Open mike 26/11/2019
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- Albanese’s visit shows Indonesia is still a foreign policy priority
As Anthony Albanese prepares to travel to Jakarta for his first state visit in his second term, the symbolism is clear: Indonesia remains a cornerstone of Australia’s foreign policy. Since taking office, the Albanese government ...2 hours ago - Monday 12 May
Opposition to the Government’s attacks on pay equity are gathering steam, with protests around the country and more than 65,000 people already signed on to a petition calling on the Government to reverse the changes. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Cabinet will consider a social media ban on under-16s, despite ...3 hours ago - Naked corruption
When National passed its corrupt, Muldoonist fast-track law, they were criticised for accepting donations from fast-track applicants. You'd think that after such criticism, and the consequent effect on the reputation of our state, they might have ceased the practice - but of course not. Instead, they're still taking money from ...3 hours ago - Nicola Willis Calls Pay Equity “A Grievance Industry”
Nicola Willis pulled the sympathy and sexism card this morning in an opinion piece for Stuff/The Post.In it, claimed she had been much maligned by, well, everyone, on pay equity, and “mainstream” journalists were guilty of “sexist slurs” and misinformation against her.The offending piece was Andrea Vance’s “The girl-math budget ...4 hours ago - Rhys Williams – Arsehole of the Week
It’s time to shine the spotlight on a particularly vile specimen slithering through New Zealand’s political underbelly: Rhys Williams, this week’s Arsehole Award winner. Williams is a NZ First party activist (who didn’t renew his membership), and has carved out a niche as a homophobic, defamatory troll, hiding behind the ...6 hours ago - Bookshelf: Australia in a fragmenting and deglobalising world
Elisabeth Braw’s insightful 2024 book, Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World, has proven remarkably prescient in understanding the turbulent global landscape of 2025. While the era of globalisation promised unprecedented interconnectedness and prosperity, ...7 hours ago
- Announcing Law & Order
Poets, priests and politiciansHave words to thank for their positionsWords that scream for your submissionAnd no one's jamming their transmissionAnd when their eloquence escapes youTheir logic ties you up and rapes you!Songwriter: Sting. Read more ...9 hours ago - A counter to drone swarms: high-power microwave weapons
Military forces must prioritise a counter to drone swarming tactics with which inexpensive, mass-produced drones can overwhelm defences. What is needed is a layered defensive system that includes systems that can neutralise many threats within ...10 hours ago
- Pay equity shock to have unintended consequences
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, May 12:The gutting of pay equity laws may force hospices to close, pushing extra patients and extra cost into hospitals, the sector says at the start of Hospice Awareness Week. Barnados’ CEO says the law change will hit ...10 hours ago - The Death of a Deer
Edit: This stuff is fascinating - and for the record you are definitely OK to disagree with me on any of this in the comments. This community rules, and you’re respectful and great even when disagreeing.With that said — this email just landed in my inbox from a Webworm subscriber ...11 hours ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 4, 2025 thru Sat, May 10, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...23 hours ago - India-Pakistan crisis: military operations intensify before ceasefire
The past 36 hours on the India-Pakistan front have been tumultuous. Where the confrontation is headed is unclear. Although things seemed to be calming down early on Friday, May 9, intense developments followed. A series ...1 day ago
- NZ First Resorts To Dirty Politics 2.0
1 day ago
- Mother’s Day
My mama saidThat it's good to be fruitfulBut my mama saidDon't take more than a mouthfulAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be naturalAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be factualAlways on the Run, by Lenny Kravitz & Slash.Morena folks, let me begin by acknowledging that Mother’s Day can ...1 day ago - Dunedin Mayor Calls On Government To Help Homeless
Last week, a fire tore through a homeless camp at Dunedin’s Oval, destroying tents and makeshift shelters in a stark reminder of New Zealand’s soul-destroying housing crisis. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a predictable outcome of the Coalition of Chaos’s reckless policies, which have gutted funding for emergency accommodation ...1 day ago
- Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to May 11
Brooke van Velden says she had proposed the repeal of the Pay Equity Act in a letter to PM Christopher Luxon as soon as she became Workplace Relations and Safety Minister in late 2023. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesBriefly in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to Sunday, May 11:PM Christopher ...1 day ago - Mothers’ Day
In honour of those who have come, those who are, and those who will come to be.Kate SheppardKate Sheppard is famous for leading the successful campaign that made New Zealand the first self-governing nation to grant women the right to vote in 1893. CorrespondenceMarilyn WaringDame Marilyn Joy Waring DNZM is ...2 days ago - Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...2 days ago
- Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...2 days ago
- Watch Ozzy Man Destroy Some White Supremacist
Gather round, you bloody legends, and let’s talk about a true Aussie icon who’s taken a wild detour from his usual topics. Ethan Marrell, better known as Ozzy Man, has been a YouTube juggernaut since 2014, dishing out side-splitting commentary with that larrikin charm and a voice that could make ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, May 10
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy on Saturday, May 10: Protests have erupted over the Government’s pay equity betrayal this week. Abuse in care survivors are shocked the Government ignored the Royal Commission’s main recommendation.The Government has launched a review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s ‘activism,’ late on a Friday afternoon.Food poverty ...2 days ago - Cold as Ice
I've seen it before; it happens all the timeYou're closing the door, you leave the world behindYou're digging for gold, you're throwing awayA fortune in feelings, but someday you'll payYou know that you are(Cold as ice) As cold as ice to me(Cold as ice)Songwriters: Mick Jones / Lou Gramm.“My suffragette ...3 days ago - Seeking Fiscal Balance
