Open mike 28/09/2024
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6:00 am, September 28th, 2024 - 98 comments
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- Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...17 minutes ago - Handling Democracy.
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...1 hour ago - Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...3 hours ago - Open Government: The joke ends
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...4 hours ago - An unusual sort of press conference
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...4 hours ago - This substack has talked about this government’s seeming corruption & pro-corporate issues...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...4 hours ago - NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...4 hours ago - Wednesday 18 December
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...5 hours ago
- Can the government change its mind on the ferries?
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...5 hours ago
- Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...8 hours ago - Member’s morning
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...9 hours ago
- Going Backwards
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...11 hours ago - Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...11 hours ago - December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...11 hours ago - The Making of a Mental Health Rockstar
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...12 hours ago - It could have been worse
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...14 hours ago - The Deep Divisions of Local Government
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...15 hours ago - Willis’ austerity strategy just isn’t working
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...1 day ago
- Sabin 33 #7 – Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...1 day ago - Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU
1 day ago - ‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers
Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...1 day ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...1 day ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...1 day ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...1 day ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...1 day ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...1 day ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...1 day ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...1 day ago
- 8% ACT Party Creates One Ring To Rule Them All
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...1 day ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...1 day ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...1 day ago
- Luxon’s pre-emptive strike
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...2 days ago - More public service contempt of parliament
Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...2 days ago
- If There Is A God
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...2 days ago - A Lipstick Government
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...2 days ago - NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...2 days ago
- Why you won’t hear me advocate for electric cars
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate. I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...2 days ago
- Coalition forced to back down on tolling Pahiatua track
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...2 days ago
- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...3 days ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...3 days ago
- Making Gravy
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...3 days ago - Nothing here but the shadows
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...4 days ago - The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...4 days ago
- Showing the Americans how to do it
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...4 days ago
- 2 Men, 1 Haircut
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...4 days ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...4 days ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...5 days ago - As Our Power Lessens: Accepted
2024 is now officially my best-ever year for short stories. My 1,850-word dark fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens, has been accepted for the upcoming solstice edition of Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/), thereby making that six published short stories for the calendar year. As always, see the Bibliography page for ...5 days ago - Six years of work wasted – Holidays Act reform now years away
Brooke van Velden has wasted six years of work from businesses, unions, and government by binning planned Holidays Act reforms, said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh in response to today’s announcement from Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety. “The Minister has cynically kicked the can on Holiday Act reform even ...5 days ago
- Come Undone?
Words, playing me deja vuLike a radio tune, I swear I've heard beforeChill, is it something real?Or the magic I'm feeding off your fingersWho do you need?Who do you love?When you come undoneSongwriters: John Taylor / Simon Le Bon / Nick Rhodes / Warren Cuccurullo.When this three-way coalition was being ...5 days ago - ‘Tis The Season …
Last week, I was speaking to a doctor in a public health hospital.She was wearing a brown Christmas seasoned shirt littered with pics of candy canes, elves, Xmas trees and mini Santas.And it took me a few minutes into the conversation before the realisation slowly struck me: “It’s Christmas time..!”How ...5 days ago - Friday 13 December
More public service job cuts are on the way, with hundreds more jobs set to be axed at Health NZ, and close to 50 jobs at Te Arawhiti. Winston Peters is saying Nicola Willis’ ferry proposal is now dead in the water and that he is going back to the ...5 days ago
