That's a very good read, and appears disarmingly frank, and credible (though of course the writer has axes to grind).
In particular, this confession should be sent to every journalist, and anyone else who wants to talk up National's economic credentials in future …
Many people in National Leader's Office, the leader, other MPs and the campaign team privately agreed with criticisms of National’s debt target. More than one MP and senior staff said that we had a real issue with over economic narrative and credibility.
While the details change a bit – I think that both pieces outline a profound lack of trust between the senior leadership team in Parliament (and by extension their staffers), and really, really poor communication – both skills and the ability to actually talk to each other.
There's nothing in Johnson's piece that shows Vance was wrong. At best she merely highlights a difference of opinion; at worst there's nothing contradictory between what Johnson and Vance say.
An insider gives a different account of events inside the tent and says the following about an outsider who was not even near the tent at the time:
I believe there is much to challenge in Vance’s book.
…
There is only light coverage of the fiscal plan issue in the Vance book but what is said, […], completely misrepresents what actually happened.
…
This is totally wrong.
…
To suggest, as Andrea Vance does, […], is ridiculous.
That’s more than a difference of opinions, it is a different set of accounts that make for quite a different story.
This raises many questions about Vance’s version of accounts of what may or may not have happened inside the National Party tent and suggests, at least to me, that nothing should and can be taken at face value when it comes to political pundits writing political novels “packed with incident and drama, meanness and madness”, as Steve Braunias says.
No impact on women they said when changing legislation.
#NoDebate was successful in framing questions for clarity and discussion on possible impacts as harmful 'debate'.
Reported as "distasteful and repugnant" "concerns about the transgender community", rather than requests for confirmation of women's single-SEX spaces:
Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins has called a woman's concerns about the transgender community "distasteful and repugnant" after her submission to the city council.
Dunedin nurse Jennifer Scott was concerned about transgender women using the female changing rooms at Moana Pool.
She asked for the council to ensure designated gender-based private areas, such as changing rooms and toilets, would be upheld in all facilities funded or owned by the council.
After her submission, Hawkins, who appeared shaken, told Scott her submission was "hard to listen to, and it was at very least distasteful, if not repugnant".
Lack of discussion and clarity has lead to inconsistent practice in the council owned facility.
Councillor Jules Radich told Scott he was unaware Moana Pool staff were directing "anatomically male" patrons to use the female-designated changing rooms, and said he agreed the use was inappropriate.
He asked how long the practice had been happening.
Scott said transgender women were being directed to the family changing areas, but if a staff member was not aware of the situation, patrons would sometimes enter the women's changing room.
A good mate who was a SAH dad found it really tricky to navigate. On the one hand – if he needed to change a nappy – he needed access; on the other, he didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
And our local pool doesn’t have a family changing area – just mens/womens – so he had to help his toddler daughters get changed into togs in the passageway – which wasn’t exactly ideal.
Not sure about dunedin, but yes in Henderson pools and wave pools in Tauranga it seems allow entire males – who knows about their ID – into family changing areas. My friend takes her grandson swimming in Tauranga when he is there for a visit or Akl when she is there for a visit. Both have decided that changing at home is a better option. It seems that they were not impressed the last time they were at the Wave Pool, left a comment at the reception, but hey……….things complaining about men in their changing rooms should just get some re-education about how marginalised and vulnerable men are in the mens changing rooms.
Aaron Hawkins shaken, imagine what 15 year old girl who's a rape survivor might feel if there was a Wi Spa like incident. Or a man self IDing and bringing a camera into the room. Don't know how liberal men became so illiterate in feminism.
As someone who experienced an attempted sexual assault in a change room, it would terrify me. Even hearing that spaces such as change rooms may be open to male bodied people would make me think twice about entering such change rooms. But who would care about women and girls and their feelings eh? Just like the female swimmers who had to put up with Lia Thomas a trans women in their change room.
We just need to bunch up and be kind and make way for these people who believe that their gender trumps biological sex.
BTW FSU are reporting the case of a mortician who is in trouble with his employer for mis gendering a cadaver.
"If I’m honest, I’ve found it hard to get the mix right between being a minister and a Co-leader and, quite clearly given the vote last weekend, I haven’t quite nailed it."
Neither can I, in the front end, but I know the link is there reading the comment in the back end. This is something weird I’ve come across many times and it seems to only affect FB links. Many times I wanted to growl people here for not linking when in fact the link is there but invisible to me!?
What appears to be an image is an embedded facebook post not unlike twitter embeds. If one clicks on the 'read more', the time stamp or facebook logo one can follow the link to it's origin on FB..
Nothing ‘appears’, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest even that there’s a link or whatever. All I can see is the comment text. As I said, it’s weird but I can live with it 😉
You don’t need to have a FB account to see & click on FB links, same as you don’t need a Twitter account to click on links to Twitter/tweets. Worst thing that can happen is that you run into a login wall or something. I suspect it is something to do with browser and/or device security settings.
IIRC, I tested 2 different browsers on 2 different devices (PCs) and only 1/4 showed the FB link in the front-end. In the greater scheme of things I don’t rate this as a critical an important issue for TS.
IDK if it’s new because I tend to read almost everything in the back-end and I tend to not click on FB links. I find it hard enough as it is to keep up here some days …
when I was helping Robert the other day to copy and paste FB links I saw it embed and tbought, oh FB is embedding now. Don't think I'd seen that before.
ta. Incog’s is a link in the clear. Mine is the embed. Lynn has said that the front end viewing problem is on the user side. I will try and add a clear link as I see FB embeds, but feel free to ask the commenter to that as well. They need to use the link tag in the comment box. People may or may not know how to do that.
Would be the problem on the user side be script-blocking all things FB in my browser? If so, shouldn't there be some graceful degradation that shows a missing element rather than nothing?
Maybe Robert, though it could be difficult to convince people of that. They are perhaps more likely to misinterpret transparency as dysfunction – as CH Smith notes today:
Nassim Taleb of Black Swan and Antifragile fame recently noted the critical role of transparency in systemic resilience. He observed that "a system seems all the more dysfunctional when it is transparent."
In other words, when we see all the petty squabbling, the clash of competing self-interests and the conflicts arising from advocacy, we reckon that system is dysfunctional and doomed.
But that is the healthy system, for what's at stake is visible to all, as is the process of all the stakeholders negotiating some agreement on how to proceed.
Corruption requires opacity … Opaque hierarchical systems appear tranquil and well-managed because the conflicts, self-interest and corruption are hidden. But opacity and rigid hierarchies are systemic weaknesses…
That's right, AB and you are right to say, "it could be difficult to convince people of that" – that's the nub of the problem faced by any organisation. Discretion is the answer but not easy to employ successfully. Word-smithery helps also.
Seems like Teanau Tuiono cant make up his mind! Does he seriously think he could beat James Shaw in a vote? As a centre right voter, I would laugh my ass off if he did.
"The Government is forging ahead with its income insurance scheme despite concerns about a lack of transparency and the impact on low-income earners, hiring senior staff to move ahead with its delivery."
I doubt even this lot would be suicidal enough to remove Jobseeker in the initial implementation (I dont discount it in the future however)…but its not about employment in any case…yet more deception from the bloody politicians.
The details are yet to be announced….but the insurance scheme COULD cover unemployment and an alternative benefit(s) could cover illness/disability…as in days gone by.
from memory, the only people that would get it are those that pay into it and lose their jonb. So if you are a student and then you graduate and can't get a job, you would get JS, not the insurance.
As said the details are still unknown, but one of the concerns is also the possible ineligibility of the self employed.
These are the reasons I say if you are concerned about the impacts of unemployment this is NOT a scheme to address it….and that is because its not about unemployment.
And remove the government (any government) one step away from pressure over unemployment implications…..meanwhile the investor class have their investments supported by worker inputs.
I too feel that Labours seeming commitment to this income insurance scheme along with the two-tier COVID payments, does signal a lack of real concern for those on low incomes. How long have they had to action the WEAG recommendations?
Child Poverty Action Group has expressed fears it would bake in pre-existing inequality and act as a regressive tax on lower-income families, while also undercutting any move towards long overdue reform of the welfare system.
‘A two-tier welfare system established under a social unemployment insurance scheme would likely exacerbate poor mental wellbeing among welfare benefit recipients and strengthen stigma for benefit recipients,’ CPAG social security spokesman Mike O’Brien said.
yep. Slap in the face for people that lost their jobs for health reasons and are subsisting on SLP, or worse, on JS. Five years and they can't even bring themselves to name those people outloud.
