plan to measure and price emissions at the farm level by 2025. “Many farmers ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
The latest Quarterly Connectivity Report shows that more and more New Zealanders are moving to Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB), with Rolleston having the highest uptake at 74 per cent, as at the end of September. “This means that nearly three quarters of Rolleston’s households and businesses have moved to ultra-fast services. ...
The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has wished students the best of luck for this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams which start tomorrow. Around 140,000 students will have participated in 119 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams by the end of the exam period on 3 December. “I want to ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of Bede Corry as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. “The appointment of a senior diplomat to this important role underlines the significance New Zealand places on our relationship with the United Kingdom,” said Mr Peters. “The United ...
An innovative approach to boosting the number of frontline Police has seen 20 new officers graduate from one of the uncommon training wings in Auckland. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 20 constables today means that 1,765 new Police officers have been deployed since the coalition government took ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says the 1.2 million hours of community work completed by offenders in the last financial year has helped local communities right across the country. “Community work sentences are a great way for people to pay something positive back to society. There is a massive benefit to ...
"A pathway for Police in leadership with Iwi Māori, to achieve the aspirations of Māori whānau." Police launch of Te Huringa o Te Tai, Pipitea Marae, Thorndon Quay, Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou. Hello everyone, warm greetings to you all. ...
Working New Zealanders are getting more in their back pockets under the Coalition Government’s economic plan. Stats NZ data today shows average weekly ordinary time earnings are up by $83 since the Government took office. This shows that working New Zealanders are getting higher take-home pay, and that employers are ...
The Government is supporting schools to cut down their energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts, with a quarter of all schools having their lights replaced with LEDs, a sustainability contestable fund and a plan to improve the environmental sustainability of all schools in the future. Education Minister Chris Hipkins and ...
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis heads to China on Friday to lead the New Zealand Government presence at the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism closing ceremony. The ceremony will take place at Canton Tower in Guangzhou on Sunday 10 November. “The Year of Tourism has been mutually beneficial for both New ...
Should we plan for drought or deluge and how is CO2 released from the ocean’s floor? Several climate change projects were given a boost in the latest Marsden Fund investment of $83.6 million, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods said today. “Climate change is long-term challenge that requires out-of-the-box ...
Leaders of 16 countries negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have announced the completion of negotiation on the text as well as agreement on virtually all market access issues between 15 countries. The leaders said they will work with India to resolve its outstanding concerns in a way that ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare says World Tsunami Awareness Day today (5 November) is a chance for all New Zealanders to learn more about the tsunami risk in our regions and the right actions to take to stay safe. “All of New Zealand’s coastline is at risk of tsunami. ...
New Zealand’s more than 1000 paramedics are to have their role as key frontline health professionals formally recognised and regulated in the same way as doctors and nurses, Health Minister David Clark says. The Government has agreed to regulate paramedics under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. “Paramedic leaders ...
Changes to insolvency law announced by the Government today will include requirements to honour up to 50 per cent of the value of gift cards or vouchers held by consumers, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi says. “When a business is insolvent, these consumers are often left out of ...
Six New Zealanders tonight received medals for their meritorious work in the frontline public service. The Public Service Medal, established by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is awarded annually. “For the second year this Government has recognised public servants who have made a real difference to the lives of New ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker heads to Shanghai today for the China International Import Expo and meetings focused on reforming the WTO. Over 90 New Zealand companies will be exhibiting at the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), which runs from 5-10 November. “China is one of New Zealand’s ...
Drivers holding a current five-year learner or restricted car or motorbike licence, expiring between 1 December 2019 and 1 December 2021, will receive an automatic two-year extension, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Over 144,000 drivers’ time-limited licences are due to expire in the next two years; 67,000 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker have announced the conclusion of negotiations to upgrade New Zealand’s existing free trade agreement with China. “This ensures our upgraded free trade agreement will remain the best that China has with any country,” Jacinda Ardern said. She ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau congratulates the Ten Kiwi organisations who have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to the wellbeing and the prosperity of their communities. Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ), announced the awards at its annual conference in Blenheim last weekend. “A special congratulations to ...
Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa has welcomed the record high of 13,000 building and construction apprentices in active training with main provider the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO). “We are committed to reversing the long-term decline in trades training and it’s excellent to see more people ...
