"My guess based on realpolitik, is South Africa's attempt to get an interim order for a cease-fire in Gaza will fail. The political pressure from the US and its allied states on the judges of the ICJ will is too great."
….the Court did not order the first provisional measure requested by South Africa, namely, calling on the ICJ to order that “the State of Israel shall immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza” (South Africa Application, para. 144)
"The 84 page mountain of evidence of genocidal acts and statements of intent to commit genocide contained in the Brief by South Africa is damning, I am certain that even more damning evidence will be revealed with the passing of time."
….It is especially notable which provisional measures the Israeli ad hoc judge, Aaron Barak supported.
“The State of Israel shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts” within the scope of the Convention.
AGAINST: Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) and Judge ad hoc Aaron Barak (Israel)
They can't ignore it forever. Not many people thought that the ICJ ruling would go this far. They have completely ignored the protestations from Israel and almost unanimously agreed that there is a case to be answered. Palestinians in Gaza are now a protected people under the genocide convention and Israel is obliged to cease from genocidal acts. The ICJ stopped short of ordering a ceasefire mostly because they have no jurisdiction over Hamas and could not legitimately order a one sided ceasefire. But they are on notice as are any countries now that aid Israel with weaponry or financial support of genocidal actions. It is now incumbent on Nations to do something to prevent continued genocidal action by Israel. Suddenly, the Houthi in Yemen find themselves on the right side of international law. They just stopped and caused to turn around an attempt by the US to resupply Israel militarily
So the UN's judgmental arm is wagging it's moral finger at the situation. Does moral advisory authority work in this situation? Israel's deity is a jealous god – unlikely to take seriously any propositions that a bunch of humans carries any weight in the situation. The Israeli govt may not actually fall about laughing at the ICJ, but is likely to point out its irrelevance.
Sorry Dennis, but Israel really really hates losing control of the narrative. Western moral superiority has just become dust and all those supporting Israel can now legitimately be called genocide enablers. We are involved in bombing Sanaa in Yemen now. We are demanding that one of two countries that is acting to protect a people likely suffering genocide cease helping the victims. We also have become genocide enablers. The narrative is shifting faster now and none of your old school cynicism can stop that.
"Israel really hates losing control of the narrative"…..so true Sublim….and they lost control of this narrative as soon as they started their murderous indiscriminate incursion into Palestine (both Gaza and the occupied West Bank) over two months ago.
The ICJ stopped short of ordering a ceasefire mostly because they have no jurisdiction over Hamas and could not legitimately order a one sided ceasefire. But they are on notice as are any countries now that aid Israel with weaponry or financial support of genocidal actions
Not because of a right to self-defence? Just no right, to commit war crimes, ethnic cleansing or genocide in that military action, thus the court expecting certain action (aid to civilians etc) and ceasing of certain actions (continuing war crimes that could lead to a finding in the proceeding court case).
"Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year.And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.” Winston Churchill
And on how their country's voted for a ceasefire in the UN General Assembly, plus US and Israeli diplomatic pressure. – I had predicted a narrow 9/8 split against a ceasefire. I also wrongly predicted a longer, more drawn out debate in chambers, as the judges put their relative arguments, for or against South Africa's resolution calling for a ceasefire.
If the supporters of the South African ceasefire resolution had not agreed on a compromise resolution, who knows, that may have been the case.
I am guessing that rather than lose it all, a compromise resolution, that stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, was put up on the condition that the majority of judges support it.
It is possible that if this compromise resolution had not been agreed to, the debate in chambers might still be on going, and when the final vote was eventually put the result would have been more split.
I predicted, (alongside many others), that South Africa's application
to the court for a ceasefire would fail.
I also predicted based on evidence, that when the full hearing on the charge of genocide made by South Africa against Israel is heard that it would succeed.
I still stand by that prediction. Unfortunately this ruling will come to too late to stop the genocide in Gaza.
The Israelis have made it clear. their intention is to 'change the facts on the ground'. By expulsion if possible, by mass murder, if necessary.
The ICJ can't stop the US from supplying Israel "militarily" as far as I'm aware there's no law existing which has this as it's purpose? Even if there was, the USA isn't obliged (and wouldn't) abide by it as the USA (Like all countries) is only bound (morally and ethically) to abide by treaties and agreements it signs up to. Even if it doesn't do that, there's no global government or the like that can make world laws and more importantly that could enforce them.
The closest is probably the UN but the USA has veto rights in any UN decisions or actions.
Historians write mythistory by default. They believe they write history, yet their subjective take on the topic makes it interpretive. Readers experience that via relativism since myth is a likely story & accounts by historians trend toward mythologising what happened in the past the more they percolate down to subsequent generations.
King’s history was praised in 2003 for the novelty of focusing on the negative environmental impact of human settlement, and that still feels novel. The first chapter runs like a pre-credits sequence showing the lush abundance of life here before people arrived to ruin it. King goes way back, as far as Gondwana. One of his influences was the Australian writer Tim Flannery, whose book The Future Eaters appeared less than a decade before King started on this history and who argued that humanity had a disastrous, profound impact on Australia’s natural environment, which seems far from a controversial idea now. King argues that the swift consumption of moa, seals and other slow-moving sources of protein by early Māori was a form of future-eating. Māori arrived, they ate well, and then had to adapt.
That environmental consciousness was novel but it does not explain the remarkable success of this book. The best explanation is that it was simply the right book by the right person at the right moment. https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/01/25/history-is-a-culture-war/
It comes as a pleasant surprise to me that he wrote ecohistory, since my bias is always that any academic is useless until they prove the contrary.
O’Regan praises King for “putting Māori-Pākehā relationships at the forefront of our public conversation”, which included pioneering books on Māori history in the 1970s, before it became politically difficult for a Pākehā writer to do that kind of work. O’Regan also acknowledges King for “identifying Pākehā as an indigenous culture in Aotearoa New Zealand”, which is a controversial view that O’Regan happens to agree with.
