Winston Peters insists his party is principled with commonsense as the central premise. But the reality is, Peters is sending a signal to centre-voters (and conservatives who believe Labour is going to win the 2020 General Election) that he and New Zealand First will be their insurance policy. That he, post-election, will stop any non-centrist/conservative policies from getting off the ground.
Labour strategists must decide whether to campaign as genuinely transformational or try to fake it via sloganeering as usual. Their decision will hinge on perceptions of centrism. Will centrists collectively support progress? Or is Winston right, and they are more likely to use NZF as a handbrake again?
National was able to juxtaposition Labour as the cause of the fiasco.
Huh. If the cap fits… Selwyn is a Labour man, of course, so it makes sense for him to blame the Nats. Whereas the public would have formed the same opinion even if the Nats had said nothing!
day after day for over a week, the public has heard calls from National that the Minister of Health David Clark should resign
So? Hey Selwyn, are you trying to suggest that incompetent Labour ministers ought to evade responsibility? If so, have the guts to spit the dummy & say so! Don't weasel around the point.
But then he does conclude sensibly: "it will be in Labour’s and the nation’s interests to paint Winston Peters and his party as disruptive and disloyal to a handshake made in good faith."
Except that only James Shaw was sufficiently on the ball to make that point last week. All the Labour ministers (including the PM) were too inept.
Winnie is national light so they're anything but progressive and not seeking to level the playing field at all.
They're stymied and obstructed genuine progressive policies pre covid and are now showing the true colour that Jones, Marks etc all represent.
Time to stand alone IMO and leave the right wing parties fighting for that vote because you'll never get a better setting for a socially responsible and humane second term using nationals wrecking job in housing, health, education under key/blinglish as starters.
Frank, or they were busy with the real issues of keeping a tricky virus at bay and supporting business workers and infrastructure.
We are the second most successful country to tackle covid according to WHO.
Like him or not, David Clarke is in the governance role, Ashley is in the implementation role and Jacinda took the communications role. They excelled until Ashley became too comfortable with no evident community transmission, and gave 55 people exemptions and let 2000 leave after 14 days with no testing.
The rules had been changed, and Ashley's team were lax in the early implementation. Due to David's earlier personal missteps, he was a great fall guy for the media. Having made a hero of Ashley Bloomfield many in the media were conflicted and wanted David Clarke to be the bad guy. It was not David Clarke who listened to why 2 women should leave isolation early on grounds of compassion.
The other players in that senario were senior members of the National opposition, Woodhouse Bishop and Muller backing him, ably advised by Hooten? They told an 80% truthful delayed story about the two women, and a mythical tale of a homeless man getting a free stay through tricking the staff and security.
As the previous story had grains of truth, this second story was examined closely by seconded help from Megan Woods, who then asked in writing, MP Woodhouse for proof. His answer, "It must be true as you spent all that effort looking" Wow, and he wants to be Minister of Health? Playing games in a Pandemic?
Opposition attacks have been amplified by attack journalism. The journalists in question were incensed that David Clarke did not take Ashley Bloomfield's error as his problem, so they said that denigrated hero Ashley and in their denial they started a flowers for Ashley page. Almost comedy.
Meanwhile the minister for Health the DGoH and the Prime Minister are proving to be an excellent team in spite of a few learning curves, and they all value each other, and accept each has areas of expertise, and they don't encroach.
83% approval from New Zealanders. USA AND UK Leaders would love to get that backing for their efforts, but that is unlikely any time soon.
The thing that shines here is, this Government shows a willingness to take criticism seriously, to put measures in place as quickly as possible, and to answer to the media questions. In the house Winston has backed the Goverment’s efforts
For a brief moment I thought that Clark had once beaten up Woodhouse in the sandpit at pre-school but I had to rule out that possibility. Shame though, because it could have explained so much.
Thank you for your succinct and accurate analysis Patricia Bremner. Dr Bloomfield oversees operations, and any flaws in the quarantine system are down to him and his team. Dr Clark's job as Minister of Health is to make sure that Government policy is being carried out properly and efficiently on the ground, which means he needs to have all the facts and figures on a weekly, if not daily basis. It is his job however to ask the right questions of the systems put in place. so that he can reassure the public that we aren't going to see outbreaks of Covid-19 in the community due to any laxness. In the end the ultimate responsibility does lie with the Minister, and I'm sure that Dr Clark knows that very well.
Thank you Jane. I agree , though in this case reports to both men appear to have been misleading , that should have been picked up through spot checks by Ashley Bloomfield's team.
David Clark may have asked the questions and he and Ashley received mixed messages during the change over from L2 to L1. At least that appears partly the cause, a well as slow implementation of the changes.
