Open mike 28/03/2021
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6:00 am, March 28th, 2021 - 42 comments
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- NZ Child Suicide Crisis: Experts Muddying the Waters
Sarah HetrickThe latest UNICEF Report Card 19 has delivered a wake up call to New Zealand’s conscience, ranking us dead last for child and youth mental health among 36 OECD and EU countries, with the highest youth suicide rate at 17.1 per 100,000 for 15 to 19-year-olds, nearly X3 the ...5 hours ago - Learning what’s at stake with the Weather & Climate Livestream
As any reader is likely aware, in the United States big deletions are being made to the capabilities of a plethora of federal agencies. These include the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has a mission including that of keeping us safer in the case of "bad luck" due to ...1 day ago - Politicians, speak openly about China. Chinese-Australians won’t mind
Beijing would have us believe that Australian politicians cannot speak openly and honestly about China’s geopolitical ambitions without fear of losing Chinese-Australian voters. Don’t fall for it: Chinese-background voters are as divided and cantankerous as ...1 day ago - Say it again: Hate crimes are not terrorism.
Since I have written extensively about this subject over the years I will not bore readers with more tedious expositions. But in light of recent events I thought it would be permissible to height some basic facts about hate crimes and terrorism. Here goes: Government officials, politicians and media have ...1 day ago - Aotearoa should not have places named after slavers
What do Picton, Ashburtn, Stokes Valley, and Ellice St in wellington have in common? They're all named after slave-owners. This is abhorrent. Naming stuff after foreign imperialists is bad enough, but slave-owners were participants in one of the greatest crimes against humanity in human history. We should not be naming ...1 day ago - Regulating X isn’t censorship. It’s self-defence
In 2024, during the fiercely fought US presidential election campaign, current US Vice President JD Vance made an extraordinary ultimatum: if Europe wanted the United States to remain committed to NATO, it should stop regulating ...1 day ago
- National’s “investment boost”
I've been thinking a bit about National's "investment boost", the centrepiece of its dogshit budget. Its pitched by the government as encouraging big capital investments which will create jobs for the future. But I don't think there's much chance of that. The problem is that the policy just won't last ...1 day ago
- The basket is full of rotting kumara, Hosking is full of reckons
1. What does Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi mean in English?a. As liquefaction is to the ground beneath us, so is Mike Hosking to the air aboveb. With your basket and my basket the people will livec. This joke of a government is a ...1 day ago - NZ Herald’s Cancel Culture Targets Winston Peters’ Heckler
The right-wing establishment and their media lapdogs are at it again, this time sinking their claws into a private citizen who dared to heckle Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters at a Wellington Railway Station press conference. The NZ Herald, in a particularly vile move, has taken it upon themselves to ...2 days ago
- Learn from Finland: Australia doesn’t assess its risks, isn’t ready for them
‘Australia was ill-prepared for war in 1941. In 2025, we’re making the same grave mistake’. That’s the headline of an article by Geoffrey Blainey in The Australian on Anzac Day. ‘Australia is not prepared for a ...2 days ago
- Just a Girl
Oh, I'm just a girl, living in captivityYour rule of thumb makes me worrisomeOh, I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?What I've succumbed to is making me numbOh, I'm just a girl, my apologiesWhat I've become is so burdensomeOh, I'm just a girl, lucky meTwiddle-dum, there's no comparisonWriter(s): Gwen Stefani, ...2 days ago - Trump brings AI, not democracy, to the Middle East
US foreign policy no longer pursues strategic influence through ideological alignment but through advanced technological primacy and infrastructural reach. When US President Donald Trump returned to the Middle East earlier this month, he did not ...2 days ago
- Bernard Hickey, Peter Bale, Lara Greaves, Craig Renney & Terry Baucher ‘Hoon’ around...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about Budget 2025 with:Vic Uni political scientist Lara Greaves;CTU Economist ; and,Tax commentator Terry Baucher.The Hoon’s podcast version above was recorded on Thursday night during a live webinar for over ...2 days ago - Danger Is Literally Their Middle Name
Hi,This week was another week of the “students identifying as cats and shitting kitty litter trays” story being spouted as fact by idiots with platforms.It’s frustrating to see. As I wrote way back in 2022:“If you’re even slightly savvy you’ll know the cat article is an implicit attack of trans ...2 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Budget 2025
Underwhelming, as promised. All week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis had actively reduced public expectations by saying that her second Budget would not be filled “with rainbows and unicorns” although – somewhere over the rainbow – it would somehow deliver the twin unicorns of “hope for the future” and “genuine growth.” ...2 days ago - Operatunity Knocks
All the things that you needed from meAll the things that you wanted for meAll the things that I should've given but I didn'tOh, darling, make it go awayJust make it go away nowSongwriter: Kate Bush Read more ...2 days ago - Budget 2025: Nicola Willis Delivers More Austerity
The National-led government’s 2025 Budget, unveiled today by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, dressed up as a “Growth Budget” is gambling with our future and delivering nothing but austerity for the vast majority of New Zealanders.Willis promised a disciplined, growth-oriented plan, but the numbers tell a grim story of cuts, broken ...2 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #21 2025
Open access notables Shifting Gears in a Shifting Climate: Birds Adjust Migration Speed in Response to Spring Vegetation Green-Up, Amaral et al., Diversity and Distributions Our results have direct implications for the conservation of migratory bird diversity in Eastern North America. While birds show some plasticity in adjusting migration pace, this ...2 days ago
- Taiwan, a leader in public health, should be in the WHO
Taiwan urges the World Health Organization and all relevant parties to recognise Taiwan’s considerable contributions to global health. We view health as a fundamental human right and universal value. Improved health results in greater well-being ...2 days ago
- Trump’s theatre of the absurd.