Interesting. In Germany we have this system since ever.
You pay x amount of your income into the unemployment tax. Your boss does the same. When unemployed one is entitled to 60% of their last net income for 6 month, then a review in which one has to prove that they did not find a job despite search and another 6 month is granted, after that it is Hartz 4 which is the equivalent of social welfare.
This unemployment scheme is for all income groups. But it would make totally sense in NZ to only apply it to those that last need it. It would also make sense for Labour to create something that can very easily be perverted by National.
Since Bismark apparently….and it has a number of differences from what has been outlined here (to date)….
The Hartz laws represented the most important structural reforms since 1969. They were implemented between 2003 and 2005 and introduced the following measures:
Hartz law I (2003) Required the salaried employees to register as job-seekers as soon as they became aware of the date of termination of their employment agreement; Established job recovery assistance measures, as well as the requalification measure mechanism intended for the older job-seekers; Enabled the job-seekers who hadn’t worked long enough to be entitled to the unemployment benefits to receive continuing training aid; Created temporary placement offices; Enabled the employment offices to entrust, by way of contract, the management of back-to-work jobs to third parties; Softened the regulation relating to dismissals; Required from the job-seekers a greater mobility, considered as appropriate.
Hartz law II (2003) Established business start-up aid (creation of the self-employed status); Created service vouchers for domestic employment jobs; Amended certain provisions relating to mini-jobs and midi-jobs; Set the conditions for creating the future Job-Centers.
Hartz law III (2004) Reorganized the employment public service
Hartz law IV (2005) Reformed the unemployment benefit payment system: reduction of the length of time during which unemployment benefits are paid to 12 months (unemployment benefit I); Merged the long term unemployment benefit and the social aid into a single unemployment benefit II; Established a social aid reserved to the job-seekers unable to work.
Hartz IV was the final and most radical of these laws. It bound together all social welfare allowances – from day-to-day requirements, to school books to clothing, all of which had to be applied for separately – into one flat sum, and named it "Unemployment Benefit II." This became the allowance an unemployed person receives after their official "Unemployment Benefit I," an allowance based on their previous income, ran out after a certain period.
Hartz IV centralized both these benefits through the Bundesagentur fuer Arbeit (Federal Labor Office), rather than separate regional offices. Its intention was to prioritize getting people back to work, in whatever form: temporary, part-time or full-time.
And of course what one gets today under Hartz4 as a lumpsum is less then what it was when one individually applied for 'fringe benefits'. Maybe that is what made that reform so 'important'. The reduction of services and pay out.
Disclaimer: I have a disabled brother on HArtz4 who will every now end then be invited to the unemployment office to prove he is still disabled. Something he did not have to do before Hartz4.
However unemployemnt pay outs in Germany are capped:
ow much unemployment benefit I (Arbeitlosengeld I) will I get?
The amount of benefit you receive is based on your average net pay in the 12 months before you became unemployed (known as the “assessment period”). Your benefit will be 60% of your previous average wage (or 67% if you have children), up to a maximum of 7.050 euros per month in West Germany and 6.750 euros in East Germany.
Your benefit payments will then be subject to taxes and social security contributions, just like a regular wage. These will automatically be taken from your benefit by the employment office before it is transferred to your bank account at the end of each month. This includes deductions for:
vs here in NZ were it on the surface seems that he only ones benefitting from this payout are the very well to do people in Government, NGO, Charities and the likes that may or may not lose jobs in the future if the government were to change. I am not sure as are many others here that it will benefit that Janitor or Service person from Poorland NZ.
Both unemployment benefits and Hartz4 are granted by the Unemployment Agency, whilst there was a Socialwelfare Agency to deal with those that needed different aid in the past.
He has announced that he has sent a directive to 14 Local Body Councils to fluoridate their water supplies. Great news. As a former School Dental Nurse this is a special concern for me.
Through stupidity – and once again listening to disinformation – many councils have badly failed their communities and their children in particular. The rate of decay in children's teeth has skyrocketed in recent decades and that can lead to all manner of on-going health problems. Contrary to the claims of the nay-sayers, fluoridation is totally safe and the process is carried out under strict protocols.
I expect the "Freedumb Crowd" to holler and shout. Let em scream. Sometimes for the health and safety of everybody, such directives and indeed legislation if required have to be made.
In 1970 as a 1st-yr teacher, I asked a 3rd-form class who had a filling in their teeth. Only 2 or 3 raised a hand. My town had been adding fluoridating water for some years. When I was in the 3rd form, we all had mouths filled with amalgam..
But since then my perception is that the great evil of SUGAR has doubled its input, and now even fluoride cannot cope.
To take away the fluoride is idiotic.
But to do nothing about excessive sugar everywhere is even more idiotic.
Where is the reduce sugar campaign? Worn down by unfavourable coverage in capitalist media controlled by big companies like sugar manufacturers?
Where is the reduce sugar campaign? Worn down by unfavourable coverage in capitalist media controlled by big companies like sugar manufacturers?
Another ugly side effect of neoliberalism. Money grubbing corporates and their equally grubby media counterparts dominating the discourse. I venture to suggest there is also a link to the internet which is awash with batshit crazy conspiracy theories.
My FIL started smoking at 6, and kept on doing so till 93.
His sister, adult smoker, developed throat cancer in her 70s.
We used to joke about his lungs being leather bellows. When he died, we gave his almost full tobacco pack to his smoking buddy at the home – a grateful 92 yr old.
Are there any downsides to universal fluoride in drinking water that people should be aware of?
Thing is…such is the extremely polarised nature of the issue, any discussion of potential 'cons' is going to elicit the usual reaction from the 'pro' group. All is binary dontcha know.
Wiki has a very good page on the issue…bearing in mind that only a 5.7 % of the human race has access to the benefits of artificial fluoridation through water supply. Some countries have naturally high levels of fluoride in the water and it has to be removed to make it safe.
This page explores water fluoridation in various countries in some depth and is well worth a read. The one that caught my eye was what happened in Israel. From 2002 water fluridation was required by law…but this was repealed in 2014 on the grounds that…
"Only some 1% of the water is used for drinking, while 99% of the water is intended for other uses (industry, agriculture, flushing toilets etc.). There is also scientific evidence that fluoride in large amounts can lead to damage to health. When fluoride is supplied via drinking water, there is no control regarding the amount of fluoride actually consumed, which could lead to excessive consumption. Supply of fluoridated water forces those who do not so wish to also consume water with added fluoride."[19] Many in the medical and dental communities in Israel criticized the decision as a mistake
Low Vitamin D levels during pregnancy can lead to poor bones and teeth in the child. Is the checking of maternal Vitamin D SOP in New Zealand for all pregnant women?
Its complicated…not binary at all.
(Anecdotally Molly…three kids…youngest 30…rural raised on unfiltered tank water and bugger all fillings. While we didn't have a sugar ban…fizzy drinks were special occasion only and I most definitely never had them sucking on bottles of anything other than water. Likewise I ensured I ate healthy when pregnant. )
"Thing is…such is the extremely polarised nature of the issue, any discussion of potential 'cons' is going to elicit the usual reaction from the 'pro' group. All is binary dontcha know."
There was a section of rural NZ that had sufficient natural deposits present in their drinking water to be effective. I think it was somewhere in the South Island but have long forgotten the details. Whether it is still the case I don't know.
High natural deposits are present in parts of Europe and at a high level of concentration. High concentration can cause white spots to appear on the enamel surface of teeth but that is not going to occur in NZ as the specified level of fluoride deposits are low by comparison.
It should be pointed out that fluoride exists naturally in streams and water ways. Its not some kind of man-made chemical.
Edit: some people have naturally healthy teeth and gums. Good genes. Sounds like that was the case with your children Molly and no doubt they were brought up on a healthy diet too which is a big help.
The pure white paste is fine, of course. However, you must watch out for the ones with a red stripe; only use the ones with a blue stripe according to my dentist Dr Morpheus.
On November 4, I wrote that I had finished up my last bottle of Act fluoride rinse and had decided not to replace it. Several dentists told me they didn’t think I needed it. However, I wasn’t just using the rinse for the fluoride; it had also served as my mouthwash for the last couple of years, leaving my breath minty fresh. Without it, I needed to find a plastic-free alternative, and since there are apparently no mouthwashes sold plastic-free these days, I decided to make my own.