David has over all responsibility, and Ashley implementation of the health edicts. Ashley apologised as his implementation had flaws.
Rather than expect Ministers or Public Servants to fall on their swords, the press would in these circumstances be better to ask how the situation could be remedied rather than calling "Off with their heads"
In this case we are at nearly one full 14 day cycle since L1 and it seems we have escaped bad outcomes, unlike Victoria.
The Kumquat PolPot must be spewing mad. His most obsequious rectal-resident media toady served him up a question so difficult, so far beyond anything he's ever thought about, that Grampa Rage Nappies couldn't even summon up an off-the-cuff lie in response:
Sean Hannity asked Trump about his "top priority items for a second term."
But Trump could not answer.
Instead, he talked about talent being more important than experience, how he had not spent much time in Washington, DC before being elected president and called former National Secrurity Advisor John Bolton an "idiot."
He could have said "Build a wall around my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." "Transparent kryptonite would be good."
Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been defaced yet again, this time in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Since the reality TV host became US president in 2016, there have been a number of attempts to vandalise his star including, most successfully, a pickaxe attack in 2018. In 2016, James Lambert Otis, 53, was also recorded using a jackhammer and a pickaxe to remove Trump’s name. The star has also been the subject of protest art, with a wall erected around it in 2016 to symbolize the president’s policy on immigration. The Celebrity Apprentice host, accused of sexually harassing or abusing 25 women, received his star in 2007. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/08/trump-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-defaced-protests
USA must have ramped up the testing (Sarc) as the number of new cVirus cases is 32k with 5 hrs to go. Looks like they will get 40k today for the first time cf to 20k a week or so back.
You want shambles, look across the ditch and checkout the celebrations in the UK Liverpool fans are indulging in.
Epic failure from both govt's to get the right responses from their citizens this far into it because they never treated it with the correct approach so many people took the 'she'll be right' attitude leaders showed (till one nearly died from it) and look where they are.
As for Brazil, USA etc well you get the chumps up top at the time and hope they’re competent and humane….methinks the Jurys back in on a few of those cases.
the term "behavioural sink " in its pop meaning comes to mind
"The sights and smell were horrendous, like nothing I’ve ever come across before. There was the smell of weed, urine and excrement, and we found so many empty beer bottles. There were cans, wrappers, wet wipes and even underpants. It was horrific.”
Now the Texas and Florida Rep governors are asking people to wear masks and delaying opening their states, which they're going to get a lot of push back from because of their attitude and recent denials.
Siberia has seen “zombie fires” reignited from deep smouldering embers in peatland. This is bad news, releasing particulate air pollution and more carbon in 18 months than in the past 16 years. The immediate cause? Here in the mid-high northern latitudes, we live in unstable weather under the influence of the polar jet stream. This rapid current of air high above our heads drags weather in a conveyor belt from west to east, with alternating patches of cold and warm air, low and high pressure. Sometimes the weather patterns get stuck, creating a stable period of weather, like a heatwave.
Dr Tamsin Edwards is a senior lecturer in physical geography at King’s College London – not a climate scientist, but reasons like one. Worth a read.
Expecting the latest Roy Morgan to be released in the next day or two (they've already released the June Consumer Confidence results … their Party Support figures usually follow within 48 hours).
Seems RM have been polling continuously since the last Election … but until very recently (ie Jan 2018-May 2020) only made their results available to paying clients.
"Simon Wilson: My lunch with Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye"
Crikey! I have just read a long column by Simon Wilson which is sadly under Premium. If I tried to sum it up then neither Kaye or Muller had anything clear or emphatic to say. Status quo and ambiguous and mostly agreeing with what is currently being done although they would "do it better."
Am I allowed to quote directly from Simon's column?
Pending an opinion from a moderator, Ian, I expect you can. Premium just means available to subscribers only. Unless you signed up to terms & conditions that have a breach of copyright clause, no problem…
We talked about the post-Covid rebuild and Kaye said, "What I would say is you can trust the public. If you look at business owners, some of them know they will be all right and some of them know, deep down, that they won't. And there's a lot in the middle. So we need clarity. It's important to know that we have to Build Back Better."
That sounded good. Or did it? What did it mean? Who knows how to provide clarity right now? Build back better: how? ……
….What he (Muller) gives you, sitting in a sunny restaurant on a Saturday afternoon, speaking quietly and being so earnest, is a sense of his own exceptionalism. He thinks he's got something that no one else has.
What is it? He talked and talked, he shared ideas, he's good for that, but he said so little. I still don't know.
That's what Woodhouse said the other day, he would have done the same but "better". I'm curious, is "Build Back Better" in capitals like that? Just if he's sitting at a cafe transcribing what's being said seems strange to cap that phrase.