Should we pursue a ‘Golden Rule’ where any public borrowing for consumption is temporary?This columnist is a fiscal conservative who is cautious about government borrowing for public consumption. I was not originally. The Keynesian model I first studied said borrow as much as is necessary to sustain demand. But the ...3 days ago - Taiwan’s polarised politics risks undermining its resilience and security
Taiwan’s opposition parties—including the once-dominant Kuomintang (KMT)—now wield real power in the legislature for the first time since 2012. But their recent actions have cast serious doubt on their commitment to Taiwan’s long-term security and ...3 days ago
- US Defense Secretary cancels Women, Peace and Security programs
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the cancellation of his department’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program. In doing so, he ignored the well-established overlap of insecurity and gender inequality. When announcing ...3 days ago
- PHOTOS: NZ Protests – Again
Kiwis around the country protest: RNZ reports more than 1000 descended on Brooke Van Velden’s officeNote:The government started this pay equity process in April 2024.That’s over a year ago.Cabinet signed it off two months ago.There was no reason for urgency - and never was.The Minister for Woman was left with ...3 days ago - More constitutional vandalism
Since the national government embarked on its racist campaign against Māori, the Waitangi Tribunal has emerged as one of its chief adversaries, putting the impacts of its racist policies formally on the record so they can not be denied. National has responded by sabotaging it, replacing almost the entire membership ...3 days ago
- Nicola Grigg’s Video A Tale Of Two Women
Nicola Grigg1 was given one of the safest blue seats in the country - Selwyn, Christchurch.She holds multiple ministerial portfolios including Trade & Investment, Women, Agriculture, and ACC. Not a bad role.Last year, Grigg said she entered Parliament with Luxon and developed a strong friendship with him.This week she affirmed ...3 days ago
- Are New Zealanders Really Living Beyond Our Means?
The National-led government has been banging the drum of fiscal restraint again, claiming New Zealanders have been “living beyond our means” in another Luxon hates "wet and whiny New Zealanders" standup that is likely to tank his approval rating even further. Yet, the Coalition of Chaos' actions tell a different ...3 days ago
- Drawing Parallels.
The April 22 attacks by Kashmir Resistance (KR), a (at least tacitly) Pakistani-backed irredentist group in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people were murdered, has some unfortunate parallels with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Although many more Israelis died in the latter (nearly 2000) and the costs ...3 days ago - It’s a wrap: NT Defence Week 2025
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- Huge Increase In Part Time Workers Earning Nothing
New Zealand’s part-time workers are caught in a vicious cycle, ground down by a system that punishes ambition and rewards poverty. Work and Income’s draconian deductions regime ensure that every extra dollar earned by part time workers is clawed back, leaving many with nothing to show for their efforts. Add ...3 days ago
- Media Bias Over Erica Stanford’s Security Breaches
The Coalition Of Chaos’ Pay Equity Amendment Bill, rammed through under urgency, has predictably hogged the headlines. But while the mainstream media fixates on this gut-punch to women’s economic justice, Education Minister Erica Stanford’s reckless use of her personal Gmail account for sensitive government business is being swept under the ...3 days ago
- Indonesia is more important than ever: Australia must nurture the relationship
For more than decade, there have been signs that Australia is losing diplomatic access and influence in Indonesia. This is cause for concern, given Indonesia’s size and influence in the Indo-Pacific, and because of the ...3 days ago
- The Hoon around the week to May 9
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news about climate change’s role in spreading birdflu in the United States and elsewhere, research showing marine heatwaves gathering ...4 days ago
- Government hid pay equity plans for months
If the decision to disenfranchise tens of thousands of women and men in many of New Zealand’s most important professions seemed hasty or rushed to you at all, don’t worry — it wasn’t! The government just didn’t think it was important for you to know about it.As far back as ...4 days ago - On The New Pope, And The Israeli Attack On Peter Davis
The election of any Pope tends to be retro-fitted in ways that make the choice seem inevitable. God’s will, no less. If the new Pope had been Italian (“Time for the papacy to return home!”) or a staunch conservative (“Time for a balance to the liberalism of Francis!”) then much ...4 days ago - A calculated policy of deceit
This week the government rammed through legislation under urgency to cancel all outstanding pay equity deals and make them impossible to get in future, balancing their books by stealing $17 billion from New Zealand women. It was an outrageous abuse of the democratic process, and since it passed, we've learned ...4 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #19 2025
Open access notables The post-truth era and how science education keeps ignoring it, Erduran, Science: Conventional educational strategies in combatting post-truth seem to emphasize merits of truth, evidence, and reason. Such focus misses key elements of the post-truth era. It ignores the political dynamics that engulf science as well as ...4 days ago
- Huawei drives and dominates Thailand’s digital ascent
Thailand’s rapid ascent as a 5G leader in Southeast Asia has, in part, been powered by Huawei. While many Western nations excluded Huawei from their 5G rollout over security concerns, Thailand—like several regional neighbours—embraced the ...4 days ago
- The threat spectrum
Planet A China has secured a five-year agreement with Cook Islands to explore seabed minerals. The deal, signed alongside broader economic cooperation agreements, consolidates China’s growing presence in Pacific island countries. It follows recent Chinese ...4 days ago
- Pay Equity Events
The Government using Pay Equity settlements as a way to fund their Budget is a new low. Join in rallies across the motu to speak truth to power. Below is a list of all the event’s we are aware of. If you have any other events you’d like to ...4 days ago
- The Right-Wing’s Unemployment Victory Lap
Will you look at that. The National-led coalition and their media cheerleaders, popping champagne because New Zealand’s unemployment rate (currently languishing at a grim 5.1%) hasn’t quite fully spiralled into the abyss they’ve been digging. Bravo, you absolute legends of mediocrity! The mainstream media, ever the loyal lapdogs, are fawning over ...4 days ago
- How Safe Is Student Job Search?
