I wrote a longform essay on the politics of the arts and education. Here’s the link if you’re interested. It is published in this month’s North and South magazine as one of the winner’s of the D’Arcy Writer’s Grant.
“I love Aristotle’s belief that to know oneself is the beginning of all wisdom . . . and that educating the mind without the heart is no education at all. I like to think he viewed ‘heart’ as the philosophical, spiritual and moral values that should drive us — compassion, generosity, kindness, fairness — and the need to gain command over our animal instincts: jealousy, hatred, anger, and the most corrosive of all: unrestrained greed. I see the arts[7] as integral to Aristotle’s world view. They provide the crucial expression of our personal and cultural values and our identity. Robert Hughes, the late Australian art critic, said the art he most liked dealt with the questions why am I here and what am I doing? I believe this is the question all artists, all people, must consider to find personal fulfilment.”
Wonderful work, Mandy and on the button. I liked this passage especially. I’m not sure though, that jealousy, hatred, anger and unrestrained greed are animal instincts. They seem all too human to me. But yes, gaining control over those is the call.
I disagreed with lots of it. But it was substantive stuff to disagree with.
– Comparing criticism of Mike Joy to the silencing of Abelard and the burning of his books – via Lenin, Pol Pot and Hitler – was pretty out there.
– Reminding us that Socratic dialogue is superior, and then telling us it’s under threat due to a decline in teacher training, sounded pretty OLD. After all, the internet and the blogosphere has provided an explosion of democratised Socratic contest in ideas all over the joint. Maybe it’s teaching – an incredibly conservative profession – that needs to change, rather than expecting the dialogical world to revolve around them.
– Fair enough to have a crack at John Key about folding in order to get The Hobbit. On the other hand, we sucked it up and have a tourism industry that competes quite well against the entire dairy industry, in no small part because of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit deals.
– Clutch your pearls at commercialisation as you might, most of the great works of art in the world over the past 2 millennia were commissioned directly by patrons, who were either oligarchs, royals, or Popes. It’s the nonvelists who have the real superiority crown over their heads. My advice to any artist or writer if you want to save enough to buy a house: figure out who your client is and work from there.
– Why you think academics should not have their ideas contested hard is beyond me. Jane Kelsey plays a long game and was 100% vindicated at every point on the TPPA. I think she can live comfortably within that contest.
– And the below is not a ringing endorsement for the art of Simon Denny:
“I’d like to end with a plea to re-evaluate our core values; to use the riches of creative thinking, in all its varied and radical manifestations, to extract ourselves from this overarching economic mindset in search of something more equitable, sustainable and universally fulfilling. This is a plea to think with the heart, to shed the strictures of ideology and, instead, seek out our compassionate side for the betterment of all; to vote for the ‘politics of love’[75] and generosity, not divisiveness and hate. There is no need for winners and losers in the expression of our ‘humanness’; what we desperately need right now is a return to more creative, critical thinking that can transcend the mess and horrors manufactured by our animal greed.”
Denny’s art is about as compassionate and lovely and generous as a fly’s eye. If you can figure out which side of politics Simon Denny is on, then you’ve probably figured out where all the hackers sit in liberating the world from whatever.
– Finally, It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on how the skills-based pedagogy that we have had since the mid 1980s stacks with a Socratic contesting of ideas. One could make the case that we generate cohorts that prefer towards adaptability. Generalists are what this country need because our local economy is too narrow for too much specialistation. Just maybe Socrates – that 2,500 year old Greek –
isn’t what we need. Just maybe we could teach the Greeks something – who knows?
Clutch your pearls at commercialisation as you might, most of the great works of art in the world over the past 2 millennia were commissioned directly by patrons, who were either oligarchs, royals, or Popes.
Who got the wealth to do so from the people.
If we removed the people at the top we could probably support more artists and get more fantastic art.
That’s quite some alternative human history you want to run there.
What alternative history?
You simply cannot have rich people without them getting the wealth from everyone else. So those art patrons supported those artists with wealth from the poor.
The one really big example of the rich being removed from society was the Soviet Union. Art and artists didn’t do so well there. In fact they were persecuted, tortured, and jailed.
Nor China. Or Cuba. Or any state in which the rich were removed.
I’m struggling to find an example where your point is true.
The one really big example of the rich being removed from society was the Soviet Union.
The problem with that example is that an oppressive hierarchy was left in its place rather than an actual community. In other words, the rich stayed in place.
Whether they yearn to be sculptors, or dancers, or visual or performing artists, young people are rigorously trained for 11 years at the art or music schools in Cuba … all at government expense. Dance troupes, musicians, and painters are some of the best in the world.
Moreover, the government funds culture centers in each of its 19 provinces. These centers promote free concerts, nurture local talent, and insure cultural activities are available to everyone. Cuba has over 265 museums “spread across the country, focusing on history, the Revolution, music, natural science, colonial and ornamental art, weapons, cars, religion, tobacco, rum and sugar.”
Occasionally a Cuban artist was discovered and a New York galley exhibited their work but often without the artist, because they could not get a visa to attend. Or, as it were under an exception to the rules, researchers or authorized tour groups would be permitted to visit the country and discovered an artist whose work was then purchased by some third country, a circuitous route to the U.S.
That certainly hasn’t popped up since the death of Castro.
Hi James,
I got a ‘performance review’ as stipulated in in initial contract, after many reminders. I was first on the list due to my squeaky wheel approach.
I am waiting for the boss to get back to me in respect to wage increase/new contract.
Been 3weeks now.
Have asked for the living wage which seems to be a high bar as far as the paymaster is concerned.