PHARMAC’s decision to fund a new leukaemia treatment means three new cancer medicines have now been funded so far this year, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December venetoclax (Venclexta) will be funded for people living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Just last month funding was also confirmed for alectinib ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today formally gifted a white horse to Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan in front of thousands of attendees at a ceremony conducted by Chief Priest Inaba. The horse named Kōmaru, which means ‘sheltered’ in Maori and ‘shining’ in Japanese, is a white 12-year-old purebred Andalusian ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has named diplomat Martin Harvey as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to Canada. “Canada is one of New Zealand’s closest and longstanding international partners,” said Mr Peters. “Our close friendship is underpinned by our shared democratic values, history and our parliamentary traditions. As Commonwealth countries and ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi has today announced the appointment of Jane Wrightson as Retirement Commissioner. “Jane has strong leadership, management and governance skills which will help champion improved financial capability for all New Zealanders and provide advice on retirement income policy issues,” Kris Faafoi said. Jane Wrightson ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi announced a plan last night to cooperate more closely in the Pacific, as part of the strong and ambitious relationship between the two countries. “Japan is one of New Zealand’s most important partners and closest friends. My discussions with Minister ...
The Government’s plan to help older New Zealanders live well, Better Later Life – He Oranga Kaumātua 2019 to 2034, was launched by Seniors Minister Tracey Martin today. “Better Later Life takes a fresh look at what is required to ensure everyone gets the chance to live well as they ...
Trees can play a lead role in New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions economy, and this is reflected in a new request for research into innovative ways to use wood fibre, announced by Forestry Minister Shane Jones at the blessing of the new government forestry hub site in Rotorua ...
Emergency cash injections for DHBs are a symptom of a woefully inadequate budget planning process that is increasingly an exercise in futility, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Ian Powell says. ...
In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Throughout its history, Glen Innes has had the highest density of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Badlan, Postdoctoral Researcher, Atmospheric Dynamics, UNSW As the east coast bushfire crisis unfolds, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Rural Fire Service operational officer Brett Taylor have each warned residents bushfires can create their own weather systems. This is not ...
Iran has announced the discovery of a new oilfield containing 53 billion barrels of crude. So what does that say about the NZ government’s move to be a world leader in shutting down the issue of new permits for oil and gas exploration – a move which Jacinda Ardern characterised ...
A wild, hilly spear, studded with brilliant beaches and thrilling bush, the Coromandel Peninsula is a magic geographical cul-de-sac. Here’s how to explore this stunning part of our backyard.If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be sorting out their NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel ...
12 November 2019 Water and infrastructure professionals from across the public and private sectors attended a panel discussion on 4 November, focused on the Government’s proposed water reforms and most particularly the potential impacts on our urban environments. ...
Fifteen years on, Sam Brooks looks at Gwen Stefani’s wet, weird, wild and wonderful debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.The first thing we hear on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. – No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani’s first album – is applause and cheering.Then a piano. Then Stefani warbling, sweetly, mournfully, almost ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Coral Gartner, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland More than 2,000 people in the United States have developed serious lung damage in a poisoning outbreak associated with the use of vaping devices this year. At least 39 people ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Ivanova, Senior Lecturer, Drama, Creative and Performing Arts, Flinders University Review: The Dark Master and Totes Adorbs Hurricane, OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, 22 October – 8 November In theatre, the play text tends to drive the storytelling. The interpretation of this ...
Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee has made key amendments to the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill, giving borrowers more protection from harmful high cost consumer credit contracts. The changes indicate that the Select Committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Stanley, Associate professor/Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne Fires of unprecedented number and ferocity are today raging in New South Wales and Queensland. Residents in some regions woke to news that the fire danger was “catastrophic”. Rural ...
The government’s reform of 1989’s Tomorrow’s Schools legislation has been announced today, and it’s promising changes for students, teachers, principals and boards.What is “Tomorrow’s Schools”?In 1989, the government introduced the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, which meant all schools became much more independent, giving Boards power over almost all school ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is urging politicians to heed evidence from respected international experts on why a proposed firearms registry in New Zealand is doomed to fail. ...
Go Bus drivers in Auckland will be taking full strike action from tomorrow as relations reach a new low with their employer following a week where the company has cancelled regular wage bargaining, arbitrarily suspended union-affiliated drivers, rejected ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Peterson, Associate Professor, Flinders University Review: OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, 22 October – 8 November The most exciting work at OzAsia cuts across genres, styles, and cultures to create something distinctive and new: a work of art that could not exist without ...
Large and small scale and Māori foresters say the 50 Shades of Green march on parliament on Thursday (eds 14 November) highlights deliberately created confusion about the true nature and recent scope of forestry expansion. ...
Where do we watch content, what do we want from it, and how do we view New Zealand news? Here’s what we learned from NZ On Air’s latest survey on identity, culture and the media. We still like to watch free-to-view TVDespite the lingering doom and gloom around linear television, almost ...
The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister.It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s illegal to be mean about people ...
Responding to the launch of Massey University's new policy and code regarding free speech and external speaker, Free Speech Coalition spokesman Dr David Cumin says: ...