- Govt cancels Tauranga housing expansion
Mōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 12 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below are:The National-ACT-NZ First Government, which has a ‘Going for Housing Growth’ policy designed to massively ...5 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 13-December-2024
It’s one of the final Fridays of the year and we are getting into the last couple of weeks before the summer shutdown. We hope everyone’s excited to have a break! Here’s some of the stories that have caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is ...5 days ago
- The Hoon around the week to December 13
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with: on the Government’s inadequate final emissions reduction plan and pro-business climate appointments; on the lightening overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and what might ...6 days ago
- Our Education System Will Be the Battlegrounds for the New Culture War
Luxon is the best negotiator. He’s just negotiated us into a culture war and he doesn’t even know it. Neoliberalism is preventing our school system from serving the population. People — most people — cannot really select the schools their children go to unless they are wealthy enough to pay ...6 days ago - The ferry saga; cracks in the coalition and closing Wellington’s container port
Yesterday, the coalition showed the first real public signs of cracks, as Ministers and the Prime Minister spent the day contradicting each other over the future of the inter-island ferries. The cracks between ACT and New Zealand First have always been there. But what made yesterday’s exchanges different was that ...6 days ago
- Chris Penk Personally Intervenes for Holocaust Denier
The general advertising strategy of far-right speakers for the last few years has been to announce they’re coming to New Zealand, wait for their visa to be denied or their venue to cancel on them, and then use that free promotion and outrage generation (sponsored by the Free Speech Union) ...6 days ago - Wulf vs Beowulf: A Review of The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Oh good. Back to the Tolkien adaptations. Not just any Tolkien adaptation either. The story of Helm Hammerhand, as done in anime style – something a bit different. It’s actually the first animated Tolkien adaptation since Rankin-Bass’ Return of the King in 1980, as well as the first Tolkien adaptation ...6 days ago - Georgescu and the Arrogance of the West
I enjoy reading the views of pundits and people. I like knowing what they think, and why they think it. But sometimes I look at what commentators are saying and where conversations are leading and I despair. How often do we here on the left do the right’s job for ...6 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Latest Round Of Ferry Follies
The scorned iRex option would have entered service in 2026. Thanks to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, there will now be a three year delay until 2029 at the earliest. Instead of fit-for-purpose iRex ferries, Willis is likely by then to have saddled us with smaller, less capable, more weather vulnerable ...6 days ago
- Rotten to the core
Just a few months ago, Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming was one of the final two candidates for the position of police commissioner. Now, he's on leave and facing multiple investigations for unspecified wrongdoing: The second-most powerful police officer in the country is on leave pending separate investigations, the Herald ...6 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #50 2024
Open access notables: Regional Impacts Poorly Constrained by Climate Sensitivity, Swaminathan et al., Earth's Future: Climate risk assessments must account for a wide range of possible futures, so scientists often use simulations made by numerous global climate models to explore potential changes in regional climates and their impacts. Some of ...6 days ago
- About Syria.
I have been thinking about Syria and coverage of the fall of the Assad regime, and to be honest I believe that there is something missing from the picture being painted, at least in NZ. Although I am no expert … Continue reading ...6 days ago - The Two Hundred Million Dollar question
Here we see Napoleon delivering glory in Russia.Here we see Elizabeth Holmes delivering a blood test for anything. Read more ...6 days ago - Luxon & Willis Double Down on Ferries Debacle
The day before today, Nicola Willis told the House that they would have to wait until the ferries announcement for the details about ferries cost etc. It was the same promise Luxon has been making in Parliament over the last weeks and months: the details are coming, the details are ...6 days ago
- Luigi Mangione and Jury Nullification
Luigi Mangione, the shooter of the Ultimate Healthcare CEO, has been caught by the cops after a tip-off from a McDonalds worker. (A timely reminder, perhaps, that there is an official boycott against McDonalds for their profiting from and support of Israel’s occupation in Palestine, and it has been having ...6 days ago - Thursday 12 December
There has been widespread condemnation of the Government’s mishandling of the Cook Strait ferry replacements, including from unions, industry, and political parties. It has also led to public division among the coalition, with Winston Peters and David Seymour at odds regarding cost and privatisation. In other political news, Labour says ...6 days ago
- Foreshadowing HYEFU 2024
By way of prologue, the closest parallel to the current economic situation may be when Ruth Richardson became Minister of Finance in late 1990. The economy had been contracting, although there were signs of a fragile recovery. She was an Austerian and cut public spending savagely. The economy plunged a ...6 days ago - How unusual is current post-El Niño warmth?