Sounds like a puff piece by a paid acolyte. Maybe he is and maybe he isn't but it doesn't say much for Simon Wilson's supposedly good thoughtful journalism.
"He thinks he's got something that no one else has."
Which immediately disqualifies him from any role where he can exercise any power, of any sort, over anyone else. i.e. delusional Messiahs not required.
"What I would say is you can trust the public." Yes Nikki Kaye. You show us how much you trust the public.
Why do I say that? Well you've got Woodhouse saying that when a claim is made against someone the accused has to prove it isn't true. He does that and you support it knowing that much of the public will accept it. That is unbelievable. Do you want him to be your Minister of Justice?
The same public also won't be screaming for Woodhouse's head on a stake for acting as he did when he believed there was the possibility of someone spreading covid-19 through the community. There was a need for urgent action. Did he scream the house down, ring all the alarm bells immediately with the agencies dealing with such things? Of course not. An extreme moment for instant action to protect the public? Or time to play political games? You want him to be your Minister of Health?
Given just those two instances, you can only trust the public to support you or him or your party if you think they're thick. If they are thick they will support you.
Ms Kaye made sure the public could not stay at a particular hotel, because they might not obey the rules and would infect the residents. That kind of trust.
edit
I think that our present situation can be understood if we look at a particular Monty Python skit. The one where the guys knows a lot of facts, repeats them, is fascinated by them, but doesn't see what relation the facts are to him or herself, real life and society. But when I look for it on google I can't find it.
These days we are not relating to other humans in an open, accepting way, hence my concern about the word 'mosque' referred to below. We repeat words but don't feel them, talking community but not doing it.
I remember a line from it – the information freak says that he got mixed up in his mind after reading the encyclopaedia because mosque and mosquito were listed together. (Now I can't find it on youtube and wonder if it has been dropped because of the sensitivity of mentioning the cultural icon).
We are concentrating on science and progress in that direction, ie technology, 5G, abandonment of interest in human work, ie reading on kindle rather than holding a book made by skilled craftspeople. Being human and living a good, full life appreciating other humans and our hand work and our own, and each others' small achievements. I think it is essential. Get Humanities brought back into tertiary study with a 101 level inserted into every degree! And don’t follow the Waikato University idea of withdrawing from much face to face teaching. Rightfully, protests have been strong from students. ‘People who need people, are the loveliest people in the world’ – song.
one of your comments seems to have disappeared. It got caught in the filter, I removed the bits with all the links, but it doesn't seem to be in the front or back end now, sorry.
A prosecutor investigating crimes committed during Kosovo‘s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia has indicted Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The indictment was announced as Thaçi was on his way to Washington for a White House meeting with Serbia’s president organised by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s controversial ambassador to Germany who was also appointed as the administration’s Balkan peace envoy.
The meeting had been scheduled for Saturday, but Grenell announced on Twitter on Wednesday evening that Thaçi had cancelled his visit following the announcement. “I respect his decision not to attend the discussions until the legal issues of those allegations are settled,” Grenell wrote. Kosovo’s new prime minister, Avdullah Hoti, will represent the country at the White House meeting.
Hoti’s predecessor, Albin Kurti, accused Grenell of helping to bring down his government because it had resisted a US-backed deal with Serbia.
Another day, another connection to the world's worst people.
A MYSTERY IN KOSOVO: Matt Whitaker, who briefly served as President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general, made an appearance on Tuesday at a rally in Kosovo for Kadri Veseli, who is a candidate for prime minister in the county’s elections on Sunday, according to a video of his appearance broadcast on Facebook. (His appearance was first reported by Vice News.) What was he doing there?
Building methods is something that ordinary people need to take an interest in seeing there are so many examples of failures in modern buildings. And note NZ input – something we can take up ourselves – we must sell this to the overseas entities or private equity obese-capitalists who own most building businesses.
Casa Adelante, a breakthrough building in San Francisco, is showing it doesn't have to cost a fortune to build resilient housing that keeps functioning in a big earthquake.
David Mar, a low-damage design expert from the US, told Kathryn Ryan this social housing project used relatively low-tech techniques combined with an invention by a Professor Geoffrey Rogers at the University of Canterbury.
"The government is deciding if and how they will require returning New Zealanders to partially pay for their Covid-19 managed isolation costs."
I have never received 2 weeks free food and accommodation at any time and anywhere in the world. Of course anyone in quarantine should be paying at least the ordinary costs of daily living in New Zealand and not the tax payer.
Revolutions tend to be very good at destruction, less good at rebuilding. All that most of them succeed in doing is tearing up the rule-book, allowing the psychopaths free rein, with the inevitable distressing results.
