…. the lifespan of a beef cow on a feedlot is decided by two metrics: how fast we can fatten them up, and how long their body can survive the process.
This is, ethically speaking, fucked up. And most people don’t even know it’s going on in New Zealand.
The government has signalled they will step in by the first quarter of next year to provide national guidance to councils on feedlots. In the Herald, Rachel Stewart warns “a storm’” of animal cruelty allegations is coming.
Fish and Game last night released footage of cows udder-deep in mud, struggling to walk around a saturated South Island farm. A recent rise in intensive winter grazing has been met with increasing damage to waterways and animal welfare, the group said.
….Fish and Game executive Martin Taylor said the rise of intensive winter grazing has had immediate environmental impact.
“Fish and Game has been watching this practice and what we have seen is deeply disturbing. You can see animals knee deep in mud and dirty water, with sediment washing unchecked into nearby waterways,” he said. “This mud washes into drains, streams and rivers, choking the environment and smothering insect and plant life.”
….New Zealand Veterinary Association chief veterinary officer Helen Beattie said cows in these conditions are at increased risk of lameness and mastitis, and are unable to exhibit natural behaviour like lying down to chew cud – a crucial part of rumination.
….Fish and Game says local councils are complicit in the continued degradation of lakes and waterways
“Unsightly plumes of discoloured water can be seen billowing downstream from winter feeding sites, yet the councils responsible for monitoring seem to be turning a blind eye to the damage being caused,” Taylor said.
“Some councils like Southland are using their so-called environmental plans to make it even easier for farmers to use this destructive practice.”
Thanks to Kirsty Johnston for uncovering this monstrous practice.
This barbaric………
Pregnant cows ‘suffering’ for calf blood industry
Heavily pregnant cows are being slaughtered and the blood drained from their unborn calves’ hearts to be sold for export – where it’s used to produce vaccines and fake meat.
While the practice is legal, an industry whistleblower says it frequently causes unnecessary suffering, as the pregnant cows are confined in trucks or left standing for long periods.
The Herald on Sunday’s source, who did not want to be named to protect their job, said while some farmers may legitimately have miscalculated a cow’s pregnancy, others were acting out of greed.
” Some will leave the cow pregnant as long as possible to get a bigger foetus to get more blood, to get more money,” the insider said.
“And that cow has already given her life to produce milk, I just don’t see how they justify it. I think it’s an appalling practice.”
…Until now, the industry has gone largely under the radar. The Herald on Sunday’s source decided to come forward in the wake of the mycoplasma bovis outbreak, accusing farmers who said they didn’t want to kill pregnant cattle of being hypocritical.
Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, a senior law lecturer in the field of animal law and welfare, said there was no necessity to impregnate cows that were going to die.
” One has to consider that we’re not talking about non-sentient beings. We’re talking about animals that can feel pain and distress, and also have the capacity to feel positive emotions,” he said.
“That seems to be lost in the most graphic of ways here. We’re treating the cow as it’s seen in the law as a commodity – butjust because law recognises that as being acceptable doesn’t make it morally acceptable.”
I should have clarified , I’m not a fan of deliberately getting cows in calf to kill or waiting till they are right on the drop to send them . We send plenty of in calf cows to slaughter for ligitamate reasons
So the sum of the arguments made thus far against three horrific examples of animal abuse are:
1. Some people like eating meat.
2. It’s never going to change. People have always eaten meat.
3. People will lose their jobs.
4 You are too black and white about issues.
5. Your message is too blunt.
Let’s look at slavery in the eighteenth century.
Some people liked having slaves.
Many people said it couldn’t change.
It was argued that jobs in the cotton factories would disappear.
Heavily pregnant cows are being slaughtered and the blood drained from their unborn calves’ hearts to be sold for export – where it’s used to produce vaccines and fake meat.
You’re equating the collection of animal byproducts to the millions, including members of my own family, who suffered the most terrible deprivations and died in forced labour camps, you POS.
I am deliberately comparing the systematic torture, degradation and slaughter of sentient beings.
To quote Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, a senior law lecturer in the field of animal law and welfare, on the matter.
” One has to consider that we’re not talking about non-sentient beings. We’re talking about animals that can feel pain and distress, and also have the capacity to feel positive emotions,” he said.
Slow down Joe 90. We are all helpless animals at times, it isn’t awful to consider both human animal and field animal suffering. It actually is an indication of reaching higher sensitivity and respect for all of us.
You don’t have a point. You have a sanctimonious, rotating grievance schedule of whatever issue of the month that you happen latch yourself on to, and then you spam the bejesus out of it.
He actually does far more damage than good with his over the top black and white approach. I was involved in the animal welfare/animal rights area on a voluntary basis for several decades and even some of the hardcore animal rightists cringe at the type of approach Ed uses. I still totally support getting rid of any form of animal cruelty etc but react quite the opposite to Ed’s dictatorial one dimensional lectures.
Ditto I have many highly qualified friends in the professional drug and alcohol counselling field. When I showed a couple of them Ed’s comments last Sunday, they had apoplexy as his approach is the exact opposite to the approaches that are proven to get results in that area. I actually wonder about his age – maturitywise rather than physical – as most people reach the realisation that the real world is not black and white but has many shades of grey by their late teens/early 20s.
…his approach is the exact opposite to the approaches that are proven to get results in that area.
So if Ed’s “shock, horror” approach doesn’t work what will to get people to acknowledge the inherent cruelty of breeding animals, often in inhumane conditions, so they can be slaughtered so humans can choose to eat animal flesh.
It’s a serious question.
What do your friends say does work in drug and alcohol counselling?
I’m genuinely interested because I was in a cafe this morning ordering a flat white (non-dairy of course) and looked in the food cabinet to find two vegetarian options (one being the ubiquitous, imagination-free frittata) while several other options had bacon in them when they would have been fine without it.
Why? Consumer expectation and habit I guess. So many people seem to think they haven’t eaten food unless it has meat in it.
More then a thousand families in my community rely directly on the meat processing industry for their livelihoods and occasionally, I’ve relied on the industry myself.
Over the years I’ve got to know lots of skilled and unskilled people who work at the plants and despite being a laborious, uncomfortable and at times, rather unpleasant job working for the likes of Talleys, they’re proud of their work and most give an actual fuck about the animals they’re processing.
They’re the ones attending to the animals welfare by using holding, herding, kill and stunning methods accurately, doing the huge days to get them through plants in a timely manner and following delays and breakdowns, doing the early calls and unscheduled OT
The folk operating the knock box are the ones reporting broken tails and the those doing the evisceration are reporting parasites and animal health and the bunging, singing, and pelting crews are the ones reporting udder and hock injuries.
And I’ve heard of breakdown saw operators reporting bruised, maltreated carcasses, too.
That’s not to say it’s all sweetness and light in the meat industry and that there aren’t some dodgy AF farming practices.
But rather than harangue, lecture, and threaten livelihoods, newly minted sensitives souls like Eddie have realise that despite their sentient being shtick, the meat industry is here to stay and if they give a rat’s arse about animal welfare, begin advocating for better practices.
Still can’t see relevant reply buttons (on two different browsers) so this one is for James lower down in the thread because I’ve restrained myself for long enough:
Most people eat meat
So f…n what? It doesn’t make it right.
Do you ever stop and consider for a second that the small, quiet voice might be the voice of reason, the voice of mercy, the voice of justice?
Or do you never hear it?
Far easier to come on hear and say “I love beef”. I was waiting for you and sure enough you appeared. And you accuse Ed of being a broken record.
I agree.
Most people do eat meat.
However, I very much doubt that most people realise how their meat is processed.
The stories about feedlots, the killing of pregnant cows and other horror stories will mean more people will stop believing the fantasy they are told about animal farming.
The Reply button seems to be inconsistent today so this is for Joe 90.
But rather than harangue, lecture, and threaten livelihoods, newly minted sensitives souls like Eddie have realise that despite their sentient being shtick, the meat industry is here to stay and if they give a rat’s arse about animal welfare, begin advocating for better practices.
Ah, no. The meat industry is here to stay? Good luck with that.
There is some huge cognitive dissonance going here Joe with someone who is concerned about how an animal was treated before they kill it. You sound like James.
Killing less cruelly is still killing. Humans do not have to eat meat to survive and if we didn’t, a huge number of other sentient beings with whom we share this planet would not have to die in distress. Or they would simply not be bred as food for humans in the first place.
Do you think even sheep with their more limited intelligence don’t know what’s going to happen to them as they are pushed up the race? I’m sure they smell it in the air.
And as for pigs, they would have an even better idea.
And don’t think I haven’t experienced the reality. Many years ago in another life I worked in a freezing works. Interesting we called them “freezing works” not killing sheds, although they are referred to as slaughterhouses. Nowadays they are referred to as meat processing plants. Call them what they are I say.
I was lucky I guess to work in the freezers but at times we went up to the top floor to see how the frozen carcasses got to us and I know it’s not pretty.
But despite my misgivings about Ed’s approach when I watch some of those clips I cry – literally. Because I know it’s wrong.
@David Mac
Do you actually have an argument in defence of feedlots and other horrific examples of animal cruelty exposed in the past 3 weeks – or is your contribution just to join in the name calling led by joe90 and James?
Ed, I don’t really want to get into a conversation about wolves with someone that comes running down the hill every morning shrieking ‘Wolves’. I think you’re obsessed and incapable of entertaining anything resembling a balanced view Ed.
@David Mac
What is a ‘balanced view’ on feedlots?
What is a ‘balanced view’ on killing pregnant cows?
What is a ‘balanced view’ on the industrialised killing and torture of 65 billion animals?
Oh give us a break Ed. This isn’t meant to be a soapbox for endless stuff from anyone. Make your point then shut up. Stop hitting us over the head with your superior ideals. You are becoming a troll. Are you in the USA did you say in one of your comments? Related to Trump perhaps?
There’s a pack of ravioli in the freezer that kinda had tonight’s dinner written on it. With tomato sauce, olives, capers, maybe some artichoke hearts.
But after those videos I’m in the mood for something with a bit more protein and texture. Burgerfuel’s special for this month with a couple of thin-sliced steaks is looking mighty appetizing rightabout now.
I’m very unlikely to get any more cats after I needed to call time on my dear old buddy, at least until I move somewhere where cat-like creatures are part of the local ecosystem. Because Gareth Morgan actually happens to be mostly right on the topic of cats in NZs natural places.
But if Gareth Morgan happened to be my neighbour, I’d be absolutely sure to get a couple more. Can you possibly think why, and how that applies to the way you present your views here?
Waitatapia Station, west of Bulls, bring cattle down from the central plateau to overwintering feedlots to keep them dry and warm and feed them locally cropped fodder.
The thread I started was about feedlots, winter grazing and killing pregnant cows.
The purpose was to highlight some of the cruellest practices going on in the industrial farming model.
If the feedlots near Bulls have the same environmental impact and treat cows like 5 Star do,yes it is an abomination.
Do you approve of the industrial farming model as highlighted by the 3 stories I highlighted?
It is pointless debating here. Real truth from you Ed. Go somewhere else and enlighten them.
Ed gives an example of why I think that there should be a stop on any one thread of say five comments. If a person can’t make his or her point in that time then they are just a waste of space.
BTW Ed, the burger I ended up getting was really gooooood. An absolutely delightful combination of the holy trinity of well-done beef mince, bacon, and cheese, with some extra trimmings you wouldn’t want to know about.
Thanks for inspiring me out of my last few days of meat-free eating to go get it.
A tenant story I have heard. The tenant knew that the owners wanted to return and take possession of the house later in the year and was waiting for advice giving a period in which to search for another rental.
Recently a phone call was received asking were they ready to be shift out so that occupation could be taken up in a week. Apparently an email had been sent months ago and hadn’t been seen by the tenant. The tenant looked through the various folders but no record of any message. In the end an extra week was allowed. But what a shock and upset to be so near to being homeless, and with children and furniture to have shelter for.
The point here reinforces my own feeling, that turning away from paper to the ephemeral world of the net, is going to be a huge disadvantage to communication.
Both systems are helpful, and using both will be wise. Perhaps a letter with a follow-up internet confirmation, or vice versa. It would have been a great thing for this tenant to have received a confirmation in the mail.
The good news is that with a little time off work, and a short search on the internet and a bit of travelling by car, a new place that is rather small but suitable for about a year was found. Big relief. But the stress for people unable to get time off work, to have public transport at suitable times and then time to tramp the streets to visit the advertised offerings for suitability, the shifting of furniture, the final cleaning to the required level for bond return, as well as looking after the children, thinking also about school and how to access it.
A big burden. Can we decide to love all our families in NZ please, and give them much more support that they can call on when needed?
The point here reinforces my own feeling, that turning away from paper to the ephemeral world of the net, is going to be a huge disadvantage to communication.
Wrong.
Shifting to digital will improve communication. Email can even force a reply.
Paper takes longer, costs more and can simply get lost.
It would have been a great thing for this tenant to have received a confirmation in the mail.
No, they should have had an agreed date for the end of the lease.
Dunno what you mean by email being able to “force a reply”. Request read-receipt can be declined.
Personally my feeling is that unless the service is documented officially (and who’s to know if an email went to an unchecked or wrong address), the end of lease doesn’t count.
In the world of Captain Hindsight, the landlord should have called the tenant and confirmed the receipt of the notice.
Seems you’re wanting an alternative to the use of covered feed pads to extend pasture rotation, control nutrient run off, effluent and leachate, manage soil structure, and during/after wet conditions, prevent pasture damage, reduce the pugging of paddocks and prevent lameness/mastitis, manage animal health and nutrition, and keep the damned beasties warm and dry.
Simon Bridges has blamed the Labour Party for Leaking his disgusting over expenditure of Tax Payers money in his cocky little jaunt through New Zealand.
Even though he already knew that was not the case.
Why do the Leaders of national lie about virtually everything. Housing crises; they lie about the Poverty affecting thousands of kiwis; lie about the so called Drug abuse of kiwi youth who apply for jobs; Lies lies Lies
Simon, like Paula, like Sir John Key, like Sir Billy English – is ignoring reality and tarring himself with the same outrageous dishonesty that defines the National Party and its followers.
It is an utter shame that nearly 42% of our Parliament is totally untrustworthy. Not only incompetent – but deliberately slippery and crooked.
Robert Fisk: Israel is building another 1,000 homes on Palestinian land and nobody is saying anything
In the week that Uri Avnery, the scourge of colonialism, died in Tel Aviv, the Israeli government announced a further enlargement of its massive colonial project in the occupied West Bank. Plans were now advanced, it said on Wednesday, for a further 1,000 “homes” in Jewish “settlements” – still the word we must use for such acts of land theft – and final approval had been given for another 382. Today, 600,000 Jewish Israelis live in about 140 colonies constructed on land belonging to another people, the Palestinians, either in the West Bank or east Jerusalem.
There is a state of normalcy about all this, the world’s last colonial conflict; a weariness with the figures, a lacklustre response to the huge construction enterprise on Palestinian territory. Charting the spread of red roofs across the hilltops of the West Bank, the swimming pools and the lawns and smart roadways, the supermarkets and orchards – all encircled by acres of barbed wire and now also by the grotesque Wall – has become not so much a “story” for us reporters covering the Middle East, but a tired routine, a tally, a scorecard of land theft, a tale to be updated with each new “settlement” announcement and subsequent protest from Palestinians whose land is taken from them, and from the woeful and corrupt Palestinian Authority. The same is true of the small Israeli activist and leftist groups – B’Tselem, for example and Avnery’s own Gush Shalom – who have bravely fought on, when even Israel stopped listening, to tell the truth of this unique form of aggression.
Never in the field of human rights has so much been owed by so many, to so few.
Great to see our PM continuing the the Key tradition of post match locker room hobnobbing with a professional sports team who exploits the occasion to plea for ( more) corporate welfare $$$ from an already pressured new government.
This bit… ‘”I said (Steve Hanson) to Grant Robertson they should be our biggest sponsors because we’re their biggest brand, and could she find some money to help us compete against the likes of England and France to help us keep our players. So there wasn’t a lot said after that.”
Seriously, footage of Ardern in the locker room should have come with a trigger alert for those of us still traumatized by such images of Key similarly fawning over these well paid sports people.
Though I guess is noteworthy in these times that such professionals have actually done their job to an acceptable standard.
Had another chuckle, re national this week when our local weekly paper came out. A wonderful photo on the front page, of our Motueka protest for the teachers strike.
Was so happy our local rag didn’t crop my sign….hehehehe…. you’ll have a giggle when you see it, it’s hard to miss… Lmao 🙂 It’s the sign in the middle with a ‘blue logo’ 😉
national party supporters are going to lose their minds about her being in the AB’s locker room.
Last years election win is the gift that keep on giving 🙂 loving it.
Hehe.. never heard comments from the players like this when key was grandstanding….
Hurricanes players Perenara and Ardie Savea and Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown gave Ardern a kiss after the on-field presentation, with Perenara later telling the media of his gift:
“She’s special to my family and to my community so that’s something that was important for me to do.”
Congrats to the AB’s last nights game was outstanding.
The Black Ferns/Wallaroo game was much more exciting.
Both teams played with enthusiasm, competency and flair.
The win to the recently professionalised Black Ferns was richly deserved.
I confess to having dozed off in the first half of the men’s game…despite the raucous company at the RSA.
Hey Rosemary, they didn’t show the Black Ferns game on Prime, as far as I know 🙁 Hope you had a great night out, RSA is a fantastic venue for watching sport, lucky lady 🙂
Didn’t catch the first half of the AB’s.
I’ve a long standing date at 8:30pm on Saturday nights…. addicted to The Listening Post 🙂 Excellent episode this week.
They showed the Black Ferns game on prim AFTER the ABs match, even though the women’s match was played first. It was getting to be past my bed time, having been up fairly early for work yesterday.
I only watched the beginning of the women’s match, and having recorded it, was planning to watch the rest today (thanks, Rosemary, now I know who won before I watched it 😁)
Anyway, I’m with Rosemary in that I’m not happy about a Labour-led government following the Nats’ PR strategy of locker room attendance, and related photo ops.
The thing I did pick up at the beginning of the recording of the women’s game, which showed the latter part of the cup presentation, was seeing Robertson lurking in the background. (I usually switch off the recording immediately a match ends)
I think Ardern’s media presentation does have a lot to do with Ardern’s personal style. However, I have also wondered how much Robertson was in the background providing guidance. Media presentation is in his realm of past experience. And he is also a big Union fan.
I had hoped that locker room PM attendance, and celebrity PM stuff, would have gone with Key. But it seems Ardern’s government is continuing this aspect of the neoliberal consensus, at the point when neoliberalism is passing its end date.
I DO think the PM of the day should attend the matches, by sitting in the stands, in support of teams representing NZ. However, the celebrity locker room stuff does not fit with left wing values, IMO.
To call a PM visit to the All Black locker room an example of “neoliberal consensus” is truly ridiculous.
Sure, it was not done in the past, but that is because our society is more informal with more social media these days. Not neoliberalism.
Modern PM’s are much more popular media driven than was the case, and the personalities who get the role reflect that. Evident with both Key and Ardern. Both are very different to Bolger or Clark, to take their precursor PM’s from both parties.
The PM does after all have a degree in communications, so she knows exactly what popular expectations are. Most people will like the fact that she visited the guys in the dressing room. Another way of demonstrating her connectedness.
Sure, it was not done in the past, but that is because our society is more informal with more social media these days. Not neoliberalism.