Note: the name of the student in this story has been changed, indicated by an asterisk.Webworm is a reader-supported publication. If you appreciate the journalism I do here, consider becoming subscriber.Hi,Logging into Student Job Search (SJS) is a right of passage for any conscientious university student in New Zealand who’s ...4 days ago - Fat Bottom Girls
Are you gonna take me home tonight?Oh, down beside that red firelightAre you gonna let it all hang out?Fat bottomed girlsYou make the rockin' world go 'roundSongwriter: Brian May.Bottom. What does that word make you think of? For the last few years, it’s been part of a familiar phrase our ...4 days ago - Sri Lanka holds its own amid economic uncertainty
In recent months, Colombo has faced two sharp blows from its Western partners. First was the surprise cut to USAID funding, amounting to approximately US$53 million. Then came a 44 percent tariff on apparel exports ...4 days ago
- Carers, teachers & nurses lose up to $17b, to fund $14b of tax cuts
The planned $14 billion of tax cuts going mostly to landlords and high earners will effectively be paid for by wage cuts for the poorest workers, almost all of whom are women. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, May ...4 days ago - A British carrier group is coming to the Pacific—with doubts looming over it
Operation Highmast got underway in late April, as the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and supporting warships embarked on an eight-month deployment, also known as Carrier Strike Group 25, to the Pacific and ...4 days ago
- World’s cargo ships to pay more for dirty fuel under new rules
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Alandmark policy crafted in April by members of the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization, or IMO, will tax international shippers based on the carbon content of their fuels. The draft policy is due to be finalized in late 2025. The agreement ...4 days ago
- Pay equity passing is an attack on the working class
5 days ago - It’s Time — To Fight
5 days ago - India and Pakistan must manage escalation after Pahalgam attack
India has launched a retaliatory strike against the Pakistan-based groups responsible for a terrorist attack in Indian Kashmir two weeks ago. The Indian government released a press statement announcing that the armed forces had launched ...5 days ago
- Mapping a decade’s worth of hybrid threats targeting Australia
Hybrid threats, enabled by digital technologies and fuelled by geostrategic competition, are reshaping international security and global norms. Most often, states (commonly working through non-state proxies) are exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities and engaging in economic coercion, ...5 days ago
- Government of the 0.3%
A couple of months ago, the government held a public "consultation" on their proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. People responded en masse, and made it crystal clear what they thought of it: The Ministry received approximately 23,000 submissions and worked with a specialist consultancy to quantitatively assess support and opposition ...5 days ago
- Trump’s Tariff Tantrum Has Backfired
Donald Trump's tariff tirade, sold as a patriotic push to “Make America Great Again,” is backfiring spectacularly, driving iconic US manufacturers like Boeing and John Deere to pack their bags and head for the exits. Far from reviving the heartland, Trump’s trade war is gutting it, and the numbers paint ...5 days ago
- Unions launch petition to protect pay equity
Major Aotearoa unions have launched a new petition calling on the Government to reverse their proposed amendments to the Equal Pay Act and restore existing pay equity claims. Unions behind the petition are home to tens of thousands of working people who’ve experienced the life-changing impact of pay equity – ...5 days ago
- Still 34,000 unemployed under National
The March labour market statistics are out, showing unemployment unchanged at 5.1%. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. While better than expected, there's been a shift from full-time to part-time work, and total weekly paid hours has dropped - meaning people are working ...5 days ago
- Without logistics, northern defence is going nowhere
Australia must develop a national logistics plan to support combat operations in its primary theatre. Defence’s primary strategic guidance, the National Defence Strategy, has chapters on people, innovation, acquisition and partnerships. It does not talk ...5 days ago
- Luxon Isn’t Focused On The Cost Of Living Crisis
When the National Party came to power in 2023, they promised to have a laser-like focus on New Zealand’s cost of living crisis. Their pledge was seductive: tax cuts, streamlined spending, and relief for the “squeezed middle.” Yet, two years into their coalition with ACT and NZ First (the coalition ...5 days ago
- Disagree where we must: little room for military diplomacy with China
Australia’s military relationship with China is now defined by strategic competition and opposing objectives. The days of friendly port visits, personnel exchanges and survival exercises are over. As tensions grow, even dialogue with China’s military ...5 days ago
- Moment to Arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of nightTake these broken wings and learn to flyAll your lifeYou were only waiting for this moment to ariseSong by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.Brooke cancels fair pay.It’s deja vu on top of deja vu with these guys. Just when you think they might take ...5 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Surviving Trump’s Trip To La La Land
The film industry was probably naive to think it would be spared from Donald Trump’s war on globalisation. If you believe Trump, every dollar being spent on foreign film crews, FX houses and film locations, every dime being spent by “runaway” film productions on foreign accomodation and food, is money ...6 days ago
- Where’s your evidence, Brooke? Where’s your evidence?