Whoopiedo. So these two guys agree that I'm indigenous to Aotearoa. I gather I'm meant to feel a sense of relief but too bad, I've always felt indigenous.
The culture wars play out in the closing chapter, which act as a summing-up of New Zealand’s progress and general mood.
Good on him for at least having a go at that, and I'll reserve judgment until I read it. I suspect that the time since he died could append a more sombre verdict.
That makes the addition of Aotearoa to the title a nice move. It also undermines those who have been using, or misusing, King in their fight against official adoption of the Māori language. This issue goes back to the third chapter in the book, “The Great New Zealand Myth”.
The myth in question was Kupe’s discovery of New Zealand and the Great Fleet, but there was a sub-myth, if you like, which is that pre-European Māori called the country Aotearoa. King explained that the word Aotearoa was actually “popularised and entrenched” by William Pember Reeves in The Long White Cloud (1898) and that “Māori had no name for the country as a whole”… Right-wing culture-war figures such as former TV presenter Peter Williams, former newspaper editor Karl du Fresne and historian Michael Bassett have all enlisted King as support for their argument that New Zealand should not become Aotearoa. “Instead of being proud New Zealanders, we’ll be expected to call ourselves Aotearoaians,” Bassett grumbled.
Having been in Form 1 when I realised Aotearoa was a better name for our country than the neocolonial double-dutch thing, the year of 1961, I'm amused by right-wingers doing their usual dinosaur dance on the issue. Bassett is always classical Labour dinosaur, simulating death whilst still alive, proving the point spectacularly as he fails to spell Aotearoan correctly…
I have read it once and got part way through a second time.
I must admit the idea of Pakeha indigenousness has been bubbling under the surface for me, but not crystallising into those two words. I guess this tome planted those seeds in me, but the culture of the last 20 years has made it difficult for a wanna be progressive pale, stale male to fully embrace and articulate the concept.
I can't be from anywhere else, the connection to our whenua is profound, being a gracious host is important to me and King's words "And most New Zealanders, whatever their cultural backgrounds, are good-hearted, practical, commonsensical and tolerant. " resonate.
I thoroughly recommend the book and as the review points out there are a few shortcomings, don't let perfection be the enemy of the good.
I love what Michael King said about being a part of NZ as a Pakeha
"For me, then, to be a Pakeha on the cusp of the 21st century; is not to be European. it is not to be alien in my own country. It is to be a non-Maori New Zealander who is aware and proud of my antecedents, but who identifies as intimately with this land and as strongly as any Maori. It is to be, as I have already argued, another kind of indigenous New Zealander."
Yes. And identifying with the land isn't the same as belonging to it.
I wish we could get past this though, and better understand the pathways for non-Māori to belong here beyond the might of the state and the rights established that way.
It's easy enough, on a personal level – sit and listen, learn what the passerines are saying. Sit and look – learn what the plants are signalling. Once you know what the tūī at dawn are saying, you're in 🙂
there's a big gap between were most people are and that, atlthough I think a lot more people could do that relatively easily if not for their life and society. Which does take us beyond the personal level.
I wish we could get past this though, and better understand the pathways for non-Māori to belong
Maybe not being told we are lesser kiwis ,with less rights.
because the average non Maori kiwi, who has no legal right to another country, has any advantage I can assure you, other than being free from being told we are victims.
This doesn't mean we don't honor the treaty and we don't move heaven and earth to lift moari outcomes.
I'm all for Maori seats on councils and boards but they still need to be elected positions,
This opens up an interesting conversation on identity.
Regardless of what yr opinions on identity are, I don't see folk flocking to another's definition if it is at odds with how they feel about themselves.
Generally it is related to the idea that those born in a land to someone born in that land, are of that nation or society.
Some pose it as a pejorative, where it is anti-migrant or anti-immigration (though it is notable that often migrants themselves have issues with high rates of migration once they become permanent residents and then citizens).
King’s basic idea here can be captured in the following quote which is reproduced on the cover of the book:
‘Pakeha New Zealanders who are committed to this land and its people are no less “indigenous” than Maori.’
King recognises and respects the place of Maori in New Zealand, and argues that Pakeha too belong inescapably to this country and in fact have no other. They (we) have become a second indigenous culture, that of Pakeha New Zealanders.
Both Massey and Lord Jellicoe thought they were descendants of a lost tribe of Israel, and that the king of England carried the bloodline of Moses, too.
Jellicoe the first or second? If the latter, I see he did well in his maiden parliamentary speech (despite spending 19 years there being too diffident to speak):
Like all your Lordships, I felt, and feel, a deep sense of shock, indeed revulsion, at the brutal butchery of the young King and his family, and of that great, and greatly human, statesman, Nuri Pasha. I have also been shocked by the tendency which one sees current at the moment to write off the Nuri regime as decadent, feudal and corrupt.
That picture, in my view, is a travesty of the truth … As part of the admirable development programme which the Nuri regime was carrying through there was a large schools programme. These schools were built for the purpose your Lordships might expect-to educate Iraqis in. But the Iraqis did not believe that; they thought-it was a very widespread belief which one could not eradicate-that these schools were camouflaged barracks intended for the British Army when they reoccupied Iraq. These are the sorts of 'ingrowing toenails' in the Iraqi consciousness which I feel we must try to eradicate". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Jellicoe,_2nd_Earl_Jellicoe
Ingrowing toenails in any group mind are a problem, although one one rather expects the Iraqis to nowadays demonstrate considerable expertise in their use – we ought to get our man in Baghdad to write a paper on that.
I didn't know the Brits & Israelis had co-created a word federation, so thanks for the tip. Federal words are top-level memes. They organise governance. Serious stuff. Imperial racism was merely dross decorating the top of that to keep the voters happy. Gotta have plenty of imperial dross dressing up the place when you operate an empire without an emperor…
Furthermore, three Admirals of the Fleet, the right Hon. Sir John Jellicoe, who also served as Governor General of New Zealand and thus shared the faith with Prime Minister Massey, Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, Bart., K.C.B. and Admiral Lord Fisher professed their thoughts in favor or Britain's Israelitish origin.