I'll bite (Freedumb)You may well be one of them,and/or it's been a very long time since you practiced. Fluoride is very good at killing "good bacteria",that is the problem needing addressed.
Sorry can't/not linking,Google or any search engine will help.
I was in High School in Tauranga when fluoride was added to the Tauranga water supply (around 50 years ago). I used to see the dentist every 6 months and every time I needed multiple fillings – after fluoride was added I needed One filling in the next two years. I believe it's lunacy that some local bodies still haven't adopted it.
Kills bacteria which cause cavities & gum disease – Fluoride doesn’t just help prevent cavities. It’s also antimicrobial, which means it can kill the bacteria in your mouth which contributes to issues like cavities and gum disease.
The issue is whether the concentrations in town supply water are sufficient to have an effect. Or what effect they have when the water is being drunk every day.
Kills bacteria which cause cavities & gum disease – Fluoride doesn’t just help prevent cavities. It’s also antimicrobial, which means it can kill the bacteria in your mouth which contributes to issues like cavities and gum disease.
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Hate to sound “fearful” and “inward”in my thinking, but it seems Covid can’t be beaten simply by a dose of positive thinking and a “can do” Kiwi attitude. The virus doesn’t seem to respect our mindset. The Omicron BA. 4 and BA.5 variants also don’t seem to respect the mRNA ...
One of the results of the current partisanship and ideological motivation of the mainstream media is that the old journalistic skills of objective research and basing articles on evidence have largely disappeared. In many cases, journalists have just become stenographers faithfully parroting and quoting think tanks and anonymous political ...
Is it ironic that the Government is reforming rules around secret political donations in a very secretive way? There has been overwhelming public demand for more openness about how politicians raise their money, but the Government and officials have been less than transparent and very restrictive over the whole submission ...
The Ministry of Justice has released a copy of the public submissions on the Government’s proposed political donation law reforms – see here: OIA 96540 – Edwards 1 July 2022. This information was requested in early April under the Official Information Act, and was finally provided this month. Note the ...
Earlier this year the government held a public consultation on proposed changes to the election donations regime. Naturally, political parties - who have a strong interest in the rules around donations and what they have to disclose - submitted to it. But the Ministry of Justice cooked up a crooked ...
Inflation is Back, in New Zealand as much as in anywhere else. Fuel costs and supply-chain issues and all that – and, yes, the loose monetary policy in 2020 has had an impact too, though it was the right thing to do at the time. 7% inflation in ...
Don Franks was interviewed by Dr Toby Boraman in December 2013 about his time working in the militant Ford car plant in the 1970s. In this installment Don talks about speedup, antiapartheid protests, the Maori land march and different views on Norm Kirk (The interview has been lightly edited. For ...
It’s ordinary people who are suffering the most from the current cost of living crisis. In other words, working people and the poor are paying the price of higher prices. Rising living costs have greater consequences for those in the bottom half of the wealth hierarchy, who are pushed into ...
Back in 2019 our parliament passed the Zero Carbon Act. The Act was modelled on the UK's Climate Change Act, and has a similar scheme of five-yearly budgets, with detailed government plans to meet them. But after initial success, its no longer working out so well in the UK - ...
Copenhagen Was Worth A Mass* The Danish Social-Democratic Party leader, Mette Frederiksen, greeted by supporters during her successful 2019 general election campaign.THINK OF DENMARK – go on, think of Denmark. What springs to mind? Lego? The Little Mermaid? Squishy little segments of surprisingly tasty cheese? Bacon? Slaughtered Minks? How many of ...
The well-known, and well-respected, international journalist John Pilger describes the war between Ukraine and Russia as “above all, a war of propaganda.” He says that nothing in the western press about this war can be trusted implicitly. That the reader or viewer must ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson with contributions from Jeff Masters Relentless heat that’s been plaguing much of Europe this summer is now making a run for the United Kingdom, which appears likely to experience the hottest temperatures in its long history of record keeping on or ...
Unrepentant Scrapper: Any normal candidate would have run a mile from Guy Williams – rightly fearing the humiliation the comedian would be straining every muscle to inflict upon his hapless victim. But, Leo Molloy is not a normal candidate. The former jockey, qualified veterinarian, highly successful businessman, restauranteur and philanthropist ...
The brief fist bump between Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammad bin Salman was the most memorable image from the US President’s journey last week to the Middle East. To many, it was a humiliating sign of American impotence. Fist bump the hand of the Crown Prince ...
Joe Biden’s controversial fist-bump with Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi crown prince, may help New Zealand to forge its own new direction in the Middle East. The US president’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia showed that despite real concerns over human rights, the Middle East’s strategic importance in ...
Enough is enough! Ian Foster must go – and if he doesn’t do so of his own accord (as he should do), he must be pushed. That became apparent in the first minute of the match, when it became clear that neither the coach nor the team had learned any ...
A human rights groups in Germany is calling for international solidarity for two Tamils who have been on trial for collecting funds for the Tamil Tigers (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) a decade ago. The defendants Nathan Thambi and Anandarajah position is that the LTTE were not terrorists, rather a legitimate ...
The ongoing decline in market income inequality stopped in the 1980s. Since then it has been stable, while 1990 public policy actively increased disposable income inequality.Thomas Piketty has a reputation for (literally and figuratively) weighty tomes. His 2013 best seller – 2.5 million copies – Le Capital au XXIe Siècle ...
It’s July in Dunedin – grey winter skies, plague-carrying pedestrians, and omnipresent, soul-destroying damp. Which means it’s time for my review of the freshly released two-and-a-half minute trailer for The Rings of Power. (Technically released at 12:30 a.m. on 15th July here, but I decided to sleep on it ...
The Labour Government has managed to get one major issue right this week, at least in an electoral sense. The Government has been under pressure to deal with escalating public concerns about crime and gang activity. On Wednesday the newly appointed law and order duo of Chris Hipkins and Kiri ...
Point Of No Return: One minute the ordinary citizen is pausing amidst the familiar rush of daily chores to try and make sense of an alarming headline, and the next minute there’s the sound of machine-gun fire in the streets. Because most people simply cannot imagine the collapse of the ...
Political Sledging: On Sky News Australia, conservative columnist and commentator, Rita Panahi, coined the not-so-kind "Performative Caring" alternative to Jacinda Ardern's trade-mark promotion of "Kindness". There will be plenty on this side of the Tasman happy to pick up the Australian Right's all-too-accurate political sledge.SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA has reformulated Jacinda ...
During her time as Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has navigated New Zealand through unprecedented times. Through it all, she’s become known as someone who leads with kindness, compassion and strength, while keeping the wellbeing of Kiwis at the heart of her approach. To celebrate five years of Jacinda leading the ...
Since taking office in 2017, our Government has worked hard to lift wages and make life more affordable for New Zealanders, as we move forward with our plan to grow a secure economy for all. ...
The Government must use the opportunity of the Electoral Amendment Bill in Parliament to close the loophole in the political donations regime, the Green Party says. ...
Thanks to political pressure from the Green Party and the more than 900 personal stories of birth injury and trauma delivered to Minister Sepuloni, more injuries have been added to the ACC birth injuries bill. ...
Supporting New Zealanders is at the heart of our approach as a Government, and we’re working hard to tackle the big issues Kiwis are facing. While long term challenges like child poverty won’t be solved overnight, we’re putting in place policies that make a real difference for New Zealanders. Here ...
Every New Zealander deserves a healthy, affordable place to call home. We have a comprehensive plan to make it happen, and we’re making good progress. Here's the latest on how we're supporting Kiwis into homes: ...
The Government is allowing wealthy individuals to ‘purchase’ residency while entrenching a system that keeps low-waged workers on a precarious and temporary status, the Green Party says. ...
The Election Access Fund established by a Green Party members’ bill opened for submissions this week, showing positive progress towards more accessible elections. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to pass legislation to increase pay transparency, saying it is an urgent step that needs to be taken in response to shocking new evidence that most of the pay gap for Pacific, Māori, and other ethnic minorities cannot be explained. ...
The Government must lift student incomes now, says the Green Party, as new evidence shows thousands of students are living in poverty, with many struggling to pay rent and put food on the table. ...
The Green Party is on board with the extension of half-price public transport, but once again calls on the Government to go further and make public transport free - for good. ...
Evidence published today showing that acute alcohol use is a factor in more than a quarter of suicides in New Zealand is a shocking wakeup call and politicians must respond, the Green Party says. ...