And yet without revolutions, you'd be stuck in a field eking out merely an existence, bowing your head to a lord who's cock you will suck when they tell you to.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
What a shame adam that you have had such awful experiences that you write about so clearly. There is a commission looking into the misuse of children while in care. Can you save your anecdotes for your submission.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
You’re no fun and if you come to my fun-filled music night I’d expect you to crack a wry smile at least at the poor Aucklanders whose houses are flooded by the rain but who are not allowed to wash their cars or water their gardens. It is tough being an Aucklander in times of drought.
Diabetes is already known to be a key risk factor for developing severe COVID-191 and people with the condition are more likely to die2. “Diabetes is dynamite if you get COVID-19,” says Paul Zimmet, who studies the metabolic disease at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Now Zimmet is among a growing number of researchers who think that diabetes doesn’t just make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus, but that the virus might also trigger diabetes in some3. “Diabetes itself is a pandemic just like the COVID-19 pandemic. The two pandemics could be clashing,” he says.
[…]
The study in pancreatic organoids shows how SARS-CoV-2 could be damaging the organ8. Shuibing Chen, a stem-cell biologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and her colleagues showed that the virus can infect the organoid’s α- and β-cells, some of which then die. Whereas β-cells produce insulin to decrease blood-sugar levels, α-cells produce the hormone glucagon, which increases blood sugar. The virus can also induce the production of proteins known as chemokines and cytokines, which can trigger an immune response that might also kill the cells, according to the study8 published in Cell Stem Cell on 19 June.
Chen says the experiments suggest that the virus can disrupt the function of key cells involved in diabetes — either by directly killing them or by triggering an immune response that attacks them.
The virus also attacked pancreatic organoids that had been transplanted into mice, and cells in liver organoids. The liver is important for storing and releasing sugar into the blood stream when it senses insulin.
So much worse than the murderous clusterf*ck National would have given us – by not locking down properly because they just couldn't bring themselves to even temporarily turn off the flow of profit to their donors and cronies.
Just stumbling back through the echo chamber. Are SPC and Professor Drowsy still here?
[I tend to feel sorry for trapped trolls who accidentally stumble back into echo chambers and can’t seem to find their way out. I’m more than willing to show them the Exit. You must be tired from all the trolling you did here the other day so why don’t take a well-deserved rest over the weekend until Monday? – Incognito]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The United States shares the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression.ANALYSIS: By Chris Hedges The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10. The committee also recommended a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan McElhone, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University A London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of the racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. As captain of the Australian women’s national soccer team, Kerr was widely condemned when ...
Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
Immigration New Zealand figures shows more people have been looking at the ETA and visitor visa pages on the website, however fewer people have applied to come or to extend their stay. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology Debris on the surface of Mars from the Perseverance mission, captured on April 19 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech In his inauguration speech in January, United States President Donald Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alix Woolard, Senior Research Fellow, The Kids Research Institute Australia Stock Unit/Shutterstock Have you ever asked someone how their day was, or been chatting casually with a friend, only to have them tell you a horrific story that has left you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Roper RiverChris Ison/Shutterstock Water is now a contested resource around the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight playing out over the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Turner, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland Matej Kastellic/ Shutterstock As we head towards the federal election, both sides of politics are making a point of criticising universities and questioning their role in the community. ...
Alex Casey examines the perils of having your period at a music festival. It was right after Clairo’s swooning set that Sarah* knew it was time. She was on the second day of her period at Auckland’s Laneway festival, and braved the portaloos to empty her menstrual cup and change ...
A battle between health officials and local councils is heating up, as one government party seeks to change the rules. The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund explains. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
With NZF in free-fall, Winston now fights for his political survival. Selwyn Manning examines the situation here: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/06/26/must-read-election-campaign-looms-is-it-time-for-labour-to-abandon-nzf/
Labour strategists must decide whether to campaign as genuinely transformational or try to fake it via sloganeering as usual. Their decision will hinge on perceptions of centrism. Will centrists collectively support progress? Or is Winston right, and they are more likely to use NZF as a handbrake again?
Huh. If the cap fits… Selwyn is a Labour man, of course, so it makes sense for him to blame the Nats. Whereas the public would have formed the same opinion even if the Nats had said nothing!
So? Hey Selwyn, are you trying to suggest that incompetent Labour ministers ought to evade responsibility? If so, have the guts to spit the dummy & say so! Don't weasel around the point.
But then he does conclude sensibly: "it will be in Labour’s and the nation’s interests to paint Winston Peters and his party as disruptive and disloyal to a handshake made in good faith."
Except that only James Shaw was sufficiently on the ball to make that point last week. All the Labour ministers (including the PM) were too inept.