I recently had the luck to meet Ruth Gotlieb, a former Wellington City Councillor, and thank her for fighting so hard to defend the city libraries from the philistines like Parkin and Blumsky who saw everything as either profitable or useless. ‘They’re the cornerstone of civilisation,’ she said. Indeed!
And as my favourite writer said:
Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have. ― H.G. Wells
Hmm, I remember reading in R. D. Laing’s The Politics of Experience something similar to this that you quote from Ursula LeGuin:
words are events, they do things, change things
Thoughts are real as they have consequences, to paraphrase him. Therefore to control the thoughts that are possible by what language and facts are available to us, to alter the value of thoughts that are had…
OK, I’m continuing a close reading and picking out points of note, I hope people don’t mind.
On the discussion of Eleanor Catton, one of her harshest and most misogynistic (calling her a ‘whore’, trying to excuse it with ‘Oops, I mean Hua’) is that oaf Sean Plunkett, now The Opportunities Party’s ‘Director Media and Communications.’ If Gareth Morgan’s hatred of cats wasn’t enough…
Brian Edwards proved that he’s not entirely overcome by the influence of Michelle Boag on The Panel:
On this, Brian Edwards said in his piece on this subject:
‘More insidious . . . is the implication in all of this that if the state has assisted you in your endeavours and contributed to your success, you forfeit the right to publicly criticise the country, its people, policies or leadership. Loss of freedom of speech is apparently the interest you have to pay on your debt to New Zealand.’
I’m quite a fan of Robert Hughes and his Culture of Complaint should be required reading to anyone thinking that campaigns for censorship of the arts should be practised if it’s for a ‘good cause’ because it plays right into the hands of the authoritarian right. The chapter ‘Art and the Therapeutic Fallacy’ is apposite – art must challenge, not comfort.
Sadly, rhinocrates, Hughes’s book instantly became a cultural weapon for the extreme right wing. Hughes pours scorn and heaps ridicule on black culture, and on black academics. Hughes was really just another Clive James—a privileged, pampered, smart-sounding Sydneysider who deliberately set himself up as something exotic, and different. The late Christopher Hitchens built a career doing something similar.
It beggars belief, then, why the government thought it wise to dis-incentivise post-graduate education by removing any funding or student loan options to those who wish to further pursue their area of expertise or who are over 50 years of age. It simply makes no sense. You cannot claim on the one-hand that you want skilled practitioners, while on the other you steal away the opportunities to upskill.
Absolutely. Joyce is a prime example of the ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ mentality of utilitarian education. Innovation comes from imagination, not mundane ‘skill.’ The skilled are always followers, the imaginative are leaders.
I don’t see much hope for Labour’s education policy with a moron like Shitkins as spokesthing for that portfolio, alas.
Even worse, perhaps, is how this winner/loser narrative is used to blame the victim (i.e. the unemployed are all on drugs; the shortness of a woman’s dress invites abuse; the homeless choose to live on the streets) and the resultant change in a society manifests as a distinct lessening of empathy and compassion.
Cheers to Meteria Turei. A damned smart and principled move by her. Billshit and Bennett have fiddled the system and blamed the victims for years, and now the debate’s been opened to actually include the real Kiwi attitude of compassion once more.
Hosking’s got his Ferrari (or is it a Lamborghini – I forget) and his tiny little mind is so small, it thinks that a bloody lump of metal is some sort of fulfilment. I used to have nightmares thinking that I’d get something like that and ask myself, ‘is that all there is to life, this thing?
You want to talk about patriotism, you want to talk about real Kiwi values? Then talk about giving the poorest a fair go!
Several other academics I have spoken with confirm that they are now required to sign gagging clauses that prevent them from criticising current government policy, as do many public servants. When we hear of this happening in Trump’s America (i.e. the gagging of their EPA), we are horrified at this insult to truth, freedom and free speech, yet where is the outrage when it happens here? Many argue it comes on top of a long history in NZ of pouring scorn on public intellectuals. Acclaimed journalist and author Bruce Jesson once wrote:
Anti-intellectualism runs deep in NZ society and we are losing the few forums of discussion that we used to have. Current affairs television has been reduced to entertainment. The Listener, which was once a journal of intellectual quality, has been reduced to a TV viewer’s magazine. Talkback radio caters for bigots. The universities don’t fulfil a critical function in NZ society.
And this is the key to it, for me. As H.G. Wells said, we are in a race between eduction and catastrophe. Idiots like Nick Smith who think that we can clean up our waterways by redefining filthy as clean (and his cretinous cheerleaders like Wayne Mapp) are a genuine danger, because the bar the way to solutions.
Trump is targeting the press and academia, pushing scientists out of government bodies. Key thought that he could shop around for different versions of reality that suited him (I wonder if he ever read any Philip K Dick… nah, he doesn’t read).
We need more scientists politically engaged along with artists.
Our government makes it plain that it is only interested in ‘vocational’ courses, not those that might breed a new generation of free thinkers. And while it’s possible that some humanities departments are suffering drops in student numbers, this is hardly surprising given young people must now weigh up pursuit of knowledge for passion’s sake against outrageously high student loans.
Exactly. Penny wise and pound foolish. The skilled make good followers, those taught to be imaginative lead. Otherwise, you’re condemning New Zealand’s industry to an ever-descending spiral of imitation. It’ll never get ahead without teaching imagination.
Louise Nicholas exposed police internal discipline inadequacies which continue to be a problem.
Oh yeah, Labour, thanks for putting up that rapist-supporting scumbag as your Ohariu candidate. If I lived a mile to the west, I’d actually vote for Dunne! (as is, Robertson? No way)
I mean, seriously, what the fuck were you thinking? O’Connor and Jackson? Not enough rapists voting Labour? Quick, we need someone who’ll advocate for them!