It’s a mixture of both neoliberalism, and the current state of communications technologies. The form social media, and media has taken in recent times, has been strongly guided, even at times controlled, by neoliberal principles.
And the end result is the likes of Donald Trump gaining a very powerful political position, and current concerns about “fake news”. There’s too much spin and propaganda influencing voters, and this is very bad for democracy.
So, we get some political leaders who are a bit nicer than Trump, or John key e.g. Obama and Ardern, but it does not fix the deep-seated structural problems, and it is a cause for concern about the future of democracy.
Jacinda was not only in the All Blacks locker room but also at the earlier Black Ferns match and in the locker room with the team. Earlier in the day she had spoken at the first NZ Rugby Women In Governance conference and made some pretty strong statements on the need for greater equality in the support etc of women’s rugby to that of men’s rugby.
That is a ‘first’ for those many people who have been smarting at the male domination of the sport and related money distribution for many years. I really hope Ardern’s locker room attendance at both matches is seen in light of her statements in the morning and will not go amiss with too many people.
I must say, at the point when I switched off the recording, I had thought the Black ferns were the likely winners as they seemed head and shoulders above the Wallaroos.
(I record the Prime matches, and wait about 20 minutes after the game starts showing before watching, so I can FF through the ads).
Key was like an alien presence in the All Blacks’ dressing room. I suspect he was foisted on them by that horrible old Steve Hansen and that cheat non-pareil Richie McCaw.
This from New Zealand (reserve) Halfback TJ Perenara. “The values that she (Jacinda Ardern) stands by, and my family’s always been strong Labour and I’m proud to be strong Labour as well.” Its a rare thing to hear an All Black endorse the Labour party-especially a current player. (I believe Graeme Thorne and Tony Steel were All Blacks that were part of the National Party-even MP’s-at one stage.) I think Chris Laidlaw-former AB halfback-was part of the Labour Party once upon a time. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/rugby/tj-perenara-gave-all-blacks-jersey-jacinda-ardern-after-last-nights-test-before-snapping-photo-together
Hes in a professional game with an amateur mindset, there’s nothing stopping him from selecting overseas All Blacks players earning tons of other peoples money.
Well, nothing but the NZRFU policy of selecting NZ based players to avoid the absurdity of privately owned, northern hemisphere clubs influencing national selection.
Football seems to have sorted that out many moons ago. The best players play for the best clubs and still get to represent their country. Rugby is amateur in that respect.
Nah. Even age group teams have trouble getting players released by their clubs.
Twelve of the 28 players initially invited to a pre-tournament camp his week are not present – eight by choice, two due to injury, and two because their professional clubs wouldn’t release them
Rosemary, I did not see either of the two matches yesterday but late last night I did read a number of media reports on the the two matches. Jacinda Ardern attended both matches – AND also a conference earlier in the day, the first ever Women in Governance conference.
At that conference she made some very relevant comments about rugby, reported by several media.
From the RadioNZ report (almost all of it):
Rugby needs to be more inclusive, particularly of women, to be fully deserving of the title of New Zealand’s national sport, the Prime Minister says.
Talking to a packed conference room at New Zealand Rugby’s first ever Women in Governance Conference in central Auckland this morning, Jacinda Ardern said rugby needs to “be a game for everyone, and that includes women”.
“For me if rugby is going to include us as women it should represent us equally, and have a relationship with us equally, both as players and spectators, and that means, as it does with every area of life, including women fairly, giving women the opportunity to excel, paying them appropriately, and providing leadership opportunities,” Ms Ardern said.
Ms Ardern said, when asked for clarification, she believed rugby does currently deserve to be called New Zealand’s national sport, ” but with that title we need to make sure we’re striving to lift the outcomes for women in sport as well”.
She was at the conference, articulating her vision for sporting gender equality, ahead of the Black Ferns and All Blacks double header against Australia at Eden Park tonight.
She called on rugby to use its “power, influence and reach” to promote inclusiveness of and respect for women across New Zealand – not just in sport – and said she hoped for a day when women’s sport was just called sport.
“[The Black Ferns] are incredible rugby players, they are incredible athletes, they are not incredible women rugby players, they are not incredible women athletes, they are just incredible rugby players and athletes,” Ms Ardern said.
In my view, I doubt that Ardern will give in to more money going the All Blacks’ way. If anything, she may well use her power to lever a much more equal distribution of any government money towards the Black Ferns. I understand that in the past Grant Robertson has also expressed similar views to the PM’s re the equality issue in relation to rugby.
In a lighter vein the Black Ferns doing a haka for Ardern.
An excerpt: NZR Chair Brent Impey said: “The objective was to bring together women who hold governance roles across rugby to create a strong network of Directors and support the growth of more women in governance and leadership roles across rugby in New Zealand.”
“The Board has prioritised diversity as part of its sucession planning and has already made important strategic commitments to women’s rugby including the appointment of former Black Ferns captain Dr Farah Palmer to the NZR Board, the appointment of NZR Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton, increased funding for the women’s game, an historic first agreement that introduced professional contracts for Black Ferns, and a bid to host the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup.”
Additional actions taken to date to grow the diversity at a governance level in rugby include the implementation of the Diversity Report, three women are now seconded onto NZR Board sub-committees, the Constitution has been changed to ensure at least one female is a member of the Board Appointments Panel, and the number of appointed board positions has increased from three to six.
NZR Board Member Farah Palmer said: “NZR is committed to gender equity and is actively supporting the growth of women and girls through the Women’s Rugby Strategy.
It’s also interesting that RNZ seems to have been the main media platform where that has been reported, while Stuff focused on Ardern at the ABs. It is dangerous to be playing the cooperate media game, albeit, trying to skew it in a different direction. I would rather see a whole different approach, away from neoliberal style propaganda, to an approach that fits more with left wing values.
Women’s rugby has also been getting increasing coverage in the media, and now Prime seems to be showing their matches. When I set up to record the Black Ferns last night, was given the option to record the whole series of Black Ferns matches. This seems to be a new initiative from Prime.
But also, I recall a public talk I attended recently by an Auckland Uni professor of politics (Jennifer Curtin), about Ardern’s representation and style as PM. The biggest take-away I got from the talk was in the area of policy. It’s something that’s going on a bit below the radar, and Ardern’s initiatives around women’s rugby fits with that.
Apparently Ardern is requiring that all new policies and legislation include a gender component – ie include a report on how women’s concerns can be addressed with the policy/legislation.
I will be interested to see more of how this works out. I’d also like to see something similar with respect to income and wealth inequalities included with all policies.
Carolyn I only did a quick search so did not necessarily pick up all items on JA’s attendance at the conference or at the Black Ferns match, but RNZ was not the only one to report the earlier engagements. There were more – eg TVNZ. Did see a photo of Jacinda with Kendra Cocksedge and Lorde after the BF game but that seems to have disappeared. There seem to be more media reports on the All Blacks game. As an aside, a pretty full Saturday for JA yesterday.
I actually worked for a short time on a cross-government policy project with JA years ago when she was a fresh greenhorn in Helen Clark’s office and I was very impressed (as a much older woman) and convinced that she would eventually make it to where she is now. I just did not want to see it too soon, but I am really noticing her growing in the role.
The approaches you mention in relation to policy are well in line with the depth and breadth of her thinking etc that I saw back then and I am sure that we will see her expand these requirements for consideration of gender to other inequalities such as income, wealth, disabilities. It may not be quick enough for some here and elsewhere but she also showed maturity back then – and does now imo – in realising that Rome was not built in a day and often mistakes, backlash etc can come with doing too much, too quickly.
I was impressed with her statements etc re Curran on Friday and understand why she did not pull the plug completely at that time. There is an urgent review now underway into the appointment process for the CTO position Handley has applied for, and I suspect that if there is any hint whatsoever that Curran has muddied that, the hammer will fall again. There is a lot of steel in the Ardern psyche as well as compassion, equality etc. She is playing it careful on a lot of fronts in the situation.
I do understand that policy development is a a major strength of Ardern. However, i am still not clear on her underlying left wing values, or whether she is a soft neoliberal like Robertson. I would like to see Ardern ditch Robertson as one of her key advisors.
But also, I am concerned that Curran still has the media portfolio. It seems to indicate that Ardern (and probably Robertson, too) don’t see the re-vitalisation of public service media as being urgent. And to me that is a major problem.
But I will be watching where the policy and legislation direction goes with this government. It would be very good if it turned out Ardern is strongly left wing, and not a soft neoliberal centrist.
Carolyn, I do see where you are coming from. But you also need to understand where Ardern is coming from and who are her besties within the Labour caucus/Cabinet.
Her besties are Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins, both of whom came into the parliamentary area of Labour with the common link between the three being Helen Clark. MS is probably much more knowledgeable of the relationships than I am. So I do not see her ditching Robertson – or Hipkins – as advisors.
Re Curran, I have seen claims that Ardern and Curran have been flatmates in Wellington. I have no idea if this is correct but as I said at 5.5.1.1.1 I believe that Ardern is being a little cautious for employment law and other legal reasons so that if she has to pull the plug completely she is covered legally in doing so. As I said, I think she is quite capable of doing so.
I can report that the women’s game commanded just as much attention from the cosmopolitan company at the FFN RSA last night as did the blokes’ game.
Being an earlier game the volume of ale consumed was low, and the informal commentary as a result was enthuastic and respectful.
Not do much for the later showcase game, as the ‘arm wrestling’ in the first half led the assemblage to resort to discussing the Australian prime ministeral shennanigans.
No booing from the RSA when Ardern went on the field to congratulate the Black Ferns.
The bumptious, barely articulate Greg Newbold stinks up the airwaves. The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 22 August 2018,
Jim Mora, Joe Bennett, Rebekah White, Emil Donovan
First topic for today’s program: the Crime and Justice Summit. Serious topic, and one which attracts some thoughtful and brilliant minds. Professor Greg Newbold was what Mora likes to call “the talent” in this discussion…..
JIM MORA: Andrew Little’s Crime and Justice, uh, Summit looks, ah, set to recommend have fewer people in prison, you would infer, and the pulling of other levers, as the Prime Minister puts it, to both keep New Zealanders safe and better treat and rehabilitate those behind bars. And as we’ve discussed before, doing both at the same time will be the trick. But, Panelists, you are all for this?
REBEKAH WHITE: I really—
JOE BENNETT: All for what?
REBEKAH WHITE: You go, Joe.
JOE BENNETT: No sorry, I just want to clarify, what am I “all for”?
JIM MORA: Okay. All for both the extra rehabilitative approach and getting prison numbers down.
REBEKAH WHITE: Sounds great in theory. How do you DO that?
JIM MORA: Yes, we do ask that as well.
REBEKAH WHITE: Ha ha ha.
JOE BENNETT: Heh, heh, heh, heh….
MORA: Joe, do you have an opinion on it?
JOE BENNETT:Ummm. I’m no criminologist. It’s, it’s, it’s very hard, isn’t it. Ummmm, the, I remember going to a prison once, visiting a prison, ahem, Christchurch Men’s Prison, um, for, with regards to some columns that I had written, and I went there a couple of times. And it was an appalling place. Ummm, just the bottled testosterone there, it bristled, it was, it was, you felt soiled and horrible and horrid to be there, and you couldn’t imagine that it was rehabilitative. Ah, but I remember the Governor there saying to me, and he had far more reason to know than I would, he said that only two things rehabilitated the inmates in his prison, and one was they got God, and the other one was they got the love of a good woman. And I throw that out there for what it’s worth, I can’t verify it, I can’t vindicate it, but he sounded as though he knew what he was talking about.
MORA: Memorable.
JOE BENNETT: Mmmm.
MORA: Memorable. Criminologist, uh, Professor Greg Newbold isn’t at the Summit. We’ll seek his views on it shortly, but first actually we want to ask him something else from a listener. Greg, good afternoon.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Hi. G’day.
MORA: Here’s the question for you, ahh, first up, uh. “Jim, at this summit are lots of people with all sorts of ideas on how to reduce recidivism. Lots of them make a living from this sector. Has anyone sat down and asked the criminals and prisoners what their ideas are as to what would motivate them to change their behavior and their lives? Is there any research like this?” asks Chris Malcolm. Greg, what’s the answer? What do prisoners want, what do they think will work?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Aww, they wanna get outa jail. Mo– heh!— mosta them, ahhm, they would come up with ideas, they’re not criminologists, I mean, I was in jail myself, as you know—
MORA: Mmmm.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: —for five and a half years, and um, awww, everybody had different ideas about what they’d do when they got out. The problem was that a lot of guys in prison say, when they’re in jail, they say, Ohhh, I’ve ruined my life, I shouldn’ta done this and I shouldn’ta done that, and when I get out I’m not going to make the same mistake, and then they get out and make the same mistake. You got 86 per cent recidivism in New Zealand over five years. So, ahhhhmmm, y’know, what prisoners say and what they actually do are two different things.
JOE BENNETT: Can I ask a question?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah. Please.
JOE BENNETT: Is there anywhere in the world which has, say, half that recidivism rate?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Ah, no, not that I know of. The United States has got pretty much the same as us. Ummm, we’ve got a pretty high recidivism rate, I’ll tell you, the United States is around seventy-FIVE per cent—
JOE BENNETT: What about Scandinavian countries?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah I mean people talk about Sweden and so on but you never see any real data from it. I went to a prison in Sweden once, and it was a pretty nice jail, but you know, you’ve got a different social situation and a different demographic makeup over there, so you can’t compare them. You’ve got to compare apples with apples.
MORA: When you were IN jail—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Mmm.
MORA: —did you get an inkling of, if not what they wanted when they got out, which was to get out, but of what they needed, Greg, of what other fellow inmates needed to make them, ah, better citizens afterwards?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Ahhhh, not really, um. Most of the guys—I was in maximum security for most of my time—most of the guys up there had had horrific backgrounds, really terrible family backgrounds and childhoods, and that’s where the problem lay. A lot of them were very damaged before they came to prison and had histories of offending going back to when they were in school, absenteeism, neglectful parenting, abusive parenting, no parenting at all in some cases, and when you have a kid who’s been brought up in those circumstances, you’ve got a person who’s very very difficult to do anything with. It’s a problem which begins in childhood and is very difficult to turn around in adulthood. Quite often these guys wake up once they reach their forties and fifties, but between that age of seventeen to, say, 35 to 40 they can be pretty dangerous and pretty crazy.
MORA: And I know there are intentions, I’m sure they were voiced at the summit today and yesterday, about turning it round far earlier on in life, and that’s been discussed a lot.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah.
MORA: Anzac Wallace, at the Summit yesterday: “If we are 52 per cent of the prison population”—meaning Maori—“why aren’t we 52 per cent of the people speaking?” Is he right, that we need the Maori voice louder here, Greg?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Well it’s no good just having—just ’cause you’re a MAORI on, uh, on, on crime or prisons. Ahhhhmmm, so I don’t think, uh, ahh, ahh, y’know, there’ll be Maoris at that thing that have got backgrounds, but ah, um, it, that’s not going to solve a problem, having a whole lotta people speaking who don’t know what they’re talking about. Um, you got seven hundred people there, and most of them won’t have any real background in criminology or corrections at all, they’ll just be people who’ve got nothing better to do for two days.
JOE BENNETT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: And you’ll have a big talk fest there, and everyone will come up with their own personal plans and bright ideas, but it’s not really going to make any difference.
JOE BENNETT: If you were Minister of Corrections what would you do?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: This isn’t the first one, there’ve been heaps of these bloody summits in the past. The reason I’m not there is that I’ve been to so many, and that’s all they are, talk fests, and so I didn’t bother going, I’ve got better things to do.
MORA: Were you invited, out of interest?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah, I was invited to, uh, to, uh, apply to go up, which was essentially an invitation to go there, but I didn’t respond to it because I thought it would be a waste of time.
JOE BENNETT: Can I ask a question? Greg, if you were suddenly appointed Minister of Corrections today, what would you do?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’d start building prisons.
MORA: Seriously?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’d build a, I’d stop, uh, double bunking, and um, I’d set up a program for inmates who self-identify. A lot of prisoners aren’t really that interested in reforming, and I mean, where Maori are concerned, for example, 70 per cent are gang affiliated. Well, if you’re gang affiliated, um, then, uh, your chances of actually going on to a crime-free lifestyle when you get out are pretty limited. So I’d get guys who self-identify, who want to get out of gangs and don’t wanna go to jail, and I’d make things available to THEM, and the others I’d say, well get on with your lag and get out and good luck to you when you get out.
MORA: One obvious question, and I mean, I don’t really want to get into the Scandinavian model again today, because we’ve talked about it a bit on the Panel but there ARE places overseas, and countries overseas, with lower recidivism rates than ours and, getting back to the original question that Chris asked about getting into the minds of prisoners, and it was interesting to hear your viewpoint on that, and also what Anzac Wallace said, uh, isn’t it necessary to get better acquainted with the minds of Maori prisoners if we’re going to get that terrifically high number of people in prison down?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Y-y-yeah, well they talk about the Maori mind, Corrections talk about it. I don’t think Maoris have got different minds than Pakehas, quite frankly. I know lots of Maoris, they don’t think any differently to me, I was in jail with them, we all thought the same. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a Maori mind. And, ummmm, as far as that, you know, these recidivist rates, you can’t compare them internationally because they don’t ha—, there’s no standard measure for recidivism. They have different criteria and different follow-up periods, and unless you have the same follow-up period and the same criteria, you can’t compare different countries with their recidivist rates because you’re comparing apples with pears.
MORA: So you’re saying that when we hear about the success of individual overseas rehabilitative treatments, and someone says we’ve got the recidivism rate down from 49 per cent to seven per cent and measured that—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah, well they’re—BLOODY rubbish, absolute rubbish. AB-solute bloody nonsense. You look at that, you could look, I guarantee you, you give me that, that report and I’ll have a look at it, and I’ll find all the flaws in it. RUBBISH.
MORA: Heeeee-e-e-e! [chortling] We’ll assemble them all and present them for your, um, perusal! Ha ha!
JOE BENNETT: Ha ha!
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah, give me—
MORA: Okay—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’ll critique the bloody lot.
MORA: So you think nothing works. I mean, people are sending in ideas on the text, uh, “a low rate in Utah of recidivism, where prisoners are adopted by families.—Paul.” I mean, we hear all the time if you can connect prisoners with whanau for example more efficiently in prison, they are far less likely to go back to prison, so I mean, there’s a lot of pretty impressive anecdotage about this Greg.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah it is, it’s all anecdotal, that’s all it is. You could get, y’know, I mean, they talk about, they talk about strengthening family ties, Christ, most of the guys in jail come from GANGS. If you, if you, heh heh, if you strengthen family ties, specially whanau ties with Maori, all you’re strengthening is the GANG association. So, um, y’know, ya gotta be pretty careful about what you’re talking about with your, with your, ahhm, when you, when you talk about strengthening whanau [chortling] whanau links. A lot of them come from intergenerational crime families [chortling]
MORA: Well the same applies—
REBEKAH WHITE: You go.
MORA: Sorry Rebekah, I was just going to say the same applies to intergenerational Pakeha crime families you would think.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, it does. It does, it does. And they—
MORA: Rebekah you were going to say something.
REBEKAH WHITE: Go.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: But the Maori problem is particularly bad because whereas about 30 per cent of all inmates have gang association, where Maori’s concerned it’s SEVENTY per cent. It’s a HUGE problem.
REBEKAH WHITE: So going back to those families and those associations, is there research around what kind of interventions are successful at, um, correcting the course of life that someone might be on?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Can you repeat that please?