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink As I noted a few months back, despite the end of El Niño conditions in May, global temperatures have remained worryingly elevated. This raises the question of whether this reflects unusual El Niño behavior, or a more persistent change in the underlying climate forcings ...6 days ago
- Nicky No Boats
I remember you by, thunderclap in the skyLightning flash, tempers flare'Round the horn if you dareI just spent six months in a leaky boatLucky just to keep afloatSongwriters: Brian Timothy FinnToday, a tale of such ineptitude, unwarranted confidence and underplanning that you will scarcely believe it. I can hear you ...6 days ago - Ferries delayed again, then handed to Peters, who hits out at Seymour
Willis wouldn’t give a cost estimate or confirm new ferries would be ‘rail enabled’ rather than ‘rail-compatible’, but Seymour has let slip the ferries and ‘landside’ development would cost around $1.5 billion. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...6 days ago
- When Should You Consider Retreat? – The Sooner the Better
This is a guest post by Waitematā local board member Dr Alex Bonham, about the Auckland Council’s Shoreline Adaption Plans. Currently consultation is open for the Auckland Central & Ōrākei to Karaka Bay SAPs until December 18th. If the sea bowls through your front door, through the house and ...6 days ago
- Shameless advertising: Two days only — 50% off subscriptions, forever
But wait!! If you would like to pay me LESS, on Friday the discount will be bigger. Subscription benefits include my endless gratitude, warm fuzzy feelings, bragging rights, and a slight spring in your step. ...7 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...4 hours ago - ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...6 hours ago - Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...7 hours ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...1 day ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...1 day ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...1 day ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...1 day ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...1 day ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...1 day ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...1 day ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...1 day ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...2 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...2 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...2 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...5 days ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...5 days ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...5 days ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...5 days ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...5 days ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...5 days ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...6 days ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...1 week ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...1 week ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...1 week ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...1 week ago
- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...1 week ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...1 week ago
- Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...1 week ago - Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...1 week ago
- He Ara Anamata: Greens launch Emissions Reduction Plan
Today, the Green Party of Aotearoa proudly unveils its new Emissions Reduction Plan–He Ara Anamata–a blueprint reimagining our collective future. ...1 week ago
- Fossil fuel lobbyist appointment to EECA board called out
The Green Party condemns the Government’s appointment of a fossil fuel lobbyist to the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority Board. ...2 weeks ago
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My view?
I come come down on the side of, 'empty rhetoric'.
I believe that the Russian people would not tolerate the first use of nuclear weapons in this war.
In my opinion; Putin's nuclear threats are the empty rhetoric of a dictator used to having his own way, frustrated at leading his country into a losing war, verbally flailing around, making threats he knows he dare not carry out, in fear of his own people's reaction.
No one believed Putin when he said in 2014 Ukraine shouldn't exist.
Putin is nuttier than Squirrel Shit, however if he does press the button Russia will be flattened in no time as will Putin, he will cease to exist.
I wouldn't trust the US not to either.
That's the secret of detente.
Always worth asking the question, what country has used used nuclear weapons to date?
No it’s not worth asking that question. We know the answer, it was the allies, the united nations, so the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand along with the rest of the British empire. The freedoms and human rights that we have were brought with a terrible price in humanity. We did a whole lot of bad stuff during the second world war, but that bad stuff pales in comparison with what the Axis Powers were doing.
I find it interesting that those on this site who have been so vocifierous in their support of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, are now silent.
Not even they it seems, can muster the enthusiasm to defend the Russian dictator's nuclear rhetoric.
Thanks, Cassandra, for pointing that out.
No thanks needed
I find my curse easy to bear just by knowing that it is true.
Putin's supporters on thius site just don't want to whisper this truth, even to themselves;
"Could Putin be more insane than Hitler?"
Weapons of mass destruction WMDs are not a new phenomenon, nor is the reluctance to use them.