This is the true nature of a social democracy — the system most New Zealanders support when push comes to shove. Freedom of speech, and the rooting out of corruption, are fundamental principles we should not have to constantly fight for; they should be our bottom line.
The informed critique of government and society. This is the ethos of the old socialist push of speakers going back to John Ruskin, William Morris and before was to reach out to the people as a whole and to teach them that the arts and that imagination could make change for the better.
Actoid Rodney Hyde (how appropriate – a Hyde without a Dr Jekyll) once said that the purpose of an ‘economy’ – not a civilisation, a word he had forgotten, was to allow people ‘to buy stuff.’ We are more than consumers!
Community education of all kinds should be immediately revived, funded and encouraged… Concerted work also needs to be undertaken to entrench ethics, civics and values education across all sectors of society, and to encourage our young people to take an active role in improving the world in which they live.
Compare this with the Orangegropenfuhrer’s now-infamous speech to the Boy Scouts. It was utterly contrary to Scout ethics of service and was all about self-interest and resentment. Vulgarity is not merely aesthetically offensive, it is detrimental to society.
Aristotle taught that business or toil is merely utilitarian; it may be necessary but does not enrich or ennoble a human life. The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, not the external manner and detail, is true reality. How about we end the cycle that sees the injustices wrought in Heloise’s world repeated in our own? We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
This is not just a platitude. If you go back to the merely utilitarian, then remember ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ The utilitarian argument fails on its own terms. It does not bring a greater good in the long run. It condemns us to being followers, always lagging behind the innovation of others, condemning us, like the workers of Weta, to being ‘Mexicans with cellphones.’ as one studio executive put it.
On the terms of civilisation and humanity, it is completely and always abhorrent.
Thank you Mandy Hager, that is a fine essay and it must be read.
My apologies for a long series of comments, but this is an important essay and if people can’t take the time to read all of it, they need to see the parts that are relevant to Standard readers.
Looks like our government is failing to abide by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – which it signed up to.
‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.’
Good journalism from Newsroom this morning re Ministry of Health funding.
“The DHB funding blunder will not go away, with fresh details raising questions about a rogue Ministry and when exactly the Government knew something was wrong. Shane Cowlishaw reports.”
It looks like this one has a long way to run. The upside is that operational funding for some DHBs funding is unexpectedly albeit temporarily increased… if the CEO can manage to ‘fix’ it for the DHBs left short, and without reducing funding next year for the DHBs with the windfall. Still to be seen how the DHBs will manage this mess.
It will be very interesting to get more background on how this error was made.
As an aside I’ve noticed a couple of instances with service sectors being reframed as ‘industries’ e.g. illustration in this article calling the health sector the health industry, and after the grenfell disaster in UK, the fire services sector (emergency services, inspectors etc) being referred to by minster as ‘the fire industry’. I’m not sure where they’re going with this, but i think it’s a deliberate reframing from a vocational/service concept to a business imagery.
“Penny you are so into personality politics it’s sick.
What matters is policy nothing else.
You need to get focussed on that if you want to be anything more than idiot wind in this thread.
Try starting by telling us just one policy that you want and why – just one.
Then at least we can see you have some content and what it is.”
Gareth Morgan was responding to this post I made on his TOP Facebook page:
“In my view – you’re being conned.
The real reason, IMO, for Gareth Morgan’s TOP is to keep this National-led Government in power, and to do that, help undermine Winston Peters and NZ First.
Not the first time that’s been attempted.
Remember 2014 and another millionaire, Colin Craig and his Conservative Party?
IMO – very similar in terms of what their political purpose was – to help reduce votes for NZ First.”
MY RESPONSE TO GARETH MORGAN 28 July 2017:
[deleted]
_____________________________
Which political parties in NZ
have such an ACTION PLAN?
What I would like to see is AS MANY political parties/ groups / organisations and individuals ‘pick up the ball’ here and ‘help themselves’ to as many of these ‘demands’ as possible – so we get AS MANY people as possible calling for genuine transparency and accountability in New Zealand.
“Where the people lead – the politicians will follow …”
Politically – we need to CLEAN our country up!
On the NZ anti- corruption front – this ACTION PLAN gives a clear path forward.
Please folks – all I ask you to do is read carefully and consider these ACTION PLAN points, and if you agree – please SHARE?
THANKS!
Penny 🙂
[have deleted some of the too long cut and paste. How about putting a link in so people can see for themselves? – weka]
When Spicy bailed, didn’t you just wonder what anyone could do to top him? Wonder no more, The Mooch brings a whole new level of WTF to WhiteHouse communications.
Lessons in how to ‘manage upward’, from the Pentagon to the current U.S. President:
“The Department of Defense is awaiting formal guidance from the White House as a follow-up to the Commander-In-Chief’s announcement on military service by transgender personnel. We will provide detailed guidance to the Department in the near future for how this policy change will be implemented. The Department will continue to focus on our mission of defending our nation and on-going operations against our foes, while ensuring all servicemembers are treated with respect.”
This was part of the stupid cycle project pushed by our last (Green) Mayor and the current (Labour) Mayor and his deputy.
They managed to make one of the widest, safest roads in Wellington into a disaster zone. Millions and millions of ratepayers dollars put into a crazy scheme to appeal to a couple of dozen cyclists a day. That is on a fine calm day. Today there would be none. Now they want to throw more millions at it, rather than just remove the mess they made and go back to the situation we had before they went quite insane.
I went a couple of times to have a look at whether it was used. There were a few cyclists on the road in an hour or so’s observation, most of whom ignored the cycle lanes and rode on the (now much narrower) traffic lanes. Buses have to stop as the roadway that was left after this fiasco are not wide enough for them to pass.