The Government is creating a new division of the Education Ministry in an overhaul that will strip schools of the right to manage their enrolment zones and their property. ...
Making Northport Auckland’s main port will require massive investment in rail and road and will increase carbon emissions and the cost of goods says National Road Carriers Association CEO David Aitken. ...
Tuesday, November 12: After months of mounting pressure, the Environmental Protection Authority has now publicly released oil giant OMV’s application to drill a high risk oil well off the Otago Coast. ...
Simon Day eats a burger and considers becoming a vegetarian (again). For two years in my 20s, I was vegetarian. It was a choice based on the idea that it’s a much more efficient and much less environmentally invasive way to feed the world. I used to habitually roll out a ...
Ahead of TVNZ1’s new wildlife documentary Serengeti, Tara Ward presents the best animals that make up the juiciest drama on the plains.If you love nature docos filled with argy-bargy and love triangles, jealous siblings and power struggles, then TVNZ’s new wildlife documentary series Serengeti is a dream come true. The ...
The Panama Papers exposed a world in which the uber-rich and powerful were able to hide unimaginable wealth. The reporters who broke the story describe how they did it.“When it takes a whistleblower to sound the alarm… it signals that democracy’s checks and balances have all failed.”The final words in ...
Family First New Zealand has proposed a number of bills to the government regarding the access to pornography in both public places, including schools and the work place. “There has been an important national conversation around consent and ‘rape culture’. ...
Vernon Tava, the leader of the Sustainable NZ party, used to be part of the Greens. So how did he fit in there? Former MP Catherine Delahunty shares her impressions of him from then, and analyses where his new party will fit in.I first met Vernon Tava when he joined ...
A Parliamentary Petition has been issued, calling for the regulation of sunscreens in New Zealand as well as funding of effective sunscreens for low income and high risk populations. ...
It’s been a rough year for unit-holders in Fonterra Shareholders Fund, with the unit price slumping from $5.12 to its lowest point ever at $3.15. Chairman John Shewan didn’t mince words when he told the Fund’s annual meeting this week Fonterra’s financial performance had been “very poor” in 2019. Not ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Zero Carbon Bill, climate change Henry Cooke (Stuff): NZ First kept methane target from exiting ...
At 5:00pm on 22 November 2019, the period closes for public submissions regarding the changes BSA is proposing to the Election Programmes Code of Broadcasting Practice (Election Programmes Code). ...
Rachel Boyack was confirmed as the Labour Party candidate for Nelson for the 2020 General Election at a meeting of Party members held in Nelson tonight ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is bland and ineffective. Don’t fall for the spin, argues Steve Abel of Greenpeace. It was hard to not be buoyed by our House of Representatives, seemingly aligned in their commitment to climate action, at last week’s passing of the Zero Carbon Act. Bold expositions of pride ...
A new nationwide Curia Market Research poll shows the vast majority of New Zealanders are confused about what the End of Life Choice Bill aims to legalise. ...
The Prime Minster is defending her proposed firearms protection orders which has received mixed reactions in parliament; and attempted suicide in police custody has risen by almost 400 percent in four years. ...
A Helen Clark Foundation project to reduce online harm will be presented today in competition at the Paris Peace Forum. 'The Christchurch Principles' full report is available for download here . The Forum is a prestigious international event, initiated ...
Construction of more than 500 houses for New Zealand’s most needy families has been put on hold during a housing crisis because of a controversial policy change. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Sinclair, Research Fellow, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University Endometriosis is a chronic, inflammatory condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside of the womb. It affects around one in ten women of reproductive age, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Fisher, Professor of Cattle & Sheep Production Medicine, University of Melbourne The plight of Australia’s dairy farmers is on the political agenda this week, after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson narrowly failed in her Senate bid for a minimum milk price. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Holland, Senior Lecturer in Australian History, Macquarie University When the minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, recently announced a co-design process for creating an Indigenous “voice to government”, it was characterised as a shift in rhetoric. Yet, on closer inspection, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Zadro, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney Patients might not be getting the best advice about which treatments do or don’t work, according to our study published today. We found professional societies are more likely to call out other health professionals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Abou-Nemeh, Lecturer in Early Modern History, Victoria University of Wellington This week New Zealand’s parliamentarians will vote on the third reading of the End of Life Choice Bill. Much public discussion on the merits of euthanasia has centred around the role ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cris Brack, Associate Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Trees die. You don’t have to like it, but they do. And this comes as a surprise to some. A senior public servant once told one of us (Brack): ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elaine Stratford, Professor, University of Tasmania In this series, we look at under-acknowledged women through the ages. We are all touched by relationships with animals — as domestic and working companions, wild inspirations, threats, or pests. Some of us may know about ...