Winnie is national light so they're anything but progressive and not seeking to level the playing field at all.
They're stymied and obstructed genuine progressive policies pre covid and are now showing the true colour that Jones, Marks etc all represent.
Time to stand alone IMO and leave the right wing parties fighting for that vote because you'll never get a better setting for a socially responsible and humane second term using nationals wrecking job in housing, health, education under key/blinglish as starters.
tc +1
Frank, or they were busy with the real issues of keeping a tricky virus at bay and supporting business workers and infrastructure.
We are the second most successful country to tackle covid according to WHO.
Like him or not, David Clarke is in the governance role, Ashley is in the implementation role and Jacinda took the communications role. They excelled until Ashley became too comfortable with no evident community transmission, and gave 55 people exemptions and let 2000 leave after 14 days with no testing.
The rules had been changed, and Ashley's team were lax in the early implementation. Due to David's earlier personal missteps, he was a great fall guy for the media. Having made a hero of Ashley Bloomfield many in the media were conflicted and wanted David Clarke to be the bad guy. It was not David Clarke who listened to why 2 women should leave isolation early on grounds of compassion.
The other players in that senario were senior members of the National opposition, Woodhouse Bishop and Muller backing him, ably advised by Hooten? They told an 80% truthful delayed story about the two women, and a mythical tale of a homeless man getting a free stay through tricking the staff and security.
As the previous story had grains of truth, this second story was examined closely by seconded help from Megan Woods, who then asked in writing, MP Woodhouse for proof. His answer, "It must be true as you spent all that effort looking" Wow, and he wants to be Minister of Health? Playing games in a Pandemic?
Opposition attacks have been amplified by attack journalism. The journalists in question were incensed that David Clarke did not take Ashley Bloomfield's error as his problem, so they said that denigrated hero Ashley and in their denial they started a flowers for Ashley page. Almost comedy.
Meanwhile the minister for Health the DGoH and the Prime Minister are proving to be an excellent team in spite of a few learning curves, and they all value each other, and accept each has areas of expertise, and they don't encroach.
83% approval from New Zealanders. USA AND UK Leaders would love to get that backing for their efforts, but that is unlikely any time soon.
The thing that shines here is, this Government shows a willingness to take criticism seriously, to put measures in place as quickly as possible, and to answer to the media questions. In the house Winston has backed the Goverment’s efforts
I say it again, "We don't know how lucky we are"
good factual post. too many on here get sucked in to running here and there, putting out non existing fires.
Absolutely! Most countries would love to be in the kind of shambles we are in right now.
For more context: https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/electorate-details-08.html [HT to exhALANt]
Thanks incognito, that explains the bile. I had missed they were from the same electorate.
Yes. Same electorate. Aha. Woodhouse a poor loser???
For a brief moment I thought that Clark had once beaten up Woodhouse in the sandpit at pre-school but I had to rule out that possibility. Shame though, because it could have explained so much.
+99.5%
Seems obvious but
And now back to resting on me laurels
+1. Great summary.
[Fixed typo in e-mail address]
Excellent laurels to rest on .
Thank you for your succinct and accurate analysis Patricia Bremner. Dr Bloomfield oversees operations, and any flaws in the quarantine system are down to him and his team. Dr Clark's job as Minister of Health is to make sure that Government policy is being carried out properly and efficiently on the ground, which means he needs to have all the facts and figures on a weekly, if not daily basis. It is his job however to ask the right questions of the systems put in place. so that he can reassure the public that we aren't going to see outbreaks of Covid-19 in the community due to any laxness. In the end the ultimate responsibility does lie with the Minister, and I'm sure that Dr Clark knows that very well.
Thank you Jane. I agree , though in this case reports to both men appear to have been misleading , that should have been picked up through spot checks by Ashley Bloomfield's team.
David Clark may have asked the questions and he and Ashley received mixed messages during the change over from L2 to L1. At least that appears partly the cause, a well as slow implementation of the changes.
David has over all responsibility, and Ashley implementation of the health edicts. Ashley apologised as his implementation had flaws.
Rather than expect Ministers or Public Servants to fall on their swords, the press would in these circumstances be better to ask how the situation could be remedied rather than calling "Off with their heads"
In this case we are at nearly one full 14 day cycle since L1 and it seems we have escaped bad outcomes, unlike Victoria.
Labour is more right wing in the sense of neo-liberal than NZF in many cases.
The Kumquat PolPot must be spewing mad. His most obsequious rectal-resident media toady served him up a question so difficult, so far beyond anything he's ever thought about, that Grampa Rage Nappies couldn't even summon up an off-the-cuff lie in response:
He could have said "Build a wall around my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." "Transparent kryptonite would be good."