Eagle, the deputy Mayor, is running for the Labour Party in the Rongotai electorate.in Wellington. I rather hope he wins. He will do a great deal less harm in a back bench seat in the Opposition than he does on the Wellington Council.
lol I love how the stuff link multiplies the cost by a factor of 11.
It’ll cost <$7mil, not 77.
All that aside, I suspect that wgtn, like dunedin, is looking at cycleways and improvements because people were seriously injured or died. I have a lot of issues with cyclists (especially mixing with pedestrians), but I don't have a problem with going overboard on wide cycle lanes. Too many people got squished.
I hadn’t noticed the “77” error in the link.
I went back and read the article and at first I couldn’t see what you were talking about. Quite funny really. I can’t really believe it was deliberate though. The Dompost people don’t have that much imagination.
In terms of accidents this part of Island Bay road had had NO reported cycling accidents in the 10 years or so before they put in the new arrangement. They have had a number of accidents since. The problem is that the cycle lane winds along close to, and in some places ON the footpath. It also weaves around the bus shelters and close to the parking, as you can see in the photos. I believe it is the danger of riding on the lane that leads the cyclists to go back to the safer road.
Imagine trying to put a child in your car. You have to do it from the cycle lane. Then you either get hit by a cyclist or hit one when you open the door.
By the way did you read the comments attached to the article on the Dompost site? There is the odd enthusiast among the scores of those opposed.
Most people think it is dreadful and want to know why the bloody council can’t just admit it and scrap the silly thing.
Frankly, it’s an excellent idea to have a cycle lane through to Island Bay – they just signed off on a poor design. People in Wellington shouldn’t be hating on the councillors, they should be hating on whoever designed the stupid design of it.
A Sydney-based Islamic leader is claiming Australian women need Muslim men to “fertilise them” because of recent reports that sperm counts in western males are dropping drastically.
Halal Certification Authority boss Mohamed El-Mouelhy said Australian women would “need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies”.
Mr El-Mouelhy suggests the white race could become extinct within 40 years if Australia is left to the “bigots” he believes should “commit suicide”.
“Your men are a dying breed, Australian women need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies while beer swilling, cigarette smoking, drug injecting can only dream of what Muslim men are capable of.”
“Muslims have a duty to make your women happy.”
“Because you are declining, better go choose a plot for yourself at your local cemetery.”
“If you can’t afford it, commit suicide. It is a cheaper alternative for bigots.”
The controversial comments were posted to Mr El-Mouelhy’s Facebook page.
The Coalition holds a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives which bans anyone who is a “citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power”.
Now all I’m waiting for is for someone to point out that because all Australian’s are automatically entitled to NZ citizenship, therefore maybe none of them are really eligible to stand for the Senate. 🙂
‘Lazy Kiwis who don’t want to work in agriculture’
Once upon a time you could build a career or a livelihood. Work one or two jobs and build up enough equity to get onto your own farm.
Now? Agri-business is starting to kill the dream.
Same with the in-town jobs. Doesn’t matter how hard you work, or how many hours. How loyal – it doesn’t seem to show up in the pay packet, training opportunities or career advancement.
But hey! I forgot. It’s only the top echelons who need financial encouragement to perform. Threats and warning stories work best on the shrinking mass of workers.
Just do enough. There’s not much point in trying to do better.
“Pākehā, learn from Māori and Pacifica peoples about how to share land and housing, we don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel.”
The term Pakeha is a racist term and is derogatory to New Zealanders. If everyone on this website could stop using it the world would be a better place.
The statement is also incorrect. New Zealanders already have more than adequate ability to structure shared land ownership. For instance trust law has been shaped over centuries and existed well before Maori made it to New Zealand shores. A Trust would be a good mechanism to govern shared ownership. Alternatively a Partnership could be arranged.
No need to “learn” from any other ethnicity. We simply need to utilise the mechanisms we already have.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Sorry, I haven’t been following daily utterances, which I think is a strength. Stephen Mills as the representative of the Left on RNZ’s Left and Right back and forth on Monday morning is as vile as the Hilary Clinton he supported against Sanders. Listen to his last input. He is almost as involved in the rich and strong as her. The Left is always about revolution, he responds to that as an entirely unexpected, and ear-waxical, surprise. Mike Williams at least has individual integrity for his right-wingism.
The Left is about revolution, is about heart. When Catherine Ryan can find someone less like herself to involve my heart again she will have found a representative of the Left.
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Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
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The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
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I wrote a longform essay on the politics of the arts and education. Here’s the link if you’re interested. It is published in this month’s North and South magazine as one of the winner’s of the D’Arcy Writer’s Grant.
https://mandyhager.com/2017/07/18/for-arts-sake-the-politics-of-arts-and-arts-education/
Enjoy!
Thanks very much! Brilliant!
+ 100%
“I love Aristotle’s belief that to know oneself is the beginning of all wisdom . . . and that educating the mind without the heart is no education at all. I like to think he viewed ‘heart’ as the philosophical, spiritual and moral values that should drive us — compassion, generosity, kindness, fairness — and the need to gain command over our animal instincts: jealousy, hatred, anger, and the most corrosive of all: unrestrained greed. I see the arts[7] as integral to Aristotle’s world view. They provide the crucial expression of our personal and cultural values and our identity. Robert Hughes, the late Australian art critic, said the art he most liked dealt with the questions why am I here and what am I doing? I believe this is the question all artists, all people, must consider to find personal fulfilment.”
Wonderful work, Mandy and on the button. I liked this passage especially. I’m not sure though, that jealousy, hatred, anger and unrestrained greed are animal instincts. They seem all too human to me. But yes, gaining control over those is the call.