Banning deep-sea mining is more urgent than ever following the news that a New Zealand Crown Research Institute, NIWA is set to support what could easily become a damaging mining project in the Pacific Ocean. ...
Following pressure from the Green Party, the Government has announced that medical masks will be available free for everyone, with N95 masks free for those most at-risk. ...
We’ve announced the next steps in our work to tackle crime and gangs – because all New Zealanders deserve to live in communities that are safe. These new practical tools build on our strong law and order record, which includes delivering New Zealand’s largest ever Police service, targeting illegal firearms, ...
We need action to address the underlying causes of crime, not more of the same simplistic solutions that we know do not work and risk harming communities, the Green Party says. ...
For the cost of cutting taxes to petrol for three months, the Government could have ensured the future of a transformational increase to passenger rail services between Wellington, the Wairarapa and Manawatū, says the Green Party. ...
A new future between Pacific Aotearoa and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is the essence of a Dawn Raids Apology anniversary event in Auckland this month, said Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. One year ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern formally apologised to Pacific communities impacted by the Dawn Raids in ...
Tēnā koutou katoa Tuia ngā waka, Tuia ngā wawata, Tuia ngā hou-kura Let us bind our connection, let us bind our vision, let us bind our shared aspiration for peace and prosperity. This year marks a significant milestone in the New Zealand – China relationship. Fifty years ago – 1972 – ...
It’s Cook Islands Language week and the Minister of Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio wants the community to focus on what it means to keep the language alive across the generations. “Our Cook Islands community in Aotearoa have decided to focus on the same theme as last years; ‘ Ātuitui’ia ...
From 1 August an estimated 2.1 million New Zealanders will be eligible to receive the first targeted Cost of Living Payment as part of the Government’s plan to help soften the impact of rising global inflationary pressures affecting New Zealanders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. The payments will see eligible ...
· New Zealand’s international border opens to all visitors, including from non-visa waiver countries, and international students from 11:59PM, 31 July 2022. · Cruise ships and recreational yachts able to arrive at New Zealand ports. This evening marks the final step in the Government’s reconnecting plan, with visitors from non-visa ...
New Action Plan to eliminate HIV transmission released for consultation today $18 million Budget 2022 boost Key measures to achieve elimination include increasing prevention and testing, improving access to care and treatment and addressing stigma The Government has today released its plan to eliminate the transmission of HIV in ...
A report released today shows Government support has lifted incomes for Beneficiaries by 40 percent over and above inflation since 2018. “This is the first time this data set has been collected, and it clearly shows Government action is having an impact,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “This Government made a commitment ...
Thirty new warm, safe and affordable apartments to be delivered by Tauhara North No 2 Trust in Tāmaki Makaurau Delivered through Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga programme, jointly delivered by Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Allocation of the apartments will be prioritised to support ...
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Twyford will lead Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations in New York next week. “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of advocating for a world free of nuclear weapons,” Phil Twyford said. “The NPT has ...
Associate Minister of Transport Kieran McAnulty was joined this morning by the Mayors of Carterton and Masterton, local Iwi and members of the Wairarapa community to turn the first sod on a package of crucial safety improvements for State Highway 2 in Wairarapa. “The work to improve safety on this ...
The board to take the Milford Opportunities Project (MOP) forward has been announced by Minister of Conservation Poto Williams today. “The Milford Opportunities Project is a once in a generation chance to reshape the gateway to Milford Sound Piopiotahi and redesign our transport infrastructure to benefit locals, visitors, and our ...
A new three year plan to transform the construction industry into a high-performing sector with increased productivity, diversity and innovation has been unveiled by the Minister for Building and Construction Dr Megan Woods and Accord Steering group this morning. As lead minister for the Construction Sector Accord, Dr Woods told ...
For the first time counsellors will be able to become accredited to work in publicly funded clinical roles to support the mental wellbeing of New Zealanders. The Government and the board of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) have developed a new opt-in accreditation pathway so NZCA members can ...
Kua waitohua he Whakaaetanga Whakataunga i waenga i a Ngāti Tara Tokanui me te Karauna, te kī a te Minita mō ngā Take Tiriti o Waitangi, a Andrew Little. Ko Ngāti Tara Tokanui tētahi o ngā iwi 12 o Hauraki, ko te pokapū o tōna rohe whai pānga ko Paeroa, ...
An advisory board has been established to help ensure existing Treaty settlements are upheld under the new resource management system. “The Government is committed to upholding Treaty settlements that intersect with the Resource Management Act as we move to a new system, and we are working with settled groups to ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today that she will lead a Parliamentary and community delegation to Apia, Samoa from the 1–2 August to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, between Aotearoa New Zealand and Samoa. “It is an honour to be invited to Samoa ...
Minister for Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti, and Minister of Defence, Peeni Henare, have today announced that 150 Fire and Emergency New Zealand personnel and 145 members of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) have been awarded the Australian National Emergency Medal, with Bushfires 19/20 Clasp, as part of a group ...
Today Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall is launching a national hepatitis C awareness campaign to mark World Hepatitis Day. “It’s really important we do everything we can to raise awareness of hepatitis C so we can eliminate the virus that approximately 40,000-45,000 New Zealanders live with,” said Dr Ayesha ...
The Government is co-investing in a $22 million programme aimed at significantly reducing agricultural greenhouse gases and nitrate leaching, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. “The Government has committed $7.3 million over seven years to the N-Vision NZ programme through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF ...
Myanmar Executions: Minister of Foreign Affairs Statement to the House Mr Speaker On Monday 25 July, Myanmar’s state-run newspaper announced the execution of four people, including political figures – Phyo Zeya Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu - known as Ko Jimmy, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. The four were ...
Three new residence pathways: Straight to residence Work to residence Highly paid - 'twice the median wage’ Straight to residence pathway will be ready for people to apply for from 5 September 2022. Work to Residence and Highly Paid pathways will be available for people to apply in September ...
With the first of three monthly Government Cost of Living payments due to be made on Monday, Revenue Minister David Parker is urging people to make sure Inland Revenue has their bank account details. From 1 August, Inland Revenue will pay three monthly instalments each of about $116 into the ...
The Government has today opened the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, the first stage of a new approach to cultural sector funding designed to support strategic, sector-led initiatives, that will have lasting benefits for arts, culture, and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. “The opening today of the Te Tahua Whakamarohi i ...
Four alternative plasterboard products able to be used as substitutes for GIB 12 importers of plasterboard– four of them new - have 100 containers of product en route to New Zealand Regular updating of guidance and ongoing communication with sector to encourage use of alternative products Step-by-step, practical information ...
Significant progress is being made towards the Government’s goal of eliminating family violence and sexual violence, Minister Davidson confirmed today at the first ever annual hui to take stock of the work underway to ensure all children, families and whānau can thrive in safe homes and communities. Speaking to more ...
Construction of relief homes is underway for Westport residents affected by flooding with the first houses expected to be delivered to site next month and families moving in from October, Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. Buller District Council has granted land-use consent for the Temporary Accommodation Village to ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has welcomed recommendations from He Pou a Rangi – Climate Change Commission (the Commission) on Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) settings. “For the ETS to do its job and drive real emissions cuts, it’s vital we have the right settings in place to ensure a fair ...
Free trade with the United Kingdom is a step closer with the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill having its first reading in Parliament today, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced. “We’re continuing steady progress toward ratifying this historic free trade agreement (FTA) and having its benefits ...
Our goal of becoming free of the devastating harm caused by tobacco has today moved a step closer as the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill passed its first reading. “We have more regulations in this country on the safety of a sandwich than a cigarette, this ...
The Bill to create a new public media entity, Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media, had its first reading in Parliament today. “The Bill brings in the changes needed to make sure that our public media will keep delivering for future generations. “With increasing levels of misinformation around the world, a ...
Grant Robertson departs tomorrow for engagements in his finance portfolios and to support New Zealand’s athletes at the Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom. He will attend the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from the evening of August 2. Before that he will travel to Paris for meetings with political, sport ...
Improvements to processes for electing councils at the next local government elections in 2025 have been introduced to Parliament. Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says the legislation covers decisions about Māori wards, the number of councillors at Auckland Council, more consistent rules for a coin toss if an election result ...
Kei te whanake tonu te Kāwanatanga i ngā mahi tautoko i te iwi Māori ki te tiaki i ngā mātauranga Māori e noho mōrearea nei, kia whakahaumarutia ngā mātauranga taketake i ngā pānga o te mate korona. “Kei te whakatakotoria haerehia te tūāpapa tiaki i te mātauranga Māori me tōna ...