Asked to comment on the passing of Bob Jones last week, our Prime Minister said he’s a living legend. Such is the B-bursary brain power of our leader. A dead guy is a living legend.No surprise then that all he grasped from Brooke van Velden's robot talk about vandalising pay ...6 days ago - The Coalition’s Pay Equity Betrayal
The Coalition of Chaos' latest incredibly short-sighted move sees them funnelling around a billion dollars from throwing pay equity claims into the bin into some new helicopters, supposedly for defence or emergency services. Fine, modern equipment is necessary, but at what cost?Pay equity claims, painstakingly initiated to address systemic wage ...6 days ago
- The Government Aren’t Paying For Our Defence Spend. Workers Are.
Saving money? The best budgeters recommend cutting the biggest expenses first. I have several facts to present. The earnings gap between management and workers, and particularly between CEOs and workers, has been diverging dramatically since the 80s.The public sector (nearly) matches the pay rate of the private sector for managerial ...6 days ago - The Government Aren’t Paying For Our Defence Spend. Workers Are.
Saving money? The best budgeters recommend cutting the biggest expenses first. I have several facts to present. The earnings gap between management and workers, and particularly between CEOs and workers, has been diverging dramatically since the 80s.The public sector (nearly) matches the pay rate of the private sector for managerial ...6 days ago
- China needs Taiwanese ports to take the island. Mines are the key to protecting them
If China ever makes good on decades of implicit threats to invade Taiwan, most of its ground force will have to land at ports. Relatively little of it can come over beaches, because they ‘lack ...6 days ago
- China needs Taiwanese ports to take the island. Mines are the key to protecting them
If China ever makes good on decades of implicit threats to invade Taiwan, most of its ground force will have to land at ports. Relatively little of it can come over beaches, because they ‘lack ...6 days ago
- Dropped
All charges against the Restore Passenger Rail protestors have finally been dropped. Good. But they should never have been laid in the first place, and it shouldn't have taken a jury telling the police to go fuck themselves (or the threat of them doing so again) for the state to ...6 days ago
- Cameron Slater’s Selective Outrage Over Benjamin Doyle
Cameron Slater, the once-feared Whale Oil blogger now pathetic bedroom hack, is back at it again, flogging a dead horse while the rest of the right-wing propaganda circus has packed up and left town. His latest fixation? Green MP Benjamin Doyle, whose private social media account sparked a brief, baseless ...6 days ago
- National supports sexism
That's the only possible conclusion we can draw from their decision to legislatively terminate all pay equity claims, and make future claims much harder to win: Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden announced the moves to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued to support a claim, ...6 days ago
- Vocational training can play a greater role in national security
Australia’s national security strategy has evolved significantly in recent years, expanding beyond military and intelligence domains to address cyber threats, critical infrastructure protection and emergency response. But despite its contribution to these areas, the vocational ...6 days ago
- Tuesday 6 May
New analysis found the clean slate law has no relevant impact on the likelihood of eligible individuals finding work. The New Zealand film sector is keeping calm and carrying on in the wake of new tariff threats on film and TV production made in non-US countries. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister “has ...6 days ago
- Bernard’s Chorus & Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Tuesday, May 6
Willis and Luxon began the year trumpeting their plan to “go for growth”, but when the Government doesn’t invest, the private sector doesn’t either. Photo: Getty ImagesBriefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, May 6: Growth in our housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on of an economy is stalling and ...6 days ago - Erica Stanford Put New Zealand’s Security At Risk
Education and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford must resign for using her personal Gmail account to handle sensitive government business...think pre-Budget announcements, visa changes, and chats with conservative think-tank mates. This isn’t just a whoopsie; it’s a screaming neon sign flashing “hack me” to every cyber-criminal from Beijing to Moscow. And ...6 days ago
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- Release: Peeni Henare takes over foreign affairs
Labour’s Peeni Henare will pick up the foreign affairs portfolio, following David Parker’s departure from Parliament. ...4 hours ago - Release: Govt better at crushing women’s rights than cars
Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay. ...9 hours ago
- No Justice for State Abuse Survivors- Kapa-Kingi
Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau calls out the government’s decision to keep funding state abuse, turning their backs on justice and real change for abuse in care survivors. “The government has committed to throwing $744 million down the drain, reinforcing a violent regime of disrespect against the ...2 days ago
- Govt’s War on Te Tiriti Continues as Review of Treaty Act Announced
Te Pāti Māori is absolutely disgusted by the Government’s announcement to review the Waitangi Tribunal- a deliberate and dangerous escalation in its ongoing campaign to undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and silence tangata whenua. “The Government’s onslaught against Te Tiriti continues with this latest move to review the Treaty of ...3 days ago
- Tribunal review an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Government’s plans to limit the powers and scope of the Waitangi Tribunal is a disgrace. ...3 days ago - Tribunal review an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Government’s plans to limit the powers and scope of the Waitangi Tribunal is a disgrace. ...3 days ago
- Release: Labour asks why Govt is silent on Gaza