Thanks Mandy, and well done you, will be sure to have a read, looks like a fascinating essay.
It is a great essay Mandy. I particularly liked the linking to the intellectual suppressions in the middle ages of Europe.
It’s a good read.
I disagreed with lots of it. But it was substantive stuff to disagree with.
– Comparing criticism of Mike Joy to the silencing of Abelard and the burning of his books – via Lenin, Pol Pot and Hitler – was pretty out there.
– Reminding us that Socratic dialogue is superior, and then telling us it’s under threat due to a decline in teacher training, sounded pretty OLD. After all, the internet and the blogosphere has provided an explosion of democratised Socratic contest in ideas all over the joint. Maybe it’s teaching – an incredibly conservative profession – that needs to change, rather than expecting the dialogical world to revolve around them.
– Fair enough to have a crack at John Key about folding in order to get The Hobbit. On the other hand, we sucked it up and have a tourism industry that competes quite well against the entire dairy industry, in no small part because of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit deals.
– Clutch your pearls at commercialisation as you might, most of the great works of art in the world over the past 2 millennia were commissioned directly by patrons, who were either oligarchs, royals, or Popes. It’s the nonvelists who have the real superiority crown over their heads. My advice to any artist or writer if you want to save enough to buy a house: figure out who your client is and work from there.
– Why you think academics should not have their ideas contested hard is beyond me. Jane Kelsey plays a long game and was 100% vindicated at every point on the TPPA. I think she can live comfortably within that contest.
– And the below is not a ringing endorsement for the art of Simon Denny:
“I’d like to end with a plea to re-evaluate our core values; to use the riches of creative thinking, in all its varied and radical manifestations, to extract ourselves from this overarching economic mindset in search of something more equitable, sustainable and universally fulfilling. This is a plea to think with the heart, to shed the strictures of ideology and, instead, seek out our compassionate side for the betterment of all; to vote for the ‘politics of love’[75] and generosity, not divisiveness and hate. There is no need for winners and losers in the expression of our ‘humanness’; what we desperately need right now is a return to more creative, critical thinking that can transcend the mess and horrors manufactured by our animal greed.”
Denny’s art is about as compassionate and lovely and generous as a fly’s eye. If you can figure out which side of politics Simon Denny is on, then you’ve probably figured out where all the hackers sit in liberating the world from whatever.
– Finally, It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on how the skills-based pedagogy that we have had since the mid 1980s stacks with a Socratic contesting of ideas. One could make the case that we generate cohorts that prefer towards adaptability. Generalists are what this country need because our local economy is too narrow for too much specialistation. Just maybe Socrates – that 2,500 year old Greek –
isn’t what we need. Just maybe we could teach the Greeks something – who knows?
Clutch your pearls at commercialisation as you might, most of the great works of art in the world over the past 2 millennia were commissioned directly by patrons, who were either oligarchs, royals, or Popes.
Who got the wealth to do so from the people.
If we removed the people at the top we could probably support more artists and get more fantastic art.
That’s quite some alternative human history you want to run there.
Have a go at Arnold Hauser’s Marxist art history theories if you are in to that kind of thing.
What alternative history?
You simply cannot have rich people without them getting the wealth from everyone else. So those art patrons supported those artists with wealth from the poor.
“If you removed people at the top” from art patronage you would have mid-brow craft.
Your point about artists essentially being parasitical on the poor through the rich is good solid Marxist art history.
Are you purposefully misreading what I said?
It was fairly obvious that I meant removing the patrons who are a wealth drain. The artists aren’t parasites – the rich are.
No you were just unclear.
I understand you now. You are saying if the rich were removed from society that would enable more art.
Yes.
The one really big example of the rich being removed from society was the Soviet Union. Art and artists didn’t do so well there. In fact they were persecuted, tortured, and jailed.
Nor China. Or Cuba. Or any state in which the rich were removed.
I’m struggling to find an example where your point is true.
The problem with that example is that an oppressive hierarchy was left in its place rather than an actual community. In other words, the rich stayed in place.
And it seems that art thrived in Cuba:
That certainly hasn’t popped up since the death of Castro.
I just have had a quick skip over will read in depth later. Just brilliant.
Thanks Mandy, a great read.
Keep up the good work.
How did you go with your employment matter gsays? Was it you that was discussing a new contract after your 90 days?
Hi James,
I got a ‘performance review’ as stipulated in in initial contract, after many reminders. I was first on the list due to my squeaky wheel approach.
I am waiting for the boss to get back to me in respect to wage increase/new contract.
Been 3weeks now.
Have asked for the living wage which seems to be a high bar as far as the paymaster is concerned.
Fingers crossed.
Thank you very much for that.
I recently had the luck to meet Ruth Gotlieb, a former Wellington City Councillor, and thank her for fighting so hard to defend the city libraries from the philistines like Parkin and Blumsky who saw everything as either profitable or useless. ‘They’re the cornerstone of civilisation,’ she said. Indeed!
And as my favourite writer said:
Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have. ― H.G. Wells
Hmm, I remember reading in R. D. Laing’s The Politics of Experience something similar to this that you quote from Ursula LeGuin:
words are events, they do things, change things
Thoughts are real as they have consequences, to paraphrase him. Therefore to control the thoughts that are possible by what language and facts are available to us, to alter the value of thoughts that are had…
OK, I’m continuing a close reading and picking out points of note, I hope people don’t mind.