The Government is continuing to take action to support Māori to safeguard at-risk mātauranga from the ongoing threat of COVID-19, through the extension of the Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku programme. “We’re continuing to lay the foundations for a better future by prioritising the protection of mātauranga Māori and its ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has condemned the executions of four people, including pro-democracy activists and opposition leaders, in Myanmar. “Aotearoa New Zealand has a strong and long standing opposition to the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances,” said Nanaia Mahuta. “This was a barbaric act by ...
The New Zealand Defence Force will support Pacific Island partners through a range of maritime security and other support in the next three months, Minister of Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Pacific is who we are as well as where we are. The challenges our region faces are New ...
Tēnā koutou katoa Tenei te mihi ki a koutou Kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te ra Ara ko Te Royal New Zealand College of GPs hui Tēnā tatou katoa Thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I acknowledge Samantha Murton, President of the Royal ...
Associate Health Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio has congratulated the Premier of Niue, Dalton Tagelagi who is visiting Aotearoa New Zealand this week, for the tremendous success of Niue’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. Niue has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 99 percent ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Premier Dalton Tagelagi signed a new Statement of Partnership between Aotearoa New Zealand and Niue during talks in Wellington, today. The leaders reaffirmed the close friendship, forged through shared people and constitutional ties. The new Statement of Partnership reflects our long-term cooperation on priority areas ...
Speech to Local Government New Zealand, 21 July 2022 Tēnā koutou katoa. I am pleased to be here today to discuss the reform of the resource management system with you and in particular to update you on governance and decision making in the new system. This speech is one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruno Vicari Stefani, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Solar Technologies, CSIRO Shutterstock Recent extreme weather events have underscored the need to cut the CO₂ emissions that are driving up global temperatures. This requires a rapid transition of the energy economy to renewable ...
It is said that the “malady of the ignorant is to be ignorant without knowing it”. And so it has emerged in the commentariat of self-appointed experts on the issue of Electoral Law and its requirements in this country. That law of course has ...
The Government is scrambling to appear nonchalant about pouring taxpayers’ earnings down the brain drain, but their excuses don’t pass the sniff test, says Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams. “IRD recently spent $1500 million ($1.5billion) ...
Analysis By Geoffrey Miller Today’s speech by Jacinda Ardern to the China Business Summit in Auckland was full of soothing words for Beijing. The headline-grabber was Ardern’s comment that ‘a few plans are afoot’ for New Zealand ministers to return to China – and that the Prime Minister herself hopes ...
In the year ended June 2022, there were 50,736 new homes consented, up 14 percent from the year ended June 2021, Stats NZ said today. “The year ended June 2022 marks the fourth consecutive month where the annual number of new homes consented has surpassed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne-Mette Holmgård Sundahl, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington GettyImages Jacinda Ardern’s popularity has fluctuated over the past five years, with the prime minister’s approval peaking at 76% in May 2020. Those early rises ...
The Electoral Commission is urging people to get a move on and enrol now to make voting easy in the October local body elections. ‘The local elections are held by a postal vote, and you need to be enrolled at the correct address by Friday 12 ...
Report reveals inadequate access to aged care services risks overloading public health system A NZIER report released today paints a grim picture of the future for the increasing proportion of New Zealanders who will need to access aged residential ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Riseley, Research Fellow, Università di Bologna The colliding cluster Abell 3266 as seen across the electromagnetic spectrum, using data from ASKAP and the ATCA (red/orange/yellow colours), XMM-Newton (blue) and the Dark Energy Survey (background map).Christopher Riseley (Università di Bologna), Author ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Kildea, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government is moving ahead with plans to hold a first-term referendum on a First Nations Voice. The Prime Minister has attended the annual Garma Festival in northeast Arnhem Land, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-ND If politics really is to be done differently, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised, then the way politics is reported will ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marie-Claire Seeley, PhD Candidate, Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, University of Adelaide Australia has only a handful of specialists familiar with managing what happens when the nervous system can’t properly regulate the body, as sometimes occurs with long COVID. While long COVID ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Mortimore, Lecturer, Griffith Business School, Griffith University The Albanese government has introduced tax cuts to electric vehicles in its first sitting week, claiming the proposed changes would be “good for motorists, good for climate action and good for fleet purchases”. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia www.shutterstock.com The cereal bowl is sitting there getting mushy and gross. You ask your child to eat for the 20th time, but still they ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Umair Ghori, Associate Professor, Bond University Shutterstock With the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warning consumers of huge price hikes ahead, further calls for the federal government to pull its so-called “gas trigger” seem inevitable. But that could be a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neal Hughes, Adjunct Associate Professor, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin University Since late 2020, the La Niña climate pattern has led to two years of above-average rainfall across much of Australia, and severe floods in parts of the country. In ...
Revenue Minister David Parker said it would have been more expensive to manually check the eligibility of every person than use the automated payment system. ...
Cabinet ministers will consider today an urgent law change to close a legal loophole allowing political parties to funnel large sums of money through shadow entities without the public ever knowing about it. ...
The Government needs to clear the debt that MSD has forced hundreds of thousands of low income people to take on, says the Green Party. The Government’s ‘Cost of Living Payment’ will begin on 1 August for those earning less than $70,000, ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist Cook Islanders go to the polls tomorrow to choose a new 24 member Parliament. Voters will have four parties — and a movement calling for a collegial approach to government — to choose from. Cook Islands politics has been dominated for years by ...
RNZ Pacific The government of Niue has announced the country will move to covid-19 alert level red after it recorded nine new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours. After recording its first cases of the virus in the community today, Niue’s government now says growing case numbers ...
A bill laying out the role and obligations of a planned public media entity was passed on its first reading in parliament, but was rubbished by opposition MPs. ...
Russia's foreign ministry has slapped New Zealand journalists and officials with sanctions for supporting what it called the country's "Russophobic agenda." ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhiamie Williamson, Research Associate & PhD Candidate, Australian National University Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Archie Roach’s family have given permission for his name and image to be shared. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby The two-week extension on the return of Papua New Guinea’s general election writs date has been knocked as unconstitutional. A former Chief Justice, Sir Arnold Amet, said there were no provisions in the Constitution for any extension of writs beyond the fifth anniversary of ...
COMMENTARY: By Prue Taylor in Auckland From 1949 to 1996 more than 300 nuclear devices were detonated in the Pacific. In the mid-1990s a generation of political leaders had the foresight, wisdom and courage to support a civil society initiative that led to an International Court of Justice advisory opinion ...
COMMENTARY:By Ajay Bhai Amrit in Suva Bula readers. As some of you might be aware, I am a member of various media bodies and human rights international bodies such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, who do an excellent job as a watchdog on human rights and also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney AAP/Aaron Bunch Ideas are powerful, but when it comes to a constitutional amendment, they need to be put into words before they can be debated seriously. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Beehive’s on-line bulletin board today brings news of another Minister headed overseas for very important business, another Māori housing project getting under way with the help of millions of government dollars, and beneficiaries being enabled by our beneficent government to beat inflation. The travel plans ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is now seeking public submissions on the Foreign Affairs (Consular Loans) Amendment Bill. The bill would expressly authorise the long-standing practice of the Minister of Foreign Affairs lending money ...
RNZ News After guiding New Zealand through two and a half years of a pandemic, Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s time as Director-General of Health has come to an end. We look back on some of the key moments during his time in the role: 22 May 2018 Dr Ashley Bloomfield was ...
The first week of a major trial concerning political donations has started to unravel the alleged money trail from anonymous donors to Labour and National. ...
By Marjorie Finkeo in Port Moresby Nine suspects arrested over a barbaric machete attack on Sunday outside the counting venue at Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium have been labelled “innocent” and released this week from Papua New Guinean police custody at Waigani. The act stirred up public fear, anxiety ...
By Vijay Narayan of Fijivillage People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka says a People’s Alliance government will scrap the draconian Media Industry Development Act and allow a free press to thrive in Fiji. Rabuka has condemned the decision of the FijiFirst government to amend its Media Act by outlawing the appointment ...
RNZ Pacific Former prime ministers, an opposition leader, and an ex-central bank governor have added their voices to a growing chorus of concerns about the Fiji government’s “close association” with a Korean doomsday Christian cult that has reportedly benefited from millions of dollars from a state-backed institution. Award-winning investigative journalism ...