Labour is asking the Government why it is silent on Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, saying New Zealand should be speaking out. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt ignores the voices of survivors
Survivors of abuse in state care have a right to feel disappointed and sidelined by the Government. ...3 days ago
- Redress announcement leaves little justice for survivors
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s decision to severely underfund financial compensation for survivors of abuse in state care. ...3 days ago
- Release: Bill launched to stop tobacco industry lobbying
Labour is launching a members’ bill to stop the Government from putting tobacco industry interests ahead of public health. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour fights for firefighters
The Labour Party backs volunteer firefighters who are currently not covered by ACC for workplace disease and mental injury and is drafting policy to put this right when the party wins the election in 2026. ...4 days ago
- Wildlife law change a deep betrayal of public trust
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s use of urgency to rewrite the Wildlife Act–without consultation, without an impact statement, and in direct response to a court ruling in favour of protecting wildlife. ...4 days ago
- Release: National cuts women’s pay
National has forced through a law change that will take money out of women’s pockets. ...5 days ago
- ‘Govt’s Pay Bill Entrenches Discrimination Against Women’ – Kemp
Te Pāti Māori stands in staunch and emotional opposition to the Government’s so-called Equal Pay Amendment Bill, calling it a calculated attack on working women and a cruel betrayal of the generations who have fought for pay equity in Aotearoa. “This bill doesn’t just undermine equal pay — it completely ...5 days ago
- Release: Fewer jobs and opportunities for Māori, again
In the last 12 months life has only got worse for Māori under Christopher Luxon’s Government. ...5 days ago
- Release: More than one in 10 Pacific people unemployed under National
There are more Pacific people unemployed as the rate increases to a staggering 10.8% under National. ...5 days ago
- Release: Unemployment remains high under National
Job losses remain stubbornly high under National, as their attack on jobs, wages, and women rages on. ...5 days ago
- Govt for the rich is failing the unemployed
The latest job market statistics show that unemployed people are being failed by a Government more focused on punishing the poor than creating jobs. ...5 days ago
- RSE Draft Erases Rainbow and Takatāpui Youth
Te Pāti Māori is demanding urgent changes to the draft Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) framework, calling it a dangerous step backwards for Takatāpui, trans, and rainbow rangatahi. “This draft erases Takatāpui voices, ignores whānau diversity, and delays consent education. It’s not just inadequate, it’s unbelievably unsafe” said Te Pāti ...6 days ago
- RSE Draft Erases Rainbow and Takatāpui Youth
Te Pāti Māori is demanding urgent changes to the draft Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) framework, calling it a dangerous step backwards for Takatāpui, trans, and rainbow rangatahi. “This draft erases Takatāpui voices, ignores whānau diversity, and delays consent education. It’s not just inadequate, it’s unbelievably unsafe” said Te Pāti ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour welcomes inquiry into school lunches
Labour welcomes the Auditor-General’s inquiry into the Government’s school lunches programme. ...6 days ago
- Release: Women will keep being paid less under National
This Government is taking the women’s movement backwards, ensuring women will continue to be paid less into the future. ...6 days ago
- Govt takes workplace equity efforts backwards
The Green Party has called out the Government’s latest attack on workers with the announcement that it is halting all pay equity claims. ...6 days ago
- Release: Questions over Erica Stanford’s personal email use
Erica Stanford has been misusing her personal email address to manage sensitive information relating to Budget and visa changes prior to their public release. ...6 days ago
- Greens launch Member’s Bill to close loophole allowing animal cruelty in imports
Today, Green Party MP Steve Abel has added a new Member’s Bill to the biscuit tin to ensure any product sold in New Zealand meets New Zealand’s animal welfare standards, even if it’s produced overseas. ...6 days ago
- Iwi Rights Under Attack in Government Treaty Clause Purge
Te Pāti Māori warns that the Government’s Treaty Clause Review represents the most severe erosion of iwi rights in modern legal history. “Luxon's Government is doing what the Treaty Principles Bill failed to do. They are removing every legal reference to Te Tiriti across health, housing, conservation, and child wellbeing ...1 week ago
- Release: Cuts to beds for seniors at Dunedin Hospital
After failing to be upfront about cuts to intensive care beds, it’s now becoming clear that other downgrades to Dunedin Hospital are being concealed by the Minister of Health. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour backs workers while Govt cuts jobs and protections
This May Day Labour is standing with workers to defend decent jobs and fair pay. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Still no ferries as first of old fleet retire
Two old and ageing ferries are going to have to work double time because of this Government’s failure to get a ferry deal. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens mark May Day with Green Jobs Guarantee
The Green Party has marked May Day with a pre-budget announcement in Tokoroa, detailing the party’s plan for a Green Jobs Guarantee. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori: Keep the Window Open- UCOL Must Stay
Te Pāti Māori stands firmly against any moves to downsize or close UCOL Whanganui. With over 30% of students identifying as Māori, the campus is a vital lifeline for education, upskilling, and community transformation in Te Tai Hauāuru. “Matapihi ki te Ao is more than a name, it’s a promise. ...2 weeks ago
- Twice the Impact, Half the Budget: Budget 25 Must Invest in Whakaata Māori
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025. The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori: Denying the Right to Vote is a Breach of Te Tiriti and Human Rights