On the discussion of Eleanor Catton, one of her harshest and most misogynistic (calling her a ‘whore’, trying to excuse it with ‘Oops, I mean Hua’) is that oaf Sean Plunkett, now The Opportunities Party’s ‘Director Media and Communications.’ If Gareth Morgan’s hatred of cats wasn’t enough…
Brian Edwards proved that he’s not entirely overcome by the influence of Michelle Boag on The Panel:
On this, Brian Edwards said in his piece on this subject:
‘More insidious . . . is the implication in all of this that if the state has assisted you in your endeavours and contributed to your success, you forfeit the right to publicly criticise the country, its people, policies or leadership. Loss of freedom of speech is apparently the interest you have to pay on your debt to New Zealand.’
I’m quite a fan of Robert Hughes and his Culture of Complaint should be required reading to anyone thinking that campaigns for censorship of the arts should be practised if it’s for a ‘good cause’ because it plays right into the hands of the authoritarian right. The chapter ‘Art and the Therapeutic Fallacy’ is apposite – art must challenge, not comfort.
Sadly, rhinocrates, Hughes’s book instantly became a cultural weapon for the extreme right wing. Hughes pours scorn and heaps ridicule on black culture, and on black academics. Hughes was really just another Clive James—a privileged, pampered, smart-sounding Sydneysider who deliberately set himself up as something exotic, and different. The late Christopher Hitchens built a career doing something similar.
Continuing my running commentary:
It beggars belief, then, why the government thought it wise to dis-incentivise post-graduate education by removing any funding or student loan options to those who wish to further pursue their area of expertise or who are over 50 years of age. It simply makes no sense. You cannot claim on the one-hand that you want skilled practitioners, while on the other you steal away the opportunities to upskill.
Absolutely. Joyce is a prime example of the ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ mentality of utilitarian education. Innovation comes from imagination, not mundane ‘skill.’ The skilled are always followers, the imaginative are leaders.
I don’t see much hope for Labour’s education policy with a moron like Shitkins as spokesthing for that portfolio, alas.
Even worse, perhaps, is how this winner/loser narrative is used to blame the victim (i.e. the unemployed are all on drugs; the shortness of a woman’s dress invites abuse; the homeless choose to live on the streets) and the resultant change in a society manifests as a distinct lessening of empathy and compassion.
Cheers to Meteria Turei. A damned smart and principled move by her. Billshit and Bennett have fiddled the system and blamed the victims for years, and now the debate’s been opened to actually include the real Kiwi attitude of compassion once more.
Hosking’s got his Ferrari (or is it a Lamborghini – I forget) and his tiny little mind is so small, it thinks that a bloody lump of metal is some sort of fulfilment. I used to have nightmares thinking that I’d get something like that and ask myself, ‘is that all there is to life, this thing?
You want to talk about patriotism, you want to talk about real Kiwi values? Then talk about giving the poorest a fair go!
I’ve heard ‘Prostetnic Vogon Joyce’ along with ‘Dildo Baggins.’ Ha!
Several other academics I have spoken with confirm that they are now required to sign gagging clauses that prevent them from criticising current government policy, as do many public servants. When we hear of this happening in Trump’s America (i.e. the gagging of their EPA), we are horrified at this insult to truth, freedom and free speech, yet where is the outrage when it happens here? Many argue it comes on top of a long history in NZ of pouring scorn on public intellectuals. Acclaimed journalist and author Bruce Jesson once wrote:
Anti-intellectualism runs deep in NZ society and we are losing the few forums of discussion that we used to have. Current affairs television has been reduced to entertainment. The Listener, which was once a journal of intellectual quality, has been reduced to a TV viewer’s magazine. Talkback radio caters for bigots. The universities don’t fulfil a critical function in NZ society.
And this is the key to it, for me. As H.G. Wells said, we are in a race between eduction and catastrophe. Idiots like Nick Smith who think that we can clean up our waterways by redefining filthy as clean (and his cretinous cheerleaders like Wayne Mapp) are a genuine danger, because the bar the way to solutions.
Trump is targeting the press and academia, pushing scientists out of government bodies. Key thought that he could shop around for different versions of reality that suited him (I wonder if he ever read any Philip K Dick… nah, he doesn’t read).
We need more scientists politically engaged along with artists.
Our government makes it plain that it is only interested in ‘vocational’ courses, not those that might breed a new generation of free thinkers. And while it’s possible that some humanities departments are suffering drops in student numbers, this is hardly surprising given young people must now weigh up pursuit of knowledge for passion’s sake against outrageously high student loans.
Exactly. Penny wise and pound foolish. The skilled make good followers, those taught to be imaginative lead. Otherwise, you’re condemning New Zealand’s industry to an ever-descending spiral of imitation. It’ll never get ahead without teaching imagination.
Louise Nicholas exposed police internal discipline inadequacies which continue to be a problem.
Oh yeah, Labour, thanks for putting up that rapist-supporting scumbag as your Ohariu candidate. If I lived a mile to the west, I’d actually vote for Dunne! (as is, Robertson? No way)
I mean, seriously, what the fuck were you thinking? O’Connor and Jackson? Not enough rapists voting Labour? Quick, we need someone who’ll advocate for them!
This is the true nature of a social democracy — the system most New Zealanders support when push comes to shove. Freedom of speech, and the rooting out of corruption, are fundamental principles we should not have to constantly fight for; they should be our bottom line.
The informed critique of government and society. This is the ethos of the old socialist push of speakers going back to John Ruskin, William Morris and before was to reach out to the people as a whole and to teach them that the arts and that imagination could make change for the better.
Actoid Rodney Hyde (how appropriate – a Hyde without a Dr Jekyll) once said that the purpose of an ‘economy’ – not a civilisation, a word he had forgotten, was to allow people ‘to buy stuff.’ We are more than consumers!
Community education of all kinds should be immediately revived, funded and encouraged… Concerted work also needs to be undertaken to entrench ethics, civics and values education across all sectors of society, and to encourage our young people to take an active role in improving the world in which they live.