I know that it is undiplomatic to say so, but I sure wish that some foreign leader would interrupt one of Trump’s Oval Office public humiliation stunts to tell him to his face in front of the media that he is an adolescent bullying imbecile who seems to think that ...2 days ago
- Reverse Robin Hood Budget steals from working people
Budget 2025 takes $12.8bn from low-income, female dominated workforces to prop up the Government’s failed economic policies, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The Government has promised this would be a growth budget, yet it has effectively cut the wages of low-income women workers. We know that one ...2 days ago - A few short thoughts about the budget
Thought oneTurns out Andrea Vance was understating it.You're substantially and unfairly and unreasonably handicapping the pay equity process, everyone told Nicola Willis,Wrong, she said.This is likely to deprive women who do some of the hardest shittiest unappreciated work of decent pay, they told her.Wrong, wrong wrong, she said.You don't care; ...2 days ago - ‘Deterrence’—an agreeable word that obscures strategic debate
Deterrence has become the centrepiece of Australian strategic thinking, but its value has become more political than strategic. The focus on deterrence has advantages in terms of messaging, but this has tended to muddy Australia’s ...2 days ago
- Budget 2025
Get more from Bernard Hickey in the Substack appAvailable for iOS and AndroidGet the app Read more ...2 days ago - The (deeply underwhelming) Budget
2 days ago - Drawn
A ballot for three member's bills was held this morning, and the following bills were drawn: Local Government (Port Companies Accountability) Amendment Bill (Lemauga Lydia Sosene) Financial Markets (International Money Transfers) Amendment Bill (Arena Williams) Military Decorations and Distinctive Badges (Modernisation) Amendment Bill (Tim van de ...2 days ago
- Budget 2025 highlights and invite to live chat session at 3.30 pm
Just briefly in Budget 2025 around the areas of housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy:The Government said Budget 2025 was about ‘Going for Growth,’ but the Budget forecast slower growth, higher Government borrowing, less housing spending, lower KiwiSaver contributions and a net fiscal contraction of three percentage points ...2 days ago - $13 billion
That's how much Nicola Willis thinks she stole from New Zealand women by repealing pay equity: A tax incentive for businesses, boosts to health and education spending, and Crown funding for new gas fields are among new Budget initiatives made viable by nearly $13 billion in cuts to the ...2 days ago
- National grovels to Trump
Its budget day, and the government has been whining about how it has no money and so can't afford anything. Meanwhile, they've just given away half a billion dollars a year to foreign fascist techbros: New Zealand financial statements filed by tech firms including Google, Facebook and Amazon show ...2 days ago
- Pay Equity – what did New Zealand women lose under the cover of darkness and without any prior war...
The law on pay equity was changed without any prior warning during the election campaign, without any select committee process. It has shocked New Zealand women and gutted fundamental rights Come and hear from pay equity experts including women whose claims have been cancelled and what the plan is from ...3 days ago - Budget 2025: delivering for whom?