The government's firearms prohibition order proposal - to keep high-risk individuals away from firearms - is being met with both approval and alarm bells. ...
The government's firearms prohibition order proposal - to keep high-risk individuals away from firearms - is being met with both approval and alarm bells. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Armed police arrest raises alarm, report makes strong call for Auckland port to go north, and a battle is going on among Fonterra shareholders.Serious concerns have been raised about the trial of armed police officers, after a team arrested an ...
Some observers have been thinking that the forthcoming British election on 12 December would be about a lot more than just Brexit. Some of the issues polling supports this view. And the party leaders have certainly been leading off with their plans for the radiant future. And yet – new ...
A little-known hormone-related condition affecting up to 8 percent of people with periods is sometimes mistaken for bipolar disorder and incorrectly treated. ...
The unusual case of Winston Peters vs the Crown took a new twist yesterday with revelations the deputy PM and head of the civil service have not talked since the Government was formed. ...
Dr Samantha Marsh explains why we need to be wary of drawing definitive conclusions from single studies on social media that appear to ‘let us off the hook’. ...
Tech sector giants have a vested interest in prioritising freedom of expression, often at the expense of other rights. A new project to reduce harmful online content, presented yesterday to the Paris Peace Forum, aims to change that. One of the architects of the Christchurch Principles, Dr David Hall, explains. What ...
Open mike 25/10/2019 
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Sneeky
I don't know what Chris Finlayson's been up to since he left Parliament but it hasn't killed his smarminess or his view that people other than he and his mates are stupid.
It was said on RNZ this morning that he was going back to contribute to getting the rules around the use of video from Parliament changed .
According to him the world has moved on and the rules need to be updated for the social media of today. We all know times move quickly and things move quickly.
We also know that the world didn't move that quickly in less than two years from when certain restrictions were included in the rules, to where they are no longer necessary.
Finlayson and his worthy leader no doubt had a part in formulating those rules. He is saying this brief time later that after the intellectual rigour they applied to constructing them the essence of part of them no longer applies?
What changed, what moved quickly is that they were no longer in power. What would have been argued on grounds of principle from high and mighty positions of power suddenly are being argued in a diametrically opposite way, ostensibly on grounds of principle.
The high and mighty are well suited to the worm holes. Finlayson should crawl back there.
Prior to becoming a politician Finlayson had a law practice which, as far as I know, continues to exist. I recall him saying on leaving politics that he was planning to resume his legal career.
That being the case then it is likely National hired him to represent them at the select committee hearing. That being the case then he would be representing his client (the Nats) and not himself.
No . he hasnt 'resumed his' previous legal practice. He has moved to Auckland ( where the money is) to work as an high end arbitrator and barrister
https://www.bankside.co.nz/barrister/hon-christopher-finlayson-qc/
That's interesting. Thanks Dukeofurl.
As someone who seems to have specialised in copyright, contractural interpretation and other similar legal matters prior to entering parliament, then it seems probable Finlayson was hired in his capacity as a high flying barrister to represent them.
After all, they have lots of Chinese money at their disposal. You know… this "quid pro quo" thing which appears fashionable among some of the world's political elite these days.
The legal fraternity love their Latin phrases so here’s one that’s quite fitting IMO: cui bono?
I studied Latin for some years and while I came across many fine phrases (and use them occasionally,) sometimes English is great for being succinct and accurate.
Like "the man is an arsehole."
Nice enough guy overtly @Anne…….shame about the sense of Tory entitlement and bitchiness he's adopted. Kind of a 'Dontcha know who I am?" – in an "I've paid my dues", sophisticated sort of way .
Better to just give him a knighthood and wish him a happy life in retirement. Maybe even a brass plaque on a front row seat in some remote venue where the NZSO plays.
Give him a bloody subscription for life even, or the keys to Miramar Penninsula, or even a guest column on Granny Herald
Well said peter.; – "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
but we must not allow our own photo images to be used for political gain without our consent.
An interesting question for our times: why are so few Repugs willing to lift even their smallest finger to try to tame the turd tornado spattering up the walls of the Oval Office? After all, Pence would sign off on any judges the Heritage Foundation puts in front of him, and any tax cuts or other reactionary legislation, so it's not as if they would lose any ability to actually do anything.
Is it simple partisan loyalty?
https://fortune.com/2019/10/21/republican-senators-impeachment/
Are modern day Repugs entirely driven by 'triggering the libs' and Pence just won't do that as effectively as the flambee'd freakshow?