Wut, his Space Farce haven't deployed one of their invisible force fields to protect it? They must be deep state traitors too!
USA must have ramped up the testing (Sarc) as the number of new cVirus cases is 32k with 5 hrs to go. Looks like they will get 40k today for the first time cf to 20k a week or so back.
Yet according to some NZ is in a "shambles" !!! & our health minister should resign!
Notably, that "some" includes a prominent individual that seems inordinately proud of possessing a red hat.
You want shambles, look across the ditch and checkout the celebrations in the UK Liverpool fans are indulging in.
Epic failure from both govt's to get the right responses from their citizens this far into it because they never treated it with the correct approach so many people took the 'she'll be right' attitude leaders showed (till one nearly died from it) and look where they are.
As for Brazil, USA etc well you get the chumps up top at the time and hope they’re competent and humane….methinks the Jurys back in on a few of those cases.
the term "behavioural sink " in its pop meaning comes to mind
"The sights and smell were horrendous, like nothing I’ve ever come across before. There was the smell of weed, urine and excrement, and we found so many empty beer bottles. There were cans, wrappers, wet wipes and even underpants. It was horrific.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/26/the-atmosphere-was-ugly-bournemouth-aghast-beach-chaos
https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
Ecosystemic behaviour of tory voters then, eh? But no mega hats… 🥳
Now the Texas and Florida Rep governors are asking people to wear masks and delaying opening their states, which they're going to get a lot of push back from because of their attitude and recent denials.
I Feel Love, I felt that needed an answer see 1.2
https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1276623987624366080
Arctic heatwave: it’s 38°C in Siberia. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/25/arctic-heatwave-38c-siberia-science
Dr Tamsin Edwards is a senior lecturer in physical geography at King’s College London – not a climate scientist, but reasons like one. Worth a read.
Expecting the latest Roy Morgan to be released in the next day or two (they've already released the June Consumer Confidence results … their Party Support figures usually follow within 48 hours).
Seems RM have been polling continuously since the last Election … but until very recently (ie Jan 2018-May 2020) only made their results available to paying clients.
do we know who that is? TVNZ, but will it be others too?
"Simon Wilson: My lunch with Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye"
Crikey! I have just read a long column by Simon Wilson which is sadly under Premium. If I tried to sum it up then neither Kaye or Muller had anything clear or emphatic to say. Status quo and ambiguous and mostly agreeing with what is currently being done although they would "do it better."
Am I allowed to quote directly from Simon's column?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12342318
Pending an opinion from a moderator, Ian, I expect you can. Premium just means available to subscribers only. Unless you signed up to terms & conditions that have a breach of copyright clause, no problem…
Is this the Sirjonkyponyboy approach to winning over the press?
PS: From Simon:
That's what Woodhouse said the other day, he would have done the same but "better". I'm curious, is "Build Back Better" in capitals like that? Just if he's sitting at a cafe transcribing what's being said seems strange to cap that phrase.
Election slogan BBB
From the B team?
Is that for a Hoarding?
Build Back Better
Nikki Kaye referred to a couple of big announcements coming soon when the interview started. Is that going to be their campaign slogan.
Oh bring it on. Sounds like the title of a kids TV programme.
Todd the Builder: Can we fix it? Yes, we can!
Sounds like a puff piece by a paid acolyte. Maybe he is and maybe he isn't but it doesn't say much for Simon Wilson's supposedly good thoughtful journalism.
"He thinks he's got something that no one else has."
Which immediately disqualifies him from any role where he can exercise any power, of any sort, over anyone else. i.e. delusional Messiahs not required.
"What I would say is you can trust the public." Yes Nikki Kaye. You show us how much you trust the public.
Why do I say that? Well you've got Woodhouse saying that when a claim is made against someone the accused has to prove it isn't true. He does that and you support it knowing that much of the public will accept it. That is unbelievable. Do you want him to be your Minister of Justice?
The same public also won't be screaming for Woodhouse's head on a stake for acting as he did when he believed there was the possibility of someone spreading covid-19 through the community. There was a need for urgent action. Did he scream the house down, ring all the alarm bells immediately with the agencies dealing with such things? Of course not. An extreme moment for instant action to protect the public? Or time to play political games? You want him to be your Minister of Health?
Given just those two instances, you can only trust the public to support you or him or your party if you think they're thick. If they are thick they will support you.
Ms Kaye made sure the public could not stay at a particular hotel, because they might not obey the rules and would infect the residents. That kind of trust.
edit
I think that our present situation can be understood if we look at a particular Monty Python skit. The one where the guys knows a lot of facts, repeats them, is fascinated by them, but doesn't see what relation the facts are to him or herself, real life and society. But when I look for it on google I can't find it.