REBEKAH WHITE: So is there research around what kinds of interventions can be, um, carried out?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah there’s a whole lot of Canadian—
REBEKAH WHITE: What are the most effective ones?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yes there’s a whole lot of Canadians which have done this very complicated regression analysis and they’ve got these programs which they say work. See, the problem is that most programs, and Integrated Centre Management, which we adopted in New Zealand in 2002, tried to emulate it. But the problem is: most of these programs that work take place in highly structured laboratory type situations where they’re fully resourced, they’ve got specialist Ph.D.-qualified people applying them, and they do have some effect on some people. But you can’t apply that across the board in a prison population of a hundred—where you’ve got ten thousand five hundred people in prison.
REBEKAH WHITE: So we haven’t researched this in New Zealand?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, they TRIED it, they tried it with Integrated Centre Management, they tried to apply it. But they couldn’t apply it in the real world context. It’s okay to apply these things in a laboratory context but if you try and apply them in the real world they don’t work ‘cos you don’t have the resources. Unless you’re going to spend millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars, ahhhmm, you’re not going to succeed in these things. So you’ve gotta be realistic about it. In New Zealand the Integrated Centre Management program didn’t alter recidivism rates one bit.
MORA: It’s interesting hearing the contrarian voice on this, from outside the Summit, as it were, Greg, but you’re painting a pretty grim picture of a New Zealand where our only successful strategy will be to build the mega-prison and lock more people away.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah, well I think you’ve gotta, we’ve gotta improve prison conditions. I mean you can’t even HOPE to get the kinds of achievements, the kinds of outcomes that are desired if you’ve got people crowded up in multi-cell situations. I’m writing to a bloke at the moment who’s doing a degree at the private prison in Wiri and he’s having a hell of a lot of trouble studying because he’s got a cell-mate who wants to play the guitar all the time, while he’s trying to study. You know, if you’ve got, you do get people in prison who really do wanna get out and they’re taking realistic steps to stop themselves from reoffending, but if they’re stuck in an environment where achieving their goals is impossible, then they’re bashing their head against a wall.
MORA: All right, understood, and thanks for your—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: We’ve gotta create good prisons, with plenty of room and well resourced, and the first thing you need to do is start building capacity.
MORA: All right. Professor Greg Newbold, thank you for joining us today on The Panel.
Greg N was always a bit of a priveledged right winger @ Morrissey.
He probably should have spent his time studying gender and sexuality (not that he’s let his schooling interfere with his education in that regard).
He has however been through a bit of near death experience in recent times. So I imagine that has made him even more grumpy towards his former peers who’ve not managed to make as much good as he has.
I wouldn’t be surprised if an acceptable solution (in Greg’s mind) to recidivism would be to pump prisoners regularly with a dose of oestrogen
Can back that up Cinny sorry to pop your ballon there was clearly booing Really who cares rugby as the national game and its fans span across the political spectrum, Just enjoy the game for what it is
I was in my local, a big sports bar. When the PM was on screen one of the kitchen staff grabbed another by the arm and pointed to the screen and yelled ‘Look, Jacinda!’
If a few sad Tories in the crowd booed, it’s says nothing about how the rest of the country feels about Jacinda Ardern.
I’ve been to more football games than YOU, I would bet. I wasn’t there last night, no, but I know that most people there would have cheered for her. As everyone else here has attested, there was no audible booing for her, but there was applause for her.
So there were a few National-voting drones and boors sitting near you—that’s your problem.
I was there and she was definitely booed, not to Len Brown or Jk standards late in his last term but definitely audible undertone of booing, sorry if any balloons popped
Nup not that exercised about Jacinda. Actually quite like her just not her politics Rugby fans span across the political spectrum. I find trying to claim a political victory from it fkn rediculous. It’s just Just fact there was no booing for jacinda at black ferns presentation but definitely booing but also cheering at ab presentation Most of it is light hearted so no need to get to exercised about it I also think it’s mostly about politics intruding into a national past time than any thing else
And ed I doubt you ever watched a game of rugby in your life so with respect dear Fuck off back to your lentil patch and Galloway cat porn
By the way Ed before game enjoyed a hearty few beers a big fat juicy steak 😀
We wonder if he has abandoned his support for Deep South lynch law….
NOELLE McCARTHY: Now you have something about this Florida verdict, and Juror B-37?
…A long, rambling discussion ensues, with most of the participants clearly disgusted with the verdict. But not everyone….
CHRIS TROTTER:[very slowly, mustering all the pomp and gravitas he can] I think all this talk about the jury is most unfortunate. You have, even in this case I think, to trust the jury. In any trial, there are always items of evidence that we do not know about, even in this case I think.
….Long, extremely uncomfortable pause….
NOELLE McCARTHY:[doggedly positive] One thing the whole world is talking about, Zoe Ferguson, is the royal birth!
I have no idea what the fuck is going on in Trotter’s head these days. It seems he is absolutely convinced that there is some sort of bogeyman called “middle New Zealand” that is utterly reactionary, vindictive and constitutes some sort of impassive and monolithic electoral majority.
Trotter is an ideological coward who is terrified at the thought of any reform that might upset his imaginary bogeyman who has crossed over to the territory occupied by out of touch and fearful old men.
Sanctuary
You don’t like Chris thinking about hard, uncaring middle NZ. Sounds like you might turn into one of their advocates.
And same goes for Morrissey
This blog shouldn’t be a place of attack on people who are airing the thinking of different groups in a way that you don’t agree with. Chris opens up subjects to discussion from differing viewpoints and should not be chastised for it. I don’t agree with all he says. But it is good to look at his opinions and have the right to disagree. I found this sort of carpet bombing when discussing anything that related to rape culture here.
Just lay off the vicious attack stuff please. It doesn’t help in the effort to understand the mindsets of major players in our present society.
Christ the number of comments claiming schools must pay staff sub-acceptable wages are depressing.
I especially liked that the school thought about it enough to setup how cleaners and janitorial staff could be included in that (by taking the cleaning contractor out of the picture). Of course the cleaning contractor would never have paid the living wage.
“I especially liked that the school thought about it enough to setup how cleaners and janitorial staff could be included in that (by taking the cleaning contractor out of the picture).”
Perhaps it will be something we will see other schools emulate.
If the Government genuinely supported the Living Wage, no Government related (directly or indirectly) contract/tender would be considered unless companies vying for them paid a living wage.
I was thrilled when the new government moved quickly to lift the closure hammer from over the head of the school last December, and this news of the new direct-access pathway to enrolment should make things so much easier for families and lead to more eligible students being able to access this very special school.
Yes great news Cinny – so close to being sent down the road. Good, practical help to young females, such a good resource with experienced, caring people.
Loves Trump, hates POC, feminists, reproductive autonomy, and LGBTI folk, eugenicist, reckons the juntas of the past were the bomb, on a mission from Dog to save the country from socialism, and he could be Brazil’s next President.
On the wall of Jair Bolsonaro’s office in a modernist annex of Brazil’s Congress hang five faded black-and-white portraits. They are memoirs of a time many Brazilians would prefer to forget, when military generals ruled the country from 1964 until 1985 and the cost of insurrection was kidnap, torture and secret execution.
Bolsonaro, the de facto front runner for the Brazilian presidential election that begins on Oct. 7, is the foremost apologist for that era. He has made a career eulogizing its abuses and–for a decade after the return of democracy in 1989–calling for its reinstatement. Today he is proud of his support of the regime he served as an army captain.
He has spiritual and humane thinking and also looks at how to bring these into policies and practices that take Maori out of the valley they are in to heights of personal achievement and satisfaction.
I came to the Black Power as an act of community service.
I had trained to be a priest and was imbued with the whole Paolo Friere South American liberation theology, social justice, worker-priest, servant-leader thing. When I presented myself at the door of the whare of the Black Power they accepted me unconditionally even though I am Pakeha. I experienced a sense of belonging, whanau, and unconditional love. I didn’t stop being anything – a son to my parents, brother to my siblings, a member of my faith, a Treaty partner, a committed New Zealander. Mind you, later, it has cost my whanau dearly in terms of being labelled and having suffered prejudicial treatment by officers of the Crown, especially the police.
The greatest myth about gang life is that it’s all about crime. I can’t talk about all gangs but for the Maori gangs it is essentially an association that creates a sense of whanau as an antidote to social alienation….
True leadership is a contextual concept and within that a behaviour. Take a natural exemplar, the kuaka or bartailed godwit, which at this very time of the year, is contemplating a long flight, in a flock, from Aotearoa back to China and the Siberian steppes. The lead bird, the kahukura, takes the brunt of the wind, but the dynamics of the overlapping wings in the flowing formation creates an updraught and the leader is buoyed.
That’s a lovely notion that leadership is defined by followship, and the act of followship creates an uplift. After a time the kahukura drops back and another takes its place. So this intimates that we all have a responsibility at times to lead and at others to follow. As humans we all have feet of clay so I won’t curse someone by identifying them as a living embodiment of leadership but, as his spirit is still around us, could I nominate the late Dr Ranginui Walker as a kahukura exemplar?
On the NZ Edge blog Denis has put up a few items of importance each year.
There is a memoriam on the death of friend Ranga Tuhi. He was an artist and carver and this link shows some of his work.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoD_1PLGTLQ
Sadly you’re not ready to learn – that’s a question you should ask yourself – why the self sabotage? When you remember the answer come back for the second lesson. Let go of ego – you know you can – remember?
Indeed we are. Most of us get out of the “pretentious pseudo-gnostic arse” stage of the journey by our early twenties.
I remember stoners saying “red pill or blue pill” and “there is no spoon” when the movie was first released. Must be a retro movie that pretentious hipster teen stoners watch these days lol
Oney you have much to learn – sorta remind me of a much younger me – ha – the road will not rise until you fall – get it now? You seem a bit stuck on this – try your breathing exercises after all that’s what they are there for. Focus on the rise and fall – hopefully things will move for you now – keep at it.
I have written many critical things over the years about @SenJohnMcCain; you can easily find them. But not in this thread. Instead, I wanted to share a few observations of possible interest that I’ve accumulated over the years following this fascinating American character. 1/— Matt Welch (@MattWelch) August 25, 2018
He also disagreed with people without painting them as evil or whatever. He could agree to disagree, without treating the other person or the issue flippantly.
He was a conservative, but not to the point of being corruptly partisan. And he had gravity and dignity.
I wouldn’t want to be exactly like him, but he did have a few qualities we can’t go too far wrong cultivating in ourselves or our leaders.
I agree McFlock, unlike many from his side he didn’t seem primarily motivated by the $. I believe in his own way he was out to create a better world and if we all felt that way, regardless of our political stripe, we’d end up with something half decent.
Any radical can convince those who already agree with them; the mark of a truly effective politician is persuading those who might normally oppose you.
But some of it is a bit harsh – he didn’t just “not go along with the worst” of the anti-Obama stuff, he publicly opposed it. A Republican having an interest in foreign policy is quite exceptional these days. Putting more troops into Iraq initially might have actually enabled them to maintain order and stop the decay into sectarian violence (although there were many other issues, not just numbers. The yanks had the mindset to win the war, but winning the peace wasn’t ever on their radar).
But, yeah – he wasn’t all good. He was a conservative, after all.
Shame I liked John, for a right wing politician he was always gave us a bit of a giggle. He did bring us the laugh factory that was Sarah Palin. And his attacks by trump were at times, priceless in their comedic effect.
For my dear friend Morrissey and other conspiracy theorist on Venezuela and socialism from the economist
“Mr Maduro says this is the fault of “imperialist” powers like America, which are waging “economic war” on Venezuela. In fact, the catastrophe is caused by the crackpot socialism introduced by Hugo Chávez and continued by Mr Maduro after Chávez’s death in 2013. Expropriations and price controls have undermined private firms, depressing production. Corruption has subverted the state. Mismanagement of PDVSA, the state-owned oil company, has caused oil output to drop by half since 2014. Just as the regime has asphyxiated democracy, by rigging elections and governing without reference to the opposition-controlled legislature, so it has strangled the economy”
John Key couldn’t of saved Venezuela. Chavez chucked Maduro a hospital pass and up and died.
What we’re seeing in Venezuela is not a model of left vs right politics. It a tragic scene brought on by fairweather loaning greedy men with scant regard for the future or their responsibilities.
People like this come from all walks of life. No matter if it’s a politician milking a cash cow until it’s dead or a BOP orchardist hiring a gang of Tongan slaves. Assholes come in all colours.
Tend to agree David Mac but Venezuela never less is one of a long list of countries who have applied socialism in regard to nationalisation of the means of production that has led to misery and gross human rights abuse I do agree adopting socialist policies but maintaining a capitalist economy is a different story But surely now any pretext to full on socialism, communism is totally discredited but some in nz and on this site incredibly still back it
Not sure RT acolyte is a step up on so called corporate media I gave it 10 minutes just got silly capitalism this, neo liberalism that ( yawn) I believe The Economist has more credibility as an independent voice
I think we’re essentially socialists here in NZ bewildered. In it’s rawest form: I believe in you and what is important to you and in return you do the same for me.
Nice.
I think this has come about for a wide range of reasons. Starting with trying to scratch out livings in land that belonged to people that quite liked eating us. Moving on to the lording mine owners with sensational British Navy purchase orders that wanted to create a little Britain on the westcoast.
We’ve got plenty of reasons to have socialist roots.
I think the left have lost their way a bit….I’m old, I pine for the old days….You used to be able to tell you were meeting a man from the left from the callouses in his handshake, these days leftishness is determined with the speed that a racist can be identified.
I think being left is about aspiring to see a fair go for everyone. Far from what we see in Venezuela and I think it’s an aspiration most Kiwis would subscribe to.
“Conspiracy theorist”? That’s exactly what that dolt Key and his doltish cronies called Nicky Hager.
I presume you will provide something to support your claim that I am a conspiracy theorist. If you fail to do so, you have furnished us with yet more evidence that you do not have a clue about anything.
Thought provoking stuff, as ever , from Craig Murray.
“Air transport is simply far too cheap for the damage it causes and the resources it consumes. You cannot cause more damage to the Earth’s atmosphere with £30 worth of resources, than by buying a £30 Ryanair ticket to Barcelona. If you spend that £30 on fuel for your diesel car, or on coal and burn it in your garden, you will not come close to the damage caused by your share of emissions on that Ryanair flight.
The fundamental reason air travel has expanded to be so harmful is the international understanding that tax and duty is not charged on aviation fuel – unlike vehicle, train or maritime fuel. Even citizens of Saudi Arabia or Venezuela no longer can access fuel as cheaply as you do in effect when you fly.
….The question has become mixed with notions of democratisation of leisure. This should be tackled head on. There is no human right to go by air and have a sun soaked holiday on the Med dirt cheap. The Earth cannot afford to indulge the pollution caused by massive air tourism. The unpopularity of saying this means that few people in politics ever do, but it is nonetheless true. In view of climate change, for the public to expect Ryanair fare levels is obscene.
Mass air travel for leisure needs to be stopped. Maritime, rail and other more eco-friendly means of international communication need to be encouraged. As mankind has not even the political will to tackle these most straightforward of measures on climate change, I really do begin to despair for the future.”
The person spending their £30 Barcelona ticket money on diesel for their car may well be creating way fewer nasties but their drive is going to fall way short of Ibiza.
I like our Pacific Islands, I like visiting them. I’d sail there.
Last time in the UK I was passing through. The bus transfer, Heathrow to Luton, about 35 kms? was 22 pounds. The Easyjet flight to Amsterdam was 16 pounds.
I can’t think of anything that has been less subjected to inflation than air travel. I went to Sydney with some mates in the late 70’s. For us to go again tomorrow, the tickets are about the same price. If air travel had been subjected to the same inflationary forces as houses, taxi rides, beer, shoes and speedboats it would cost us $20k to get to Sydney and back.
According to Mr Google, London to Barcelona air and road is about the same distance and a short haul Airbus A319Neo would burn 1.93 L/100 km/passenger.
VOLKSWAGEN Golf Estate diesel would burn around 5 L/100 km.
Good evening The Am Show Myanmar should be shamed into treating there people with humane care 2 wrongs don’t make it right San Suu Kyi has to be pressured into see reality that the world does not like the way people.
I think we should give some support to the AllBlacks we have to compete with nations that have huge audiences couch has seen the money on offer for our players getting out of hand .
That’s the problem in Amecia the goverment has to protect its people before its business interest.
Ka kite ano P,S one reason one should have good manners with that ladys interdict with Nassa
Here you go 1 million electric cars sold in Europe ka pai Norway know’s a good thing when they see it clean cheap to run low maintenance electric vehicles link is below ka kite ano
Muppetissey I warned your sandfly m8 that every time they throw there lies and corruption at Eco Maori it will burn there—— and what I have said has come true you and the sandflies are out of your League so shooo away ana to kai
Good evening Newshub If some one is cutting hole’s in my waka and causing a massif leaks I would find the person and throw them out and that’s what Simon is doing .
That’s real shocking what’s happening in Myanmar these people who are causing this un humane disaster should sort there —– and help there tangata whenua out.
That dental trainee campus in Auckland that will provide half price dental care is awesome many thanks to Otago university.
Yes I believe that te mokopuna’s time on computers should be moderated and controlled they need sleep so they can learn at school I would buy learning games for my tamariki half of them did not work my tamariki are all competent computer users now thought .
Well said Ted Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild James & Mulls You are correct Mulls Lisa is one of the greatest athlete’s of Aotearoa ka pai.
Australia need to revamp the local Rugby game copy others embrace there tangata whenua players is what I say they should do I have heard that its hard to find a Rugby Union competition in some places.
You know your long in the tooth when te tangata are retiring and they are the same age as ones tamiriki ka pai Simon.
All the best to the Tuatara .
Should have known you are a Westie James Ka kite ano
Having lost yet another leader in quick succession, the National party was clearly so desperate to find a successor that they turned to someone whose earlier bids to become leader they had already twice rejected. It may not be clear why Judith Collins should suddenly have become National’s saviour after ...
For the third time in the past decade, the government is directly subsidising wage earners to get them through a tough patch. The Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme though dwarfs the previous two schemes that were implemented post the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes: some figures put the number of New Zealanders ...
Supposedly the struggle against climate change is one of this government's priorities. But how can we assess whether government policies and targets are enough to meet that challenge? Are our policies working? Are our targets enough? On the latter question, whether or not they are consistent with the Paris Agreement ...
The Civilian takes a look at the new leader of the National Party, Todd Muller This article was written over the past weekend as part of The Civilian’s series of “Meet the Leaders” profiles. Some will claim that this makes the article outdated, because Muller is no longer leader. But ...
With carbon prices rising, farmers have been squealing about farmland being converted (or rather, restored) to forest for carbon farming. And meanwhile, Fooodstuffs has started selling carbon-neutral milk: Carbon-neutral milk – where the product's greenhouse gases are offset by carbon credits – is coming to a supermarket fridge near you. ...
Like everyone else, I was shocked when Todd Muller resigned as Leader of the National Party yesterday morning - and even more shocked when National picked Judith Collins to replace him. Sure, this is about desperation and salvaging as many seats as they can, but still. In case ...
Judith Collins - National Party leaderThe National Party, after Todd Muller’s quick exit stage right, have chosen Judith Collins as their new leader in what can only be seen as a desperate attempt to regain some of the conservative voters they’ve lost in recent months.There are numerous pros and cons ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI would like to know how much difference we could ...