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/8/20903433/pence-trump-impeachment-conservatives
Personally, I'm still going with they're too busy quivering in fear that Darth Hater would open a can of Whoopass on their spineless husks.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/10/24/the-fantasy-of-republicans-ditching-trump-229879
I do hope that people in the USA are reading your comments Andre and that of other wise heads here. One can only hope that all the close attention we give to the USA here actually penetrates the outer stratosphere of the USA consciousness.
As for Brexit, it is also very interesting in all its manifestations as Halloween draws close.
One columnist spreads her interest wide to take in the Remainers.
The trouble with the Remainers is not their arrogant inability to grasp when they have lost, but their blindness to when they have won. So when Boris Johnson triumphantly returned from Brussels clutching the best bad deal possible, the eyes of MPs gunged up so quickly with spiteful, green anger that they failed to spot their finest chance to wreck Brexit.
Fatuous Remainer MPs have just become the useful idiots of the Leave cause – Sherelle Jacobs Daily Telegraph Columnist
Her image shows a 20-30 year old looking pleased with herself for getting a piece into the paper which comes from a different viewpoint – though a doubtfully valid one.
" One can only hope that all the close attention we give to the USA here actually penetrates.."
Do really believe that ? the Guardian especially has far better writers and columnists, a world wide syndication and yet no one takes any notice
Did anyone watch the interview between John Campbell with Dogal Stevenson (the famous 1960’s news reporter)on TVNZ one Breakfast show today?
What a gem, here's my memory of it.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/10/25/special-report-to-save-democracy-we-must-make-the-media-our-own/#comment-479698
Todays blog.
What a blast hearing Dogal Stevenson talking to John Campbell at this morning on TVNZ one ‘Breakfast’ show at 7.40am today when John asked Dogal; “what would you advise todays newreaders to do”?
Dogal said very carefully after deep reflection “well I would say to him; (from memory- my words)
“just loosen up, – you don’t want to be a slave to a BBC as an adjunct; – talk to your listeners audience as they are your own people, and you will receive far more empathy and respect for speaking the truth.”
Then from memory I recall Dogal said, he still searches for the truth as a newsreader, and mostly listens to RNZ as our public broadcaster, in the hope that that he is hearing the truth, and others are to biased today.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96745495/labour-promises-freetoair-rnz-tv-channel
Yes we need to get that free to air public TV channel we were promised by Labour started soon as the election process is now in full swing putting out so much fake media hype now that is is often difficult to know what is the truth any more.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96745495/labour-promises-freetoair-rnz-tv-channel?rm=a
.
Yes public TV on a reasonable budget and no highly priced front people. Let's get able people who earn a reasonable screw and go for ugly ones – it's time we had our day in the sun.
"Yes we need to get that free to air public TV channel we were promised by Labour started soon as the election process is now in full swing "
As I replied to you @ Cleangreen once before (not sure if it was here or on TDB.)
Please don't hold your breath. You are probably already down as some disgruntled old coot whose vote won't make a difference in your twilight years anyway
Ideologically, the foxes are in charge of the chicken coup and the chickens are busy convincing their partners how dainty the taste of a Chardonnay is. So its better to just smile and watch them all jump off a cliff, and watch the onlookers clutch their pearls afterwards
chanting “Oooh! I say!”
OncewasTim.
Yes we are petty much stuffed now, like the movies always portray the masses as idiots when a huge disaster comes our way such as in the movie "The day after tomorrow
It correctly makes us all look quite stupid like chickens for sure. .
Can I sing 'Rule Britannia" one last time ?
Bond, James Bond .. no relation to Boris.
I wondered about this. What is the reasonable position on it?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/401733/parliament-tv-attack-ads-speaker-reprimands-academic-over-comments
The hearing was mostly cordial, barring a stern rebuke from Mr Mallard to Massey University Professor Claire Robinson after her criticism of Labour's position.
The review was initiated after Labour complained that the Opposition had used official footage of Labour backbencher Deborah Russell without her permission in breach of one of Parliament's rarely enforced rules.
This is the only audio I can find. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018719271
Claire Robinson…. always finds way to twist the narrative to favour national
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-10-2017/election-2017-a-vote-for-the-status-quo/
"But to be a vote for change Labour would have had to get more votes than National. In fact National got 20,574 more votes in 2017 than it did in 2014."
hello MMP is calling Claire…the left has multiple choice of parties.
And she lies by omission as National got less votes as a % of the total vote a whopping -2.59%. Saying they 'won' by getting more votes by number and by party was the National partys constant claim.
I keep getting good, hopeful feelings that problems are being dealt with in a timely, not time-wasting fashion, now that the Labour Coalition is in. Please God let this political do-wonders group stay in and we can have hope for the future. It can't please us all, all the time, but it is trying for most of the time. The others are gungy ghastly greedy and bottom-feeders.
They're trying @grey. But there's a lot of shit to push uphill and they've been slow to start, and slow to even recognise where many of the roadblocks are/have been.