On 22 May, the coalition government will release its budget for 2025, which it says will focus on "boosting economic growth, improving social outcomes, controlling government spending, and investing in long-term infrastructure.” But who, really, is this budget designed to serve? What values and visions for Aotearoa New Zealand lie ...3 days ago
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OPINIONIt’s supposed to be the first day of my time off, but how can I resist when Mihingarangi Forbes has dropped one of the most compelling, and impactful pieces of investigative journalism I’ve seen.There are extraordinary revelations in her latest MATA episode and it packs a punch in under 40 ...3 days ago
- Food banks pray for Budget help before July 1
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Southeast Asian countries were formerly peripheral to debates on space governance. They had nascent space programs and modest capabilities, and their policy interests focused largely on civilian applications. But this is changing. Growing reliance on ...3 days ago
- NewstalkZB’s Ryan Bridge Is A Hack
Ryan Bridge’s latest Newstalk ZB piece, “It’s three strikes for Chippy,” is an exercise in sloppy punditry, slinging mud at Labour leader Chris Hipkins with flimsy claims and zero evidence. His so-called “three strikes” propaganda, claiming that Hipkins’ ambiguity on the Green Party’s alternative budget, not locking in a 50% ...3 days ago
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If Australia is serious about defending its interests and shaping its region, building out Darwin’s marine industry must be at the forefront of our national agenda. Darwin is where Australia’s northern frontier meets the Indo-Pacific’s ...3 days ago
- The Politician, The Heckler, and Tonkin + Taylor
..The gentleman who heckled Winston Peters at Wellington Railway Station on 20 May, has been ‘outed' by the media as an employee of engineering firm Tonkin + Taylor. It is unclear why media felt it was necessary to dox this man, but in this world of Anything Goes, personal privacy ...3 days ago - To Play the Queen of Hearts: Published
My first published fictional work of 2025: To Play the Queen of Hearts. https://horrificscribblings.com/toplaythequeenofhearts/ A French Revolutionary Horror-Fantasy with a fairly loathsome narrator. Originally inspired by Morrissey’s Margaret on the Guillotine, and as noted elsewhere, a piece with a frustrating publishing history. For other horror authors featured by Horrific Scribes, ...3 days ago - Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti, by Pope Victor III (circa 1080) – A Complete English Transl...
Last month, I completed a long-running translation project, rendering (with AI assistance) Giovanni Pico’s work on astrology into English for the first time: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2025/04/18/disputationes-adversus-astrologiam-divinatricem-by-giovanni-pico-della-mirandola-1496-a-complete-english-translation/ I decided to do a follow-up. A less ambitious follow-up – something far shorter and less complicated – but nevertheless a text that for the past ...3 days ago - Climate Adam: Why Has Global Warming Just Spiked?
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate scientists weren't expecting 2023. The planet's temperature is increasing thanks to that whole burning fossil fuels thing. ...3 days ago
- It’s not just software. Physical critical equipment can’t be trusted, either
Just auditing the software in critical equipment isn’t enough. We must assume that adversaries, especially China, will also exploit the hardware if they can. The latest report on the dangers from China-made solar inverters is ...3 days ago
- Fighting The Left, Fighting The Right
3 days ago - Winston Peters: The Architect Of Political Decay
Winston Peters, New Zealand’s 80-year-old Deputy Prime Minister, has once again proven himself unfit for office and a complete hypocrite by dragging political discourse into the gutter while preaching decorum. Last week, Peters lamented declining standards in the House, only to hurl a homophobic slur at Chris Hipkins, calling him ...4 days ago
- Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. Unusually, its not starting with bills; instead there will be two debates, the first on ACT MP Joseph Mooney's disallowance motion for the tikanga provisions in the Professional Examinations in Law Regulations 2008, and the second to authorise a select committee inquiry into online harm. ...4 days ago
- Australia should establish a unit dedicated to financial warfare capabilities
In an age of great-power competition, the next major conflict may be waged not in the skies over the Indo-Pacific or in the South China Sea, but through sanctions regimes, targeted financial disruptions and coercive ...4 days ago
- Parliamentary privilege is a threat to all of us
People are rightly outraged about psycho fascist Parmjeet Parmar "inquiring" about using the privileges committee to arbitrarily imprison her political opponents. As Chris Hipkins said yesterday, that is the sort of thing which happens in tinpot dictatorships, undemocratic and wrong, and a permanent stain on our Parliament. But its worse ...4 days ago
- Imprisoning Māori For Doing The Haka?