INT: NATIONAL PARTY CAUCUS ROOM – MORNING The sun is streaming in the window. On the table is a single jandal. A group of 3 National Party members walk into the room instantly spotting the jandal. Gerry: What’s that? Judith: What? Gerry: That jandal. What’s that. Shane: It’s a… jandal? ...
When Parliament sits next Tuesday, the Prime Minister will finally meet her match. Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern are opposites in just about every respect. Yet they have the same basic appeal. Ardern and Collins are as much cultural icons as they are political leaders. Each represents a different side ...
The "palace letters" between Australia's then Governor-General John Kerr and the Queen were released today by the Australian Archives. From the bits I caught of the original press conference, they didn't sound so bad. But now people have had time to go through them properly, and they show an appalling ...
About 10 years ago when I was producing Q+A on TVNZ, first-term minister Judith Collins arrived for an interview with a staff member I hadn’t met. She kindly introduced us. “This is Tim Watkin,” she said. Adding after the briefest of pauses, “he writes mean things about me on Pundit”.Her ...
The toxic implosion of National thanks to an internal culture of screaming bullshit, most of it completely supercharged in the last decade by a feckless, moronic, “smile and wave” Banker (lauded as “a businessman who will sort out politics!”) who mainlined Neoliberal economics and was literally called, by his own ...
Todd Muller - National Party MPTodd Muller’s shock resignation today really only points to one possible conclusion; there’s further damning evidence linking him directly to National’s latest dirty political episode that will likely be unearthed during an official inquiry.Obviously Muller being directly involved in the leaking of COVID-19 patient’s private ...
In the months following the Christchurch massacre, the police acquired a sudden interest in nazis and gun "enthusiasts" (both of which they had previously been ignoring because they were white), and started kicking in doors around Christchurch and seizing firearms, using warrantless search provisions in the Search and Surveillance Act ...
. . The last 24 hours in Aotearoa’s New Zealand’s politics has provided more drama than a week’s worth of “Shortie Street” episodes combined and binge-watched. It began approximately around 5.30 last night (7 July) with a disclosure by Clutha-Southland MP, Hamish Walker that he had leaked a list of ...
The Serious Fraud Office has announced that it is investigating the Labour Party over donations it received in 2017. Which means the three largest parties in Parliament are all now either being investigated or prosecuted for donation fraud. The only parties who aren't are the Greens and ACT. As ...
Dr Kim Handley, University of AucklandJust how do cyanobacteria live in their natural habitat, and how do they coexist with other bacteria and microbial life forms? And what difference will knowledge on this bacteria have on maintaining New Zealand’s water quality? One of the consequences of declining water quality ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Climate Feedback Article Review... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Global temperatures could exceed crucial 1.5 C target in the next five years In this aerial view ...
Three months on, and looking at the state of the world - 13 million cases, 560,000 dead, and both rising - it is clear that New Zealand's lockdown saved lives. But it didn't just save us from the pandemic and prevent future deaths - it also significantly reduced our background ...
Yesterday the Greens released their second big election policy - on energy. The short version is "more solar, less coal". They'd stick solar panels and batteries in every state house, and network them together to form a virtual power plant. They'd use grants to fund rooftop solar installations just as ...
National has a problem. And it’s time they said it out loud. It can’t be dismissed as a one-off anymore or excused because ‘everyone does it’. No, it cuts deeper than that. National has an ethics problem. Especially when it comes to privacy and using ordinary people as pawns in ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 5 through Sat, July 11, 2020Editor's ChoiceThink Covid-19 Disrupted the Food Chain? Wait and See What Climate Change Will DoThe pandemic has revealed deep flaws in the ...
The Council of Disobedient Women There is a regular segment in the Speak Up For Women podcasts called “Absolutely Blasted Mad Moment of the Week”. Each podcast the speaker and the host discuss a recent event that is the most insane thing they have seen in the gender critical space ...
Todd Muller - Dishonest National Party leaderIt seems that dishonest Todd Muller is, like many right-wing politicians, entirely morally bankrupt. I mean just look at the National Party’s leaking omni-shambles over the last week or so. They’ve imploded in a spectacular display of backfiring dirty politics, the likes of which ...
MONDAY JULY 13Bodyguard (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). It's the final; if you haven't seen this already on Netflix, get ready, the ending is batshit.Unforgotten (Vibe, Sky 006, 8.30pm). I wonder if Sanjeev Bhasksar's character has got rid of that damn backpack in the third season of this cold case drama? Although, come ...
TUESDAY JULY 14Yorkshire Airport (Prime, 7.30pm). Bloomin’ ’eck, behind the scenes at Leeds Bradford Airport. Apparently, there is plenty of “northern charm”, although reaction in the UK ranged from “brilliant” to “patronising”. It is narrated by Hugh Dennis, whose middle name might be “Arch”.WEDNESDAY JULY 15Queen: Live at Wembley (Prime, ...
Simon Bridges must be the unluckiest person in New Zealand politics. When he was elected as leader of the National party, he also became Leader of the Opposition – a position, he was entitled to assume, that would require him to “oppose”. But the government he set out to oppose ...
This is a re-post from The Guardian by Damian Carrington Spreading rock dust on farmland could suck billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air every year, according to the first detailed global analysis of the technique. The chemical reactions that degrade the rock particles lock the greenhouse gas into ...
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...
During a recent public consultation on the future of Archives New Zealand, a key report was suppressed. The Ombudsman has ruled that the refusal was unjustified. Sadly, the consultation was over by the time of the the decision has been made. However, the law on the use of the ...
National MP - Michael WoodhouseUnbelievable! Michelle Boag also sent National’s Michael Woodhouse confidential emails about COVD-19 patients, and he continued to publicly attack the Government over these very same breaches of privacy.This is the biggest political self-own since the Act Party’s David Garrett admitted in Parliament that he used a ...
Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...
Back in April, I wrote about trials in Iran of a fixed-dose combination of two existing anti-viral drugs used to treat hepatitis C – sofosbuvir and daclatasvir – that could point to an effective treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.At the time, data from those trials was not available outside the hospitals ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerThe pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total ...
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...
As the debate over assisted dying rages in the run-up to the referendum at the election on September 19, a persistent problem continues to dog the discussions. That is to say, a prominent spokesperson for a particular group takes a strong public stand in opposition without acknowledging that they don’t ...
No Other Suspects? The mainstream news media was willing to print and broadcast harsh Opposition criticism of the Government, even though they knew that the source of the leaked information was a National Party MP. Even though, by pushing the story up towards the top of every news bulletin they were ...
Sacrificial Lamb: If the stories about Mr Taogaga and the unauthorised release of confidential medical data had been deliberately orchestrated by Labour’s political opponents, their deflection of the news media’s attention away from the Prime Minister’s address to the Labour Party Congress could hardly have been more successful.THE LABOUR PARTY ...
The East is Rent: The consequences of unleashing the young against the old; of elevating ideological rigor above reasoned debate; and of setting the present against the past; was a decade of unprecedented social stress and tension, interspersed with explosions of murderous mob violence and tragic material destruction. More than ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa-New Zealand could go from helping Jacinda Ardern run the country, to being turfed out of Parliament altogether in ten weeks. And that could see the end of Labour in government. Without them, Labour would likely have to do what no party has done since the ...
Remember the government's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill? Remember how it was rammed through Parliament, with a four-day submission period and a select committee process that was a democratic fraud? At the time, the government gave the impression that there was an urgent need for this legislation, that a ...
Attack journalist - Tova O'BrienWe all know that much of the mainstream media in New Zealand is terribly biased. They are in effect another branch of the National Party, and can often be even more prejudiced than their right wing bosses.In fact many right wing politicians moonlight as journalists and ...
Former National Party President - Michelle BoagAfter the complete botch job Hamish Walker made of leaking the private details of COVID-19 patients to the mainstream media last week, the best-case scenario for Todd Muller and the National Party would be if the news cycle went quiet about their involvement.But unfortunately ...
One of the challenges of working on illegal wildlife markets, is you don’t really have scope to talk about your research into illegal wildlife markets. There is some stuff though that willbe coming out on Asiatic black bears in China, and before Covid19, I was delving more into rhinos. Which ...
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...
Michelle Boag - Former National Party PresidentWhen Todd Muller decided not to discipline Hamish Walker for his horribly racist press release last week, you had to wonder if his lack of proper leadership had something to do with a shared belief system? After all, the whiteness of the blue “team” ...
On Twitter today, lawyer Felix Geiringer asked a good question: why are MP's exempt from the Privacy Act? The Act imposes its obligations on "agencies", and s8 of the 2020 Act states that this term does not include... a member of Parliament in their official capacity The 1993 Act, ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhat was the climate and sea level like at times ...
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters The massive dust storm that formed over the Sahara Desert in mid-June invaded the southeastern U.S. June 25-28, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution, low visibility, and colorful sunsets. The air pollution event over parts of Texas and the Gulf ...
In 1987, as a British Labour MP, I was elected to the Shadow Cabinet by my colleagues and was asked by the party leader to direct Labour’s campaign in the general election of that year. The election was to take place at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s dominance and we ...
National MP Nicola WillisHousing, which I would argue is a fundamental human right, has long been a problem in New Zealand. Not only do we have some of the most overpriced houses in the entire world, much of the housing stock is substandard and therefore affects not just people’s health ...
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...
Associate Professor Sara WaltonAt the heart of the discussion on opening up our borders is the dichotomy of health and the economy – both of which are actually intertwined, like many things with our economy, as this epidemic has shown.If we think about our country as a system, ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss This year will see the largest ever drop globally in both investment and consumer spending on energy as the coronavirus pandemic hits every major sector, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The crisis is accelerating the shutdown of older fossil-fuelled ...
A short opinion piece – Friday 26th June 2020 Whilst our Government has treated many financial victims of the current Covid-19 virus with appropriate generosity, the same cannot be said for those of the two earlier “epidemics” in NZ. The “Covid-84” virus (also called “Rogernomics”) spread systemic greed, with the ...
Everyone deserves a a decent life. We know this is possible with a fairer approach to income support and tax Read the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan here ...
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...
Over the past two years the government has repeatedly delayed a scheme to put cameras on boats to monitor Mew Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry. But it turns out that the industry actually wants cameras: Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters acknowledged today the heavy price of trying to lead the National Party today. ‘One’s sympathy goes out to Todd Muller and his family. Todd is a good man, unlike most of his colleagues he does ...
We're keeping New Zealand moving, one progress-packed week at a time. Read below to find out how we're creating jobs, protecting the environment, looking out for the health of New Zealanders', and upgrading our critical infrastructure - and that's only this week. ...
We're keeping New Zealand moving, one progress-packed week at a time. Read below to find out how we're creating jobs, protecting the environment, looking out for the health of New Zealanders', and upgrading our critical infrastructure - and that's only this week. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund is providing up to $19.5 million to boost innovative primary sector businesses and create training and job opportunities for Northland locals through the construction of an innovation and enterprise park at Ngawha, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones ...
The Green Party is today unveiling part one of its plan for a fossil-fuel free Aotearoa, including an immediate ban on new industrial coal boilers. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has expressed his condolences regarding the passing of Niue’s former Premier, Sir Toke Talagi, which occurred today in Niue. “Sir Toke, who was also formerly Niue’s Foreign Minister, made a significant contribution to Niue over a long career. He served as a dedicated Premier of ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has extended New Zealand’s condolences following the death of Niue’s former Premier, Sir Toke Talagi, who has passed away in Niue. “We extend our condolences to his family and to the people of Niue. Sir Toke was an elder statesman of the Pacific and a long ...
Two leaking and run-down community facilities in Gore will receive Government funding to provide jobs for local contractors and long-term benefits to the Gore community and wider region, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. The funding comes from the $3 billion tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure. ...
Kia ora tatou Today I am setting out our plan in the event we have a new case of community transmission of COVID-19 in New Zealand. I will take a bit of time to do that, and then I’ll be happy to take questions at the end. Since we moved ...
·$124 million Government investment in recycling infrastructure ·Plans confirmed to increase and expand the waste levy to divert material from landfill, and recycle revenue into resource recovery and waste minimisation ·Innovative construction and demolition facility opened in Auckland with $3.1 million in support from Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF). As ...
A package of wellbeing infrastructure investments in Kaipara which focuses on improving the lives of the elderly and upgrading the iconic Kauri Museum has been announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones today. “These shovel-ready projects will have significant benefits for their respective communities and I’m pleased this funding ...
More support is rolling out for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the COVID Response and Recovery Fund, to help them adapt and innovate to deal with the impact of the virus. The Ministers for Economic Development and Small Business have announced a further $40 million for the Regional Business ...
Stephen Clark, Māori Land Court Judge of Hamilton has been appointed as a District Court Judge with jury jurisdiction to be based in Hamilton, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Judge Clark graduated with an LLB from Auckland University in 1988 and was admitted to the Bar in the same year. ...
The Crown will provide a loan to Hawke’s Bay Airport to ensure it can trade through COVID-19 economic impacts, support the region’s recovery and protect up to 200 jobs. The Crown has a 50 percent shareholding in Hawke’s Bay Airport Limited (HBAL), with Napier City Council holding 26 percent and ...
Four celebrated Māori and Pasifika events will receive up to $100,000 each in funding from the new Creative and Cultural Events Incubator fund, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. The four events that were successful in the inaugural funding round are: Kia Mau Festival, Wellington Māoriland Film Festival, Otaki ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Duffy, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Monash Business School, Director Corporate Law, Organisation and Litigation Research Group (CLOL), Monash University The revelations in the “palace letters” may well renew enthusiasm for an Australian republic, especially coming on top of recent controversies involving ...
Prepare to go much harder and much earlier if coronavirus appears in the community. Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament where plans have been released for swift regional lockdowns and managed-isolation for domestic cases if Covid-19 ever breaks out of border facilities. New Zealand hasn’t detected any community transmission of the Covid-19 ...
New National leader Judith Collins would scrap the RMA, change climate legislation and reject any asset tax, but is declining to offer further detail on her party's economic policies just yet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Paton Gilmour, Research Scientist: Coral Ecology, Australian Institute of Marine Science Significant coral bleaching at one of Western Australia’s healthiest coral reefs was found during a survey carried out in April and May. The survey took a combined effort of several ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Medland, Sexual health physician, epidemiologist, researcher. (President-elect and vice-president Australasian Society of HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine), UNSW People who expose a police officer or emergency worker to body fluids would be compelled to have their blood tested for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Webb, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne Ripples from the sexual harassment allegations against former High Court Justice Dyson Heydon continue to spread. This week, the Victorian government announced its intention to launch reviews into both sexual harassment in the state ...
ANALYSIS:By Bryan Bruce The selection of Judith Collins by her colleagues as the new leader of New Zealand’s opposition National Party is a last minute throw of the political dice that might just save the Right from splintering at the upcoming election. One of the problems of the political ...
Forest & Bird has won in the Supreme Court against a coal mining company trying to push through an opencast mine near Westport, in a ruling which has implications across the whole of New Zealand. “This is absolutely wonderful ...
New National Party leader Judith Collins has replaced Michael Woodhouse with Shane Reti as the party's spokesperson on health matters Judith Collins is seeking to put the past week of privacy breach scandals behind her, appointing Whangarei MP Shane Reti as National's new spokesperson on health and promoting him to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pep Canadell, Chief research scientist, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere; and Executive Director, Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Fossil fuels and agriculture are driving a dangerous acceleration in methane emissions, at a rate consistent with a 3-4℃ rise in global temperatures this century. Our ...
New National leader Judith Collins has stripped Michael Woodhouse of the health portfolio because of his involvement in the Covid-19 data leak saga, with Dr Shane Reti replacing him ...
An extract from the splendid new book Weed: A New Zealand Story, by James Borrowdale. Books editor Catherine Woulfe writes:Weed is a masterclass in longform feature writing, a clever hopscotch through history, statistics, law, chemistry and neuroscience. Plus it’s packed with people and their yarns. Not many writers could keep their ...
With the Prime Minister’s “no new taxes” pledge long gone, the Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the National Party to commit to scrapping the 500% increase to the Government’s waste levy if elected to Government Reacting to the Government’s ...
While there are increasing examples of a return to some lockdown measures, there is little evidence to demonstrate the success of a second lockdown, because it’s too early to tell, write Maximilian de Courten, Bojana Klepac Pogrmilovic and Rosemary V Calder of Victoria University, Melbourne.The World Health Organisation reported more than ...
E tū is making sure workers’ voices lead the way with the kick-off of a new health and safety programme for Māori, Pasefika, and migrant workers in manufacturing. Funded jointly by the union and a Workplace Injury Prevention grant from ACC, E tū’s ...
From 2005’s Wayne Anderson: Singer of Songs to new Tom Sainsbury comedy Sextortion, via a dead peacock, a trio of escaped circus lions and a sentimental wrist wallet.Orlando Stewart has never made a hit TV show.What he has done, dating all the way back to 2005’s Wayne Anderson: Singer of ...
Latest from the Beehive The government announced more funding for this and that – along with bigger levies for trash disposal – while the Nats were arranging for Crusher Collins to vie with Kindly Jacinda when voters determine who will lead the next government. Mind you, the Greens aren’t averse ...
The third annual Jonesie Awards were hosted at Parliament today, celebrating the best of the worst of Government waste. Watch the video at www.taxpayers.org.nz/2020_jonesies . New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Every year, ...
Four New Zealand food writers share their thoughts on being non-white in a very white industry – and suggest what they think needs to change.Recently, The Spinoff published a piece by Jean Teng and Charlotte Muru-Lanning about the lack of diversity in New Zealand’s food media scene. It provoked much ...
The SpinoffBy Nalini Baruch, Ashia Ismail-Singer, Melissa Koh and Jennifer Yee Collinson
It is theoretically possible that Judith Collins could be the next Prime Minister but first she must prove she can wield the party into an effective, unified team. ...
Child Poverty Action Group is calling on the Government to nationalise early childhood education provision in response to the challenges presented by COVID-19 and reports of providers prioritising profits over quality of services. CPAG’s latest research ...
A new platform for Members, means 100% of contributions go towards making Spinoff journalism happen. Plus: A merch store!Kia ora,This is the biggest announcement we’ve had since the launch of The Spinoff Members a year ago.For many months now we’ve been ferreting away at a big overhaul of the way ...
Opinion - Judith Collins' first public remarks after becoming leader shows she means to continue in the same way she's always operated as a politician, writes Cat MacLennan*. ...
Finally! For as long as the Campaign Against Foreign Control (CAFCA) has existed - 45+ years - we have called for the closure of Rio Tinto's Bluff smelter (for example, see our historic Comalco comic at https://www.scribd.com/doc/25367862/Comalco-Comic ...
“We are absolutely thrilled with the government’s announcement that it will invest in recycling and change the waste levy. These are bold and important steps that will create employment in communities right throughout the country, reduce emissions ...
Carlson has long been one of our best comedians, and now the world can see it too, writes Sam Brooks. Last year, Urzila Carlson became the first comedian from our shores to perform her own Netflix special, a half hour episode of the Comedians of the World series. Now she’s ...
The US elections are in a bizarre and unsettling phase with President Donald Trump governing by tweets, spraying assaults on the medical profession and continuing to maintain the US has the Covid-19 pandemic under control. Really? No, as state after state (with the notable exclusion of New York) takes a ...
The AUT video … first of this year’s languags series.By Simon Smith of AUT News The Kiribati instalment in the AUT Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures” – has been released. The video, produced by Auckland University of Technology, is narrated in ...
The Government must develop a national plan to prevent and respond to family and sexual violence during and after a pandemic situation says Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo. She made the comments in a written submission ...