Their worst enema comes from quite a few in the senior ranks of the public service. Now that I've come of age, I'm privy to the conversations and opinions of a bunch of retired senior public servants. I hadn't quite realised how much they're in agreement with what I've noticed quite independently of what they'd seen and experieinced. Kind of like a blatent display of a Master of the Universe culture, previously limited to the private sector.
Whereas once it was all a matter of self preservation through obfuscation, spin et al (as in "Yes Minister" fashion), NOW those same traits come with outright political partisanship in so many cases.
Not sure if it was in here or TDB that I was reminded of the word 'spiv' which reminded me of grifters, but its become a bit sad that many of the coalition MPs have taken this long (2 years in) to appreciate the level of 'pushback' that's occurred, and many still don't appear to have noticed how many of their 'officials' have the skills of the best used car salesman.
Some Ministers and MPs in the coalition are/have been simply too 'nice', and the used car salesmen are, and have taken advantage of it.
Pushing back, to the extent they're trying to show just who is boss; 'working to rule' on policies they dislike or don't agree with, slowing it all down; and crying victim if and when anyone even attempts to call them to account.
I'm glad you have confidence because what worries me most is that this government COULD be teetering on a loss come 2020, given a senior public service that's by and large its enemy and almost completely unaccountable for its many failures (a matter of record that could rival a bLip list, an almost non-existent 4th Estate, and an electorate that's becoming increasingly disinterested and feeling alienated.
If you’ve got one or two crystals I could clutch, I could return the favour, maybe as a tour guide to the new home of the Dalai Lama
Edit
James Shaw gave an excellent interview.
environment Emissions trading scheme under fire
From Morning Report, 8:24 am today Listen duration 5′ :50″
The government is under fire for not going far enough with its Emissions Trading Scheme. Farmers won't have to start paying for their emissions until 2025, as long as they make progress in finding ways to measure and price emissions at the farm level. Greenpeace says the government's Emissions Trading Scheme shows pleas from tens-of-thousands of students for climate action have fallen on deaf ears. Corin speaks to the Climate Change Minister James Shaw in our Wellington studio.
and – Good work that engineer
8:15 am today
Engineer reveals dozens of building mistakes
From Morning Report, 8:15 am today 3.24m
A structural engineer who helped trigger investigations into seismically-flawed building designs has revealed dozens of common but serious mistakes he is finding during reviews. The consequences of design faults include a 60-metre high transmission tower that snapped in half. Phil Pennington reports.
I have relatives in the building industry. 'Cowboys' would be a polite description.
The way that builders go broke and don't pay their subbies is a shock to me, filled with the belief of building being one of our strong industries that was flourishing, blah blah. My relations just had a very nice house built and watched over it all the time, I think similar to a civil engineer as he is a retired builder. The supposed builder confessed that it was beyond him before the job was done, he was running a ponzi, paying off past debts from the current job, and it caught up with him. And he and his family were known to my relation, not fly-by-nights. In the end he was paid for the job, but didn't pay all his subbies, and my relation had to bargain with them to get them to sign off their work so the Council would issue a 'pass-notice' or whatever it's called. He had to pay some in full, so double for that part. Shocking! The house is pretty good but he had to finish off some parts himself. His knees are a bit shot, but he managed.
It should be a steady job and with good tradesmen getting good pay. But SNAFU is our codesign in NZ since neoliberalbloodyeconomics and the bloody Labourtroika/Treasury takeover. Can we pull ourselves out of the smelly bog – I hope.
The Master Builders still exist and they guarantee their work, do they not?
https://www.masterbuilder.org.nz/RMBA/Master_Build_Guarantee/RMBA/MB_Guarantee/GuaranteeHome.aspx
Well I have heard queries about whether they are reliable but don't know. Why is the Master Builder crowd not being used more – don't know. My builder relation would have thought that knowing the person and his family, he would be okay.
People can look into the eyes of an assured bloke and form an opinion that their job knowledge and outcome will be okay. Silly but in law when you hold yourself out to be something then you should stand behind it and I guess that prompts people to accept others who seem to know what they are doing.
One of the characteristics of the criminally inclined is that they can appear honest.
Another human chararacteristic is that family members will kill other family members on contract, as we learn today from a trial in Nelson.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/116818971/pair-sentenced-for-murder-of-nelson-woman
Spammers, ponzi schemes, crooked employers, employees, companies evading reponsibilities, cowboys, fly by nighters, human traffickers, exploiters everywhere.
And that's on a good day……………….
@ mac1. Why not find out yourself then tell us all if you are right.
And on my 'namesake' day we received the word that an Iwi is challenging OMV CEO in an international court .