The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Closure of North Shore Women’s Centre a huge loss
Today’s confirmed closure of the North Shore Women’s Centre after losing government funding is a huge loss for women in Auckland. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Simeon Brown hid Dunedin Hospital downgrade
Simeon Brown needs to come clean to the people of Dunedin about why he hid plans to downgrade their new hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt cuts will cost jobs, health, and homes
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
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- Right-Wing Government Strips Māori Health Safeguards and Pretends Colonisation Never Happened
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- Ban on engineered stone essential to protect workers
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- Release: Anzac Day a time to recommit to veterans
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- Stepping up in a changing global environment
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- Changes to improve pay equity process
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- Proposals to strengthen biodiversity released
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- Trade negotiations with India commence
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- NZ-EU trade deal delivers export growth
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- Celebrating New Zealand Sign Language
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- Boosting high-tech exports with advanced technology
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- Parent Portal launched to empower parents
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- New helicopters a commitment to global security
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- Prime Minister congratulates Albanese and Wong
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- Hunting and Fishing Minister joins game bird season opening hunt
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- Attendance dashboard shows early insights into term 2
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- New air ambulance helicopter for Auckland and Northland
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- Oranga Tamariki showing clear progress on key performance targets
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- New Member appointed to Waitangi Tribunal
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- Raising achievement & closing the equity gap at school
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- Developing a new Action Plan for unpaid carers
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- Deputy PM concludes constructive visit to New Caledonia
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- Third procedure room to expand endoscopy capacity in Hawke’s Bay
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- Government remains on track to ban full Farm-to-Forest conversions
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- Youth Parliament 2025 participants announced
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- Saudi Ministerial visit sends strong signal for NZ Trade and Investment growth
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- New data highlights progress in childhood immunisation rates
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- Better banking competition one step closer for Kiwis
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- Rural Health Roadshow coming to Wairoa
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- Advancing Antarctic research on climate change impacts
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- New tools to help women navigate online harm
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- S. Shakthidharan’s ambitious play The Wrong Gods is a profound critique of progress and modernity
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- Pamela Rabe shines in this hypnotic revival of Samuel Beckett’s classic play Happy Days
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- As Donald Trump cuts funding to Antarctica, will the US be forced off the icy continent?
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- Comet, rocket, space junk or meteor? Here’s how to tell your fireballs apart
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- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 12, 2025
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- Victoria’s planning reforms could help solve the housing crisis. But they are under threat
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- Is ‘cunt’ still the worst thing a woman can call another woman?
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- A prisoner voting ban shows again how few checks there are on parliamentary power
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- ‘We’re just doing our best’ – cultural backlash hits Auckland kava business
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- ‘Fighting more frequent now’ – researcher warns of escalating West Papua conflict
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TO Weka,
Sorry my confusion was about the two week ban.
I understand now after I received notice today that it was from "astro planning" event on Hillside rail workshops blog when I span a comment about trucks in that rail post so I now understand to 'stick to the issue of rail' not road. all good thanks..
thought it was about your question
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I still need you to answer my questions above, because you appear to not know how to technically use the site.
Sorry weka I couldn't add my comment at your questions site as there was no 'reply' box to add the answers to.
I have several computers all laptops,
I do follow the main comment stream always as it is easier to add comments to them at the rolling comments string..
As you have alerted me too I have also in the past briefly gone onto the box on the right hand where the comments are only seen as whom to and from, but when I go onto that site I get a confused list of past comments and no warnings appear there or on the main string either so either.
I just must have missed the warnings when travelling away home one location to another I had simply missed the warnings – but that is no excuse I agree..