The Prime Minister says New Zealand has a robust plan in place to tackle any re-emergence of Covid-19 within our borders, Marc Daalder reports New Zealand is ready for a second wave. That's the message Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wanted to get across in a speech to the nation on ...
Allegations of defamation led to a court-mandated apology by Mike Hosking to John Tamihere.This morning Michael Noel James Hosking IV delivered a court-mandated apology to Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere over defamatory comments made by Hosking in 2018.The comments relate to a $600,000 private shareholder payment from Whānau Ora contractor, ...
A new Māori organisation called Te Pātaka Inc is being established to continue providing kai and firewood to assist whānau experiencing hardship from COVID-19 in Te Tau Ihu (top of the South Island). Originally the eight Te Tau Ihu iwi in Marlborough, ...
Analysis by Josh Van Veen – The Democracy Project. New National Party leader, Judith Collins, with prominent Auckland Council (Manurewa-Papakura ward) councillor, Daniel Newman. “I’m with her,” Newman said on hearing of her successful appointment as Leader of the Opposition. When Parliament sits next Tuesday, the ...
LGNZ is welcoming the Government’s announcement of $124 million for onshore recycling and the expansion of the waste levy, but is calling on the Government to match the money with a strategic waste plan to ensure New Zealanders get the best bang for ...
In her first interview with Morning Report as National Party leader, Judith Collins outlined a minor reshuffle, said she's not particularly worried about diversity, and said Michael Woodhouse's fate will be decided today. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.Today’s contentJudith Collins elected leader of the National Party Richard Harman (Politik): Why National finally called on Collins Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Judith Collins should have been elected as ...
We are now at a crucial time of Climate Change history, since Covid 19 pandemic diverted our Governments from the beginning of the movement of marching together for saving our climate, and now time is upon us to continue our fight to save our ...
Despite changes made to original plans to ‘avoid’ the Hua o te AtuaUrupā, an iwi group says the Waikato Regional Theatre is still set to be built on their burial ground. A group of rangatahi from Kirikiriroa iwi Ngāti Wairere says a big part of the community wasn’t consulted on ...
Trade union activists will go from house to house asking Wellingtonians to pledge their vote in the general election to parties and candidates who support workers’ rights. Unions Wellington launches its election campaign at 6pm on Wednesday July ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maximilian de Courten, Health Policy Lead and Professor in Global Public Health at the Mitchell Institute, Victoria University The World Health Organisation reported more than 230,000 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday — the world’s largest daily increase during the pandemic. The surge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lotti Tajouri, Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences, Bond University You may remember when US President Donald Trump suggested exposing coronavirus patients to UV (ultraviolet) light – or “just very powerful light” – to help treat them. The use of UV light is not, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Leuzinger, Professor, Auckland University of Technology CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Raynor, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Transforming Housing Project, University of Melbourne After 3,000 people in nine public housing towers in Melbourne were placed under the harshest coronavirus lockdown in Australia so far, acting Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly referred to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Bertram, Senior Associate, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Another year, another round of hostage-taking by the owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. As always, Rio Tinto has made the first move, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mia Martin Hobbs, Researcher, University of Melbourne Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, out now on Netflix, tells the story of five Black US veterans who return to Vietnam to hunt for gold and recover the remains of their lost squad leader. Beginning ...
Huljich family sell quarter of Pushpay stake for $123.8m; US markets up on better-than-forecast US bank results; UK orders Huawei gear purged from 5G rollout 2027 ...
Hello, my name is Stewart Sowman-Lund and I’m the new editor of The Spinoff’s Live Updates. Thank you for having a read. If you have any feedback, please get in touch with me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz.6.45am: Judith Collins, National leaderShortly before 10pm last night, Judith Collins was declared the new leader ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic leadership change for National, government rolls out millions more in business support, and several police raids ruled unlawful by IPCA.If you didn’t pay attention to the news yesterday from about 7.15am onwards, there’s a bit to catch up on. The ...
Analysis - For years Judith Collins has had her eye on the top prize and it took a complete leadership meltdown, just 10 weeks out from an election, for her National Party colleagues to give her what she's always wanted. ...
Nicholas Agar explains why relocating statues and erasing their names may be what the people they commemorate would have wanted Would Clive of India really want to have a town in Hawkes Bay named after him? I’m writing these words in a café in Clive, Hawkes Bay. Clive was named ...
Can we avoid the angst and embarrassment of another water crisis like the current one? Anthony Fowler takes a look. In the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown, Auckland’s water reservoirs dropped to levels not seen for a generation. WaterCare dusted off the drought management plan and we came out of ...
Less than 14 hours after Todd Muller announced his surprise resignation as National Party leader, Judith Collins has taken the helm of the opposition. Here's what you need to know. One of the National Party's longest-serving MPs and frequent leadership hopefuls, Judith Collins, has finally seized the top job. The ...
Judy Bailey (words) and Jane Ussher (photos) travel to the Hokianga to meet wellness author Wendyl Nissen: “I love being unattractive,” she writes. “It’s a personal goal.” “You have to try the sausage rolls,” says Wendyl Nissen. “That’s Bruce in there.” Bruce was one half of her much loved ...
The new woman on New Zealand Rugby’s board, Jennifer Kerr, is all about making a difference - and in many walks of life, she tells Ashley Stanley. On top of making headlines as only the second woman appointed to New Zealand Rugby’s board, Jennifer Kerr wants to add where she ...
Newly elected National leader Judith Collins has taken the job in unenviable circumstances, but she is unlikely to wallow as she tries to dethrone Jacinda Ardern, as Sam Sachdeva writes So much of Todd Muller’s ill-fated stint as National Party leader was defined by pain: the pain he caused Simon Bridges by ousting ...
The Tiwai Point closure announcement has put the spotlight on a gnarly and potentially expensive problem in our electricity network - the gap between where a lot of our power is produced (the South) and where it is used (the North), not to mention the more than 5 percent of our ...
Four months stranded, four tickets cancelled, and two weeks in isolation - Merja Myllylahti shares her nightmarish story of getting home during a pandemic After a gruelling 54+ hours travel via Helsinki-Frankfurt-Dubai-Bangkok, I arrived back to Auckland on July 10 having being stranded in Finland for four months. At last luck was on ...
Facebook’s perceived lack of trust might be damaging to news publishers, but the company itself has become ever more interwoven into the fabric of the news business, writes Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.Mark Zuckerberg and Noam Chomsky are strange bedfellows in this ...
The rules over the culling and hunting of Himalayan Tahr are causing consternation for both hunters and environmentalists The first court case may be over, but commentators say New Zealand's plan to deal with Himalayan Tahr is antiquated, and needs a serious refresh to avoid more butting heads in the future. ...
The new National leader has only a few weeks to turn the party’s fortunes around. But that’s what Labour’s new leader did in 2017. While there are obvious differences, there’s plenty Collins can draw from, writes Clint Smith, who was senior communications strategist under Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern.It was ...
A party in crisis has chosen a leader with experience and profile. The challenge is daunting, writes Justin Giovannetti from parliament.The National Party has turned in its moment of crisis towards a battle-hardened and pugnacious leader in Judith Collins to guide it towards an election that is only 66 days ...
Do not mistake tough for malevolent. The new National leader can take on whatever role is required of her politically and play it to perfection, writes Ben Thomas.The National Party faces the fight of its life. And so it has chosen as its new leader the toughest fighter in New ...
By RNZ News New Zealand’s National Party has elected Judith Collins as its new leader to replace Todd Muller, with Gerry Brownlee as her deputy to take on the Labour-led coalition government in the September general election. Collins, 61, was first elected as an MP for Clevedon in 2002 and ...
Opinion - Collins has made clear for some time that she wanted the leadership. And now she has it. What will she do with it? Liam Hehir takes a look. ...
Judith Collins has been voted in by colleagues as leader of the National Party, with Gerry Brownlee as her deputy. Look back over the day's events here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Uncertainty surrounding a cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to a Sydney hotel has prompted reactions from the Queensland and South Australian governments, as the Victorian situation continues to be critical. Victorian authorities on Tuesday reported ...
Open Mike 26/08/2018 
Having lost yet another leader in quick succession, the National party was clearly so desperate to find a successor that they turned to someone whose earlier bids to become leader they had already twice rejected. It may not be clear why Judith Collins should suddenly have become National’s saviour after ...2 hours ago
For the third time in the past decade, the government is directly subsidising wage earners to get them through a tough patch. The Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme though dwarfs the previous two schemes that were implemented post the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes: some figures put the number of New Zealanders ...3 hours ago
Supposedly the struggle against climate change is one of this government's priorities. But how can we assess whether government policies and targets are enough to meet that challenge? Are our policies working? Are our targets enough? On the latter question, whether or not they are consistent with the Paris Agreement ...4 hours ago
The Civilian takes a look at the new leader of the National Party, Todd Muller This article was written over the past weekend as part of The Civilian’s series of “Meet the Leaders” profiles. Some will claim that this makes the article outdated, because Muller is no longer leader. But ...5 hours ago
Judith Collins - National Party leaderThe National Party, after Todd Muller’s quick exit stage right, have chosen Judith Collins as their new leader in what can only be seen as a desperate attempt to regain some of the conservative voters they’ve lost in recent months.There are numerous pros and cons ...9 hours ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz I would like to know how much difference we could ...9 hours ago
INT: NATIONAL PARTY CAUCUS ROOM – MORNING The sun is streaming in the window. On the table is a single jandal. A group of 3 National Party members walk into the room instantly spotting the jandal. Gerry: What’s that? Judith: What? Gerry: That jandal. What’s that. Shane: It’s a… jandal? ...11 hours ago
When Parliament sits next Tuesday, the Prime Minister will finally meet her match. Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern are opposites in just about every respect. Yet they have the same basic appeal. Ardern and Collins are as much cultural icons as they are political leaders. Each represents a different side ...21 hours ago
The toxic implosion of National thanks to an internal culture of screaming bullshit, most of it completely supercharged in the last decade by a feckless, moronic, “smile and wave” Banker (lauded as “a businessman who will sort out politics!”) who mainlined Neoliberal economics and was literally called, by his own ...1 day ago
. . The last 24 hours in Aotearoa’s New Zealand’s politics has provided more drama than a week’s worth of “Shortie Street” episodes combined and binge-watched. It began approximately around 5.30 last night (7 July) with a disclosure by Clutha-Southland MP, Hamish Walker that he had leaked a list of ...1 day ago
Read our latest newsletter here ...2 days ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Climate Feedback Article Review... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Global temperatures could exceed crucial 1.5 C target in the next five years In this aerial view ...2 days ago
The Council of Disobedient Women There is a regular segment in the Speak Up For Women podcasts called “Absolutely Blasted Mad Moment of the Week”. Each podcast the speaker and the host discuss a recent event that is the most insane thing they have seen in the gender critical space ...4 days ago
MONDAY JULY 13Bodyguard (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). It's the final; if you haven't seen this already on Netflix, get ready, the ending is batshit.Unforgotten (Vibe, Sky 006, 8.30pm). I wonder if Sanjeev Bhasksar's character has got rid of that damn backpack in the third season of this cold case drama? Although, come ...4 days ago
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...5 days ago
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...5 days ago
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...1 week ago
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters acknowledged today the heavy price of trying to lead the National Party today. ‘One’s sympathy goes out to Todd Muller and his family. Todd is a good man, unlike most of his colleagues he does ...1 day ago
We're keeping New Zealand moving, one progress-packed week at a time. Read below to find out how we're creating jobs, protecting the environment, looking out for the health of New Zealanders', and upgrading our critical infrastructure - and that's only this week. ...2 days ago
The Green Party is today unveiling part one of its plan for a fossil-fuel free Aotearoa, including an immediate ban on new industrial coal boilers. ...3 days ago
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has expressed his condolences regarding the passing of Niue’s former Premier, Sir Toke Talagi, which occurred today in Niue. “Sir Toke, who was also formerly Niue’s Foreign Minister, made a significant contribution to Niue over a long career. He served as a dedicated Premier of ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Duffy, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Monash Business School, Director Corporate Law, Organisation and Litigation Research Group (CLOL), Monash University The revelations in the “palace letters” may well renew enthusiasm for an Australian republic, especially coming on top of recent controversies involving ...15 mins ago
Prepare to go much harder and much earlier if coronavirus appears in the community. Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament where plans have been released for swift regional lockdowns and managed-isolation for domestic cases if Covid-19 ever breaks out of border facilities. New Zealand hasn’t detected any community transmission of the Covid-19 ...49 mins ago
...1 hour ago
New National leader Judith Collins would scrap the RMA, change climate legislation and reject any asset tax, but is declining to offer further detail on her party's economic policies just yet. ...1 hour ago
New National Party leader Judith Collins has replaced Michael Woodhouse with Shane Reti as the party's spokesperson on health matters Judith Collins is seeking to put the past week of privacy breach scandals behind her, appointing Whangarei MP Shane Reti as National's new spokesperson on health and promoting him to ...3 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive The government announced more funding for this and that – along with bigger levies for trash disposal – while the Nats were arranging for Crusher Collins to vie with Kindly Jacinda when voters determine who will lead the next government. Mind you, the Greens aren’t averse ...5 hours ago
It is theoretically possible that Judith Collins could be the next Prime Minister but first she must prove she can wield the party into an effective, unified team. ...6 hours ago
The Prime Minister says New Zealand has a robust plan in place to tackle any re-emergence of Covid-19 within our borders, Marc Daalder reports New Zealand is ready for a second wave. That's the message Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wanted to get across in a speech to the nation on ...8 hours ago
Huljich family sell quarter of Pushpay stake for $123.8m; US markets up on better-than-forecast US bank results; UK orders Huawei gear purged from 5G rollout 2027 ...11 hours ago
Nicholas Agar explains why relocating statues and erasing their names may be what the people they commemorate would have wanted Would Clive of India really want to have a town in Hawkes Bay named after him? I’m writing these words in a café in Clive, Hawkes Bay. Clive was named ...13 hours ago
OPINION: Slick rhetoric and the inherent opacity of climate policy means most Kiwis have no clue how poorly we're doing on emissions reductions. ...13 hours ago
Can we avoid the angst and embarrassment of another water crisis like the current one? Anthony Fowler takes a look. In the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown, Auckland’s water reservoirs dropped to levels not seen for a generation. WaterCare dusted off the drought management plan and we came out of ...13 hours ago
Less than 14 hours after Todd Muller announced his surprise resignation as National Party leader, Judith Collins has taken the helm of the opposition. Here's what you need to know. One of the National Party's longest-serving MPs and frequent leadership hopefuls, Judith Collins, has finally seized the top job. The ...13 hours ago
Judy Bailey (words) and Jane Ussher (photos) travel to the Hokianga to meet wellness author Wendyl Nissen: “I love being unattractive,” she writes. “It’s a personal goal.” “You have to try the sausage rolls,” says Wendyl Nissen. “That’s Bruce in there.” Bruce was one half of her much loved ...13 hours ago
The new woman on New Zealand Rugby’s board, Jennifer Kerr, is all about making a difference - and in many walks of life, she tells Ashley Stanley. On top of making headlines as only the second woman appointed to New Zealand Rugby’s board, Jennifer Kerr wants to add where she ...13 hours ago
Newly elected National leader Judith Collins has taken the job in unenviable circumstances, but she is unlikely to wallow as she tries to dethrone Jacinda Ardern, as Sam Sachdeva writes So much of Todd Muller’s ill-fated stint as National Party leader was defined by pain: the pain he caused Simon Bridges by ousting ...13 hours ago
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Dan Rowe nails it.
To read his brilliant article, click here.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/food/23-08-2018/why-you-should-give-a-damn-about-feedlots/
Bring on the lab meat alternatives.
Even more animal cruelty.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/food/24-08-2018/action-promised-on-intensive-farming-after-distressing-images-released/
And even more.
Thanks to Kirsty Johnston for uncovering this monstrous practice.
This barbaric………
Read the whole article here.
And do something!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12113527
Scum.
“”Some will leave the cow pregnant as long as possible to get a bigger foetus to get more blood, to get more money,” the insider said.”
I m not a fan of killing pregnant cows and I noted they use foetal blood for the fake meat industry.
I saw that.
I don’t eat fake meat.
Odds are yourself, or one of your own has benefited from diagnose using bovine foetal serum in laboratory cultures, too.
I should have clarified , I’m not a fan of deliberately getting cows in calf to kill or waiting till they are right on the drop to send them . We send plenty of in calf cows to slaughter for ligitamate reasons
So the sum of the arguments made thus far against three horrific examples of animal abuse are:
1. Some people like eating meat.
2. It’s never going to change. People have always eaten meat.
3. People will lose their jobs.
4 You are too black and white about issues.
5. Your message is too blunt.
Let’s look at slavery in the eighteenth century.
Some people liked having slaves.
Many people said it couldn’t change.
It was argued that jobs in the cotton factories would disappear.
And slavery was abolished.
Well not this lab meat.
Heavily pregnant cows are being slaughtered and the blood drained from their unborn calves’ hearts to be sold for export – where it’s used to produce vaccines and fake meat.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12113527
The gulag is being exposed.
You’re equating the collection of animal byproducts to the millions, including members of my own family, who suffered the most terrible deprivations and died in forced labour camps, you POS.
Go fuck yourself.
I am deliberately comparing the systematic torture, degradation and slaughter of sentient beings.
To quote Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, a senior law lecturer in the field of animal law and welfare, on the matter.
” One has to consider that we’re not talking about non-sentient beings. We’re talking about animals that can feel pain and distress, and also have the capacity to feel positive emotions,” he said.
Slow down Joe 90. We are all helpless animals at times, it isn’t awful to consider both human animal and field animal suffering. It actually is an indication of reaching higher sensitivity and respect for all of us.
Exactly my point.
You devalue your argument. You’re a wanker for bringing that in especially as you’re a born again vegan.
You don’t have a point. You have a sanctimonious, rotating grievance schedule of whatever issue of the month that you happen latch yourself on to, and then you spam the bejesus out of it.
He actually does far more damage than good with his over the top black and white approach. I was involved in the animal welfare/animal rights area on a voluntary basis for several decades and even some of the hardcore animal rightists cringe at the type of approach Ed uses. I still totally support getting rid of any form of animal cruelty etc but react quite the opposite to Ed’s dictatorial one dimensional lectures.
Ditto I have many highly qualified friends in the professional drug and alcohol counselling field. When I showed a couple of them Ed’s comments last Sunday, they had apoplexy as his approach is the exact opposite to the approaches that are proven to get results in that area. I actually wonder about his age – maturitywise rather than physical – as most people reach the realisation that the real world is not black and white but has many shades of grey by their late teens/early 20s.
…his approach is the exact opposite to the approaches that are proven to get results in that area.
So if Ed’s “shock, horror” approach doesn’t work what will to get people to acknowledge the inherent cruelty of breeding animals, often in inhumane conditions, so they can be slaughtered so humans can choose to eat animal flesh.
It’s a serious question.
What do your friends say does work in drug and alcohol counselling?
I’m genuinely interested because I was in a cafe this morning ordering a flat white (non-dairy of course) and looked in the food cabinet to find two vegetarian options (one being the ubiquitous, imagination-free frittata) while several other options had bacon in them when they would have been fine without it.
Why? Consumer expectation and habit I guess. So many people seem to think they haven’t eaten food unless it has meat in it.
Dude’s clueless.
More then a thousand families in my community rely directly on the meat processing industry for their livelihoods and occasionally, I’ve relied on the industry myself.