The ACT Party floating the idea of imprisoning Te Pāti Māori MPs for performing a haka in Parliament isn’t just a shameful overreach; it’s a chilling glimpse into a fascist mindset that seeks to silence indigenous voices through state power. According to RNZ, ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar asked the Privileges ...4 days ago
- Overloaded EDs send patients back to after-hours clinics
‘Lucky’ patients who have made it to a trolley in a corridor. Now many others are being redirected to private urgent care clinics due to ED overloading. Photo: Getty ImagesThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, May 21 are: Emergency departments ...4 days ago - Australia must rethink cybercrime to tackle it effectively
Let’s face it: Australia is seen as a soft target for cybercriminals. Its fragmented cybercrime response makes both individuals and institutions more vulnerable. Australia’s cybercrime framework must be informed by diverse perspectives, and it must ...4 days ago
- Yellow Mellow
Yellow mellow, yellow mellowHello, hello, yellow mellowYellow mellow, yellow mellowOh, marmaladeSongwriters: Baden Jack Donegal / Nicholas Paul Blom / Mitchell Kenneth Galbraith / Lachlan George Galbraith / Thomas Patrick O'Brien / Angus Owen Goodwin.What a mad day in politics. In yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed hope that politicians from the left ...4 days ago - China’s geopolitical dominance game in the South China Sea
For all the talk about the South China Sea’s complexity as a security issue, its geopolitical significance to China is simple: China wants to condition Southeast Asian states to subordinate status. Southeast Asian countries would ...4 days ago
- Chris Hipkins’ Passionate Speech During Te Pati Māori Penalty Debate
Immediately after Hipkins’ speech, National House Leader Chris Bishop rose to defer the debate, without giving the opposition notice.This means no other opposition members were allowed to speak, despite the government scheduling the debate for today.A shortened clip of 3 minutes for those short on time:Tin-Pot DemocracyI was right in ...4 days ago
- 65
Today my heart attack turns 38 and I turn 65. It's now way older than I was when it grabbed me in a hotel bar at ten in the morning on my 27th birthday and squeezed.So many things I think of as just the other day turn out to be ...4 days ago - Indonesia has good reasons to reject Russian aircraft basing
Indonesia has plenty of reason to reject basing of Russian aircraft at its air force base on Biak, an island north of New Guinea at 1,400 km from Darwin. From Russia’s point of view, keeping ...4 days ago
- A desperate delay
So, that was a bit of a damp squib. Everyone having geared up for an epic filibuster battle which would upset the government's legislative program for at least the day, National has now abused its parliamentary majority to adjourn the debate on its outrageous and anti-democratic punishment of Te Pāti ...4 days ago
- Reported back
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill. The bill as introduced was a tyrannical law which threatened to outlaw protest and ordinary democratic activity in Aotearoa on the basis of government conspiracy theories and fantasies about its motivations. The good news is that ...4 days ago
- Hard to believe really
Take a scenario, just as a thought experiment for now. A new government gets elected, amid a lot of rhetoric about excessive increases in government spending and public service numbers. They pretty quickly move to require government departments – typically funded by Parliament through annual appropriations – to cut their ...4 days ago
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This submission to the TEC outlines the NZCTU’s concerns about the ongoing reforms to vocational education and training, and our views on the coverage and membership of the new Industry Skills Boards.NZCTU submission – ISBs, 20 May 2025Download The post Submission on Industry Skills Boards’ Coverage appeared ...5 days ago
- Pay Equity Explainers
It took less than two days for the Government to announce their changes to the Equal Pay Act, and then make those changes. Because things happened this fast, a huge amount of information about pay equity has sprung up in a really short time-frame—which can be pretty confusing for anyone ...5 days ago- Tuesday 21 May
Unions are pointing out that changes to the pay equity system have made it “virtually impossible” for new claims to succeed. The government will spend more than $600 million to upgrade the country’s rail network as part of this year’s Budget. Cabinet has signed off on introducing the Regulatory Standards ...5 days ago- OECD Debt Comparisons For NZ Are Wrong
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand recently patted itself on the back, claiming our government debt-to-GDP ratio of around 44.3% in 2024 was "low" compared to OECD peers like the US (113%) or Japan (242%). Sounds comforting, right? Wrong! This smug comparison glosses over a critical reality: New Zealand’s geographic ...5 days ago- Which side are you on, Labour?
Today will see an unprecedented moment in Parliament. A racist government whose leader opposes the "Maorification" of New Zealand is using its parliamentary majority to suspend opposition MPs from the House for being Māori, silencing them and the people they represent for up to 21 days. It is outrageous and ...5 days ago- Federalism could torpedo AUKUS
AUKUS is under pressure, not from adversaries abroad but from state governments at home. While Canberra drives the security pact forward, Australian states are the ones that that hold the constitutional levers over the land ...5 days ago- Luxon’s Anti-Māori Mask Slips Again
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has once again stocked the fire a racial disharmony, this time with a damning comment that reeks of anti-Māori sentiment. In a recent Newstalk ZB interview with Mike Hosking, Luxon responded to a question about the “Māorification of this country” by saying, “Well where ...5 days ago- How do you stop a pitchfork?