These days we are not relating to other humans in an open, accepting way, hence my concern about the word 'mosque' referred to below. We repeat words but don't feel them, talking community but not doing it.
I remember a line from it – the information freak says that he got mixed up in his mind after reading the encyclopaedia because mosque and mosquito were listed together. (Now I can't find it on youtube and wonder if it has been dropped because of the sensitivity of mentioning the cultural icon).
We are concentrating on science and progress in that direction, ie technology, 5G, abandonment of interest in human work, ie reading on kindle rather than holding a book made by skilled craftspeople. Being human and living a good, full life appreciating other humans and our hand work and our own, and each others' small achievements. I think it is essential. Get Humanities brought back into tertiary study with a 101 level inserted into every degree! And don’t follow the Waikato University idea of withdrawing from much face to face teaching. Rightfully, protests have been strong from students. ‘People who need people, are the loveliest people in the world’ – song.
"I will tell you an interesting fact…"
Oh thanks Drowsy M Kram – I think I searched on 'fact' but couldn't bring it up.
Yes get rid of all money systems. Make a play for a World without money. Free download can show a possibility at;
http://byd0nz.com
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Mod note above. You're really welcome to explain your thinking in response to the post. Get rid of money system, then what?
My response is to long(4pges) thats why I put a link. The idea is too simple for humanity to grasp at this stage of our evolution.lol
your link went to a website that as far as I can tell only sells things.
This is all i could see on that link BydOnz
one of your comments seems to have disappeared. It got caught in the filter, I removed the bits with all the links, but it doesn't seem to be in the front or back end now, sorry.
Sorry, you need to go to the store to find the free download.
Sherson, someone else, and the program's host doing another complete team beatup on labour again on the Nation.
Lucky nobody watches it.
A few do but any leftie should take a bucket. Prior interviews with Megan Woods, then Tracey Martin, then Chloe Swarbrick (sp?) ok
Courts have ruled tRump's transfer of DoD funds to his wall was illegal.
https://twitter.com/WangCecillia/status/1276548381075103744
https://twitter.com/chaser/status/1276031022711189504
tRump likes war criminals.
https://twitter.com/HashimThaciRKS/status/1176843832937328640
A prosecutor investigating crimes committed during Kosovo‘s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia has indicted Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The indictment was announced as Thaçi was on his way to Washington for a White House meeting with Serbia’s president organised by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s controversial ambassador to Germany who was also appointed as the administration’s Balkan peace envoy.
The meeting had been scheduled for Saturday, but Grenell announced on Twitter on Wednesday evening that Thaçi had cancelled his visit following the announcement. “I respect his decision not to attend the discussions until the legal issues of those allegations are settled,” Grenell wrote. Kosovo’s new prime minister, Avdullah Hoti, will represent the country at the White House meeting.
Hoti’s predecessor, Albin Kurti, accused Grenell of helping to bring down his government because it had resisted a US-backed deal with Serbia.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/24/kosovo-president-hashim-thaci-indicted-on-war-crimes-charges
Another day, another connection to the world's worst people.
A MYSTERY IN KOSOVO: Matt Whitaker, who briefly served as President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general, made an appearance on Tuesday at a rally in Kosovo for Kadri Veseli, who is a candidate for prime minister in the county’s elections on Sunday, according to a video of his appearance broadcast on Facebook. (His appearance was first reported by Vice News.) What was he doing there?
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2019/10/04/why-was-matt-whitaker-in-kosovo-485598
https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2020/06/24/specialist-prosecutors-office-in-the-hague-announces-indictments-for-war-crimes-against-thaci-and-veseli/
Building methods is something that ordinary people need to take an interest in seeing there are so many examples of failures in modern buildings. And note NZ input – something we can take up ourselves – we must sell this to the overseas entities or private equity obese-capitalists who own most building businesses.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018752365/earthquake-design-beyond-code
Casa Adelante, a breakthrough building in San Francisco, is showing it doesn't have to cost a fortune to build resilient housing that keeps functioning in a big earthquake.
David Mar, a low-damage design expert from the US, told Kathryn Ryan this social housing project used relatively low-tech techniques combined with an invention by a Professor Geoffrey Rogers at the University of Canterbury.
Some pretty heroic assumptions from Audrey in the Herald today. The media Nat boosters are really hitting their stride.
"By their deeds shall ye know them"
Anne Tolley quits. To spend time with family, blah blah.
Translation: I wanted to be Speaker but I know we won't win, so why bother?
I think she doesn't like the new Leader or something lol
Did you know that druids are an oppressed minority? 😳
It's The Sun. Why bother?
You reckon their support of minority rights via publicity is just a ruse to make more money? How could I possibly disagree? 😉
In today's Herald.