Compare this with the Orangegropenfuhrer’s now-infamous speech to the Boy Scouts. It was utterly contrary to Scout ethics of service and was all about self-interest and resentment. Vulgarity is not merely aesthetically offensive, it is detrimental to society.
Conclusion:
Aristotle taught that business or toil is merely utilitarian; it may be necessary but does not enrich or ennoble a human life. The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, not the external manner and detail, is true reality. How about we end the cycle that sees the injustices wrought in Heloise’s world repeated in our own? We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
This is not just a platitude. If you go back to the merely utilitarian, then remember ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ The utilitarian argument fails on its own terms. It does not bring a greater good in the long run. It condemns us to being followers, always lagging behind the innovation of others, condemning us, like the workers of Weta, to being ‘Mexicans with cellphones.’ as one studio executive put it.
On the terms of civilisation and humanity, it is completely and always abhorrent.
Thank you Mandy Hager, that is a fine essay and it must be read.
My apologies for a long series of comments, but this is an important essay and if people can’t take the time to read all of it, they need to see the parts that are relevant to Standard readers.
The power of popular protest
Even one of the harshest, most oppressive regimes on the planet has been proven helpless against concerted peaceful popular protest…..
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/27/israel-removes-further-security-measures-from-al-aqsa-compound
Looks like our government is failing to abide by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – which it signed up to.
‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.’
The only way to maintain rich people is to steal from everyone else.
Nz do a pretty good job here Ed compared to most of the world so what’s your point
Good journalism from Newsroom this morning re Ministry of Health funding.
“The DHB funding blunder will not go away, with fresh details raising questions about a rogue Ministry and when exactly the Government knew something was wrong. Shane Cowlishaw reports.”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/07/27/40171/funding-blunder-docs-reveal-rogue-ministry
The henchmen can’t even agree over the size of the cuts, deary me.
Nationals appointed beancounters, ex PWC’ers and associated club members. The fresh face of gutting our health system.
I see the CFO’s freshly on board after helping the kiwirail stripping along with an ex education ministry head kicker.
No wonder it’s described as abrasive with Coleman being called ‘lazy’ by one DHB member, understatement IMO.
It looks like this one has a long way to run. The upside is that operational funding for some DHBs funding is unexpectedly albeit temporarily increased… if the CEO can manage to ‘fix’ it for the DHBs left short, and without reducing funding next year for the DHBs with the windfall. Still to be seen how the DHBs will manage this mess.
It will be very interesting to get more background on how this error was made.
As an aside I’ve noticed a couple of instances with service sectors being reframed as ‘industries’ e.g. illustration in this article calling the health sector the health industry, and after the grenfell disaster in UK, the fire services sector (emergency services, inspectors etc) being referred to by minster as ‘the fire industry’. I’m not sure where they’re going with this, but i think it’s a deliberate reframing from a vocational/service concept to a business imagery.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=36534
Progressive economist speaking in Wellington today. There is a live stream.
It’s also available on demand (just press the play button in the link below).
https://vstream.victoria.ac.nz/ess/echo/presentation/6dc7bf0a-fa14-47b5-8bc9-3798fe6cd280
If Macron made an offer to be PM of New Zealand I’d take it.
I think the last time an NZ PM was this good with the media, it was Seddon himself:
http://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-pr-press-7-magic-moments/
The pictures are really something.
GARETH MORGAN BITES LIKE A WHITE POINTER SHARK!
Friday 28 July 2017
“Penny you are so into personality politics it’s sick.
What matters is policy nothing else.
You need to get focussed on that if you want to be anything more than idiot wind in this thread.
Try starting by telling us just one policy that you want and why – just one.
Then at least we can see you have some content and what it is.”
Gareth Morgan was responding to this post I made on his TOP Facebook page:
“In my view – you’re being conned.
The real reason, IMO, for Gareth Morgan’s TOP is to keep this National-led Government in power, and to do that, help undermine Winston Peters and NZ First.
Not the first time that’s been attempted.
Remember 2014 and another millionaire, Colin Craig and his Conservative Party?
IMO – very similar in terms of what their political purpose was – to help reduce votes for NZ First.”
MY RESPONSE TO GARETH MORGAN 28 July 2017:
[deleted]
_____________________________
Which political parties in NZ
have such an ACTION PLAN?
What I would like to see is AS MANY political parties/ groups / organisations and individuals ‘pick up the ball’ here and ‘help themselves’ to as many of these ‘demands’ as possible – so we get AS MANY people as possible calling for genuine transparency and accountability in New Zealand.
“Where the people lead – the politicians will follow …”
Politically – we need to CLEAN our country up!
On the NZ anti- corruption front – this ACTION PLAN gives a clear path forward.
Please folks – all I ask you to do is read carefully and consider these ACTION PLAN points, and if you agree – please SHARE?
THANKS!
Penny 🙂
[have deleted some of the too long cut and paste. How about putting a link in so people can see for themselves? – weka]
When Spicy bailed, didn’t you just wonder what anyone could do to top him? Wonder no more, The Mooch brings a whole new level of WTF to WhiteHouse communications.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/344215-scaramucci-priebus-is-a-paranoid-schizophrenic-will-be-asked-to
Anyone remember back to the good old days of, oh, seven months ago, when this was still such way OTT satire that it was still funny?
Lessons in how to ‘manage upward’, from the Pentagon to the current U.S. President:
“The Department of Defense is awaiting formal guidance from the White House as a follow-up to the Commander-In-Chief’s announcement on military service by transgender personnel. We will provide detailed guidance to the Department in the near future for how this policy change will be implemented. The Department will continue to focus on our mission of defending our nation and on-going operations against our foes, while ensuring all servicemembers are treated with respect.”