A good move there, – we all need to support them not leave them in solitude;.
We we wrote this in support today too.
CEAC support Iwi Leaders Group lawsuit against OMV CEO
25th October 2019.
Press Release: Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre.
CEAC support Climate change Iwi Leaders Group lawsuit against OMV CEO
On this ‘St Crispin’s day 25th October’, (a day that the English celebrate annually their victory against the French during the Agincourt 100yr war.)
• It was fitting that we were sent this important press release on this day.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1910/S00504/iwi-leader-launches-criminal-lawsuit-against-omv-ceo.htm
We fully support the Iwi legal challenge against another polluter and ‘climate spoiler’ such as OMV is.
QUOTE;
“ An iwi leader has announced the initiation of a lawsuit to be filed at the International Criminal Court against Rainer Seele, the CEO of Austrian oil giant OMV”.
This was another very good Iwi policy that has considered the health ,safety and wellbeing of all citizens, and we commend the Iwi for making a bold stand against those corporate interests who wish harm upon our NZ citizens and we stand together with them in support and solitude.
END
No Right Turn nails it – shaw knows this stuff better than most and this is what he managed to sort – pathetic and disgraceful – if this is the big moment it fizzed worse than Dot-idiot and the big nothing.
Would it be possible to replace Westminster with with an algorithm run by .. oh, Zuckerberg ?
Think of the cost savings, efficiencies, and 'improvements' in democratic process.
Well, I think take a tender for the jobs of running the country – and have each person with watchers who answer to the people for the performance of their lad or lass. . All coming from the citizens and having first done a public, civic management diploma and social anthropology one also, and also a farming and horticulture course – those being our main positive products. (Less emphasis on rockets and space, and more on food and maintaining the planet in a livable condition.)
They will be responsible for ensuring that the administration does what has been agreed upon in an appropriately professional way, getting the best out of staff while treating them with respect. We will save on paying wannabe celebrities with good hair and good teeth, who put in an appearance and say the things that suit their Party, performing when the key at their back is turned – for older; or the touch button is pressed – that's the younger ones.
I agree – imo disrespecting all of the climate action marchers, the school strikers, the people that WANT real change, disrespecting Greta and our children will only lead to misery for everyone
Ethnic cleansing seems to be all good with the No 2 Repug in the Senate:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-cornyn-defends-trump-kurds_n_5db1a0f3e4b0131fa99a9fba
well as the orange hostage taker once said
"He (they) knew what he (they) signed up for.
and besides He – the orange hostage taker – is also known for stiffing his contractors. so really they knew what they signed up for, right?
https://www.snopes.com/ap/2017/10/18/trump-says-fallen-soldier-knew-signed/
Here is the UK House of Commons with Q&A. How do we compare – I know I should listen and watch our Parliament but I am remiss about this.
Our QA starts with a Question. Theirs starts with background then the question.
And the initial question is a single question then next one on a different topic.
I can't keep track of UK Q&A!
This is brave, comedian Kelly Bachman telling Harvey Weinstein 'Fuck you' when he's in the audience at an event for young actors,
(cheers from the women, boos from the men).
Good job, those women!
Good on her.
and fuck him for having the gall to attend.
Good this is happening.
Revealed: how the FBI targeted environmental activists in domestic terror investigations
This article is more than 1 month old
Protesters were characterized as a threat to national security in what one calls an attempt to criminalize their actions.
Helen Yost, a 62-year-old environmental educator, has been a committed activist for nearly a decade. She says she spends 60 to 80 hours a week as a community organizer for Wild Idaho Rising Tide. She’s been arrested twice for engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.
Yost may not fit the profile of a domestic terrorist, but in 2014 the FBI classified her as a potential threat to national security. According to hundreds of pages of FBI files obtained by the Guardian through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) lawsuit, and interviews with activists, Yost and more than a dozen other people campaigning against fossil fuel extraction in North America have been identified in domestic terrorism-related investigations.
The investigations, which targeted individual activists and some environmental organizations, were opened in 2013-2014, at the height of opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline and the expansion of fossil fuel production in North America.
The new Foia documents reveal the bureau’s motivation for investigating a broad cross-section of the environmental movement and its characterization of non-violent protesters as a potential threat to national security.
The new Foia documents reveal the bureau’s motivation for investigating a broad cross-section of the environmental movement and its characterization of non-violent protesters as a potential threat to national security.
However, in the file closing the case, it appears that Yost has been watchlisted, which is standard for named subjects of FBI domestic terrorism investigations, according to Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice. Being watchlisted can lead to heightened scrutiny from law enforcement and delays or additional screenings when traveling. Yost said she had not traveled overseas since the FBI investigation.