Putin, for all his apocalyptic bluster will not use nuclear weapons for the same reason that Hitler did not gas London.
Sarin is a Weapon of Mass Murder, less the destruction, not so much a WMD, more a WMM.
If Putin was going to use a WMD on Ukraine, Sarin would be a far better option, not having the same blast effect, or lingering radiation danger. Unlike a nuclear attack, uildings and intrastructure would all be left intact, After sarin attack, the Russian invaders could march right in, as sarin degrades in the environment after 24 hours, the main problem would be dealing with the millions of human and animal corpses.
“I find my curse easy to bear just by knowing that it is true.”
Your truth, I guess, is not necessarily anybody else's. What you need is not "truth", but facts; and the facts will not be known until the war is over. You don't really know what Putin will do; that's something that lies in the future. I don't know either, but I'm prepared to wait and see what actually happens. You can mouth off with all the "truths" you like but until the facts are known your so called "truths" are just so much hot air.
Grozny, Aleppo, Kharkiv….the world knows what he'll do
/
No it doesn't.
One thing I know for sure:
Putin will lose this war.
The Russian military would remove Putin from power rather than launch a first use of nuclear weapons.
Again, there is some historical precedent:
Stanislav Petrov
If Putin pushes the button it is not just the end of the war it is the end of the world.
We all die from the nuclear fall out.
The USA is saying Russia invading Ukraine in 2022 is wrong .
The USA is saying Jews invading Palestine in 1948 and the USA enforcing
the illegal Jew invasion for 75 years is right.
Such blatent hypocrisy.
New Zealand Government sides with this USA hypocrisy
I guess they see the existence of a Jewish state as the least of many evils. Rampant islamification doesn't seem to bring great benefits, especially to females.
The 6 million Jews killed in the holocaust died at the hands of the White Western European Christians in Germany Austria Latvia Lithuania Estonia Hungary Czech Slovenia Slovakia Croatia Russia Poland Italy France. Nothing to do with the Muslims. Christitianity has murdered hundreds of millions from the year AD 1 being the most destructive during the White western invasion of the world from 1560 to 1960 including the White Christian invasion of this country from 1840. Jesus Christ is responsible for more murders than all other religions combined.
That's a hot mess
Just the truth
No it's not. Jesus Christ is not responsible for any mass murder.
Nor was Hitler a Christian.
Only part of it. Islam has done its share all right. Ask the Armenians, and the Greeks expelled from Anatolia after WW1. And if they hadn't barged into India back in the day, the subcontinent wouldn't be in the mess it is now.
Just like the truth that Te Rauparaha was a cannibalistic mass murderer; responsible for killing far more Maori than died during the whole of the New Zealand Wars.
Bit unfair to blame a dead man for what his followers and power-hungry mutts did in his name, dontya think?
Bollocks, welcome to humanity. All countries have been invaded one way or another since the beginning of time.
We are fortunate that people in the Western Europe countries, including The UK, and USA, started to develop a conscious and believe in universal human rights. Or we could destroy what we have, go back to 1500, in the hope that our leaders will take us to paradise. And if you believe that, boy do I have a deal for you… Wait till you hear about my new religion..,
Yeah like the White Western Europeans including Britain and the USA enslaved 10 million black Africans for 300 years.
You define that as Universal human rights .
Whatever.
Like Britain involved herself with two pointless world wars which killed 100 million people in conflicts which achieved absolutely nothing.
Britain and the USA (since 1776) have been involved in more wars than any other countries in world history.
War is the driving force the lifes blood of both the USA and Britain.
Take off your blinkered White Western rose tinted glasess just for a second.
Like Britain stole Paletine in 1919 and backed the illegal Jew invasion of Palestine in 1948. And the USA has enforced the illegal Jew invasion occupation and subjugation of the Palestinians for 75 years with brute force.
Universal human rights?
Talk is cheap.
All right, you’re obviously pissed that it wasn’t your culture that was on the top of the pile for the past say 500 to 1000 years.