[…]
A devoutly religious man, Fisher saw the hand of God acting on behalf of the British in their victory over the Germans. In a letter to Jellicoe dated April 29th, 1916, he took comfort in the fact that "our faith is the same, my beloved Jellicoe, and the only reason we shall win this War is because we are the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel!" 144 "The only hypothesis," he later asserted, "to explain why
we win in spite of incredible blunders is that we are the lost tribes of Israel."
Jellicoe was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 3 April 1919. He became Governor-General of New Zealand in September 1920 and while there also served as Grand Master of New Zealand's Masonic Grand Lodge. Following his return to England, he was created Earl Jellicoe and Viscount Brocas of Southampton… As First Sea Lord Jellicoe was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Belgian Order of Leopold on 21 April 1917, the Russian Order of St. George, 3rd Class on 5 June 1917, the Grand Cross of the Italian Military Order of Savoy on 11 August 1917 and the Grand Cordon of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun (29/8/1917).
And obviously a star on the international awards circuit! Irritated by that toad, Churchill, but then so usually was most of the establishment back then…
Then came modern DNA testing. And so another myth fell, alongside a 6000 year old earth, a worldwide flood, and when the Americans learn to read and comprehend end time judgment kingdom come in real history on earth (rather than faith about continuance).
The flood myth isn't a myth. Regardless all myths start out from some sort of real event.
But in terms of massive floods the one believed to be Noah's flood in the bible and the great flood documented by pretty much all of the ancient religions was probably the one that occurred around 12800 (approx) years ago at the start of what became known as the Younger Dryas period of about 1200 years of severe cooling and adverse climate conditions which led to mass global extinctions. (up to 80% of 40kg plus mammals in Nth America for example which is believed to have been the area where the most devastating impact occured.
Here's quite a good description of what may have happened:
Some believe (and there is a growing body of evidence) that an impact event caused massive flooding due to ice meltwaters (the earth was just starting to come out of the last ice age) and was the event that triggered massive climate change within a very short period of time.
In terms of it being global. Well the areas of Europe and all around the Mediterranean would have been the whole world to the peoples living there at the time.
A post ice age rising sea level is not a flood where the entire land of the earth is under water (because of an event caused by God) and every land (and air) based species was reduced to one family.
There have been population bottlenecks amongst species, but not for species at the same time.
Either evolution is somehow pushing each species to have its own version, which seems unlikely, or each species has had almost all its genetic diversity purged – which implies that its population was once very small.
What's more, these population bottlenecks seemingly all occurred between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago.
Much of the coverage has interpreted this as implying some sort of global event, an unspecified catastrophe that slashed the population of pretty much every animal species. However, Stoeckle and Thaler do not argue that, saying instead that species experience bottlenecks every few hundred thousand years due to the rough and tumble of life.
Second, there is no trace in the geological record of any global event in the last 200,000 years. Any event that slashed populations that significantly would surely have led to a noticeable spike in the extinction rate, and there isn't one. There are of course the extinctions linked to humans, but those occurred at separate times and locations, not simultaneously across the planet.
But they would have to concede one human bottleneck had profound consequences. And it did appear to cause a population decline worldwide c60-70,000 years ago.
Our DNA includes that of Neanderthal of Europe and Denisovans of Asia indicating some hominin populations probably including homo sapien when they arrived (but at low levels).
In terms of it being global. Well the areas of Europe and all around the Mediterranean would have been the whole world to the peoples living there at the time.
There was no time when that area was entirely under water. Europe had the post ice age event placing Daggerland under water, and not long after the Black Sea event c 5500BCE. There was then another flood event in lower Sumer c5000 years ago.
The bible story is religious myth, with the purpose to pose God as ultimate power over life and death, and connected to the emergence in human history of the coming of the age of empire (where peoples and nations came under the rule of an imperial capital).
Yes the Bible flood story is a myth as is most of the bible.
But many myths are possibly based upon an initial profound event and as the story is passed on down through the generations it gets exaggerated and spiritual/supernatural bits are added to explain 'miracles' and so on.
It's entirely possible that some guy called Noah was a man of a village or particular tribe of ancient people and managed to survive a flood catastrophe by jumping in a boat with some of the villages animals. (maybe a couple of goats and a couple of birds, etc.)
In their times the whole world was limited to a small area. Over generations the story gets passed down and over time gets exaggerated and God gets involved (how else could he have survived when nobody else did) until it becomes myth.
Many ancient religions have flood myths and it's entirely possible they are just stories passed on about an event that happened. A group of devastating impacts causing massive meltwater release and tsunamis in the ancient world of course becomes Gods or the Gods doing because ancient peoples didn't have scientific explanations for such events. If the whole world (your village and the surrounding areas) gets wiped out by a giant Tsunami 10,000 years ago then of course the explanation becomes supernatural and it must be punishment, etc
I'm not saying myths are true and factual, I'm just saying that many could easily have their starting point as an actual event. Why would ancients just make up stories about global flood catastrophes?
The Trojan war is mythology, but now historians believe that Troy was real and have found evidence that it was located at the site of Hisarlik, in northwest Turkey. , etc. It's entirely possible that there was some soldier fighting in the war who happened to be very skilled, brave and who killed many enemy soldiers. Story telling about the war and some poetic license from Homer led to the mythical story of the hero Achilles, son of Zeus.
A more modern example could be the battle at Rourkes Drift, which has been exaggerated a bit over the years and has reached almost mythical status. If it had happened in ancient times it could easily have become a myth after a 1000 years or so.
""I think the most fascinating bit of all of that is that where the debate has been place so far and that’s at Tūrangawaewae marae last Saturday and then at Rātana this week, guess who wasn't there? David Seymour. If you want to have a debate, turn up and debate."
Why didn't Seymour front up?
Where are his bovver boys here on TS to explain his "scarcity"?
I read his no-show as a vote of no-confidence in himself combined with pragmatic acceptance that he didn't want his lack of maori solidarity to get more obvious.