Over the years I’ve got to know lots of skilled and unskilled people who work at the plants and despite being a laborious, uncomfortable and at times, rather unpleasant job working for the likes of Talleys, they’re proud of their work and most give an actual fuck about the animals they’re processing.
They’re the ones attending to the animals welfare by using holding, herding, kill and stunning methods accurately, doing the huge days to get them through plants in a timely manner and following delays and breakdowns, doing the early calls and unscheduled OT
The folk operating the knock box are the ones reporting broken tails and the those doing the evisceration are reporting parasites and animal health and the bunging, singing, and pelting crews are the ones reporting udder and hock injuries.
And I’ve heard of breakdown saw operators reporting bruised, maltreated carcasses, too.
That’s not to say it’s all sweetness and light in the meat industry and that there aren’t some dodgy AF farming practices.
But rather than harangue, lecture, and threaten livelihoods, newly minted sensitives souls like Eddie have realise that despite their sentient being shtick, the meat industry is here to stay and if they give a rat’s arse about animal welfare, begin advocating for better practices.
What is grey about industrial factory farming like this?
Still can’t see relevant reply buttons (on two different browsers) so this one is for James lower down in the thread because I’ve restrained myself for long enough:
Most people eat meat
So f…n what? It doesn’t make it right.
Do you ever stop and consider for a second that the small, quiet voice might be the voice of reason, the voice of mercy, the voice of justice?
Or do you never hear it?
Far easier to come on hear and say “I love beef”. I was waiting for you and sure enough you appeared. And you accuse Ed of being a broken record.
You come over a real bully boy in your manner, joe.
I will not be silenced by your abusive tone.
People once said slavery was ‘there to stay.’
People argued that they’d lose jobs if slavery went.
Thanks to the courage of people like William Wilberforce it was abolished.
Oh look, Eddie thinks he’s the Willy Wilberforce of his day.
Conceited twit.
I love beef – although don’t eat as much as I used to – I prefer pork and chicken.
However the beef I do eat is with homekill for first light farms – they put out an amazing product.
It would be nice if you could debate the issue and not attack the messenger.
Your bullying style is abhorrent to many.
There are significant issues with the industrial farming in New Zealand
Feedlots.
Winter grazing.
The killing of pregnant cows for profit.
Most people eat meat.
You are the ones who attacks people and their morals because they eat meat.
What is an issue for you might not be an issue for the majority.
But you are like a broken record.
Who are these many?
I agree.
Most people do eat meat.
However, I very much doubt that most people realise how their meat is processed.
The stories about feedlots, the killing of pregnant cows and other horror stories will mean more people will stop believing the fantasy they are told about animal farming.
You make a lot of assumptions that people are ignorant of facts if they think different to you.
People are still going to eat meat and enjoy it.
Roll on bbq season.
The Reply button seems to be inconsistent today so this is for Joe 90.
But rather than harangue, lecture, and threaten livelihoods, newly minted sensitives souls like Eddie have realise that despite their sentient being shtick, the meat industry is here to stay and if they give a rat’s arse about animal welfare, begin advocating for better practices.
Ah, no. The meat industry is here to stay? Good luck with that.
There is some huge cognitive dissonance going here Joe with someone who is concerned about how an animal was treated before they kill it. You sound like James.
Killing less cruelly is still killing. Humans do not have to eat meat to survive and if we didn’t, a huge number of other sentient beings with whom we share this planet would not have to die in distress. Or they would simply not be bred as food for humans in the first place.
Do you think even sheep with their more limited intelligence don’t know what’s going to happen to them as they are pushed up the race? I’m sure they smell it in the air.
And as for pigs, they would have an even better idea.
And don’t think I haven’t experienced the reality. Many years ago in another life I worked in a freezing works. Interesting we called them “freezing works” not killing sheds, although they are referred to as slaughterhouses. Nowadays they are referred to as meat processing plants. Call them what they are I say.
I was lucky I guess to work in the freezers but at times we went up to the top floor to see how the frozen carcasses got to us and I know it’s not pretty.
But despite my misgivings about Ed’s approach when I watch some of those clips I cry – literally. Because I know it’s wrong.
How do you spot a vegan at a party?
Just wait, they’ll tell you.
To James
It is clear many people had no idea about feedlots in NZ from Checkpoint’s coverage.
@David Mac
Do you actually have an argument in defence of feedlots and other horrific examples of animal cruelty exposed in the past 3 weeks – or is your contribution just to join in the name calling led by joe90 and James?
Ed, I don’t really want to get into a conversation about wolves with someone that comes running down the hill every morning shrieking ‘Wolves’. I think you’re obsessed and incapable of entertaining anything resembling a balanced view Ed.
Does your poo smell?
@David Mac
What is a ‘balanced view’ on feedlots?
What is a ‘balanced view’ on killing pregnant cows?
What is a ‘balanced view’ on the industrialised killing and torture of 65 billion animals?
Oh give us a break Ed. This isn’t meant to be a soapbox for endless stuff from anyone. Make your point then shut up. Stop hitting us over the head with your superior ideals. You are becoming a troll. Are you in the USA did you say in one of your comments? Related to Trump perhaps?
GW
Leave the insults out of it..as you request others to do…
Are you ok?…your comments are becoming increasingly angry by your previous measures..
There’s a pack of ravioli in the freezer that kinda had tonight’s dinner written on it. With tomato sauce, olives, capers, maybe some artichoke hearts.
But after those videos I’m in the mood for something with a bit more protein and texture. Burgerfuel’s special for this month with a couple of thin-sliced steaks is looking mighty appetizing rightabout now.
Making a smart comment does not equal a cogent argument against cruelty to animals.
Feedlots are an abomination.
I’m very unlikely to get any more cats after I needed to call time on my dear old buddy, at least until I move somewhere where cat-like creatures are part of the local ecosystem. Because Gareth Morgan actually happens to be mostly right on the topic of cats in NZs natural places.
But if Gareth Morgan happened to be my neighbour, I’d be absolutely sure to get a couple more. Can you possibly think why, and how that applies to the way you present your views here?
Pointless debating with you.
Waitatapia Station, west of Bulls, bring cattle down from the central plateau to overwintering feedlots to keep them dry and warm and feed them locally cropped fodder.
Are they an abomination?
The thread I started was about feedlots, winter grazing and killing pregnant cows.
The purpose was to highlight some of the cruellest practices going on in the industrial farming model.
If the feedlots near Bulls have the same environmental impact and treat cows like 5 Star do,yes it is an abomination.
Do you approve of the industrial farming model as highlighted by the 3 stories I highlighted?
It is pointless debating here. Real truth from you Ed. Go somewhere else and enlighten them.
Ed gives an example of why I think that there should be a stop on any one thread of say five comments. If a person can’t make his or her point in that time then they are just a waste of space.
My five are about up so I will withdraw.
BTW Ed, the burger I ended up getting was really gooooood. An absolutely delightful combination of the holy trinity of well-done beef mince, bacon, and cheese, with some extra trimmings you wouldn’t want to know about.
Thanks for inspiring me out of my last few days of meat-free eating to go get it.
What tenants knew already but its nice to have Consumer NZ speak out
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/106256411/rise-of-property-management-industry-significantly-disadvantaging-tenants-consumer-nz-says
A tenant story I have heard. The tenant knew that the owners wanted to return and take possession of the house later in the year and was waiting for advice giving a period in which to search for another rental.
Recently a phone call was received asking were they ready to be shift out so that occupation could be taken up in a week. Apparently an email had been sent months ago and hadn’t been seen by the tenant. The tenant looked through the various folders but no record of any message. In the end an extra week was allowed. But what a shock and upset to be so near to being homeless, and with children and furniture to have shelter for.
The point here reinforces my own feeling, that turning away from paper to the ephemeral world of the net, is going to be a huge disadvantage to communication.
Both systems are helpful, and using both will be wise. Perhaps a letter with a follow-up internet confirmation, or vice versa. It would have been a great thing for this tenant to have received a confirmation in the mail.
The good news is that with a little time off work, and a short search on the internet and a bit of travelling by car, a new place that is rather small but suitable for about a year was found. Big relief. But the stress for people unable to get time off work, to have public transport at suitable times and then time to tramp the streets to visit the advertised offerings for suitability, the shifting of furniture, the final cleaning to the required level for bond return, as well as looking after the children, thinking also about school and how to access it.
A big burden. Can we decide to love all our families in NZ please, and give them much more support that they can call on when needed?
Wrong.
Shifting to digital will improve communication. Email can even force a reply.
Paper takes longer, costs more and can simply get lost.
No, they should have had an agreed date for the end of the lease.
A fixed-term lease doesn’t suit everyone.
Dunno what you mean by email being able to “force a reply”. Request read-receipt can be declined.
Personally my feeling is that unless the service is documented officially (and who’s to know if an email went to an unchecked or wrong address), the end of lease doesn’t count.
In the world of Captain Hindsight, the landlord should have called the tenant and confirmed the receipt of the notice.
DTB
You are so sure of yourself. Pity that you don’t live in the real world.
I do live in the real world.
It is you who are refusing to change with it.
Yes, he attacks me for challenging the present farming model.
Seems you’re wanting an alternative to the use of covered feed pads to extend pasture rotation, control nutrient run off, effluent and leachate, manage soil structure, and during/after wet conditions, prevent pasture damage, reduce the pugging of paddocks and prevent lameness/mastitis, manage animal health and nutrition, and keep the damned beasties warm and dry.
Shifting to digital will improve communication…
WRONG!
Yes DTB, you have a digital fetish, I get it…
The ‘real world’ you claim to live in…tell me all about it…genuinely interested how you see the digital world , ‘as real’..
It’s not the digital world that’s real.
It’s how it changes the way we interact with the world.
How it allows us to accept reality the way it is rather than through the delusional ideologies of yesteryear.
Simon’s Denials
Simon Bridges has blamed the Labour Party for Leaking his disgusting over expenditure of Tax Payers money in his cocky little jaunt through New Zealand.
Even though he already knew that was not the case.
Why do the Leaders of national lie about virtually everything. Housing crises; they lie about the Poverty affecting thousands of kiwis; lie about the so called Drug abuse of kiwi youth who apply for jobs; Lies lies Lies
Simon, like Paula, like Sir John Key, like Sir Billy English – is ignoring reality and tarring himself with the same outrageous dishonesty that defines the National Party and its followers.
It is an utter shame that nearly 42% of our Parliament is totally untrustworthy. Not only incompetent – but deliberately slippery and crooked.
They have to else no one would ever vote for them.
Robert Fisk: Israel is building another 1,000 homes on Palestinian land and nobody is saying anything
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/israel-settlement-expansion-1000-new-homes-palestinian-land-robert-fisk-wheres-the-outrage-a8504471.html
Well we know where we can find builders if we need them eddy.
Hell – labour can’t build that many in Auckland. So quite the achievement.
Great to see our PM continuing the the Key tradition of post match locker room hobnobbing with a professional sports team who exploits the occasion to plea for ( more) corporate welfare $$$ from an already pressured new government.
SSDD.
” … plea for ( more) corporate welfare…” Please elucidate, with references.
Philj, I think this maybe the article Rosemary is referring too.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12113673
This bit… ‘”I said (Steve Hanson) to Grant Robertson they should be our biggest sponsors because we’re their biggest brand, and could she find some money to help us compete against the likes of England and France to help us keep our players. So there wasn’t a lot said after that.”
Thanks Cindy, can’t link from my phone.
Seriously, footage of Ardern in the locker room should have come with a trigger alert for those of us still traumatized by such images of Key similarly fawning over these well paid sports people.
Though I guess is noteworthy in these times that such professionals have actually done their job to an acceptable standard.
I. Of course I meant ‘Cinny’, damn predictive text and fat fingers! 😉
Hehehe sweet as Rosemary,
Had another chuckle, re national this week when our local weekly paper came out. A wonderful photo on the front page, of our Motueka protest for the teachers strike.
Was so happy our local rag didn’t crop my sign….hehehehe…. you’ll have a giggle when you see it, it’s hard to miss… Lmao 🙂 It’s the sign in the middle with a ‘blue logo’ 😉
You get top of the class for the most effective and readable sign Cinny.
I could see Value the children And Then Value their Teachers too. Stand outs.
I’d’ve thought Fonterra would be a bit bigger. They pay their execs as if they were.
Thanks Cinny, the link does provide an insight into how corporate and government relate, a bit like a PPP.Cheers.
national party supporters are going to lose their minds about her being in the AB’s locker room.
Last years election win is the gift that keep on giving 🙂 loving it.
Hehe.. never heard comments from the players like this when key was grandstanding….
Hurricanes players Perenara and Ardie Savea and Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown gave Ardern a kiss after the on-field presentation, with Perenara later telling the media of his gift:
“She’s special to my family and to my community so that’s something that was important for me to do.”
Congrats to the AB’s last nights game was outstanding.
The Black Ferns/Wallaroo game was much more exciting.
Both teams played with enthusiasm, competency and flair.
The win to the recently professionalised Black Ferns was richly deserved.
I confess to having dozed off in the first half of the men’s game…despite the raucous company at the RSA.
Hey Rosemary, they didn’t show the Black Ferns game on Prime, as far as I know 🙁 Hope you had a great night out, RSA is a fantastic venue for watching sport, lucky lady 🙂
Didn’t catch the first half of the AB’s.
I’ve a long standing date at 8:30pm on Saturday nights…. addicted to The Listening Post 🙂 Excellent episode this week.
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/
They showed the Black Ferns game on prim AFTER the ABs match, even though the women’s match was played first. It was getting to be past my bed time, having been up fairly early for work yesterday.
I only watched the beginning of the women’s match, and having recorded it, was planning to watch the rest today (thanks, Rosemary, now I know who won before I watched it 😁)
Anyway, I’m with Rosemary in that I’m not happy about a Labour-led government following the Nats’ PR strategy of locker room attendance, and related photo ops.
The thing I did pick up at the beginning of the recording of the women’s game, which showed the latter part of the cup presentation, was seeing Robertson lurking in the background. (I usually switch off the recording immediately a match ends)
I think Ardern’s media presentation does have a lot to do with Ardern’s personal style. However, I have also wondered how much Robertson was in the background providing guidance. Media presentation is in his realm of past experience. And he is also a big Union fan.
I had hoped that locker room PM attendance, and celebrity PM stuff, would have gone with Key. But it seems Ardern’s government is continuing this aspect of the neoliberal consensus, at the point when neoliberalism is passing its end date.
I DO think the PM of the day should attend the matches, by sitting in the stands, in support of teams representing NZ. However, the celebrity locker room stuff does not fit with left wing values, IMO.
carolyn_nth
To call a PM visit to the All Black locker room an example of “neoliberal consensus” is truly ridiculous.
Sure, it was not done in the past, but that is because our society is more informal with more social media these days. Not neoliberalism.
Modern PM’s are much more popular media driven than was the case, and the personalities who get the role reflect that. Evident with both Key and Ardern. Both are very different to Bolger or Clark, to take their precursor PM’s from both parties.
The PM does after all have a degree in communications, so she knows exactly what popular expectations are. Most people will like the fact that she visited the guys in the dressing room. Another way of demonstrating her connectedness.
At least she didn’t do a 3 way handshake.
It’s a mixture of both neoliberalism, and the current state of communications technologies. The form social media, and media has taken in recent times, has been strongly guided, even at times controlled, by neoliberal principles.
And the end result is the likes of Donald Trump gaining a very powerful political position, and current concerns about “fake news”. There’s too much spin and propaganda influencing voters, and this is very bad for democracy.
So, we get some political leaders who are a bit nicer than Trump, or John key e.g. Obama and Ardern, but it does not fix the deep-seated structural problems, and it is a cause for concern about the future of democracy.
The Labour Party will be aiming to equal the National Party vote next time at the polls.
There will be some on the left side of politics that won’t be happy to see Jacinda locker-room schmoozing. She doesn’t need to win their votes.
Jacinda was not only in the All Blacks locker room but also at the earlier Black Ferns match and in the locker room with the team. Earlier in the day she had spoken at the first NZ Rugby Women In Governance conference and made some pretty strong statements on the need for greater equality in the support etc of women’s rugby to that of men’s rugby.
That is a ‘first’ for those many people who have been smarting at the male domination of the sport and related money distribution for many years. I really hope Ardern’s locker room attendance at both matches is seen in light of her statements in the morning and will not go amiss with too many people.
What she said and links etc at 5.5 below.
The Black Ferns/Wallaroo game was much more exciting.
????
Rosemary, the score in the women’s game was even more lopsided than the men’s game. How exactly was it “much more exciting” than the men’s game?
Both teams played with enthusiasm, competency and flair.
Really? Both teams? Then why did one get thrashed?
I am amazed at the speed and skill of women’s rugby, but to say that they are “more exciting” than the All Blacks is just ridiculous.
I must say, at the point when I switched off the recording, I had thought the Black ferns were the likely winners as they seemed head and shoulders above the Wallaroos.
(I record the Prime matches, and wait about 20 minutes after the game starts showing before watching, so I can FF through the ads).
The women’s game is more dynamic and interesting have to say. When their star players are there its like watching the early days of Cullen and Lomu.
While the men’s can be like watching an arm wrestle sometimes..
Key was like an alien presence in the All Blacks’ dressing room. I suspect he was foisted on them by that horrible old Steve Hansen and that cheat non-pareil Richie McCaw.
This from New Zealand (reserve) Halfback TJ Perenara. “The values that she (Jacinda Ardern) stands by, and my family’s always been strong Labour and I’m proud to be strong Labour as well.” Its a rare thing to hear an All Black endorse the Labour party-especially a current player. (I believe Graeme Thorne and Tony Steel were All Blacks that were part of the National Party-even MP’s-at one stage.) I think Chris Laidlaw-former AB halfback-was part of the Labour Party once upon a time. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/rugby/tj-perenara-gave-all-blacks-jersey-jacinda-ardern-after-last-nights-test-before-snapping-photo-together
Steve would rather the government spend money on a bidding war over pro sports players than a bidding war to keep medicines affordable for kiwis.
Hes in a professional game with an amateur mindset, there’s nothing stopping him from selecting overseas All Blacks players earning tons of other peoples money.
Well, nothing but the NZRFU policy of selecting NZ based players to avoid the absurdity of privately owned, northern hemisphere clubs influencing national selection.
Arent the Super rugby sides here in NZ ‘privately owned’ ?
Private ownership partnered with franchise unions under the auspices of the NZRFU, who dictate player salaries and availability.
Football seems to have sorted that out many moons ago. The best players play for the best clubs and still get to represent their country. Rugby is amateur in that respect.
Nah. Even age group teams have trouble getting players released by their clubs.
Twelve of the 28 players initially invited to a pre-tournament camp his week are not present – eight by choice, two due to injury, and two because their professional clubs wouldn’t release them
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/105732207/national-u20-football-team-hit-by-player-withdrawals-ahead-of-world-cup-qualifiers
Rosemary, I did not see either of the two matches yesterday but late last night I did read a number of media reports on the the two matches. Jacinda Ardern attended both matches – AND also a conference earlier in the day, the first ever Women in Governance conference.
At that conference she made some very relevant comments about rugby, reported by several media.
From the RadioNZ report (almost all of it):
Rugby needs to be more inclusive, particularly of women, to be fully deserving of the title of New Zealand’s national sport, the Prime Minister says.
Talking to a packed conference room at New Zealand Rugby’s first ever Women in Governance Conference in central Auckland this morning, Jacinda Ardern said rugby needs to “be a game for everyone, and that includes women”.