Just like I'm kinda pissed that my white ancestors don’t work hard enough for me to have inter generational wealth. That’s what it comes down to for all of us.
It’s 2024, there’s no way we can turn back the clock to another time when all was well and start over, Pandora’s box was opened at the dawn of time. The way the world is now, is pretty much how it’s always been. It’s human bloody nature.
You ignore the good that has been happening over the past 150 to 250 years with the development of human rights, and that human rights should belong to everyone.
As for the two pointless world wars, it was between us, the more enlightened western nations, against the much lesser enlightened nations. If we had not won those wars, as bad as the world is now, the alternative would have been far, far worse.
Unfortunately this is wasted on you.
Given what you have previously written, especially about “the Jews, your ideal society would be a totalitarian dictatorship (with you in the ruling class) where the most obscene human rights abuses would be committed in the name of righteousness. In other words, if you were German or Austrian, and we went back to 1943, you would have been an enthusiastic SS concentration camp guard.
Did not start either and fought to keep other nations safe. The neutrality of Belgium and the defence of Poland. Perspective, think before you post.
Incoherent fact-free garbage.
As Nietzche said: there was only ever one christian, and he died on the cross.
But lets not ignore the muslim world is no better than the christian one. https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml#:~:text=The%20Muslim%20slave%20trade%20from,those%20of%20the%20Atlantic%20slave
Also lets be honest the way Iran, the Saudis et al. Treat woman is a fucking disgrace.
Not to mention the ongoing slavery legal in the Muslim world. Both outright (people bought and sold) and the economic slavery which captures third-world women as servants, and men as labourers (the Kafala system) – which is highly open to abuse, and not monitored by the state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_Muslim_world#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_21st-century_jihadism
https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/findings/spotlights/life-under-the-kafala-system/
Don't forget the Crusades. Christians "reclaiming the Holy Land from the Infidels". And who were these "Infidels'" who were in possession of the "Holy Lands" at the time of the 12th Century? Hint – they were not the Jews. They were Arabs.
There have been many entities controlling the "Holy Lands" from various African groups, various Arab groups, various Jewish groups, various European groups, various Asian groups (depending on where you place the Ottomans). Where in history do you mark the line that one group owns the land over another?
Funny how you blame one group of people for the death of the 6 million and yet in another post attack another nation for getting involved in a war against them.
Do you think that by doing it in separate posts, the nonsense of it might be overlooked?
The Russian people don't seem to get much say in what Putin does. He's enough of a psychopath to think he'd get away with just a wee nukie on Kiev.
There is only one reason putin doesn't use nukes – he (and his imaginary great russian empire) will die in the response. It isn't because he isn't 'provoked' enough, morality, concern for everyday russians, or that he is just waiting for the best moment. It is simple self-preservation. If it weren't for the consequences, he would have used them long ago – wholesale murder and environmental catastrophe is a nothing for him.
Despite all the talk and threats – this basic equation hasn't changed.
I don't believe that the Russian people have any influence at all over Putin.
Now, whether the generals in charge of the missile silos would tolerate a Nuclear first strike, is entirely another question. Given that they are less likely to believe their bombastic propaganda, I'd think the answer is 'no'.
Everyone in the south:
Make sure you get along today to a march about the hospital.
This is a systemic betrayal.
ODT have a good piece today on how the story has changed
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/national’s-about-face
$2.9 Billion Tax Cuts to Landlords were a higher priority especially when many of them are Offshore Owners.
Shared that article to fb Graeme. National have screwed up royally here…a step too far. The lies will resonate.
There seems to be a massive focus on the North Island by this government. It is a blind spot that will cost them in two years time.
A similar march and surround of the hospital by a few hundred people in Masterton changed the Bolger government's mind about closing Masterton hospital.
Hope the people of Dunedin respond. I would gladly join them if I was anywhere near. Time to show this CoC that the people matter, not just the roading network.