If anyone still is under the delusion that Labour or Green politicians can provide sensible, affordable Government try reading about this disaster.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/95158475/island-bay-cycleway-solutions-to-cost-ratepayers-up-to-77m-and-remove-57-car-parks
This was part of the stupid cycle project pushed by our last (Green) Mayor and the current (Labour) Mayor and his deputy.
They managed to make one of the widest, safest roads in Wellington into a disaster zone. Millions and millions of ratepayers dollars put into a crazy scheme to appeal to a couple of dozen cyclists a day. That is on a fine calm day. Today there would be none. Now they want to throw more millions at it, rather than just remove the mess they made and go back to the situation we had before they went quite insane.
I went a couple of times to have a look at whether it was used. There were a few cyclists on the road in an hour or so’s observation, most of whom ignored the cycle lanes and rode on the (now much narrower) traffic lanes. Buses have to stop as the roadway that was left after this fiasco are not wide enough for them to pass.
Eagle, the deputy Mayor, is running for the Labour Party in the Rongotai electorate.in Wellington. I rather hope he wins. He will do a great deal less harm in a back bench seat in the Opposition than he does on the Wellington Council.
lol I love how the stuff link multiplies the cost by a factor of 11.
It’ll cost <$7mil, not 77.
All that aside, I suspect that wgtn, like dunedin, is looking at cycleways and improvements because people were seriously injured or died. I have a lot of issues with cyclists (especially mixing with pedestrians), but I don't have a problem with going overboard on wide cycle lanes. Too many people got squished.
I hadn’t noticed the “77” error in the link.
I went back and read the article and at first I couldn’t see what you were talking about. Quite funny really. I can’t really believe it was deliberate though. The Dompost people don’t have that much imagination.
In terms of accidents this part of Island Bay road had had NO reported cycling accidents in the 10 years or so before they put in the new arrangement. They have had a number of accidents since. The problem is that the cycle lane winds along close to, and in some places ON the footpath. It also weaves around the bus shelters and close to the parking, as you can see in the photos. I believe it is the danger of riding on the lane that leads the cyclists to go back to the safer road.
Imagine trying to put a child in your car. You have to do it from the cycle lane. Then you either get hit by a cyclist or hit one when you open the door.
By the way did you read the comments attached to the article on the Dompost site? There is the odd enthusiast among the scores of those opposed.
Most people think it is dreadful and want to know why the bloody council can’t just admit it and scrap the silly thing.
Let me guess – the cyclists prefer to use the road anyway.
Frankly, it’s an excellent idea to have a cycle lane through to Island Bay – they just signed off on a poor design. People in Wellington shouldn’t be hating on the councillors, they should be hating on whoever designed the stupid design of it.
They should have left it as is
It didn’t need a cycleway
[crap, stuffed up reply]
Another poor mis-understood Muslim:
The controversial comments were posted to Mr El-Mouelhy’s Facebook page.
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/australian-women-need-muslims-to-fertilise-them-islamic-leader/ar-AAoWRwl?li=AAavLaF&ocid=ientp
Just to be clear … I’m assuming this is some kind of windup. 🙂
Somebody who didn’t get Mr M’s sensa yuma might complain about the incitement to suicide. Of course that might be self-deprecation.
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/citizenship-crisis-grows-to-engulf-over-20-mps/ar-AAoW4wv?ocid=ientp
Now all I’m waiting for is for someone to point out that because all Australian’s are automatically entitled to NZ citizenship, therefore maybe none of them are really eligible to stand for the Senate. 🙂
that last bit about automatic entitlement isn’t true, is it? A wind-up?
Well if you read some of the commentary on this it may well be defendable if no action has been taken to ‘activate’ the right to NZ citizenship.
But the funny thing is the way the Constitutional clause is written this is not at all clear.
Deeply ironic in light of the way the Senate has been denying kiwis access to citizenship in Aus.
It was the entitlement of aussies to be new zealanders that I was surprised at.
Methinks one country views our special relationship as more special than the otherdoes…
‘Lazy Kiwis who don’t want to work in agriculture’
Once upon a time you could build a career or a livelihood. Work one or two jobs and build up enough equity to get onto your own farm.
Now? Agri-business is starting to kill the dream.
Same with the in-town jobs. Doesn’t matter how hard you work, or how many hours. How loyal – it doesn’t seem to show up in the pay packet, training opportunities or career advancement.
But hey! I forgot. It’s only the top echelons who need financial encouragement to perform. Threats and warning stories work best on the shrinking mass of workers.
Just do enough. There’s not much point in trying to do better.
“Pākehā, learn from Māori and Pacifica peoples about how to share land and housing, we don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel.”
The term Pakeha is a racist term and is derogatory to New Zealanders. If everyone on this website could stop using it the world would be a better place.
The statement is also incorrect. New Zealanders already have more than adequate ability to structure shared land ownership. For instance trust law has been shaped over centuries and existed well before Maori made it to New Zealand shores. A Trust would be a good mechanism to govern shared ownership. Alternatively a Partnership could be arranged.
No need to “learn” from any other ethnicity. We simply need to utilise the mechanisms we already have.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Sorry, I haven’t been following daily utterances, which I think is a strength. Stephen Mills as the representative of the Left on RNZ’s Left and Right back and forth on Monday morning is as vile as the Hilary Clinton he supported against Sanders. Listen to his last input. He is almost as involved in the rich and strong as her. The Left is always about revolution, he responds to that as an entirely unexpected, and ear-waxical, surprise. Mike Williams at least has individual integrity for his right-wingism.
The Left is about revolution, is about heart. When Catherine Ryan can find someone less like herself to involve my heart again she will have found a representative of the Left.