RNZ Pacific The Federated States of Micronesia will reopen its international borders on Monday. President David Panuelo said anyone wishing to travel will need to be fully vaccinated, including boosters, against covid-19 and have had a PCR test 72 hours prior to departure. The moves comes despite the country discovering ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese will propose draft wording to insert into the constitution an Indigenous “Voice” to parliament when he addresses the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land on Saturday. The Prime Minister is also releasing a ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is now seeking public submissions on the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed between New Zealand and the United Kingdom on 1 March 2022. This ...
Opposition parties are crying foul over a donations law change, while the government is considering a separate fix to prevent big foreign funders secretly influencing elections. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gina Louise Hawkes, Research associate, University of Wollongong AAP/Steven Saphore This week, seven NRL players boycotted a potentially crucial season game over their club’s introduction of a “pride” jersey celebrating inclusivity and the LGBTQIA+ community. Six of these players ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luc Doucet, Research Fellow at the Earth Dynamics Research Group, member of TIGeR, Curtin University Lucapa Diamond Company/EPA Usually when goods are flawed, we expect their value to drop, but it’s the exact opposite for diamonds. Ironically, it is imperfections ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, International Studies, University of South Australia The military junta’s execution of four pro-democracy activists earlier this week has again shone a spotlight on the appalling judgement and brutality of the junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra AAP/Mick Tsikas University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discusses the week in politics with University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher. This week saw parliament meet for the first time since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Casey, Program Coordinator: Bachelor of Communication, University of the Sunshine Coast As Neighbours ended after 37 years, viewers were treated to a smorgasbord of familiar favourites from Erinsborough’s back catalogue. For decades there were always two characters, though, who remained just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miriama Young, Associate Director of Research, Senior Lecturer in Music, The University of Melbourne Chamber Made/Pia JohnsonReview: My Self in That Moment, directed by Tamara Saulwick for Chamber Made In his visionary essay published almost a century ago, Walter ...
Analysis - The Green Party's instability has implications reaching through to the next election, while Christopher Luxon is caught up in another unnecessary muddle. ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. Respiratory Virus Hospitalisations in Counties-Manukau, as reported by Stuff The chart above splits the patients in Middlemore Hospital into the different categories of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness. The vast majority are what in the past we have called ‘common colds’. There is ...
When Nanaia Mahuta talks about improving local government processes, alarm bells should ring. In a statement earlier this week, the Minister of Local Government said improvements to processes for electing councils at the next local government elections in 2025 have been introduced to Parliament in a measure called the Local ...
In a High Court decision released today, Justice Churchman found errors and procedural defects in the Government’s process when reissuing the rodeo code of welfare in 2018. While the Court declined to make a ruling on the legality of rodeo, the Court ...
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Was Andrea Vance a little liberal with the truth or did she ‘research’ just enough to suit her narrative?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ex-collins-staffer-queries-vance-book-on-nats
That's a very good read, and appears disarmingly frank, and credible (though of course the writer has axes to grind).
In particular, this confession should be sent to every journalist, and anyone else who wants to talk up National's economic credentials in future …
Many people in National Leader's Office, the leader, other MPs and the campaign team privately agreed with criticisms of National’s debt target. More than one MP and senior staff said that we had a real issue with over economic narrative and credibility.
While the details change a bit – I think that both pieces outline a profound lack of trust between the senior leadership team in Parliament (and by extension their staffers), and really, really poor communication – both skills and the ability to actually talk to each other.
There's nothing in Johnson's piece that shows Vance was wrong. At best she merely highlights a difference of opinion; at worst there's nothing contradictory between what Johnson and Vance say.
An insider gives a different account of events inside the tent and says the following about an outsider who was not even near the tent at the time:
That’s more than a difference of opinions, it is a different set of accounts that make for quite a different story.
This raises many questions about Vance’s version of accounts of what may or may not have happened inside the National Party tent and suggests, at least to me, that nothing should and can be taken at face value when it comes to political pundits writing political novels “packed with incident and drama, meanness and madness”, as Steve Braunias says.
No impact on women they said when changing legislation.
#NoDebate was successful in framing questions for clarity and discussion on possible impacts as harmful 'debate'.
Reported as "distasteful and repugnant" "concerns about the transgender community", rather than requests for confirmation of women's single-SEX spaces:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-mayor-slams-concerns-about-transgender-people-at-swimming-pool-as-repugnant/OGPQSUV7PPYKAK2AEZMN7UDJSM/
Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins has called a woman's concerns about the transgender community "distasteful and repugnant" after her submission to the city council.
Dunedin nurse Jennifer Scott was concerned about transgender women using the female changing rooms at Moana Pool.
She asked for the council to ensure designated gender-based private areas, such as changing rooms and toilets, would be upheld in all facilities funded or owned by the council.
After her submission, Hawkins, who appeared shaken, told Scott her submission was "hard to listen to, and it was at very least distasteful, if not repugnant".
Lack of discussion and clarity has lead to inconsistent practice in the council owned facility.
is the family changing area already mixed sex?
Usually yes – so that Dads can help their small children get changed at the pool.
Although it’s not always issue free – some women don’t like men in family changing areas (e.g. to change a nappy).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/106167488/wellington-dad-barred-from-parents-room-at-queensgate-mall-by-another-parent
A good mate who was a SAH dad found it really tricky to navigate. On the one hand – if he needed to change a nappy – he needed access; on the other, he didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
And our local pool doesn’t have a family changing area – just mens/womens – so he had to help his toddler daughters get changed into togs in the passageway – which wasn’t exactly ideal.
Not sure about dunedin, but yes in Henderson pools and wave pools in Tauranga it seems allow entire males – who knows about their ID – into family changing areas. My friend takes her grandson swimming in Tauranga when he is there for a visit or Akl when she is there for a visit. Both have decided that changing at home is a better option. It seems that they were not impressed the last time they were at the Wave Pool, left a comment at the reception, but hey……….things complaining about men in their changing rooms should just get some re-education about how marginalised and vulnerable men are in the mens changing rooms.
Aaron Hawkins shaken, imagine what 15 year old girl who's a rape survivor might feel if there was a Wi Spa like incident. Or a man self IDing and bringing a camera into the room. Don't know how liberal men became so illiterate in feminism.
Want something horrific to watch on a similar subject?
The German Green party don’t come out of it very well but I’m sure it was more widespread
Pretty hard to watch PR. But needs to be exposed.
Its about safeguarding.
There's been quite a bit written about Helmut Kentler and his depravity since this first came to light.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/past-pedophile-links-haunt-german-green-party-a-899544.html
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-german-experiment-that-placed-foster-children-with-pedophiles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kentler
PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange )in England comes to mind too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paedophile_Information_Exchange#:~:text=One%2Dtime%20treasurer%20of%20PIE,in%20British%20schools%20in%201996.
in fact it seems Stonewall is an extention on that, what with their believe that 2 year old can be 'trans' and of course 'consent' to being trans.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/25/stonewall-forced-clarify-tweet-said-two-year-olds-could-transgender/
What else do you think little kids could possibly consent too?
Thanks Joe 90 for the links
Yes, the German government did not care much about child abuse. Can confirm.
As someone who experienced an attempted sexual assault in a change room, it would terrify me. Even hearing that spaces such as change rooms may be open to male bodied people would make me think twice about entering such change rooms. But who would care about women and girls and their feelings eh? Just like the female swimmers who had to put up with Lia Thomas a trans women in their change room.
We just need to bunch up and be kind and make way for these people who believe that their gender trumps biological sex.
BTW FSU are reporting the case of a mortician who is in trouble with his employer for mis gendering a cadaver.
US vice president emancipates the pronoun.
Oh please let the 'assigned female at birth' in our government do the same every time they have an interview. Just for shits n giggles.
James Shaw – candid, honest.
"If I’m honest, I’ve found it hard to get the mix right between being a minister and a Co-leader and, quite clearly given the vote last weekend, I haven’t quite nailed it."
https://www.facebook.com/JamesShawMP/posts/616637403162496
[non-embedded link added for those that can’t see the embed]
link?
it's there now.
I'm not seeing it
Neither can I, in the front end, but I know the link is there reading the comment in the back end. This is something weird I’ve come across many times and it seems to only affect FB links. Many times I wanted to growl people here for not linking when in fact the link is there but invisible to me!?