However, Robert, you are right to point to the scarcity dimension of his tactical move: scarcity increases value. According to the scarcity theory of Chicago-school economism, he must believe that making himself scarce drives up his market value.
Is "white privilege" not also a racist statement when used in such manner? Like an insult with a reference to a rodent. It assumes that all people with white skin are the same, colonial suppressors in one fell swoop, and using such terms is in my view as bad as any emotional appeasement. A low point in intellectual exchange no doubt.
Perhaps then another book might be an interesting read to add to the discussion. "The treason of the Intellectuals" by Julian Brenda.
I don't actually know what Robert is meaning there, but I hope he's not implying death to an MP, because wishing death is a bannable offence here.
However I don't think white privilege means all white people are the same. It's a term used to point to systems that grant Pākehā advantages. It doesn't say all Pākehā all have the same advantages, nor that people of colour don't have any advantages. It's just shorthand for pointing out systemic inequity.
What!!! Weka, you should know me by now.
” …because wishing death is a bannable offence here”
Every other week, I get (subtlety/overtly) threatened with banning!
???????????????????????????????????????????????????
I thought I would have a wee crack at Wags above about him defending Stuff's reporting efforts. I wanted to ask him if Stuff had reported on the Hannibal directive yet.
That led me to look at TS history and found Joe90 had mentioned it just shy of 10 years ago.
On that thread, there is talk of Putin's horrors (flight MH17 was a recent event), a link to an Bill Maher opinion on the internet bringing out the worst of us (with a plea for "seeking "understanding first" and attempting to reach common ground rather than fight.") and korero about Israel and genocide visited on Palestinians.
The interim ruling issued by the court ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent genocidal acts, and to take effective steps to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians
“The State of Israel shall submit a report to the court on all measures taken to give effect to this order within one month as from the date of the order”
AGAINST: Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) and Judge ad hoc Aaron Barak (Israel)
Whether Israel abides by the court's order to submit a report, or not. We won't need to wait one month to see what measures if any are being taken by Israel, to give affect to this order.
A 7.5% spending cut to Whaikaha the Ministry for Disabled people, Pacific Peoples, and so on is on the table. Shame on Nicola Willis, David Seymour, Winston Peters, and Chris Luxon and their parties!
The spending cuts range from 6.5 to 7.5%. This will have a devastating impact upon Aotearoa/New Zealand's ability to properly function for a long time.
In the name of austerity, Aotearoa/NZ is destroying itself.
Across-the-board random-number cuts like this are a clear sign of blind ideology.
Cut 7.5%….what if the 7.5% cut ends up costing us 20%? What if the cut is socially very valuable compared to the proposed tax cuts for rich people? Don't know, no analysis, don't care.
Are Parliamentary services (or whichever body is reponsible) able to find savings by cutting MP expenses for things they can afford themselves out of their salaries, eg taxi fares to and from airports? (or make them take the airport bus when appropriate?)
Perhaps it's time to start means-testing politicians for everything over and above their base salaries. If they have over x amount of savings/assests that can be converted to cash/income from investments, then they don't need that accommodation allowance, travel allowance etc. If it's good enough for those at the bottom of the heap….
The Israeli appointed judge on the ICJ agreed with two of its interim judgments
which stated that Israel must prevent and punish any incitement to commit genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and that Israel must take “immediate and effective measures” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Barak said he voted for those orders in the hope that they would "help to decrease tensions and discourage damaging rhetoric" while easing the "consequences of the armed conflict for the most vulnerable.
The rising Europe to Asia shipping costs are having an impact on China.
DUBAI, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.
The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended.
"At the crux of his inquiry into the key motive forces of our civilization’s course is Vogt’s insistence that while much is broken with the exploitive consumerism behind the world’s government and industry, much more depends on and is mendable by the concerted collective action of ordinary people."
"Drastic measures are inescapable. Above everything else, we must reorganize our thinking. If we are to escape the crash we must abandon all thought of living unto ourselves. We form an earth-company, and the lot of the Indiana farmer can no longer be isolated from that of the Bantu… An eroding hillside in Mexico or Yugoslavia affects the living standard and probability of survival of the American people… Today’s white bread may force a break in the levees, and flood New Orleans next spring. This year’s wheat from Australia’s eroding slopes may flare into a Japanese war three decades hence."
@PimToolNews
Tim Pool had two guys on his show to debunk the "man-made climate change cult narrative", and the conversation went off the rails so much they ended up talking about how scientists are trying to open "spiritual portals" and summon literal demons using particle accelerators.
"At the slightest sign that National was about welch on the Coalition Agreement, Act and NZ First were expected to shoot the Coalition Government in the head."
"and if it then refuses to step away from the coalition and move to the cross-benches; then somewhere between a tenth and a fifth of the electorate – and possibly a lot more – will find themselves in the market for a political champion who rejects entirely the niceties of traditional Māori-Pakeha relations, in favour of a new and unabashed ethno-nationalist vocabulary and manifesto."
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
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Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
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Another complete failure by New Zealand’s mainstream corporate media.
No mention of the ICJ’s judgment,
No wonder so many New Zealanders are so ill informed.
No wonder
If you go on the Herald’s website, nothing, even if you click on world news.
Ditto for Stuff..
Ditto got RNZ.
Our Main Stream Media journalists refusal to report this history shaping event, I guess it is up to us to try and analyse the ICJ's interim order.
A Victory for Realpolitik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realpolitik
Jenny @1.1.2
25 January 2024 at 4:42 pm
"My guess based on realpolitik, is South Africa's attempt to get an interim order for a cease-fire in Gaza will fail. The political pressure from the US and its allied states on the judges of the ICJ will is too great."
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2024/#comment-1986714
Jenny @1.1.2
25 January 2024 at 4:42 pm
"The 84 page mountain of evidence of genocidal acts and statements of intent to commit genocide contained in the Brief by South Africa is damning, I am certain that even more damning evidence will be revealed with the passing of time."