Last night, I put up a video where Luxon said he would not back down on the 21 day penalty for Te Pāti Māori MPs.Then came the pitchforks:“Boot them out. No compromise.”“Why debate....boot them....rules are rules!!!!”There were outwardly racist comments too.It’s hard to explain to an angry mob that there ...5 days ago- Monday 19 May
The PSA says mediation has failed to resolve its conflict with the government over working from home, with the case now heading to the ERA. Food prices have risen at their fastest pace in more than a year driven by more expensive dairy products, hinting that inflation pressures are gathering ...5 days ago- May AMA (+ Webworm Updates)
Hi,One of my favourite things on Webworm is doing these semi-regular AMAs — which I’ve been doing for four years now!In some ways they are daunting — I want to respond to questions with some thought and nuance, but also it can be fun just going with more unguarded-train-of-consciousness responses ...5 days ago- The Coalition’s Disinformation Undermining Our Democracy
The New Zealand government, National, ACT, and NZ First, has been very busy recently earning its moniker: the Coalition of Chaos. This unholy trinity seems hell-bent on trying to rewrite reality, peddling lies that erode public trust in politics, and flouting the rules of decorum in an orchestrated attack on ...5 days ago- The Green Budget: Cutting Through Right-Wing Spin
You might not have heard that the Green Party’s 2025 Alternative Budget is a bold blueprint for a fairer, greener Aotearoa. That's because right-wing spin merchants are twisting its intent and manipulating the narrative with predictable ferocity. From National’s Nicola Willis labeling it “clown show economics” to NZ Herald’s Thomas ...5 days ago- Reuniting ASIO and the AFP under Home Affairs is the right move to address intensifying threats
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to return policy responsibility for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police to the Department of Home Affairs is more than a machinery-of-government change; it’s a long-term ...5 days ago- Volcanic cooling
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The climate has warmed by around 1.4C over the past 170 years as a result of human emissions of CO2 and other GHGs that have accumulated in the atmosphere. However, GHGs are not the only thing that has an impact on the climate system. Major ...5 days ago- Why Did 1 News Downplay Two By Twos Pedophilia?
5 days ago- ‘Weaponise rates to drive housing intensification’
Should Auckland Council set higher higher rates to densify housing around the stations on the City Rail Link, where low-rise warehouses and housing currently predominate? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, May 20 are: Apartment ...5 days ago- Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...5 days ago- Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...5 days ago - Pay Equity Explainers
- Release: Govt guts emergency housing while need increases
The National Government has cut $1 billion from the emergency housing budget on the false pretence that demand is reducing, while also ending contracted emergency housing from December this year. ...2 days ago - Release: $1 billion of Māori funding gone
The Government should hang its head in shame after a budget that takes a knife to more Māori programmes. ...2 days ago
- Budget 2025 delivers little to nothing for our youngest
The Government’s Budget offers little more than crumbs for our tamariki, while real issues in the ECE system are ignored. ...2 days ago - Minister for the Environment missing in action in Budget 2025
Budget 2025 makes it crystal clear that this Government has no interest in protecting nature or securing a liveable future for our tamariki. ...2 days ago
- Government’s Budget fails Māori
The Government has failed Māori and ignored its Te Tiriti obligations with its Budget, says Te Mātāwaka, the Green Party’s Māori and Pasifika Caucus. ...2 days ago
- Housing crisis will rage on with Budget 2025
Budget 2025 makes clear that the Coalition Government has no long-term plan to help communities most in need of public housing. ...2 days ago
- Government pours gas on the climate crisis fire
Budget 2025 has put our climate targets in serious jeopardy, says the Green Party. ...2 days ago
- Budget 2025 leaves future of school lunches uncertain
The future of the Ka Ora | Ka Ako school lunch programme looks to be uncertain with Budget 2025 failing to provide any funding beyond 2026. ...2 days ago
- Budget to increase energy hardship
Budget 2025 delays our transition to a low emissions and low-cost energy network, this will put even more pressure on households, businesses and the climate. ...2 days ago
- ‘Growth Budget’ = growth in poverty
The Government’s Budget is failing families in poverty by pulling the rug on young people receiving income support and allowing more children to go without enough food on the table. ...2 days ago
- Release: National failing on the cost of living
Despite all the promises, Kiwis are still going backwards in Budget 2025. ...2 days ago
- Release: The Austerity Budget that leaves women out
Today’s Budget is a masterclass in making the wrong decisions for New Zealanders. ...2 days ago
- Release: Bills increase transparency of money transfers and ports
Two Labour bills drawn from the Member’s Ballot today would require greater transparency of international money transfers, and bring more public accountability and transparency to port companies. ...2 days ago
- ‘Growth Budget’ growing inequality and fuelling climate crisis
Budget 2025 represents a significant step backwards for Aotearoa, with the Government adding fuel to the fire when it comes to the climate and inequality crises, says the Green Party. ...3 days ago
- Release: Half a billion dollar tax break for tech giants
The Government is taking the Digital Services Tax off their books, effectively handing a $479 million tax break to global tech giants, like Facebook and Google. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt helps banks dodge repayment claims for Kiwis
The Government is moving to let two of the country’s most profitable banks off the hook for money owed to their customers. ...3 days ago