What appears to be an image is an embedded facebook post not unlike twitter embeds. If one clicks on the 'read more', the time stamp or facebook logo one can follow the link to it's origin on FB..
Nothing ‘appears’, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest even that there’s a link or whatever. All I can see is the comment text. As I said, it’s weird but I can live with it 😉
Ah, that is very weird. Apologies.
I too can only see text, no image or link or placeholder.
Do not have a FB account so chances are it would show me nothing when I clicked through anyway.
Ah, can see and read the FB embed on the mobile theme of this site.
You don’t need to have a FB account to see & click on FB links, same as you don’t need a Twitter account to click on links to Twitter/tweets. Worst thing that can happen is that you run into a login wall or something. I suspect it is something to do with browser and/or device security settings.
Depending on the FB customer's privacy settings, some/many posts load blank for non-customers.
Whether the embed shows may/not be related to this.
IIRC, I tested 2 different browsers on 2 different devices (PCs) and only 1/4 showed the FB link in the front-end. In the greater scheme of things I don’t rate this as
a criticalan important issue for TS.What OS are you using?
I could see it on my laptop earlier, can’t see it now on my phone.
the embed of FB posts in comments is new yeah?
IDK if it’s new because I tend to read almost everything in the back-end and I tend to not click on FB links. I find it hard enough as it is to keep up here some days …
when I was helping Robert the other day to copy and paste FB links I saw it embed and tbought, oh FB is embedding now. Don't think I'd seen that before.
I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast this morning 🙁
lol, I have that trouble too.
I remember the FB embed because it's quite elegant, I was surprised that it wasn't the overblown embed that's happened in the past (in posts?)
test
My test:
https://www.facebook.com/JamesShawMP/posts/616637403162496
I see nothing but the word 'test' for your post but also get clickable link text in Incognito's post. Noi images/previews in either.
FF on MacOS.
ta. Incog’s is a link in the clear. Mine is the embed. Lynn has said that the front end viewing problem is on the user side. I will try and add a clear link as I see FB embeds, but feel free to ask the commenter to that as well. They need to use the link tag in the comment box. People may or may not know how to do that.
Would be the problem on the user side be script-blocking all things FB in my browser? If so, shouldn't there be some graceful degradation that shows a missing element rather than nothing?
correction, I can see it on my phone on the Mobile version but not the Desktop version.
Maybe Robert, though it could be difficult to convince people of that. They are perhaps more likely to misinterpret transparency as dysfunction – as CH Smith notes today:
That's right, AB and you are right to say, "it could be difficult to convince people of that" – that's the nub of the problem faced by any organisation. Discretion is the answer but not easy to employ successfully. Word-smithery helps also.
it's a good post from Shaw. I fully expect people to interpret it with ill intent. Shaw being weak and acquiescing to the children etc.
Tuiono is the last not withdraw.
Week could still get interesting.
Has JAG said anything?
He visited our home recently and I showed him around the forest, then off to the cafe for lunch.
I think we're in for a calm week.
Seems like Teanau Tuiono cant make up his mind! Does he seriously think he could beat James Shaw in a vote? As a centre right voter, I would laugh my ass off if he did.
Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono 'considering' a tilt at co-leadership – NZ Herald
Nothing wrong with a contest of opinions unless they want to create an echo chamber filled with group-think, i.e., a group-think tank.
Don't be stupid Jimmy, Tuiono won't stand against Shaw.
GRRRRR…..
"The Government is forging ahead with its income insurance scheme despite concerns about a lack of transparency and the impact on low-income earners, hiring senior staff to move ahead with its delivery."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/govt-hires-for-income-insurance-scheme-despite-timing-concerns
Time for a workers party
Treasury projected a transfer to the government of 1.1 billion in the first 1/4 and 4.3 billion in the first full year for this new tax.
They will remove the jobseekers benefit and there is a limit of sixth months in the insurance.
I doubt even this lot would be suicidal enough to remove Jobseeker in the initial implementation (I dont discount it in the future however)…but its not about employment in any case…yet more deception from the bloody politicians.
Jobseekers is still there,what is the 4.7 billion for?.
More fodder for the financial markets….all pyramid schemes need ongoing buy in.
Newsroom says 3.5b,treasury budget update says 4.7b
ACC levies 4,073 4,463
Income insurance levies – – 1100 4,700
Also looks like a 10% increase in ACC levys (increased admin for insurance levy)
2.77% of wages and salaries (aggregate) comes in at a touch over 4 billion…am guessing the 3.5 accounts for the upper cap.
https://figure.nz/chart/1WBMWhdK83UkwktV
There will be people not eligible so that can’t remove JS.
They could…its only existed for less than a decade.
let me rephrase. Labour won't remove JS because the insurance scheme won't cover everyone.
Nact on the other hand…
The details are yet to be announced….but the insurance scheme COULD cover unemployment and an alternative benefit(s) could cover illness/disability…as in days gone by.
…but as said, this isnt about (un)employment.
from memory, the only people that would get it are those that pay into it and lose their jonb. So if you are a student and then you graduate and can't get a job, you would get JS, not the insurance.
As said the details are still unknown, but one of the concerns is also the possible ineligibility of the self employed.
These are the reasons I say if you are concerned about the impacts of unemployment this is NOT a scheme to address it….and that is because its not about unemployment.
totally. It's Labour's plan to stop more people from slipping into the underclasses, while they leave a big chunk of people in the underclass.
And remove the government (any government) one step away from pressure over unemployment implications…..meanwhile the investor class have their investments supported by worker inputs.
Neoliberalism writ large.
yep. Will help with the neoliberal vote I guess.
I too feel that Labours seeming commitment to this income insurance scheme along with the two-tier COVID payments, does signal a lack of real concern for those on low incomes. How long have they had to action the WEAG recommendations?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/robertson-looks-back-to-the-future-with-income-insurance-scheme
yep. Slap in the face for people that lost their jobs for health reasons and are subsisting on SLP, or worse, on JS. Five years and they can't even bring themselves to name those people outloud.
Interesting. In Germany we have this system since ever.
You pay x amount of your income into the unemployment tax. Your boss does the same. When unemployed one is entitled to 60% of their last net income for 6 month, then a review in which one has to prove that they did not find a job despite search and another 6 month is granted, after that it is Hartz 4 which is the equivalent of social welfare.
This unemployment scheme is for all income groups. But it would make totally sense in NZ to only apply it to those that last need it. It would also make sense for Labour to create something that can very easily be perverted by National.
Since Bismark apparently….and it has a number of differences from what has been outlined here (to date)….
The Hartz laws represented the most important structural reforms since 1969. They were implemented between 2003 and 2005 and introduced the following measures:
Hartz law I (2003) Required the salaried employees to register as job-seekers as soon as they became aware of the date of termination of their employment agreement; Established job recovery assistance measures, as well as the requalification measure mechanism intended for the older job-seekers; Enabled the job-seekers who hadn’t worked long enough to be entitled to the unemployment benefits to receive continuing training aid; Created temporary placement offices; Enabled the employment offices to entrust, by way of contract, the management of back-to-work jobs to third parties; Softened the regulation relating to dismissals; Required from the job-seekers a greater mobility, considered as appropriate.
Hartz law II (2003) Established business start-up aid (creation of the self-employed status); Created service vouchers for domestic employment jobs; Amended certain provisions relating to mini-jobs and midi-jobs; Set the conditions for creating the future Job-Centers.
Hartz law III (2004) Reorganized the employment public service
Hartz law IV (2005) Reformed the unemployment benefit payment system: reduction of the length of time during which unemployment benefits are paid to 12 months (unemployment benefit I); Merged the long term unemployment benefit and the social aid into a single unemployment benefit II; Established a social aid reserved to the job-seekers unable to work.
https://www.unedic.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/Insight_Germany-unemployment-insurance-system-ENG_decembre_2019.pdf
Im unclear where the German premiums end up in that system…here the proposal is an ACC type investment fund.
https://www.iamexpat.de/expat-info/social-security/unemployment-benefits-germany-arbeitslosengeld#:~:text=Your%20benefit%20will%20be%2060,just%20like%20a%20regular%20wage.
And of course what one gets today under Hartz4 as a lumpsum is less then what it was when one individually applied for 'fringe benefits'. Maybe that is what made that reform so 'important'. The reduction of services and pay out.
Disclaimer: I have a disabled brother on HArtz4 who will every now end then be invited to the unemployment office to prove he is still disabled. Something he did not have to do before Hartz4.