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-25-01-2024/#comment-1986714
They can't ignore it forever. Not many people thought that the ICJ ruling would go this far. They have completely ignored the protestations from Israel and almost unanimously agreed that there is a case to be answered. Palestinians in Gaza are now a protected people under the genocide convention and Israel is obliged to cease from genocidal acts. The ICJ stopped short of ordering a ceasefire mostly because they have no jurisdiction over Hamas and could not legitimately order a one sided ceasefire. But they are on notice as are any countries now that aid Israel with weaponry or financial support of genocidal actions. It is now incumbent on Nations to do something to prevent continued genocidal action by Israel. Suddenly, the Houthi in Yemen find themselves on the right side of international law. They just stopped and caused to turn around an attempt by the US to resupply Israel militarily
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/international-court-of-justice-rules-forcefully-against-israel-in-landmark-genocide-ruling-including-restricting-military-action.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/24/us-navy-cargo-ships-houthi-missile-attack-yemen
The ICJ is merely a simulation of global justice. It has issued judgments, but who judges the judges? An ephemeral bunch of global onlookers.
So the UN's judgmental arm is wagging it's moral finger at the situation. Does moral advisory authority work in this situation? Israel's deity is a jealous god – unlikely to take seriously any propositions that a bunch of humans carries any weight in the situation. The Israeli govt may not actually fall about laughing at the ICJ, but is likely to point out its irrelevance.
Sorry Dennis, but Israel really really hates losing control of the narrative. Western moral superiority has just become dust and all those supporting Israel can now legitimately be called genocide enablers. We are involved in bombing Sanaa in Yemen now. We are demanding that one of two countries that is acting to protect a people likely suffering genocide cease helping the victims. We also have become genocide enablers. The narrative is shifting faster now and none of your old school cynicism can stop that.
Yeah, you ain't wrong. Passion is catalytic. Good luck to younger generations doing a global resonance play…
"Israel really hates losing control of the narrative"…..so true Sublim….and they lost control of this narrative as soon as they started their murderous indiscriminate incursion into Palestine (both Gaza and the occupied West Bank) over two months ago.
"…over two months ago."
Yep, just after October 7 wasn't it?
Not because of a right to self-defence? Just no right, to commit war crimes, ethnic cleansing or genocide in that military action, thus the court expecting certain action (aid to civilians etc) and ceasing of certain actions (continuing war crimes that could lead to a finding in the proceeding court case).
The ICJ can't stop the US from supplying Israel "militarily" as far as I'm aware there's no law existing which has this as it's purpose? Even if there was, the USA isn't obliged (and wouldn't) abide by it as the USA (Like all countries) is only bound (morally and ethically) to abide by treaties and agreements it signs up to. Even if it doesn't do that, there's no global government or the like that can make world laws and more importantly that could enforce them.
The closest is probably the UN but the USA has veto rights in any UN decisions or actions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350160170/top-un-court-orders-israel-prevent-genocide-gaza-stops-short-ordering
Leading story on stuff
Time date 6.30am.
The decision came out 2am out time (judge at work explaining for an hour or so 1am on).
This there January 26, 2024, 08:10pm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350160111/israel-reveals-secret-orders-fightback-against-genocide-charges.
And this story since then.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350160303/un-workers-sacked-allegations-involvement-hamas-attack-israel-emerge
I realise it's 10am now, but I definitely heard this story on RNZ at 6am, and this story is currently up on their website https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/507667/south-african-president-hails-ruling-against-israel-as-step-toward-justice
So it has been mentioned in the MSM today,
8.29 am RNZ
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/507667/south-african-president-hails-ruling-against-israel-as-step-toward-justice
7.03 am NZH
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/top-un-court-orders-israel-to-prevent-genocide-in-gaza-but-stops-short-of-ordering-cease-fire/HQATBL54TVGVBA2CMRTYIODAHE/
6.51am
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/01/27/top-un-court-orders-israel-to-prevent-genocide-in-gaza/
not yet 9 hours ago
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2024/01/international-court-of-justice-says-israel-must-take-all-measures-to-prevent-genocide-in-gaza-stops-short-of-calling-for-ceasefire.html
Historians write mythistory by default. They believe they write history, yet their subjective take on the topic makes it interpretive. Readers experience that via relativism since myth is a likely story & accounts by historians trend toward mythologising what happened in the past the more they percolate down to subsequent generations.
It comes as a pleasant surprise to me that he wrote ecohistory, since my bias is always that any academic is useless until they prove the contrary.
Whoopiedo. So these two guys agree that I'm indigenous to Aotearoa. I gather I'm meant to feel a sense of relief but too bad, I've always felt indigenous.
Good on him for at least having a go at that, and I'll reserve judgment until I read it. I suspect that the time since he died could append a more sombre verdict.
Wait, there's more!
Having been in Form 1 when I realised Aotearoa was a better name for our country than the neocolonial double-dutch thing, the year of 1961, I'm amused by right-wingers doing their usual dinosaur dance on the issue. Bassett is always classical Labour dinosaur, simulating death whilst still alive, proving the point spectacularly as he fails to spell Aotearoan correctly…
Thanks for the reminder of this book Dennis.
I have read it once and got part way through a second time.
I must admit the idea of Pakeha indigenousness has been bubbling under the surface for me, but not crystallising into those two words. I guess this tome planted those seeds in me, but the culture of the last 20 years has made it difficult for a wanna be progressive pale, stale male to fully embrace and articulate the concept.
I can't be from anywhere else, the connection to our whenua is profound, being a gracious host is important to me and King's words "And most New Zealanders, whatever their cultural backgrounds, are good-hearted, practical, commonsensical and tolerant. " resonate.
I thoroughly recommend the book and as the review points out there are a few shortcomings, don't let perfection be the enemy of the good.
I love what Michael King said about being a part of NZ as a Pakeha
"For me, then, to be a Pakeha on the cusp of the 21st century; is not to be European. it is not to be alien in my own country. It is to be a non-Maori New Zealander who is aware and proud of my antecedents, but who identifies as intimately with this land and as strongly as any Maori. It is to be, as I have already argued, another kind of indigenous New Zealander."