People power.
It works, even the CoC know it and fear it.
David Slack published a neat pic graph showing that against the CoC claims, NZ did not put us into dire financial straits but we are 18th in the Country of spending as percentage of GDP.
The bastards COC lied and lied.
https://subslack.substack.com/p/we-will-never-give-you-up-let-you?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=40073&post_id=149477670&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=25honw&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Comparing us as a percentage to other countries is almost meaningless our population is small our population density is even worse and our productivity is worse again. Its like comparing someone on a 200k income with a 20k credit card bill and someone on a 10k credit card bill with a 50k income
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/exp@FPP/NZL/AUS/GBR/ISL/CAN
Imho, Aotearoa NZ's low population and low population density will be an advantage to Kiwis 'going forward' – best not to mess with our advantages.
catholic church apologises..but only partially. IE not really an apology..or accepting the damage caused.
Re the "In other instances, Catholic entities were developing responses" …yea, hiding and protecting known POS abusers.
And sending them to our Pacific neighbours. Scumbags : (
They were sure faster than this state.
The state (organisations) had 4 months to respond, the religious groups 2 months. The valid comparison is to other religious groups.
The religious groups had to ask to be included.
So they fronted up better than the state on both counts.
Prepare to compare the Luxon response to the Catholic ones.
I'll compare the government response to that of the Oz government.
Why?
Because I'm a political citizen of a democracy, not a member of a church unaccountable to anyone, not even its own laity.
So why choose Australia's response to their own situation as a comparator?
What did they do in response to similar institutional crimes?
Are those responses useful in informing our own?
You must have something better than complaining that the state is more accountable to institutional crime, when clearly the churches here actively stood up to be accountable than our state – and sure faster than our state, have had their own staff members arrested and tried and jailed – far more than the state, and have defrocked staff – when public servants from the `60s 70s and 80s have run free, and formed new protocols, and paid out multimillion dollar recompense – near zero from the state, and changed the names of institutions from names who even had a taint of mismanagement – nothing comparable from the state there, and have done so repeatedly up and down the country.
Has the NZ state down any of that?
Has the Australian state done any of that?
Because it's sure easy to go chapter and verse on Catholic and Anglican accountability.
A recent precedent in a nation state of our type.
The real issue for the nation state is why they only do historic accountability. Why no cases 2000-2018, or current complaints?
It seems the process is designed to ensure the government is claiming to be immune from investigation/accountability in real time.
And no prosecutions of living people can occur (as if they had job immunity).
The so called PC Commissioner, said of those past times, then police did not question those of status in society, despite complaints.
PS – The lack of accountability of police is totally missing in the process.
The missing list from the state is long indeed. And it's actual individuals that should be named, from:
Police. Oranga Tamariki and its predecessor institutions. MSD. DIA. DPMC. ACC. MoJ. Crown Law and Crown Prosecutors. Multiple DHBs and multiple units within them, and predecessor entities within the Ministry of Health. Corrections. Maori Affairs. Ministry of Education. And more.
Thousands of public servants, over decades.
And our Prime Minister will deign to give an apology to just a few of the sufferers on November 12th.
I find it strange that you complain about my focus on government accountability (I'll leave it to laity, as to the church response) – when your only purpose seems to be to want to praise the religious group response as better.
But given your misrepresentation of a religious groups earlier response, without reference to the longer 4 months for state groups to respond … .
PsyclingLeft put up the usual no-context nonsense, and your response was just as blind.
Now I'll have to write an entire post on the damn report.
There are varying degrees of blindness, from focus on a group one is not a member of, and comparing red apples with green apples.
No reply function to your comment here…..
I provided 3 Links..and comment on same. I have previously commented about other abuse in care. But this somehow annoyed you. So you attack me? Whatever.
Honest Government Ad 'advocating' for Trump's 2024 campaign. HeeHee.
She was awfully good.
.