“For me if rugby is going to include us as women it should represent us equally, and have a relationship with us equally, both as players and spectators, and that means, as it does with every area of life, including women fairly, giving women the opportunity to excel, paying them appropriately, and providing leadership opportunities,” Ms Ardern said.
Ms Ardern said, when asked for clarification, she believed rugby does currently deserve to be called New Zealand’s national sport, ” but with that title we need to make sure we’re striving to lift the outcomes for women in sport as well”.
She was at the conference, articulating her vision for sporting gender equality, ahead of the Black Ferns and All Blacks double header against Australia at Eden Park tonight.
She called on rugby to use its “power, influence and reach” to promote inclusiveness of and respect for women across New Zealand – not just in sport – and said she hoped for a day when women’s sport was just called sport.
“[The Black Ferns] are incredible rugby players, they are incredible athletes, they are not incredible women rugby players, they are not incredible women athletes, they are just incredible rugby players and athletes,” Ms Ardern said.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/364912/rugby-needs-to-be-more-inclusive-to-deserve-title-of-national-sport-pm
There are also some good comments on the different way that male and female rugby is treated are also in this piece this morning on RNZ News.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/364950/eden-park-double-header-crowds-tries-and-the-pm
In my view, I doubt that Ardern will give in to more money going the All Blacks’ way. If anything, she may well use her power to lever a much more equal distribution of any government money towards the Black Ferns. I understand that in the past Grant Robertson has also expressed similar views to the PM’s re the equality issue in relation to rugby.
In a lighter vein the Black Ferns doing a haka for Ardern.
And another related link I have just seen which gives more information about the Conference which was inaugurated and held by NZ Rugby.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/sport/5/319206
An excerpt:
NZR Chair Brent Impey said: “The objective was to bring together women who hold governance roles across rugby to create a strong network of Directors and support the growth of more women in governance and leadership roles across rugby in New Zealand.”
“The Board has prioritised diversity as part of its sucession planning and has already made important strategic commitments to women’s rugby including the appointment of former Black Ferns captain Dr Farah Palmer to the NZR Board, the appointment of NZR Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton, increased funding for the women’s game, an historic first agreement that introduced professional contracts for Black Ferns, and a bid to host the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup.”
Additional actions taken to date to grow the diversity at a governance level in rugby include the implementation of the Diversity Report, three women are now seconded onto NZR Board sub-committees, the Constitution has been changed to ensure at least one female is a member of the Board Appointments Panel, and the number of appointed board positions has increased from three to six.
NZR Board Member Farah Palmer said: “NZR is committed to gender equity and is actively supporting the growth of women and girls through the Women’s Rugby Strategy.
Thanks, veuto. That’s very interesting.
It’s also interesting that RNZ seems to have been the main media platform where that has been reported, while Stuff focused on Ardern at the ABs. It is dangerous to be playing the cooperate media game, albeit, trying to skew it in a different direction. I would rather see a whole different approach, away from neoliberal style propaganda, to an approach that fits more with left wing values.
Women’s rugby has also been getting increasing coverage in the media, and now Prime seems to be showing their matches. When I set up to record the Black Ferns last night, was given the option to record the whole series of Black Ferns matches. This seems to be a new initiative from Prime.
But also, I recall a public talk I attended recently by an Auckland Uni professor of politics (Jennifer Curtin), about Ardern’s representation and style as PM. The biggest take-away I got from the talk was in the area of policy. It’s something that’s going on a bit below the radar, and Ardern’s initiatives around women’s rugby fits with that.
Apparently Ardern is requiring that all new policies and legislation include a gender component – ie include a report on how women’s concerns can be addressed with the policy/legislation.
I will be interested to see more of how this works out. I’d also like to see something similar with respect to income and wealth inequalities included with all policies.
Carolyn I only did a quick search so did not necessarily pick up all items on JA’s attendance at the conference or at the Black Ferns match, but RNZ was not the only one to report the earlier engagements. There were more – eg TVNZ. Did see a photo of Jacinda with Kendra Cocksedge and Lorde after the BF game but that seems to have disappeared. There seem to be more media reports on the All Blacks game. As an aside, a pretty full Saturday for JA yesterday.
I actually worked for a short time on a cross-government policy project with JA years ago when she was a fresh greenhorn in Helen Clark’s office and I was very impressed (as a much older woman) and convinced that she would eventually make it to where she is now. I just did not want to see it too soon, but I am really noticing her growing in the role.
The approaches you mention in relation to policy are well in line with the depth and breadth of her thinking etc that I saw back then and I am sure that we will see her expand these requirements for consideration of gender to other inequalities such as income, wealth, disabilities. It may not be quick enough for some here and elsewhere but she also showed maturity back then – and does now imo – in realising that Rome was not built in a day and often mistakes, backlash etc can come with doing too much, too quickly.
I was impressed with her statements etc re Curran on Friday and understand why she did not pull the plug completely at that time. There is an urgent review now underway into the appointment process for the CTO position Handley has applied for, and I suspect that if there is any hint whatsoever that Curran has muddied that, the hammer will fall again. There is a lot of steel in the Ardern psyche as well as compassion, equality etc. She is playing it careful on a lot of fronts in the situation.
I do understand that policy development is a a major strength of Ardern. However, i am still not clear on her underlying left wing values, or whether she is a soft neoliberal like Robertson. I would like to see Ardern ditch Robertson as one of her key advisors.
But also, I am concerned that Curran still has the media portfolio. It seems to indicate that Ardern (and probably Robertson, too) don’t see the re-vitalisation of public service media as being urgent. And to me that is a major problem.
But I will be watching where the policy and legislation direction goes with this government. It would be very good if it turned out Ardern is strongly left wing, and not a soft neoliberal centrist.
Carolyn, I do see where you are coming from. But you also need to understand where Ardern is coming from and who are her besties within the Labour caucus/Cabinet.
Her besties are Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins, both of whom came into the parliamentary area of Labour with the common link between the three being Helen Clark. MS is probably much more knowledgeable of the relationships than I am. So I do not see her ditching Robertson – or Hipkins – as advisors.
Re Curran, I have seen claims that Ardern and Curran have been flatmates in Wellington. I have no idea if this is correct but as I said at 5.5.1.1.1 I believe that Ardern is being a little cautious for employment law and other legal reasons so that if she has to pull the plug completely she is covered legally in doing so. As I said, I think she is quite capable of doing so.
I can report that the women’s game commanded just as much attention from the cosmopolitan company at the FFN RSA last night as did the blokes’ game.
Being an earlier game the volume of ale consumed was low, and the informal commentary as a result was enthuastic and respectful.
Not do much for the later showcase game, as the ‘arm wrestling’ in the first half led the assemblage to resort to discussing the Australian prime ministeral shennanigans.
No booing from the RSA when Ardern went on the field to congratulate the Black Ferns.
Good report and good to hear, Rosemary. Cheers.
Was some quite audible booing at park at end of game for the PM
The bumptious, barely articulate Greg Newbold stinks up the airwaves.
The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 22 August 2018,
Jim Mora, Joe Bennett, Rebekah White, Emil Donovan
First topic for today’s program: the Crime and Justice Summit. Serious topic, and one which attracts some thoughtful and brilliant minds. Professor Greg Newbold was what Mora likes to call “the talent” in this discussion…..
JIM MORA: Andrew Little’s Crime and Justice, uh, Summit looks, ah, set to recommend have fewer people in prison, you would infer, and the pulling of other levers, as the Prime Minister puts it, to both keep New Zealanders safe and better treat and rehabilitate those behind bars. And as we’ve discussed before, doing both at the same time will be the trick. But, Panelists, you are all for this?
REBEKAH WHITE: I really—
JOE BENNETT: All for what?
REBEKAH WHITE: You go, Joe.
JOE BENNETT: No sorry, I just want to clarify, what am I “all for”?
JIM MORA: Okay. All for both the extra rehabilitative approach and getting prison numbers down.
REBEKAH WHITE: Sounds great in theory. How do you DO that?
JIM MORA: Yes, we do ask that as well.
REBEKAH WHITE: Ha ha ha.
JOE BENNETT: Heh, heh, heh, heh….
MORA: Joe, do you have an opinion on it?
JOE BENNETT:Ummm. I’m no criminologist. It’s, it’s, it’s very hard, isn’t it. Ummmm, the, I remember going to a prison once, visiting a prison, ahem, Christchurch Men’s Prison, um, for, with regards to some columns that I had written, and I went there a couple of times. And it was an appalling place. Ummm, just the bottled testosterone there, it bristled, it was, it was, you felt soiled and horrible and horrid to be there, and you couldn’t imagine that it was rehabilitative. Ah, but I remember the Governor there saying to me, and he had far more reason to know than I would, he said that only two things rehabilitated the inmates in his prison, and one was they got God, and the other one was they got the love of a good woman. And I throw that out there for what it’s worth, I can’t verify it, I can’t vindicate it, but he sounded as though he knew what he was talking about.
MORA: Memorable.
JOE BENNETT: Mmmm.
MORA: Memorable. Criminologist, uh, Professor Greg Newbold isn’t at the Summit. We’ll seek his views on it shortly, but first actually we want to ask him something else from a listener. Greg, good afternoon.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Hi. G’day.
MORA: Here’s the question for you, ahh, first up, uh. “Jim, at this summit are lots of people with all sorts of ideas on how to reduce recidivism. Lots of them make a living from this sector. Has anyone sat down and asked the criminals and prisoners what their ideas are as to what would motivate them to change their behavior and their lives? Is there any research like this?” asks Chris Malcolm. Greg, what’s the answer? What do prisoners want, what do they think will work?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Aww, they wanna get outa jail. Mo– heh!— mosta them, ahhm, they would come up with ideas, they’re not criminologists, I mean, I was in jail myself, as you know—
MORA: Mmmm.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: —for five and a half years, and um, awww, everybody had different ideas about what they’d do when they got out. The problem was that a lot of guys in prison say, when they’re in jail, they say, Ohhh, I’ve ruined my life, I shouldn’ta done this and I shouldn’ta done that, and when I get out I’m not going to make the same mistake, and then they get out and make the same mistake. You got 86 per cent recidivism in New Zealand over five years. So, ahhhhmmm, y’know, what prisoners say and what they actually do are two different things.
JOE BENNETT: Can I ask a question?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah. Please.
JOE BENNETT: Is there anywhere in the world which has, say, half that recidivism rate?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Ah, no, not that I know of. The United States has got pretty much the same as us. Ummm, we’ve got a pretty high recidivism rate, I’ll tell you, the United States is around seventy-FIVE per cent—
JOE BENNETT: What about Scandinavian countries?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah I mean people talk about Sweden and so on but you never see any real data from it. I went to a prison in Sweden once, and it was a pretty nice jail, but you know, you’ve got a different social situation and a different demographic makeup over there, so you can’t compare them. You’ve got to compare apples with apples.
MORA: When you were IN jail—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Mmm.
MORA: —did you get an inkling of, if not what they wanted when they got out, which was to get out, but of what they needed, Greg, of what other fellow inmates needed to make them, ah, better citizens afterwards?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Ahhhh, not really, um. Most of the guys—I was in maximum security for most of my time—most of the guys up there had had horrific backgrounds, really terrible family backgrounds and childhoods, and that’s where the problem lay. A lot of them were very damaged before they came to prison and had histories of offending going back to when they were in school, absenteeism, neglectful parenting, abusive parenting, no parenting at all in some cases, and when you have a kid who’s been brought up in those circumstances, you’ve got a person who’s very very difficult to do anything with. It’s a problem which begins in childhood and is very difficult to turn around in adulthood. Quite often these guys wake up once they reach their forties and fifties, but between that age of seventeen to, say, 35 to 40 they can be pretty dangerous and pretty crazy.
MORA: And I know there are intentions, I’m sure they were voiced at the summit today and yesterday, about turning it round far earlier on in life, and that’s been discussed a lot.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah.
MORA: Anzac Wallace, at the Summit yesterday: “If we are 52 per cent of the prison population”—meaning Maori—“why aren’t we 52 per cent of the people speaking?” Is he right, that we need the Maori voice louder here, Greg?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Well it’s no good just having—just ’cause you’re a MAORI on, uh, on, on crime or prisons. Ahhhhmmm, so I don’t think, uh, ahh, ahh, y’know, there’ll be Maoris at that thing that have got backgrounds, but ah, um, it, that’s not going to solve a problem, having a whole lotta people speaking who don’t know what they’re talking about. Um, you got seven hundred people there, and most of them won’t have any real background in criminology or corrections at all, they’ll just be people who’ve got nothing better to do for two days.
JOE BENNETT: Ha ha ha ha ha!
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: And you’ll have a big talk fest there, and everyone will come up with their own personal plans and bright ideas, but it’s not really going to make any difference.
JOE BENNETT: If you were Minister of Corrections what would you do?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: This isn’t the first one, there’ve been heaps of these bloody summits in the past. The reason I’m not there is that I’ve been to so many, and that’s all they are, talk fests, and so I didn’t bother going, I’ve got better things to do.
MORA: Were you invited, out of interest?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah, I was invited to, uh, to, uh, apply to go up, which was essentially an invitation to go there, but I didn’t respond to it because I thought it would be a waste of time.
JOE BENNETT: Can I ask a question? Greg, if you were suddenly appointed Minister of Corrections today, what would you do?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’d start building prisons.
MORA: Seriously?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’d build a, I’d stop, uh, double bunking, and um, I’d set up a program for inmates who self-identify. A lot of prisoners aren’t really that interested in reforming, and I mean, where Maori are concerned, for example, 70 per cent are gang affiliated. Well, if you’re gang affiliated, um, then, uh, your chances of actually going on to a crime-free lifestyle when you get out are pretty limited. So I’d get guys who self-identify, who want to get out of gangs and don’t wanna go to jail, and I’d make things available to THEM, and the others I’d say, well get on with your lag and get out and good luck to you when you get out.
MORA: One obvious question, and I mean, I don’t really want to get into the Scandinavian model again today, because we’ve talked about it a bit on the Panel but there ARE places overseas, and countries overseas, with lower recidivism rates than ours and, getting back to the original question that Chris asked about getting into the minds of prisoners, and it was interesting to hear your viewpoint on that, and also what Anzac Wallace said, uh, isn’t it necessary to get better acquainted with the minds of Maori prisoners if we’re going to get that terrifically high number of people in prison down?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Y-y-yeah, well they talk about the Maori mind, Corrections talk about it. I don’t think Maoris have got different minds than Pakehas, quite frankly. I know lots of Maoris, they don’t think any differently to me, I was in jail with them, we all thought the same. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a Maori mind. And, ummmm, as far as that, you know, these recidivist rates, you can’t compare them internationally because they don’t ha—, there’s no standard measure for recidivism. They have different criteria and different follow-up periods, and unless you have the same follow-up period and the same criteria, you can’t compare different countries with their recidivist rates because you’re comparing apples with pears.
MORA: So you’re saying that when we hear about the success of individual overseas rehabilitative treatments, and someone says we’ve got the recidivism rate down from 49 per cent to seven per cent and measured that—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah, well they’re—BLOODY rubbish, absolute rubbish. AB-solute bloody nonsense. You look at that, you could look, I guarantee you, you give me that, that report and I’ll have a look at it, and I’ll find all the flaws in it. RUBBISH.
MORA: Heeeee-e-e-e! [chortling] We’ll assemble them all and present them for your, um, perusal! Ha ha!
JOE BENNETT: Ha ha!
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah, give me—
MORA: Okay—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: I’ll critique the bloody lot.
MORA: So you think nothing works. I mean, people are sending in ideas on the text, uh, “a low rate in Utah of recidivism, where prisoners are adopted by families.—Paul.” I mean, we hear all the time if you can connect prisoners with whanau for example more efficiently in prison, they are far less likely to go back to prison, so I mean, there’s a lot of pretty impressive anecdotage about this Greg.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah it is, it’s all anecdotal, that’s all it is. You could get, y’know, I mean, they talk about, they talk about strengthening family ties, Christ, most of the guys in jail come from GANGS. If you, if you, heh heh, if you strengthen family ties, specially whanau ties with Maori, all you’re strengthening is the GANG association. So, um, y’know, ya gotta be pretty careful about what you’re talking about with your, with your, ahhm, when you, when you talk about strengthening whanau [chortling] whanau links. A lot of them come from intergenerational crime families [chortling]
MORA: Well the same applies—
REBEKAH WHITE: You go.
MORA: Sorry Rebekah, I was just going to say the same applies to intergenerational Pakeha crime families you would think.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, it does. It does, it does. And they—
MORA: Rebekah you were going to say something.
REBEKAH WHITE: Go.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: But the Maori problem is particularly bad because whereas about 30 per cent of all inmates have gang association, where Maori’s concerned it’s SEVENTY per cent. It’s a HUGE problem.
REBEKAH WHITE: So going back to those families and those associations, is there research around what kind of interventions are successful at, um, correcting the course of life that someone might be on?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Can you repeat that please?
REBEKAH WHITE: So is there research around what kinds of interventions can be, um, carried out?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah there’s a whole lot of Canadian—
REBEKAH WHITE: What are the most effective ones?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yes there’s a whole lot of Canadians which have done this very complicated regression analysis and they’ve got these programs which they say work. See, the problem is that most programs, and Integrated Centre Management, which we adopted in New Zealand in 2002, tried to emulate it. But the problem is: most of these programs that work take place in highly structured laboratory type situations where they’re fully resourced, they’ve got specialist Ph.D.-qualified people applying them, and they do have some effect on some people. But you can’t apply that across the board in a prison population of a hundred—where you’ve got ten thousand five hundred people in prison.
REBEKAH WHITE: So we haven’t researched this in New Zealand?
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, they TRIED it, they tried it with Integrated Centre Management, they tried to apply it. But they couldn’t apply it in the real world context. It’s okay to apply these things in a laboratory context but if you try and apply them in the real world they don’t work ‘cos you don’t have the resources. Unless you’re going to spend millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars, ahhhmm, you’re not going to succeed in these things. So you’ve gotta be realistic about it. In New Zealand the Integrated Centre Management program didn’t alter recidivism rates one bit.
MORA: It’s interesting hearing the contrarian voice on this, from outside the Summit, as it were, Greg, but you’re painting a pretty grim picture of a New Zealand where our only successful strategy will be to build the mega-prison and lock more people away.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah, well I think you’ve gotta, we’ve gotta improve prison conditions. I mean you can’t even HOPE to get the kinds of achievements, the kinds of outcomes that are desired if you’ve got people crowded up in multi-cell situations. I’m writing to a bloke at the moment who’s doing a degree at the private prison in Wiri and he’s having a hell of a lot of trouble studying because he’s got a cell-mate who wants to play the guitar all the time, while he’s trying to study. You know, if you’ve got, you do get people in prison who really do wanna get out and they’re taking realistic steps to stop themselves from reoffending, but if they’re stuck in an environment where achieving their goals is impossible, then they’re bashing their head against a wall.
MORA: All right, understood, and thanks for your—
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: We’ve gotta create good prisons, with plenty of room and well resourced, and the first thing you need to do is start building capacity.
MORA: All right. Professor Greg Newbold, thank you for joining us today on The Panel.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018659262/will-justice-summit-achieve-anything
Greg N was always a bit of a priveledged right winger @ Morrissey.
He probably should have spent his time studying gender and sexuality (not that he’s let his schooling interfere with his education in that regard).
He has however been through a bit of near death experience in recent times. So I imagine that has made him even more grumpy towards his former peers who’ve not managed to make as much good as he has.