"The government is deciding if and how they will require returning New Zealanders to partially pay for their Covid-19 managed isolation costs."
I have never received 2 weeks free food and accommodation at any time and anywhere in the world. Of course anyone in quarantine should be paying at least the ordinary costs of daily living in New Zealand and not the tax payer.
And yet without revolutions, you'd be stuck in a field eking out merely an existence, bowing your head to a lord who's cock you will suck when they tell you to.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
What a shame adam that you have had such awful experiences that you write about so clearly. There is a commission looking into the misuse of children while in care. Can you save your anecdotes for your submission.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Music is the food of soul.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/music-memory-song-that-takes-you-back-to-a-moment-in-time/12391160
The last link in the piece takes you to another article that refers to a great documentary Alive Inside. I posted a comment about this almost exactly two years ago: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-06-2018/#comment-1498653
I feel a night filled with music coming on, if I can hear it through the rain and thunder.
Speaking of rain and thunder; would all those people in Auckland who have been praying for rain, please stop now. Enough already!
You’re no fun and if you come to my fun-filled music night I’d expect you to crack a wry smile at least at the poor Aucklanders whose houses are flooded by the rain but who are not allowed to wash their cars or water their gardens. It is tough being an Aucklander in times of drought.
An odd article that looks like another rehash (copy & paste) from somewhere else. Note that it is Mr Tegnell vs. Dr Kluge; it is deviously subtle
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/300043738/swedish-expert-lashes-out-at-who-over-virus-resurgent-claims
Did I read that right – the Swedes only started testing everyone with symptoms in June?
I wonder what his excuse will be when it's 400 cases a day in Sweden.
I haven’t been following Sweden in detail but a quick search confirms it: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-sweden-free-virus-symptoms.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwBjF_VVFvE&feature=youtu.be
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2020/06/the-dixie-chicks-drop-dixie-from-name-thank-nz-band-the-chicks-for-letting-them-share-name.html
Bloody awesome.
41 new cases in the Australian state of Victoria today.
https://www.twitter.com/covidliveau/status/1276736717626761217
Todmunter reckons it's A NATIONAL DISGRACE.
And the Ockers are shitting themselves again. Runs on loo paper. Again.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53196525
Charming.
Diabetes is already known to be a key risk factor for developing severe COVID-191 and people with the condition are more likely to die2. “Diabetes is dynamite if you get COVID-19,” says Paul Zimmet, who studies the metabolic disease at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Now Zimmet is among a growing number of researchers who think that diabetes doesn’t just make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus, but that the virus might also trigger diabetes in some3. “Diabetes itself is a pandemic just like the COVID-19 pandemic. The two pandemics could be clashing,” he says.
[…]
The study in pancreatic organoids shows how SARS-CoV-2 could be damaging the organ8. Shuibing Chen, a stem-cell biologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and her colleagues showed that the virus can infect the organoid’s α- and β-cells, some of which then die. Whereas β-cells produce insulin to decrease blood-sugar levels, α-cells produce the hormone glucagon, which increases blood sugar. The virus can also induce the production of proteins known as chemokines and cytokines, which can trigger an immune response that might also kill the cells, according to the study8 published in Cell Stem Cell on 19 June.
Chen says the experiments suggest that the virus can disrupt the function of key cells involved in diabetes — either by directly killing them or by triggering an immune response that attacks them.
The virus also attacked pancreatic organoids that had been transplanted into mice, and cells in liver organoids. The liver is important for storing and releasing sugar into the blood stream when it senses insulin.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01891-8
https://twitter.com/antihobbes/status/1276616481870974976
So much worse than the murderous clusterf*ck National would have given us – by not locking down properly because they just couldn't bring themselves to even temporarily turn off the flow of profit to their donors and cronies.
Agreed but National will lie and pretend "we would have done it better"
Very funny antihobbes. So true. (You are kidding aren't you?)
I'm confident he's kidding but that does reflect the disconnection of a large number of people.
Just stumbling back through the echo chamber. Are SPC and Professor Drowsy still here?
[I tend to feel sorry for trapped trolls who accidentally stumble back into echo chambers and can’t seem to find their way out. I’m more than willing to show them the Exit. You must be tired from all the trolling you did here the other day so why don’t take a well-deserved rest over the weekend until Monday? – Incognito]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
See my Moderation note @ 6:19 PM.
I've been reading adult books since age 7
That's terrible Dennis, that is far too young to be reading porn. That you have done so continuously since suggests you have a real problem.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
More kindness from the left 🙄 I suggest thinking for at least 3 seconds before you post such vile filth.
Reading's not vile. It's A NATIONAL DISGRACE.