Thanks Michael, that sums it up nicely for me.
"…but who identifies as intimately with this land and as strongly as any Maori…"
Did your antecedents arrive at a place where no human had ever set foot?
First peoples are first.
Yes. And identifying with the land isn't the same as belonging to it.
I wish we could get past this though, and better understand the pathways for non-Māori to belong here beyond the might of the state and the rights established that way.
It's easy enough, on a personal level – sit and listen, learn what the passerines are saying. Sit and look – learn what the plants are signalling. Once you know what the tūī at dawn are saying, you're in 🙂
there's a big gap between were most people are and that, atlthough I think a lot more people could do that relatively easily if not for their life and society. Which does take us beyond the personal level.
Maybe not being told we are lesser kiwis ,with less rights.
because the average non Maori kiwi, who has no legal right to another country, has any advantage I can assure you, other than being free from being told we are victims.
This doesn't mean we don't honor the treaty and we don't move heaven and earth to lift moari outcomes.
I'm all for Maori seats on councils and boards but they still need to be elected positions,
Shit if I got upset and went and blocked citizens from legally accessing a boat ramp I'd be arrested and moved on very quickly I expect .unlike our grumpy freind in the north,
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/507618/ngati-kahu-block-boat-ramp-in-fishing-protest
Completely agree. Where do you see this happening most?
More a vibe , than actually spoken word, but will scratch the cells to clarify,
Been waiting for some lefties to apologize for being white, similar to an ex leaders apology for being a man .
This opens up an interesting conversation on identity.
Regardless of what yr opinions on identity are, I don't see folk flocking to another's definition if it is at odds with how they feel about themselves.
There is the concept of nativism.
Generally it is related to the idea that those born in a land to someone born in that land, are of that nation or society.
Some pose it as a pejorative, where it is anti-migrant or anti-immigration (though it is notable that often migrants themselves have issues with high rates of migration once they become permanent residents and then citizens).
Michael, we require links with quotes here, or if this is from a book, then a reference. Please supply either now, thanks.
It's a quote from Being Pakeha Now.
https://www.nationdatesnz.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/King-1999.pdf
https://thisisgraeme.me/2012/05/23/michael-kings-being-pakeha-now/
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-pakeha-quest.html
Just noticed this and agree totally
Both Massey and Lord Jellicoe thought they were descendants of a lost tribe of Israel, and that the king of England carried the bloodline of Moses, too.
Jellicoe the first or second? If the latter, I see he did well in his maiden parliamentary speech (despite spending 19 years there being too diffident to speak):
Ingrowing toenails in any group mind are a problem, although one one rather expects the Iraqis to nowadays demonstrate considerable expertise in their use – we ought to get our man in Baghdad to write a paper on that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Iraq
As for the other guy, seems like he had a few clues:
I didn't know the Brits & Israelis had co-created a word federation, so thanks for the tip. Federal words are top-level memes. They organise governance. Serious stuff. Imperial racism was merely dross decorating the top of that to keep the voters happy. Gotta have plenty of imperial dross dressing up the place when you operate an empire without an emperor…
The first.
Furthermore, three Admirals of the Fleet, the right Hon. Sir John Jellicoe, who also served as Governor General of New Zealand and thus shared the faith with Prime Minister Massey, Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, Bart., K.C.B. and Admiral Lord Fisher professed their thoughts in favor or Britain's Israelitish origin.
[…]
A devoutly religious man, Fisher saw the hand of God acting on behalf of the British in their victory over the Germans. In a letter to Jellicoe dated April 29th, 1916, he took comfort in the fact that "our faith is the same, my beloved Jellicoe, and the only reason we shall win this War is because we are the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel!" 144 "The only hypothesis," he later asserted, "to explain why
we win in spite of incredible blunders is that we are the lost tribes of Israel."
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323272223.pdf
btw, they're still around.
http://www.britishisrael.co.uk/contact.php
Ah, a mason:
And obviously a star on the international awards circuit! Irritated by that toad, Churchill, but then so usually was most of the establishment back then…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jellicoe,_1st_Earl_Jellicoe
Then came modern DNA testing. And so another myth fell, alongside a 6000 year old earth, a worldwide flood, and when the Americans learn to read and comprehend end time judgment kingdom come in real history on earth (rather than faith about continuance).
The flood myth isn't a myth. Regardless all myths start out from some sort of real event.
But in terms of massive floods the one believed to be Noah's flood in the bible and the great flood documented by pretty much all of the ancient religions was probably the one that occurred around 12800 (approx) years ago at the start of what became known as the Younger Dryas period of about 1200 years of severe cooling and adverse climate conditions which led to mass global extinctions. (up to 80% of 40kg plus mammals in Nth America for example which is believed to have been the area where the most devastating impact occured.
Here's quite a good description of what may have happened:
https://beta.capeia.com/planetary-science/2019/06/03/disappearance-of-ice-age-megafauna-and-the-younger-dryas-impact#:~:text=Population%20decline%20and%20extinction,%25%20in%20Sub%2DSaharan%20Africa.
and here:
https://humanoriginproject.com/younger-dryas-event-extinction-prehistoric-period/
Some believe (and there is a growing body of evidence) that an impact event caused massive flooding due to ice meltwaters (the earth was just starting to come out of the last ice age) and was the event that triggered massive climate change within a very short period of time.
In terms of it being global. Well the areas of Europe and all around the Mediterranean would have been the whole world to the peoples living there at the time.
The bible flood story is a myth.
A post ice age rising sea level is not a flood where the entire land of the earth is under water (because of an event caused by God) and every land (and air) based species was reduced to one family.
There have been population bottlenecks amongst species, but not for species at the same time.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelmarshalleurope/2018/11/26/no-humans-are-probably-not-all-descended-from-a-single-couple-who-lived-200000-years-ago/?sh=5bf05bc17cd8
But they would have to concede one human bottleneck had profound consequences. And it did appear to cause a population decline worldwide c60-70,000 years ago.