I wouldn’t be surprised if an acceptable solution (in Greg’s mind) to recidivism would be to pump prisoners regularly with a dose of oestrogen
Don,t get too excited Cinny, i was there and she got booed by the crowd
reals? Lucky you Alan. hope you had a great night. Couldn’t hear any booing via the TV.
Can back that up Cinny sorry to pop your ballon there was clearly booing Really who cares rugby as the national game and its fans span across the political spectrum, Just enjoy the game for what it is
I was in my local, a big sports bar. When the PM was on screen one of the kitchen staff grabbed another by the arm and pointed to the screen and yelled ‘Look, Jacinda!’
If a few sad Tories in the crowd booed, it’s says nothing about how the rest of the country feels about Jacinda Ardern.
Liar. She was cheered. The only politician to be booed at Eden Park was John Key.
you weren’t there were you
I’ve been to more football games than YOU, I would bet. I wasn’t there last night, no, but I know that most people there would have cheered for her. As everyone else here has attested, there was no audible booing for her, but there was applause for her.
So there were a few National-voting drones and boors sitting near you—that’s your problem.
Yes Alan and his mates booed.
So that equates to the crowd booing.
so you weren’,t there, confirmed
What’s confirmed is that you live in your own little hateful world. Why did you boo her, by the way?
I was there and she was definitely booed, not to Len Brown or Jk standards late in his last term but definitely audible undertone of booing, sorry if any balloons popped
The funniest comment thus far!
Was there also an “audible undertone” of “any balloons popped”?
You must been sitting next to Alan and heard him.
That was you wasn’t it Ally.
It may have been bewildered.
Nup not that exercised about Jacinda. Actually quite like her just not her politics Rugby fans span across the political spectrum. I find trying to claim a political victory from it fkn rediculous. It’s just Just fact there was no booing for jacinda at black ferns presentation but definitely booing but also cheering at ab presentation Most of it is light hearted so no need to get to exercised about it I also think it’s mostly about politics intruding into a national past time than any thing else
And ed I doubt you ever watched a game of rugby in your life so with respect dear Fuck off back to your lentil patch and Galloway cat porn
By the way Ed before game enjoyed a hearty few beers a big fat juicy steak 😀
Has Chris Trotter modified his brutal views in the last five years?
I note that the leading philosopher Chris “Haw Haw” Trotter is contributing his two cents’ worth to the discussion about the Crime and Justice Summit.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-summit-of-folly-why-middle-new.html
We wonder if he has abandoned his support for Deep South lynch law….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/chris-trotter-reckons-zimmerman-jury.html
I have no idea what the fuck is going on in Trotter’s head these days. It seems he is absolutely convinced that there is some sort of bogeyman called “middle New Zealand” that is utterly reactionary, vindictive and constitutes some sort of impassive and monolithic electoral majority.
Trotter is an ideological coward who is terrified at the thought of any reform that might upset his imaginary bogeyman who has crossed over to the territory occupied by out of touch and fearful old men.
He’s a coward and a scoundrel. I’ll never forgive him for his expression of glee at the suffering of Julian Assange….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/an-unusually-inane-and-depraved-edition.html
Sanctuary
You don’t like Chris thinking about hard, uncaring middle NZ. Sounds like you might turn into one of their advocates.
And same goes for Morrissey
This blog shouldn’t be a place of attack on people who are airing the thinking of different groups in a way that you don’t agree with. Chris opens up subjects to discussion from differing viewpoints and should not be chastised for it. I don’t agree with all he says. But it is good to look at his opinions and have the right to disagree. I found this sort of carpet bombing when discussing anything that related to rape culture here.
Just lay off the vicious attack stuff please. It doesn’t help in the effort to understand the mindsets of major players in our present society.
With all the political news this week, I’ve forgotten to post something that is very dear to my heart.
THANK YOU COALITION GOVERNMENT FOR MAKING GOOD ON A PROMISE.
This news is huge and it brings so much hope to some very vulnerable girls and their families. Salisbury School saves lives.
Salisbury School tips roll increase after Government announces wider access
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/106496222/salisbury-school-tips-roll-increase-after-government-announces-wider-access
Speaking of schools.
Corinna School in Waitangirua, Porirua is the first in New Zealand to be fully accredited as a living wage primary school.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106536924/meet-the-porirua-people-working-at-new-zealands-first-living-wage-primary-school
Christ the number of comments claiming schools must pay staff sub-acceptable wages are depressing.
I especially liked that the school thought about it enough to setup how cleaners and janitorial staff could be included in that (by taking the cleaning contractor out of the picture). Of course the cleaning contractor would never have paid the living wage.
“I especially liked that the school thought about it enough to setup how cleaners and janitorial staff could be included in that (by taking the cleaning contractor out of the picture).”
Perhaps it will be something we will see other schools emulate.
If the Government genuinely supported the Living Wage, no Government related (directly or indirectly) contract/tender would be considered unless companies vying for them paid a living wage.
Fantastic, Cinny.
I was thrilled when the new government moved quickly to lift the closure hammer from over the head of the school last December, and this news of the new direct-access pathway to enrolment should make things so much easier for families and lead to more eligible students being able to access this very special school.
Yes great news Cinny – so close to being sent down the road. Good, practical help to young females, such a good resource with experienced, caring people.
Loves Trump, hates POC, feminists, reproductive autonomy, and LGBTI folk, eugenicist, reckons the juntas of the past were the bomb, on a mission from Dog to save the country from socialism, and he could be Brazil’s next President.
On the wall of Jair Bolsonaro’s office in a modernist annex of Brazil’s Congress hang five faded black-and-white portraits. They are memoirs of a time many Brazilians would prefer to forget, when military generals ruled the country from 1964 until 1985 and the cost of insurrection was kidnap, torture and secret execution.
Bolsonaro, the de facto front runner for the Brazilian presidential election that begins on Oct. 7, is the foremost apologist for that era. He has made a career eulogizing its abuses and–for a decade after the return of democracy in 1989–calling for its reinstatement. Today he is proud of his support of the regime he served as an army captain.
http://time.com/5375731/jair-bolsonaro/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jair_Bolsonaro#Political_views
If you like good (political) parody: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/08/why-the-nordic-model-wont-work-in-the-u-s
That was funny
“It’s no accident that Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. Hope leftists like six-month winters.”
Thinking of Denis O’Reilly a regular spokesperson about and for gangs in NZ and particularly Black Power. Here is a piece about him, The NZ Herald has often published about and with him.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11602653
He has spiritual and humane thinking and also looks at how to bring these into policies and practices that take Maori out of the valley they are in to heights of personal achievement and satisfaction.
I came to the Black Power as an act of community service.
I had trained to be a priest and was imbued with the whole Paolo Friere South American liberation theology, social justice, worker-priest, servant-leader thing. When I presented myself at the door of the whare of the Black Power they accepted me unconditionally even though I am Pakeha. I experienced a sense of belonging, whanau, and unconditional love. I didn’t stop being anything – a son to my parents, brother to my siblings, a member of my faith, a Treaty partner, a committed New Zealander. Mind you, later, it has cost my whanau dearly in terms of being labelled and having suffered prejudicial treatment by officers of the Crown, especially the police.
The greatest myth about gang life is that it’s all about crime. I can’t talk about all gangs but for the Maori gangs it is essentially an association that creates a sense of whanau as an antidote to social alienation….
True leadership is a contextual concept and within that a behaviour. Take a natural exemplar, the kuaka or bartailed godwit, which at this very time of the year, is contemplating a long flight, in a flock, from Aotearoa back to China and the Siberian steppes. The lead bird, the kahukura, takes the brunt of the wind, but the dynamics of the overlapping wings in the flowing formation creates an updraught and the leader is buoyed.
That’s a lovely notion that leadership is defined by followship, and the act of followship creates an uplift. After a time the kahukura drops back and another takes its place. So this intimates that we all have a responsibility at times to lead and at others to follow. As humans we all have feet of clay so I won’t curse someone by identifying them as a living embodiment of leadership but, as his spirit is still around us, could I nominate the late Dr Ranginui Walker as a kahukura exemplar?
I think he has become ‘the apple of my eye’ after reading about his work.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12032153
Denis O’Reilly offers solution to Hawke’s Bay apple picking crisis
On the NZ Edge blog Denis has put up a few items of importance each year.
There is a memoriam on the death of friend Ranga Tuhi. He was an artist and carver and this link shows some of his work.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoD_1PLGTLQ
http://www.nzedge.com/news/
NZ Edge.com
The global life of NZ
Aotearoa Whanau Whanui Ki Te Ao Nui
Senator John McCain has died.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/364956/us-senator-john-mccain-dies-aged-81
RIP John McCain. You were who you were and whilst we hardly agreed I wish you well on your journey.
Your comments are often less than flattering to commentators here , MM…
McCain is responsible for an unfathomable amount of human misery….
Looked in the mirror lately?
[whispers] there is no mirror…
No mirror required for self reflection, Marty…
Less than flattering was an understatement, in case you didn’t pick that up…
So in being abusive to others here, yet well wishing to JM for his journey…confused ?
So you fall again. Try to keep your eyes open for the obvious next time eh?
I did consider the eulogy to JM may have been sarcasm…but there was no conclusive evidence in your initial comment, or follow up to mine…
Was it sarcasm ?
Fail again. Not good enough. End.
Brilliant, Marty…Nothing to learn here…
Sadly you’re not ready to learn – that’s a question you should ask yourself – why the self sabotage? When you remember the answer come back for the second lesson. Let go of ego – you know you can – remember?
Marty, your comments in this specific exchange tell a very clear tale…
See if you can learn about yourself…as I have done…through your commentary over the years…
We’re all at various stages of our journeys…different levels…different understandings…
Indeed we are. Most of us get out of the “pretentious pseudo-gnostic arse” stage of the journey by our early twenties.
I remember stoners saying “red pill or blue pill” and “there is no spoon” when the movie was first released. Must be a retro movie that pretentious hipster teen stoners watch these days lol
Oney you have much to learn – sorta remind me of a much younger me – ha – the road will not rise until you fall – get it now? You seem a bit stuck on this – try your breathing exercises after all that’s what they are there for. Focus on the rise and fall – hopefully things will move for you now – keep at it.
Vale John McCain.
Interesting thread.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1033152993649209344.html
He was a man of integrity and respect.
He also disagreed with people without painting them as evil or whatever. He could agree to disagree, without treating the other person or the issue flippantly.
He was a conservative, but not to the point of being corruptly partisan. And he had gravity and dignity.
I wouldn’t want to be exactly like him, but he did have a few qualities we can’t go too far wrong cultivating in ourselves or our leaders.
I agree McFlock, unlike many from his side he didn’t seem primarily motivated by the $. I believe in his own way he was out to create a better world and if we all felt that way, regardless of our political stripe, we’d end up with something half decent.
‘Theyre all’ out to create a ‘better world’…
Well expressed McFlock.
Any radical can convince those who already agree with them; the mark of a truly effective politician is persuading those who might normally oppose you.
The saltiest obit you’re likely to to ever read.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/08/mccain
Yeah, there’s a lot in that which is true.
But some of it is a bit harsh – he didn’t just “not go along with the worst” of the anti-Obama stuff, he publicly opposed it. A Republican having an interest in foreign policy is quite exceptional these days. Putting more troops into Iraq initially might have actually enabled them to maintain order and stop the decay into sectarian violence (although there were many other issues, not just numbers. The yanks had the mindset to win the war, but winning the peace wasn’t ever on their radar).
But, yeah – he wasn’t all good. He was a conservative, after all.
Shame I liked John, for a right wing politician he was always gave us a bit of a giggle. He did bring us the laugh factory that was Sarah Palin. And his attacks by trump were at times, priceless in their comedic effect.
Rest in peace John.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/us-senator-john-mccain-dies
Julie Bishop resigns
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/364961/australia-s-foreign-minister-resigns-from-cabinet
Soymun could be next.
For my dear friend Morrissey and other conspiracy theorist on Venezuela and socialism from the economist
“Mr Maduro says this is the fault of “imperialist” powers like America, which are waging “economic war” on Venezuela. In fact, the catastrophe is caused by the crackpot socialism introduced by Hugo Chávez and continued by Mr Maduro after Chávez’s death in 2013. Expropriations and price controls have undermined private firms, depressing production. Corruption has subverted the state. Mismanagement of PDVSA, the state-owned oil company, has caused oil output to drop by half since 2014. Just as the regime has asphyxiated democracy, by rigging elections and governing without reference to the opposition-controlled legislature, so it has strangled the economy”
John Key couldn’t of saved Venezuela. Chavez chucked Maduro a hospital pass and up and died.
What we’re seeing in Venezuela is not a model of left vs right politics. It a tragic scene brought on by fairweather loaning greedy men with scant regard for the future or their responsibilities.
People like this come from all walks of life. No matter if it’s a politician milking a cash cow until it’s dead or a BOP orchardist hiring a gang of Tongan slaves. Assholes come in all colours.
Tend to agree David Mac but Venezuela never less is one of a long list of countries who have applied socialism in regard to nationalisation of the means of production that has led to misery and gross human rights abuse I do agree adopting socialist policies but maintaining a capitalist economy is a different story But surely now any pretext to full on socialism, communism is totally discredited but some in nz and on this site incredibly still back it
For and different perspective, independent of the corporate media.
Not sure RT acolyte is a step up on so called corporate media I gave it 10 minutes just got silly capitalism this, neo liberalism that ( yawn) I believe The Economist has more credibility as an independent voice
” I believe The Economist has more credibility as an independent voice”
That would make you a useful idiot then. There are so many who haunt this site.
Idiot. You know nothing.
I think we’re essentially socialists here in NZ bewildered. In it’s rawest form: I believe in you and what is important to you and in return you do the same for me.
Nice.
I think this has come about for a wide range of reasons. Starting with trying to scratch out livings in land that belonged to people that quite liked eating us. Moving on to the lording mine owners with sensational British Navy purchase orders that wanted to create a little Britain on the westcoast.
We’ve got plenty of reasons to have socialist roots.
I think the left have lost their way a bit….I’m old, I pine for the old days….You used to be able to tell you were meeting a man from the left from the callouses in his handshake, these days leftishness is determined with the speed that a racist can be identified.
I think being left is about aspiring to see a fair go for everyone. Far from what we see in Venezuela and I think it’s an aspiration most Kiwis would subscribe to.
“Conspiracy theorist”? That’s exactly what that dolt Key and his doltish cronies called Nicky Hager.
I presume you will provide something to support your claim that I am a conspiracy theorist. If you fail to do so, you have furnished us with yet more evidence that you do not have a clue about anything.
Thought provoking stuff, as ever , from Craig Murray.
“Air transport is simply far too cheap for the damage it causes and the resources it consumes. You cannot cause more damage to the Earth’s atmosphere with £30 worth of resources, than by buying a £30 Ryanair ticket to Barcelona. If you spend that £30 on fuel for your diesel car, or on coal and burn it in your garden, you will not come close to the damage caused by your share of emissions on that Ryanair flight.
The fundamental reason air travel has expanded to be so harmful is the international understanding that tax and duty is not charged on aviation fuel – unlike vehicle, train or maritime fuel. Even citizens of Saudi Arabia or Venezuela no longer can access fuel as cheaply as you do in effect when you fly.
….The question has become mixed with notions of democratisation of leisure. This should be tackled head on. There is no human right to go by air and have a sun soaked holiday on the Med dirt cheap. The Earth cannot afford to indulge the pollution caused by massive air tourism. The unpopularity of saying this means that few people in politics ever do, but it is nonetheless true. In view of climate change, for the public to expect Ryanair fare levels is obscene.
Mass air travel for leisure needs to be stopped. Maritime, rail and other more eco-friendly means of international communication need to be encouraged. As mankind has not even the political will to tackle these most straightforward of measures on climate change, I really do begin to despair for the future.”
Read it all here.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/08/time-to-end-cheap-flights/
The person spending their £30 Barcelona ticket money on diesel for their car may well be creating way fewer nasties but their drive is going to fall way short of Ibiza.
I like our Pacific Islands, I like visiting them. I’d sail there.
Last time in the UK I was passing through. The bus transfer, Heathrow to Luton, about 35 kms? was 22 pounds. The Easyjet flight to Amsterdam was 16 pounds.
I can’t think of anything that has been less subjected to inflation than air travel. I went to Sydney with some mates in the late 70’s. For us to go again tomorrow, the tickets are about the same price. If air travel had been subjected to the same inflationary forces as houses, taxi rides, beer, shoes and speedboats it would cost us $20k to get to Sydney and back.
You are at odds with Craig Murray’s viewpoint.
According to Mr Google, London to Barcelona air and road is about the same distance and a short haul Airbus A319Neo would burn 1.93 L/100 km/passenger.
VOLKSWAGEN Golf Estate diesel would burn around 5 L/100 km.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_aircraft#Short-haul_flights
http://www.fuelmileage.co.uk/list-manufacturers/VOLKSWAGEN
Well researched.
Thank you.
The point is that you ain’t gonna jump in that there “Golf” and pop down to Barcelona for a long weekend. So the fuel comparisons are a bit pointless.
The crime family tRump.
https://www.newsweek.com/now-eric-trump-accused-stealing-cancer-charity-636044
Nonsense.
Look how the bears are celebrating sep11.
When the Mongolians are participating, ya know things are humming.
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-prepares-largest-war-games-since-1981-with-combat-readiness-drills-62576
Good evening The Am Show Myanmar should be shamed into treating there people with humane care 2 wrongs don’t make it right San Suu Kyi has to be pressured into see reality that the world does not like the way people.
I think we should give some support to the AllBlacks we have to compete with nations that have huge audiences couch has seen the money on offer for our players getting out of hand .
That’s the problem in Amecia the goverment has to protect its people before its business interest.
Ka kite ano P,S one reason one should have good manners with that ladys interdict with Nassa
Here you go 1 million electric cars sold in Europe ka pai Norway know’s a good thing when they see it clean cheap to run low maintenance electric vehicles link is below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/26/electric-cars-exceed-1m-in-europe-as-sales-soar-by-more-than-40-per-cent#top.
Talk about inappropriate! I wonder what the great Theodore Dalrymple
would say if he realized he’d been cited by Stephen Franks.
Who said satire is dead?
http://www.stephenfranks.co.nz/theodore-dalrymple-profiles-a-notable-nz-murderer/comment-page-1/#comment-901474
Muppetissey I warned your sandfly m8 that every time they throw there lies and corruption at Eco Maori it will burn there—— and what I have said has come true you and the sandflies are out of your League so shooo away ana to kai
Good evening Newshub If some one is cutting hole’s in my waka and causing a massif leaks I would find the person and throw them out and that’s what Simon is doing .
That’s real shocking what’s happening in Myanmar these people who are causing this un humane disaster should sort there —– and help there tangata whenua out.
That dental trainee campus in Auckland that will provide half price dental care is awesome many thanks to Otago university.
Yes I believe that te mokopuna’s time on computers should be moderated and controlled they need sleep so they can learn at school I would buy learning games for my tamariki half of them did not work my tamariki are all competent computer users now thought .
Well said Ted Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild James & Mulls You are correct Mulls Lisa is one of the greatest athlete’s of Aotearoa ka pai.
Australia need to revamp the local Rugby game copy others embrace there tangata whenua players is what I say they should do I have heard that its hard to find a Rugby Union competition in some places.
You know your long in the tooth when te tangata are retiring and they are the same age as ones tamiriki ka pai Simon.
All the best to the Tuatara .
Should have known you are a Westie James Ka kite ano