- Release: Search begins for rare family receiving $250
The Government can’t say if even a single family has received the $250 a fortnight they were promised. ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt risks hospice care by cutting women’s pay
The Government’s decision to cut women’s pay could result in an exodus of palliative care nurses from the profession. ...5 days ago
- Release: Govt leaves sexual abuse survivors out in the cold
The Government is quietly cutting more services for women, this time it’s ACC support for survivors of sexual abuse and pausing the expansion of a major sexual violence prevention programme. ...5 days ago
- Report shows Govt’s callous lack of support for system at breaking point
A new report from Aotearoa Educators’ Collective, released today, has confirmed what teachers, students, and whanau have been calling out for years–our learning support system is overstretched, underfunded, and simply not working. ...5 days ago
- Prime Minister must scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill
The Green Party is urging the Prime Minister to get rid of the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. ...5 days ago
- Release: Women in funded sector unlikely to get pay equity
The Government is unlikely to fund pay equity for hospice and Plunket nurses, care and support workers and other workforces made up of mostly women. ...6 days ago
- Chris Hipkins Speech Auckland regional conference
Tēnā koutou katoa. It’s fantastic to be here with you all—grassroots campaigners, organisers, union members, councillors, MPs, and Labour whānau. ...1 week ago
- Release: Minister’s rash orders fail frontline providers
The Auditor-General has found serious failings in the Government’s review of frontline providers such as counselling and prevention services. ...1 week ago
- Release: Prices keep rising while National cuts women’s pay
Prices for essentials, like milk, butter and electricity continue to get more expensive under National, at the same time as the Government takes money from women’s pockets to save their budget. ...1 week ago
- Te Pāti Māori Condemns Fast-Track Approval of Seabed Mining
Te Pāti Māori is gravely concerned by the Government’s approval of the Trans-Tasman Resources (Taranaki VTM) seabed mining project under its fast-track regime. This marks the first time a commercial shallow seabed mining operation has been approved anywhere in the world- pushed through with no transparency, no public input, and ...1 week ago
- Social Security Amendment Bill pushes poverty on people
The Government’s just-passed Social Security Amendment Bill is set to create more benefit sanctions that will push families deeper into poverty. ...1 week ago
- Report exposes damage of rushed cuts to Oranga Tamariki
Today’s report into last year’s Oranga Tamariki contract procurement process confirms the Government’s brutal cuts were rushed, poorly managed, and made with no concern for the impact on tamariki. ...1 week ago
- 210,000 Māori Silenced: Committee Delivers Harshest Punishment in Parliament History
Today the Privileges Committee handed down a severe punishment. Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have been suspended for 21 days, and MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been suspended for 7 days. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt finally admits 180,000 in line for a pay cut
The Government finally admitted late last night that roughly 180,000 people will be affected by its decision to halt pay equity claims. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Admin nearly a quarter of entire FamilyBoost spend
Nearly a quarter of the money spent on the Government’s flagship FamilyBoost policy has gone to administration, not to families to help with childcare. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Budget: Free GPs for all
The Green Party has launched its plan for Free GPs as part of its Green Budget. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Budget for a country worth fighting for
The Green Budget shows how much better our lives could be under a Green Government, instead of one dominated by corporate greed. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Budget: Early Childhood Education for Everyone
The Green Party has unveiled its new plan to make Early Childhood Education (ECE) free. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Budget delivers for Māori
The Green Party is delivering for Māori with its Green Budget. ...2 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins: Pre-Budget speech
Tēnā koutou katoa. Good morning. I read recently that one of the keys to success in life is to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. ...2 weeks ago
- Release; Budget should not be paid for by working women
The Government must do three things in Budget 2025 if it is genuinely going to turn things around for New Zealanders. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Peeni Henare takes over foreign affairs
Labour’s Peeni Henare will pick up the foreign affairs portfolio, following David Parker’s departure from Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt better at crushing women’s rights than cars
Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay. ...2 weeks ago
- No Justice for State Abuse Survivors- Kapa-Kingi
Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau calls out the government’s decision to keep funding state abuse, turning their backs on justice and real change for abuse in care survivors. “The government has committed to throwing $744 million down the drain, reinforcing a violent regime of disrespect against the ...2 weeks ago
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There are only two places I've seen Kokako; one is on Titiritiri Matangi Island and the other is on an obscure track up from the Fairy Falls in Auckland's Waitakere Ranges.
But after near-extinction and monumental volunteer and iwi and DOC efforts, there are now 2,000 of them.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2103/S00208/milestone-for-kokako-as-population-soars.htm
This is what they sound like:
Simply, congratulations to all who worked to ensure that species doesn't die.