I travel between two locations from a remote farm in the Gisborne hills to Napier where I need to reset my settings for my internet service provider and I don't use any other system such as a smart phone as at the farm 300kms away there is no wifi or celphone service there.so a am old school as you see.
I would welcome any advise to make it simpler to operate.
Us 75yr olds are not up to today’s speed of learning.
I must also say I have a suffered past brain injury and two stokes to make my brain harder to use.
My burden.- disability.
reading this , Ive just realised that Ive never used the 'replies' tab on the sidebar and didnt know it gives all replies to your comments .
Ive always just flicked through the body of the comments, or less often used the recent part of 'comments' tab.
Morning!
Name our wind
Fremantle Doctor to add to the list…
Wellington actually needs two names one for the Northerly the other for the Southerly…
Tuparara – strong and gusty wind
I like it!
Yes me too. It has a feeling of strength
porangi atu – blown away.
atu raukawa , the wind of raukawa ( name for Cook Str)
The Beehive Blowhard
Whanganui a Tara "Gone with the Wind" Welly Wood. A strong wind a rhetterly and more mild wind a scarletterly.
Or (in winter from the south) – "southerwelly/alpine". From the Tasman and Oz – "westerwelly/Tasmanian. And yeah the northerwelly and the easterwelly.
The alternative is willy to welly, but that leads to Auckland sucks Wellington is full of blowhards – politicians who are expected to do whatever the voters in Auckland want.
Perhaps we could just name it Maria. Then we could have a ready made song as "borrowed" from Paint your Wagon.
That was in 1951 when the musical was written. A storm of that name was first used in a 1941 novel Storm and that, according to Wiki, was one of the factors that led to major storms being given women's names. Really strong winds seem appropriate for a good Wellington Southerly.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Call_the_Wind_Maria
I am wondering if some of the often annoying Wellington wind could be described as something like a Southerly Buster or Backdoor Front for those wind conditions forming in or around the central Wellington area, say around St Paul Square and thereabouts.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southerly_Buster
Pockets of hot air, often dense, forming out almost nothing within a confined location, causing pressure and a reaction leading to a type of lateral wind of minimal extent (from a wider global perspective), but which can often cause a bit of a local storm, and usually no more than that which might be compared to a storm in a teacup. But this far less common than the observed, prevailing Wellington winds.
For the more prevalent, from the Northern central area, maybe the Hutt Devil, and from the Cook Straight, how about Cook Blast?
I am also wondering if they will come up with completely gender neutral names for weather phenomena in the future.
Beehive Buster.
That one I like.
Would you consider adding one letter to the second word? Beehive Bluster?
Tawhiri the god of weather including wind?
Here is a an interview that asks the right questions of a Russia conspiratory pusher and establishment liberal attack dog….that being said he still gets invited to go on every liberal MSM show to disseminate his lies and bullshit with of course absolutely no push back what so ever..just to prove beyond a doubt that the establishment liberal class are just as corrupt and as void of ethic's and morals as the establishment right/tories.
Malcolm Nance on the Danger of Conspiracy Theories
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/malcolm-nance-on-the-danger-of-conspiracy-theories
Good interview.
Not sure it says what you think it says, though.
That the US intelligence community are bat shit crazy, and in paranoid lala land.
The extrapolations that guys makes are running close to completely nuts. They are deeply ideological and tethered to a hated of anything Russian.
It's all iffy. Mind you if your a complete Russophobe this intelligence nut would be your man.
Misquoting wikileaks and calling Julian Assange a Russian laundromat, (odd that, as this one got wikileaks in loads of trouble https://wikileaks.org//spyfiles/russia/)
Did you read the truly weird one at the end, his black hole theory.
People who fall for conspiracy theories, are almost as bad as the people who make them up.
The black hole theory is usually not too far off the mark.
Like if about a dozen people have been fired for misconduct or convicted of wrongdoing, and they all worked in a variety of roles for one person, a reasonable assumption would be that that person maybe has something to hide.
The event horizon is when he tweets confessions at 3am.
What is It's NOT a conspiracy?
He really DID part the red sea, and the earth really WAS created in seven days?
Corruption is said not to be quantifiable when comparing chalk with chalk or cheese with cheese.
In other words, extent, scale, magnitude is said not to be a legitimate comparative when comparing one party to another, or even when comparing one representative political identity to another, because corruption just is what it is.
Identifying just exactly what corruption is and what is isn't?
Now that is a curly one because much of that which is described as corruption might simply be that one or another person or group in a position of power and influence is being manipulative or is taking advantage of an opportunity that presents, which might be considered inappropriate but which may not be illegal.
Much of the corruption argument pertains to the wide and varied ideals individually held by many and the perception of many more.
Example: Would a lawyer, as an officer of the court, be considered corrupt if he were to fail to adequately represent his client in a criminal trial because certain people in court management had put pressure on him not to take up the judge and jury's time arguing points of law and procedure, due to the heavy court workload at that time?
How about if the lawyer is having a bad time of the month, and just throws the client's case file on the sideboard after getting home without reviewing it, to arrive at court the next day ill-prepared?