@feedthedrummer
Everyone will be talking about Harry Potter and Downton, but early years Maggie Smith was so so good.
https://xcancel.com/feedthedrummer/status/1839659021835338040
"I am so disgusted I have trouble sleeping. I feel partly guilty for this as I believed Luxon when he said if elected, he will reverse any proposed cuts to the hospital. I will never vote National ever again" – in the Otago Daily Times today, & I know the guy who wrote this, a workmate who I have stopped talking politics with a long time ago because he is (was?) such a Nat supporter.
The best option for his vote is no vote in 2026; the worst is a transfer to Seymour and ACT.
Rubbish…his best option is to vote Green.
Bettcha, not. I'm being a pragmatist here.
I do hope Labour get their sh*t together b4 2026 and definitely b4 2029 otherwise this country is going down the gurgler for most of us in the lower socio-economic brackets.
A good many years ago National wanted to close Hutt Hospital. A very well attended protest outside the hospital brought some sense into this nutty idea. For the people of Wainuiomata (which has grown a lot over the years), Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt (which has also had a lot of growth) to get into Wellington Hospital via the only route to Wellington from those regions, and through the inner city to the hospital, it would have been a nightmare.
Some decision makers have no common sense at all.
WOW so kiddy fuckers get no prison sentence, but do peaceful protest – you will get years in jail.
No, it’s not a peaceful protest.
These are self entitled middle class white kiddies who believe they can do whatever they want, and get away with it.
These groups have attempted to vandalise priceless art works, Stonehenge, and also a commercial airplane. They do it for their own ego, nothing else. These people would become tyrants if the opportunity arises.
Oh kiddie fuckers do go to jail…
Am I to assume you got more rage for protestors, than kiddy fuckers there David?
That said
Got any proof to back up
Because they say https://juststopoil.org/our-demand/
And where was the violence? Who was physically hurt? Again got proof for your stupid statement
They knew their was glass, and they knew Stonehenge could handle a wee bit of water based paint. So vandalism, I call bullshit fake rage from you so you can keep being a smug middle class prick doing what you want with no consequences – Happy to be proven wrong on that one.
I’m adult, Im well aware of the consequences of my actions when or if I fuck up. Hopefully I’ve learned something along the way, which is why I’ve done less and less stupid shit as I’ve got older.
A threat or pretence of causing damage to the art, Stonehenge and in another instance a commercial airplane, is violence and blackmail.
The type of person who does this is doing so for their own selfish reasons, and they achieve nothing at all.
They deserve to be jailed.
So you got nothing, but your rage.
"… and they achieve nothing at all." Not true.
They've got you talking about them for a start.
Okay you’re right, we are “talking about them” which is what “they” want
Meanwhile the people who are actually doing stuff to combat climate change and to improve the environment are doing what they’re doing without recognition.
We are talking about the wrong people.
We can only hope that these priceless artworks will be saved for future generations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Stop_Oil#Funding
Some environmental organisations/movements espouse a belief that this iteration of human civilisation is screwing future generations because of dodgy priorities, and taking a lot of other species down with it.
Those energy companies have also lobbied for tough protest laws to protect their assets.
Not just in the US, but in the UK.
Two separate issues.
We all know about global warming, climate change and environmental damage. In that case protest in the streets, but don’t fucking vandalise works of art, or an ancient monument like Stonehenge, and for fuck’s sake don’t ever try to vandalise a fucking airplane.
In this case, these entitled white middle class kiddies have engaged in acts of vandalism have achieved nothing, but risked irreparable damage and possible death, all for the sake of their own ego.
Just like the womens suffrage protesters. eh?
Fighting for representation: suffragettes and art vandalism | Art UK
Pollution causing AGW is vandalising the entire environment we depend on. When are we going to see arrests and jail time for those acts of vandalism.
Entitlement is everywhere. This particular act of protest/vandalism seems to have been highly effective at provoking outrage – if only that outrage could be redirected towards fossil fuel companies and their enablers – I suppose everyone does what they can.