One day I will get to the Pureora. It was a mighty fight to save that forest. So congratulations also to those who fought successfully to preserveit.
On 2nd June 2019, 4 were released into the Hunuas.
Such a lovely bird in flight
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/115879149/kkako-singing-after-1080-court-case
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/399013/kokako-tours-let-the-public-get-up-close-with-threatened-birds
Interesting analysis that cites Sinead Boucher's decision to pull Stuff's advertising from Facebook a couple of years ago (scroll to the end):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/27/is-online-advertising-about-to-crash-just-like-the-property-market-did-in-2008
The same can be said for all forms of advertising, it's a giant leap of faith that you will get some return on your spend. Often you don't.
Measuring the effectiveness of advertising isn't scientific, and most of those doing the measurement want to demonstrate ROI for their client.
Yeah, especially when it's very obvious to the client that the campaign hasn't worked and may have even been negative.
We got this jem in the inbox from Destination Queenstown last week explaining the summer marketing flop. We turned over 1/10 of our rent through December and January, gather that was typical for retail around town, Wanaka and Stewart Island had record months…
The thing I dont understand is why would you buy something a sports person advertises.
Walking through residential areas I see a lot of signs on letter boxes. Posted letters only, no junk mail, no circulars…
Chris Bishop is always busy barking at cars
National wants answers over vaccination system coding error (msn.com)
Perhaps he has a little team of hackers trying to penetrate Govt systems, as with the leaked details of the 2019 budget? One can imagine the type – young fogey script kiddies with the words of Ayn Rand still coursing hot through their veins. If they find anything at all, Chris then gets to shout “scandal” from the rooftops.
Unfortunately the Budget 2019 was not a hack it was simply bad / no security.
The irony – it burns!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/439078/andrew-little-defends-sis-criticises-media-coverage
The irony is lost on many, I’d imagine. Little’s comments apply to much of what passes as ‘public discourse’, including on this site, IMHO.
For example, it would help if people quote in full rather than selectively to suit their narrative, as that is conducive to mature and intelligent debate on complex issues.
Good luck with that, Mr Little, you can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.
Listening to Queen and the Bohemian Rhapsody I realised that it could be the anthem for present day NZ. Was Freddie Mercury divine and we didn't recognise him as such? He drew crowds, put out great messages, died early.
Bracken's God Defend New Zealand reflects our past centuries, like the Christchurch cathedral. Have we the strength of mind to look at the B.Rhapsody and turn to change our tune, so to speak. Not so much 'my' end but it will be 'our' end if we don't start acting positively, rationally, and away from the leitmotif of growth, profit, and louche theories that play with our minds.
When I left teaching, my farewell speech to the staff was based on the premise that the lyrics of "Bohemian Rhapsody", a song that I taught in a semester class on song lyrics, was not about a young man about to be executed for murder but the last thoughts before retirement of a secondary teacher as he reviewed his teaching career.
A little bit of levity on a Sunday morning: I reckon this should become NZs National Anthem (apart from the unfortunate appearance of Richard Prebble who did his best to make this country a carbon copy of the US!)
edit
Tony V – Snap as we used to say when thinking the same thing. I thought about NZ anthem separately – great coincidence. John Clarke moved from NZ because we loved him too much and Australia offered more opportunities of revving up the government. He will always have a good message for us, to cheer us along the right path. Looked at objectively was he a greater asset to NZ and the world than Rutherford? Heresy!
Agreed, Greywarshark. Just listened to the dirge being played before the NZ vs Bangladesh T20 match.
The English words written by the arch misogynist Thomas Bracken. Hardly inspiring!
Bracken, was a man of his time I think. We need to ensure we don't drive the Tardis to another 19th century scenario.
I agree about the dirge – I was always embarrassed singing it. This would be a good one I reckon – fit for a country of stoic people that build things.
Shame the movie was rubbish.
I’d start with changing the flag and go from there.
I'd start with building some cheap rentals and leave adjusting the bunting til later.
― Otto von Bismarck
How ironic that you of all people missed the irony, but it seems that you might not be the only one. I guess I’ll have to start including little emoticons and tags again <sigh>.
Yes by all means give us a guide to what you mean Incognito. I rely on measured comment when I read you to feed my need to see reasoned comment, or humour, whichever is appropriate for the subject. There is little enough around so yours is appreciated – too ironic and we lose the thread.
So you're casting or revealing yourself as a cynic?
Nope, I have my moments, but this wasn’t one of them. Just pointing out that irony is often lost on many, as was evident here on TS yesterday.
Agree that $25 mill would have given us about a 100 units. Key was an idiot wasn't he.