Our DNA includes that of Neanderthal of Europe and Denisovans of Asia indicating some hominin populations probably including homo sapien when they arrived (but at low levels).
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/essential-timeline-understanding-evolution-homo-sapiens-180976807/
There was no time when that area was entirely under water. Europe had the post ice age event placing Daggerland under water, and not long after the Black Sea event c 5500BCE. There was then another flood event in lower Sumer c5000 years ago.
The bible story is religious myth, with the purpose to pose God as ultimate power over life and death, and connected to the emergence in human history of the coming of the age of empire (where peoples and nations came under the rule of an imperial capital).
Summed up beautifully by Danny Bhoy here:
Yes the Bible flood story is a myth as is most of the bible.
But many myths are possibly based upon an initial profound event and as the story is passed on down through the generations it gets exaggerated and spiritual/supernatural bits are added to explain 'miracles' and so on.
It's entirely possible that some guy called Noah was a man of a village or particular tribe of ancient people and managed to survive a flood catastrophe by jumping in a boat with some of the villages animals. (maybe a couple of goats and a couple of birds, etc.)
In their times the whole world was limited to a small area. Over generations the story gets passed down and over time gets exaggerated and God gets involved (how else could he have survived when nobody else did) until it becomes myth.
Many ancient religions have flood myths and it's entirely possible they are just stories passed on about an event that happened. A group of devastating impacts causing massive meltwater release and tsunamis in the ancient world of course becomes Gods or the Gods doing because ancient peoples didn't have scientific explanations for such events. If the whole world (your village and the surrounding areas) gets wiped out by a giant Tsunami 10,000 years ago then of course the explanation becomes supernatural and it must be punishment, etc
I'm not saying myths are true and factual, I'm just saying that many could easily have their starting point as an actual event. Why would ancients just make up stories about global flood catastrophes?
The Trojan war is mythology, but now historians believe that Troy was real and have found evidence that it was located at the site of Hisarlik, in northwest Turkey. , etc. It's entirely possible that there was some soldier fighting in the war who happened to be very skilled, brave and who killed many enemy soldiers. Story telling about the war and some poetic license from Homer led to the mythical story of the hero Achilles, son of Zeus.
A more modern example could be the battle at Rourkes Drift, which has been exaggerated a bit over the years and has reached almost mythical status. If it had happened in ancient times it could easily have become a myth after a 1000 years or so.
Your point is?
Where's
WallyDavid?""I think the most fascinating bit of all of that is that where the debate has been place so far and that’s at Tūrangawaewae marae last Saturday and then at Rātana this week, guess who wasn't there? David Seymour. If you want to have a debate, turn up and debate."
Why didn't Seymour front up?
Where are his bovver boys here on TS to explain his "scarcity"?
https://frankmacskasy.substack.com/p/the-desperate-cynicism-of-david-seymour
I read his no-show as a vote of no-confidence in himself combined with pragmatic acceptance that he didn't want his lack of maori solidarity to get more obvious.
However, Robert, you are right to point to the scarcity dimension of his tactical move: scarcity increases value. According to the scarcity theory of Chicago-school economism, he must believe that making himself scarce drives up his market value.
I hoped someone might say,
"In the deli section of Countdown, South Dunedin", but so far, no one has 🙂
100% Now Robert… Pest Control?
You can buy at rat-bait at Countdown called, "White Privilege".
Irresistible to pernicious pests.
Is "white privilege" not also a racist statement when used in such manner? Like an insult with a reference to a rodent. It assumes that all people with white skin are the same, colonial suppressors in one fell swoop, and using such terms is in my view as bad as any emotional appeasement. A low point in intellectual exchange no doubt.
Perhaps then another book might be an interesting read to add to the discussion. "The treason of the Intellectuals" by Julian Brenda.
Niall Ferguson | Uncommon Knowledge
Enjoy your weekend.
.
I don't actually know what Robert is meaning there, but I hope he's not implying death to an MP, because wishing death is a bannable offence here.
However I don't think white privilege means all white people are the same. It's a term used to point to systems that grant Pākehā advantages. It doesn't say all Pākehā all have the same advantages, nor that people of colour don't have any advantages. It's just shorthand for pointing out systemic inequity.
What!!! Weka, you should know me by now.
” …because wishing death is a bannable offence here”
Every other week, I get (subtlety/overtly) threatened with banning!
???????????????????????????????????????????????????
I already said I didn’t know what you meant. That was an opening to clarify.
The reference to banning isn’t personal to you. Anyone that wishes death on another risks this.
"It assumes that all people with white skin are the same…"
No, it doesn't, you do.
Those who are attracted to the "White Privilege" bait, are those who are attracted to white privilege.
I'm not.
Are you?
There is nothing new under the sun.
I thought I would have a wee crack at Wags above about him defending Stuff's reporting efforts. I wanted to ask him if Stuff had reported on the Hannibal directive yet.
That led me to look at TS history and found Joe90 had mentioned it just shy of 10 years ago.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04082014/#comment-860139
On that thread, there is talk of Putin's horrors (flight MH17 was a recent event), a link to an Bill Maher opinion on the internet bringing out the worst of us (with a plea for "seeking "understanding first" and attempting to reach common ground rather than fight.") and korero about Israel and genocide visited on Palestinians.
Your link takes me to an empty 2014 open mic?
umm,… I just right click on the link and select 'Open link in new tab' and voila!
works for me. Try again. Lynn is doing some work on TS at the moment.
Still the same, I'm on a mobile , android ph
thanks. Can you please let me know if any other links to TS pages/posts/comments don't work for you, cheers.
also if the same thing happens after restarting your phone.
are you using the mobile or desktop version on your phone?
Restarted it, switched to desktop still going to 2014,only difference is on desktop it's a populated om.
well it is an Open Mike from 2014. Are you saying you can see the comments?
Doh yip on desktop comments show, missed the bit about it being a 10 year old post being linked to,
Easily confused 😕
Not to forget the Samson option.
Jim Jones/Marshall Applewhite territory.
Holy moley, that's grim.