The stone of Scone was damaged in the suffragette cause. It was effectively split by an explosion. A nice joke, given there was a time when women's roles on stage were performed by men, and yet a woman was on the throne and head of a patriarchal church. And was later succeeded in this by another women. These few, just wanted victory in their own time. Never … and as Clementine would remind her husband, do not challenge a women to a public debate, till you win one at home (Nancy Astor, I do not want to see WC in my Commons bathroom)
Drill Baby Drill – Shane Jones NZF
It's amusing when white right wing nut jobs consider European artworks sacred but fail to acknowledge treasures from any other cultures, including those from the country they themselves are privileged to live in.
It is only the appearance of a threat to the art works. It is not even vandalism, just an inconvenience to that days public display of that art work.
The point being what the corporate enabling establishment pose as civilisation, the existence of an art gallery open to the public, is not as important as the security of the environment from pollution and or the habitat for human settlement – as per global instability (economic disruption and political oligarchy leading to an undermining of democracy) resulting from climate change.
The hatchet brothers = Bishop and Reti.
Fuxon seems to have wildly misread this one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-march-against-broken-promise-as-new-hospital-project-faces-massive-cuts/S577ICUA5REYTMW23ZFQXD3FKA/
I bet Bryan Cadogan wishes now that he hadn't been such an enthusiastic cheerleader for National at the last election.
Vote National – say no to three waters – he told everyone.
Turns out that Three waters was the least of his problems.
Be careful what you wish for!
You are incorrect about Bryan Cadogan's stance on 3 waters.
He accepted the Labour proposal would be the better outcome.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/three-waters-gore-clutha-and-central-otago-mayors-put-jobs-on-line-by-refusing-to-reject-reforms.html
If someone could persuade Bryan Cadogan to be the Labour candidate for Southland in the next election, he'd probably take the electorate. And while they're at it, see if they can get his bro Tim to contest Waitaki as well, that would be close to certain.
Lol. Bishop and Reti might be called into an emergency meeting on Monday.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/529302/biggest-protest-in-dunedin-in-decades-as-up-to-35-000-rally-against-hospital-cuts
Looks like lovely weather. Before exams was always the best time of year weather-wise in Dunedin, that midspring period, sunny, windless and hot.
And 35k an amazing turnout in a city of 130k.
Perhaps Luxon will suggest a downgraded prefab style hospital.
He did that when responding to questioning about the cancellation of school buildings.
He questioned whether school buildings need to be designed, better to do cheap, undesigned templated buildings, and "you can sex it up with a bit of landscaping". That is what he said, and I remember that quote because it was so jarring, not least of which was the offhand way he used the word sex in relation to schools…
The inference there is that state school students don't deserve buildings which make them proud to be a part of that school. Only private school students deserve infrastructure and environment which encourages them to engage in learning.
The point is, a hospital building should be decent. It should command a certain authority of care and purpose, architecture which to encourage people to engage with, and not be afraid of, the heath system.
You're not going to get that if the new, two generation, regional hospital looks like some fucker has done it on the cheap.
If no aspiration, why have architecture at all?
300+ people turned out in Wanaka with 5 minutes notice. Incredible.
They didn't even have a megaphone for the people speaking.
National's lies are coming home to roost. One term government.
While I was reading that, the word decent struck me. We need a decent pm.
Luxon strikes again. SRI 602/5d, NZL 88 & 3/1.
What a mess.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350424640/live-black-caps-v-sri-lanka-day-three-second-test-galle
Funny how he appears on the field after the winning effort of the All Blacks.
John Key's illegitimate son.
Just as well their two leading spinners got tired, or the black caps may have been bowled out on the third day.
Pick. By lunch on the 4th day. Bowled out twice in less than 5 sessions.
First team to win a World Test Championship. Seems like when US was the first and only winner of a rugby gold medal – Paris 1924.
It has not been at the Olympics since.
The USA has never made a World Cup quarter-final since then.