Flag – bit of coloured cloth, representation of a national entity.
Song for NZ – sung individually to affirm our belief in NZ and our humanity – comes from the brain, heart and soul, it is spoken, is an action.
RIP to those in Myanmar now dead, and how can we bring a cessation to this action in Myanmar now? Concentrating on this and not looking at other horrors in the world.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/439314/114-killed-in-myanmar-s-deadliest-day-of-coup
Interesting comments by Bernardi on Biden
Who is Bernardi?
Why is it interesting?
Why should we click and watch a YT clip?
Where is your own opinion and political analysis contribution besides calling it “interesting”?
Is Bernardi’s ‘analysis‘ entirely disinterested? These pejoratives suggest not: "crazy Nancy Pelosi"; "hapless Chuck Schumer"; "cackling Kamala Harris" – it’s sour grapes imo.
What a pathetic waste of time.
Biden is generating a masterclass on how to get elected as a centrist then go hard on policy as soon as you get into power.
Hopefully this guy is on a plane out of NZ in July then.
Karel Sroubek given date for deportation hearing | Stuff.co.nz
While he is a piece of work I fail to see why he is any different from the 501s we continue to take in.
10.1 We don't have a choice with the 501s expelled from Australia. But we must have some rules about foreigners in NZ being of good behaviour – though I don't understand just how it works. For instance the Joanne Wotsername who was imprisoned for defrauding the country, and seems a seasoned liar and finagler; she was jailed but just a tap on the hand and has been sent back to UK. We can't allow foreigners of bad repute to accumulate here and rip us off, better if we act early. We have enough woes to deal with.
There are stirrers, particularly females at present, protesting in our streets about hurts to their sisters in the USA, and adding to that NZ information that seems exaggerated from what I read.
Mar.27/21 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439300/rally-protests-against-anti-asian-violence-abuse-in-us-and-nz
More than a thousand people have turned out for a rally in central Auckland calling for discrimination against Asians to stop.…
Organiser Steph Tan is calling on the government to do more to prevent hate crime, especially toward Asian communities.
During an interview with Afternoons this week, she said the march was a chance to express solidarity with Asian-Americans as they grieved over the loss of six Asian women among the eight people killed by a gunman in Atlanta…
She said during 2020 hate crimes committed towards Asian-Americans had risen by 1900 percent during the Covid-19 pandemic as they were blamed for the origin of the virus.
I think that the USA needs to deal with their problems. Why are we dragged in to blame for their shonky culture? Is NZ evidence being talked up, with individual instances becoming inflated? I was annoyed at the church which refused to co-operate with the government which then led to a lockdown in Auckland? If I criticise and express annoyance does this go down as showing intolerance, and if the people were Asian is that racism for the purposes of the Race Relations Commissioner? I think there is a possibility that each occurrence is regarded as evidence of widespread attitudes, wrongly.
I too have wondered if we are importing grievances that are not really our own. We surely have enough of our own issues to be going on with. Plus the framing of them seems to usually be "the locals treat us badly". I have certainly seen instances, particularly in employment, where the locals have been hit by racist, sexist or other poor or non legal attitudes that have external cultural bias. Of course the behaviour and the framing is not acceptable from either group.
He is different. He was only in NZ for 7 years before his conviction. But then again he came in on a false passport so that my be enough.
Unlike Australia if you were here 10 years or longer we accept we may have some responsibility.
Looks like he has cost the country a compliance fortune.Not the first person who appears to have made it in here under a false name.
Important announcement from business on housing resource – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439342/concerns-cost-of-timber-will-rise-as-major-supplier-halts-local-sales
Carter Holt Harvey has stopped supplying structural timber to Bunnings, ITM and Mitre 10.
Master Builders president Kerry Archer said the move came as a surprise, and was probably because the export market was more lucrative.
Archer said while Carter Holt Harvey was not the only timber supplier, it could mean construction projects cost more as builders try to source supplies elsewhere.
"You can't blame people if they're getting better prices for their logs overseas. It makes it hard to compete I guess, and it's just going to ramp up prices once again.
Who do we blame then? This is the most recent example of a bloody poor business and economic system that NZ citizens have been prevailed on to work under for decades, when it could be seen it was taking us on a hiding to nowhere!! And how can we make change to having to compete with the rest of the world for our own resources needed here???????
We can't put up with this any more. We are being ruined by these shits running the country whoever they are, and their little lapdogs the polly poodles.
oh well, surely we can pivot to some other buildings material. Right? We should have planned for that type of greed to not fall into a monopoly trap? Right?
Never mind building is literally the only sector other then politicians and their consultants that still make money.
But we are lucky, we have a majority government that will come to the aid of the distressed builders and home fixer upper doers, right?