Complaints to the NZ Law Society very really go anywhere in relation to a client's accusation of under-performance by a legal practitioner.
That lawyer may not be considered to be a state employee or an elected representative, but does hold a form of state authority and responsibility.
Corruption is a most interesting word, and has most interesting connotations.
And remember that most everything about the structure of the system as it pertains to executive, administration and legislature is very much about legal definitions.
Adrian, your link
Now that is hilarious!
Straight out of a comic book or some teenage TV show.
Superman and Lex Luthor
Wiley E Coyote and the road runner
Thanks Adrian, I had quite a chuckle over that
Mind you, those Russians are devilishly clever . I saw David Shearer talking about Sudan on RT yesterday.Little does he know he’s being co opted
and next thing he’ll be getting swept into Putin’s web
'Co-opted' because he says ordinary and unsurprising things about the conflict in the South Sudan and the effects on the people?
Its a standard interviewer and interviewee on the ground thing. Doesnt mean hes then asked to visit the Kremlin for banquets
Yes
That's my point
It refers to American paranoia
Sure . I think I read your points too literally
An interesting article on chief executive pay by Shambeel Eaqub.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117681553/theyre-paid-millions-but-its-not-easy-to-see-what-value-top-chief-executives-add
Surely for some CEOs they would be guilty of rort or of false pretences?
Very succinct ianmac.
Special pre-Christmas TS service today:
Puckish Rogue 2019-12-22
Observer Tokoroa 2020-01-28
Lol.
Which reminds me, Saint Jude's been doing some trolling of her own lately.
Motion to withdraw the cash ban legislation in Oz…
Liberal party…that’s the party China allegedly wanted the Aussie car salesman for? China is basically cashless.
Max Keiser said that China is going to declare as yet undisclosed gold + release a gold based crypto. The cash ban would have increased the uptake of this crypto asset – still might. Aussie is far to small to be a major issue, although the more countries that take it up, the more it is likely to become world currency in the future.
Great to see Westpac AU head office CE, Chair, and Board getting roasted for international money security crimes.
Off you go boys.
I assume you are referring to this news: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/117708320/westpac-ceo-brian-hartzer-steps-down-after-scandal-hits-bank
Meh, it is like a tidal swamp. They get caught with their pants down, a bit of public naming and shaming, a slap with a wet bus ticket by a wimpy toothless regulator, they pull up their socks and the whole cycle starts again.
Oh, the CEO will be crying himself to sleep with a 12 month golden handshake: https://www.interest.co.nz/banking/102739/westpac-group-ceo-brian-hartzer-resigns-aussie-regulator-investigates-23-million
On understanding wily Winnie's ways: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/404141/david-slack-nz-first-and-its-inscrutable-leader-winston-peters
The applications were declined .
The Henry family have a long association with forests and wood processing industries in NZ- an offshoot of the family became lawyers.. Judges and founded major law firms.
Is anyone disagreeing with those two statements?
Kilroy was here! Or careless human destructive vandal was here?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/404152/visitors-carving-names-in-moeraki-boulders
Nature voyeurs. Tourism is just another extractive industry.
McDonalds strike back!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/117695162/new-geraldine-kebab-shop-warned-over-use-of-golden-arches
Just looks like a "W" to me.
Not golden archers.
Slam dunk infringement.
looks like they didn't know they couldn't do copy MacDonald's logo.
I don't buy that for one minute.
you think they thought they wouldn't get caught?
Delusional.
Fabulous idea…"How on earth can I get national exposure for my Geraldine kebab shop opening with a promotional budget of $350?"
Hats off to that dude.
Quite possibly.
Clever cheap marketing exercise
snap pat
Lead narrowing in this poll between Conservative and Labour parties with three weeks too go.
https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/tory-lead-labour-narrows-manifesto-launch-11214646/
Important story yesterday reporting Human Rights Commission report into working NZ poor:
More than 50,000 working households live in poverty
Interview with Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner on the study here.
Incredible stats – 50,000 NZ households in poverty while working (after allowing for working for families etc). The system is totally broken.
I am incredibly frustrated at how little the Labour / Coalition government is doing about this – but under National doing a study like this at all would be less likely, and would be instantly dismissed as irrelevant if it was.
The complete report in PDF is here
The 2018 advances in WFF tax credits and changes in AS negated by the rising cost of rent.
The MW is going up over a dollar each year – again April 2020 and then in April 2021 to $20 an hour.
The background suggests its irrelevant to current situation
'The research was carried out using the 2013 Census data. We define a “working” household as where at least one adult aged 18 to 65 inclusive is receiving positive wages or salaries for a minimum of seven months in the year preceding March 2013. From the scoop link.
Ive sure the poverty gap hasnt evaporated but its so bloody out of date to be useless
Let's stop the live export of animals from NZ. And have stringent rules on the few allowed to be imported. Keep out the diseases that are being imported. And respect our animals welfare and security.
14,000 sheep trapped inside capsized live export ship – SAFE
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/11/26/14000-sheep-trapped-inside-capsized-live-export-ship-safe/