However unemployemnt pay outs in Germany are capped:
vs here in NZ were it on the surface seems that he only ones benefitting from this payout are the very well to do people in Government, NGO, Charities and the likes that may or may not lose jobs in the future if the government were to change. I am not sure as are many others here that it will benefit that Janitor or Service person from Poorland NZ.
Both unemployment benefits and Hartz4 are granted by the Unemployment Agency, whilst there was a Socialwelfare Agency to deal with those that needed different aid in the past.
Australia cpi comes in at 6.1 (the quarter at 1.8 down from 2.1)
Food was 7.3.
The next 1/4 will have the large electricity increases in it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/inflation-figured-to-be-released/101269692
Congratulations to Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
He has announced that he has sent a directive to 14 Local Body Councils to fluoridate their water supplies. Great news. As a former School Dental Nurse this is a special concern for me.
Through stupidity – and once again listening to disinformation – many councils have badly failed their communities and their children in particular. The rate of decay in children's teeth has skyrocketed in recent decades and that can lead to all manner of on-going health problems. Contrary to the claims of the nay-sayers, fluoridation is totally safe and the process is carried out under strict protocols.
I expect the "Freedumb Crowd" to holler and shout. Let em scream. Sometimes for the health and safety of everybody, such directives and indeed legislation if required have to be made.
Fully agree, Anne.
In 1970 as a 1st-yr teacher, I asked a 3rd-form class who had a filling in their teeth. Only 2 or 3 raised a hand. My town had been adding fluoridating water for some years. When I was in the 3rd form, we all had mouths filled with amalgam..
But since then my perception is that the great evil of SUGAR has doubled its input, and now even fluoride cannot cope.
To take away the fluoride is idiotic.
But to do nothing about excessive sugar everywhere is even more idiotic.
Where is the reduce sugar campaign? Worn down by unfavourable coverage in capitalist media controlled by big companies like sugar manufacturers?
Another ugly side effect of neoliberalism. Money grubbing corporates and their equally grubby media counterparts dominating the discourse. I venture to suggest there is also a link to the internet which is awash with batshit crazy conspiracy theories.
Anecdotal, but relevant.
Rural water, so definitely no fluoride.
All four children no fillings. Oldest now 26 years.
Are there any downsides to universal fluoride in drinking water that people should be aware of?
Some people who drink and smoke all their lives live to a grand old age.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2019/11/how-some-people-live-to-be-110-despite-smoking-and-drinking-their-way-through-life.html
Are there any downsides to drinking and smoking that people should be aware of?
I plan to take up pipe smoking on my 90th birthday.
Will you inhale?
Absolutely. And smooth that rough throat with a nice whisky.
As they fasten the bungy-rubbers to your ankles?
My FIL started smoking at 6, and kept on doing so till 93.
His sister, adult smoker, developed throat cancer in her 70s.
We used to joke about his lungs being leather bellows. When he died, we gave his almost full tobacco pack to his smoking buddy at the home – a grateful 92 yr old.
Are there any downsides to universal fluoride in drinking water that people should be aware of?
Thing is…such is the extremely polarised nature of the issue, any discussion of potential 'cons' is going to elicit the usual reaction from the 'pro' group. All is binary dontcha know.
Wiki has a very good page on the issue…bearing in mind that only a 5.7 % of the human race has access to the benefits of artificial fluoridation through water supply. Some countries have naturally high levels of fluoride in the water and it has to be removed to make it safe.
This page explores water fluoridation in various countries in some depth and is well worth a read. The one that caught my eye was what happened in Israel. From 2002 water fluridation was required by law…but this was repealed in 2014 on the grounds that…
"Only some 1% of the water is used for drinking, while 99% of the water is intended for other uses (industry, agriculture, flushing toilets etc.). There is also scientific evidence that fluoride in large amounts can lead to damage to health. When fluoride is supplied via drinking water, there is no control regarding the amount of fluoride actually consumed, which could lead to excessive consumption. Supply of fluoridated water forces those who do not so wish to also consume water with added fluoride."[19] Many in the medical and dental communities in Israel criticized the decision as a mistake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_by_country
All very well putting fluoride in the water…but are you going to get your target demographic to drink it?
Interestingly…our very own Mystery of Health has a flyer on Vitamin D during pregnancy.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAQQw7AJahcKEwjgtIOIiZr5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.health.govt.nz%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2Ftopic_sheets%2Fvitamin-d-factsheet-dec20.pdf&psig=AOvVaw3h3EHtKN8FuQVBY36ZPXEH&ust=1659045640611031 (Sorry for the ugly link..but following the directive not to embed.)
Low Vitamin D levels during pregnancy can lead to poor bones and teeth in the child. Is the checking of maternal Vitamin D SOP in New Zealand for all pregnant women?
Its complicated…not binary at all.
(Anecdotally Molly…three kids…youngest 30…rural raised on unfiltered tank water and bugger all fillings. While we didn't have a sugar ban…fizzy drinks were special occasion only and I most definitely never had them sucking on bottles of anything other than water. Likewise I ensured I ate healthy when pregnant. )
"Thing is…such is the extremely polarised nature of the issue, any discussion of potential 'cons' is going to elicit the usual reaction from the 'pro' group. All is binary dontcha know."
Thought you were going to talk about vaccines 🙂
There's a pattern in your thinking, Rosemary!
You might also be interested in comparing the % of public supplied fluoridated water in various regions with the % of 5 year olds with 0 fillings.
https://www.ehinz.ac.nz/indicators/water/drinking-water-quality/access-to-fluoridated-drinking-water/
https://www.ehinz.ac.nz/indicators/water/drinking-water-quality/oral-health-of-children/
For instance, Counties/Manukau has 90-100% access to fluoridated water but the lowest % of 5 year olds with no fillings.
It'd be handy if chucking a bunch of chemicals into the town supply would provide a universal fix…but it is not that simple.
There was a section of rural NZ that had sufficient natural deposits present in their drinking water to be effective. I think it was somewhere in the South Island but have long forgotten the details. Whether it is still the case I don't know.
High natural deposits are present in parts of Europe and at a high level of concentration. High concentration can cause white spots to appear on the enamel surface of teeth but that is not going to occur in NZ as the specified level of fluoride deposits are low by comparison.
https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/code-practice-fluoridation-drinking-water-supplies-new-zealand#:~:text=The%20Code%20of%20Practice%20specifies,chemicals%20to%20drinking%2Dwater%20supplies
It should be pointed out that fluoride exists naturally in streams and water ways. Its not some kind of man-made chemical.
Edit: some people have naturally healthy teeth and gums. Good genes. Sounds like that was the case with your children Molly and no doubt they were brought up on a healthy diet too which is a big help.
I’ve heard of some rural folks cleaning their teeth with a handheld tool or device and some kind of white paste …
Yes but fluoride is a commie plot that robs you of your bodily fluids.
The pure white paste is fine, of course. However, you must watch out for the ones with a red stripe; only use the ones with a blue stripe according to my dentist Dr Morpheus.
Do the spectral regimes transform under rotation from the western hemisphere to the southern hemisphere ?
Spicy Sweet Homemade Mouthwash
I found the following recipe on Mother Earth Living and tried it:
Spicy Sweet Mouthwash
This mouthwash requires a couple of weeks for the spices to steep in the alcohol.
And the hangover?
Hair of the dog
Twig and baking soda – I know those people!
I'll bite (Freedumb)You may well be one of them,and/or it's been a very long time since you practiced. Fluoride is very good at killing "good bacteria",that is the problem needing addressed.
Sorry can't/not linking,Google or any search engine will help.
I was in High School in Tauranga when fluoride was added to the Tauranga water supply (around 50 years ago). I used to see the dentist every 6 months and every time I needed multiple fillings – after fluoride was added I needed One filling in the next two years. I believe it's lunacy that some local bodies still haven't adopted it.
"Fluoride is very good at killing "good bacteria"…
Course “you're not goin to link”. Comes from some wingnut conspiracy theory to be sure!
And why do you think you know more about dentistry than me? Are you a dentist?
15 sec google.
https://www.knightpediatricdentistry.com/post/how-does-fluoride-help-oral-health
The issue is whether the concentrations in town supply water are sufficient to have an effect. Or what effect they have when the water is being drunk every day.
Are you sure it was fluoride AND not Fluorine?
https://www.knightpediatricdentistry.com/post/how-does-fluoride-help-oral-health