We've got no idea how blessed we are to be born/live here.
The interim ruling issued by the court ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent genocidal acts, and to take effective steps to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians
Whether Israel abides by the court's order to submit a report, or not. We won't need to wait one month to see what measures if any are being taken by Israel, to give affect to this order.
A 7.5% spending cut to Whaikaha the Ministry for Disabled people, Pacific Peoples, and so on is on the table. Shame on Nicola Willis, David Seymour, Winston Peters, and Chris Luxon and their parties!
The spending cuts range from 6.5 to 7.5%. This will have a devastating impact upon Aotearoa/New Zealand's ability to properly function for a long time.
In the name of austerity, Aotearoa/NZ is destroying itself.
We need to make this an one-term government.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/507659/the-public-service-agencies-asked-to-cut-spending
Across-the-board random-number cuts like this are a clear sign of blind ideology.
Cut 7.5%….what if the 7.5% cut ends up costing us 20%? What if the cut is socially very valuable compared to the proposed tax cuts for rich people? Don't know, no analysis, don't care.
Brilliant economic managers, my arse.
Here's the full list:
Agencies asked to make 7.5 percent cuts:
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Ministry for Pacific Peoples
Ministry for Women
Whaikaha – Ministry for Disabled people
Ministry for Primary Industries
Ministry of Education
Ministry for the Environment
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
Ministry of Transport Public Service Commission
Statistics New Zealand
Agencies asked to make 6.5 percent cuts:
Department of Conservation
Department of Internal Affairs
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Education Review Office
Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence
Inland Revenue Department
Justice Cluster (Crown Law Office, Department of Corrections, Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police, Serious Fraud Office)
Land Information New Zealand
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Māori Development – Te Puni Kōkiri
Ministry of Social Development
New Zealand Customs Service
New Zealand Defence Force
Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children
Parliamentary Counsel Office
Parliamentary Service
Te Arawhiti – Office for Māori Crown Relations
The Treasury
Te Arawhiti – Office for Māori Crown Relations
Department of Conservation
Department of Internal Affairs
I see there is no planned budget cut for the Ministry of Silly Smirks.
Big pay rise coming I believe!
Are Parliamentary services (or whichever body is reponsible) able to find savings by cutting MP expenses for things they can afford themselves out of their salaries, eg taxi fares to and from airports? (or make them take the airport bus when appropriate?)
Perhaps it's time to start means-testing politicians for everything over and above their base salaries. If they have over x amount of savings/assests that can be converted to cash/income from investments, then they don't need that accommodation allowance, travel allowance etc. If it's good enough for those at the bottom of the heap….
Rofl thats $83.3 million US thanks Donny
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-trial-e-jean-carroll-01-26-24/index.html
One has to wonder if she will ever see a cent. The Chump has a long history of failure to pay.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/10/27/report-trump-had-over-280-million-in-debt-forgiven-and-avoided-paying-taxes-on-most-of-it/?sh=286d09a57ac4
The Israeli appointed judge on the ICJ agreed with two of its interim judgments
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-26/ty-article/icj-rules-israel-must-avoid-genocidal-acts-in-gaza-stops-short-of-ordering-cease-fire/0000018d-4606-d35c-a39f-ee5e5b7e0000
The rising Europe to Asia shipping costs are having an impact on China.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-presses-iran-rein-houthi-attacks-red-sea-sources-say-2024-01-26/T
"At the crux of his inquiry into the key motive forces of our civilization’s course is Vogt’s insistence that while much is broken with the exploitive consumerism behind the world’s government and industry, much more depends on and is mendable by the concerted collective action of ordinary people."
It's up to us…
https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/02/18/william-vogt-road-to-survival/
"Drastic measures are inescapable. Above everything else, we must reorganize our thinking. If we are to escape the crash we must abandon all thought of living unto ourselves. We form an earth-company, and the lot of the Indiana farmer can no longer be isolated from that of the Bantu… An eroding hillside in Mexico or Yugoslavia affects the living standard and probability of survival of the American people… Today’s white bread may force a break in the levees, and flood New Orleans next spring. This year’s wheat from Australia’s eroding slopes may flare into a Japanese war three decades hence."
Link in previous comment 🙂
Living in the dumbest of times.
@EdMix13
Oh No! They're on to you guys. The jig is up,
@ProfBrianCox @bgreene @LKrauss1 @neiltyson
https://twitter.com/EdMix13/status/1750986613901910157
Chris Trotter is using very violent language:
"At the slightest sign that National was about welch on the Coalition Agreement, Act and NZ First were expected to shoot the Coalition Government in the head."
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2024/01/by-time-we-got-to-turangawaewae.html
This, from Chris Trotter:
"and if it then refuses to step away from the coalition and move to the cross-benches; then somewhere between a tenth and a fifth of the electorate – and possibly a lot more – will find themselves in the market for a political champion who rejects entirely the niceties of traditional Māori-Pakeha relations, in favour of a new and unabashed ethno-nationalist vocabulary and manifesto."
Watch out!
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2024/01/by-time-we-got-to-turangawaewae.html
is he talking about ACT voters? How are they wanting ethno-nationalism? Does he mean they will rally behind Pākehā identity?
Yes, I believe he is.
I guess they wouldn't call themselves Pākehā though. Presumably New Zealanders would be the term of choice.
Nowhere, now here, just saying' 🙂
Have a good night.
Maybe it is time for the Civilian under Beehive occupation to investigate.
Were they kiore, rats who came with the indigenous peoples migration?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/01/dunedin-countdown-rat-infestation-being-treated-with-urgency-says-ministry-for-primary-industries.html
Or were they rats who came with an earlier people?
https://teara.govt.nz/en/when-was-new-zealand-first-settled/page-5
Should kiore who came before the Maori, or with the Maori, have no more rights than rats who came with European settlers?
https://frankmacskasy.substack.com/p/the-desperate-cynicism-of-david-seymour
PS Matiu Rata (ran a parliamentary comic library) and Door Mouse creates them, unlock the doors.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5859970/