Yost, who was contacted by an FBI agent when the case was still active, said she was not surprised by the agency’s actions. Surveillance was a form of suppression, she said, and this was another attempt to criminalize the actions of “normal people” working to protect natural resources. But she remains undeterred.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/23/revealed-how-the-fbi-targeted-environmental-activists-in-domestic-terror-investigations
Kia Ora 1 News.
That's is cool the school still having a calf day.
Te Uluru is a Tangata Whenua of Australia taonga all Australians need to learn some of the Tangata whenua great culture.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Yes I will be a great game of Rugby tonight.
Ma Te Wa for the League.
Armogedon will be great this year. The is heaps of potential for our Rangatahi to make plenty of putea from playing and developing video games.
Ka kite Ano
The Wealthier countries need to step up and donate putea to help the poor country's of Te Papatuanuku. They have the lowest carbon footprint and will be suffering the most from Global warming that's a fact.
Almost $US10 billion pledged to help tackle climate change
Wealthier countries on Friday have promised nearly $US9.8 billion over the next four years to an international fund to help poorer nations develop cleanly and adapt to climate stresses.
Most of the donors making fresh contributions came from Europe, though New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Canada also committed funds, with New Zealand and South Korea pledging to double previous donations.
However, the United States will not contribute, because president Donald Trump decided to stop paying into the fund.
The funding is still a drop in the ocean compared with the estimated $3 trillion to $7 trillion a year needed to shift the world's economy onto a more sustainable and climate-friendly path, Mr Glemarec said
The fund so far has allocated about $5.2 billion to 111 projects in 99 countries.
They range from green, low-cost housing in Mongolia's polluted capital and a methane-fuelled rapid-transit bus system in Karachi to restoring climate-threatened ecosystems in Namibia
Ka kite Ano link below.
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
Time are changing fast our realities opinions can change just as fast now is the time to make sure that the information we are receiving is not being distorted by Wealthier people $$$$$$$$$$. In reality the best phenomenon for all is the best for Te Papatuanuku= equality for all equal income distribution and being caretaker of Papatuanuku and her creations for the next generations our mokopuna. Our society needs to learn respect our Tipuna and our mokopuna future respect for the past and future over our greed.
Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more?
It’s not about foreign trolls, filter bubbles or fake news. Technology encourages us to believe we can all have first-hand access to the ‘real’ facts – and now we can’t stop fighting about it.
We live in a time of political fury and hardening cultural divides. But if there is one thing on which virtually everyone is agreed, it is that the news and information we receive is biased. Every second of every day, someone is complaining about bias, in everything from the latest movie reviews to sports commentary to the BBC’s coverage of Brexit. These complaints and controversies take up a growing share of public discussion.
Much of the outrage that floods social media, occasionally leaking into opinion columns and broadcast interviews, is not simply a reaction to events themselves, but to the way in which they are reported and framed. The “mainstream media” is the principal focal point for this anger. Journalists and broadcasters who purport to be neutral are a constant object of scrutiny and derision, whenever they appear to let their personal views slip. The work of journalists involves an increasing amount of unscripted, real-time discussion, which provides an occasionally troubling window into their.
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Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more? – podcast
This mentality now spans the entire political spectrum and pervades societies around the world. A recent survey found that the majority of people globally believe their society is broken and their economy is rigged. Both the left and the right feel misrepresented and misunderstood by political institutions and the media, but the anger is shared by many in the liberal centre, who believe that populists have gamed the system to harvest more attention than they deserve. Outrage with “mainstream” institutions has become a mass.
Public life has become like a play whose audience is unwilling to suspend disbelief. Any utterance by a public figure can be unpicked in search of its ulterior motive. As cynicism grows, even judges, the supposedly neutral upholders of the law, are publicly accused of personal bias. Once doubt descends on public life, people become increasingly dependent on their own experiences and their own beliefs about how the world really works. One effect of this is that facts no longer seem to matter (the phenomenon misleadingly dubbed “post-truth”). But the crisis of democracy and of truth are one and the same: individuals are increasingly suspicious of the “official” stories they are being told, and expect to witness things for themselves.
Reasons we cannot agree on what’s true |
On one level, heightened scepticism towards the establishment is a welcome development. A more media-literate and critical citizenry ought to be less easy for the
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/19/why-cant-we-agree-on-whats-true-anymore
Kia Ora 1 News.
The Korowai Trust is doing a good job housing the homeless.
I'm trying to get A lawyer to.
That's awesome a commeration of the New Zealand land wars.
I agree we should not let go of the pass.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
That's a good Haka and waiata at Waitara Marae for the commeration of the New Zealand Wars.
It was good luck that Hine won the draw.
Its awesome to see tangata whenua getting council seats.
Ka kite Ano