I wonder if it would be possible to get a petition going to have the ‘Left Leaning’ column, which ostensibly provides one of the few spaces for the voices of the left in our largely right-leaning media, to be written by someone who is, I dunno, a bit left? Even centre would be a step in the left direction.
One way of dealing with problems is to get into government, but that’s not all I’m doing, I work off the net as well.
Today I’m also working on doing something about problems, like NARK, Child Matters, and here’s a really neat thing that I’m helping promote at the moment: chatbus.org.nz
I’d prefer if UF got 6 seats at the expense of National and Act too.
No doubt you want this outcome as well so you can swan off to Wellington and suck up the nice salary and pension scheme.
Unfortunately for you, they’re not likely to get more than 2 seats, and only then if Dunne can take his seat which isn’t exactly the safest in the country.
Gawd on Q&A they have three right wingers, Tamihere, Phil O’Reilly, and some woman who thinks the Spirit Level has been discredited, discussing the book. O’Reilly thinks that not growing “is just madness”. And Holmes admitted he diid not understand an interview with one of the authors of the book.
although we don’t really need the MSM’s facile version of ‘balance’…we need critical discussion and a media able to use facts and figures to force people to move on from their little PR platitudes.
MS – surely in a global sense with more and more countries and modern type consumers coming onstream there must be net global growth to cater for the increased number who demand consumerables. More connected countries means more efficiencies in resource utilisation surely.
Do we as a global connected society simple say too the rest i.e africa, etc too late, you missed the boat but we’ll take your resources though.
Now good points from Q+A
– discource on envirnomental impact and increased awareness and contribution from agri sector.
– need for a socital discusion around social inequality and at what slope do we ‘float the boats’.
-good imput on crime and how to lessen impact on society and police resources.
MS – surely in a global sense with more and more countries and modern type consumers coming onstream there must be net global growth to cater for the increased number who demand consumerables.
Orlov put it very well: Mother Nature does not change its behaviour due to price signals.
There will be no more global net growth because the physical world system cannot support exponential growth any longer. And our financial system cannot support exponential growth (of debt) any longer.
And the main constraint: cheap oil. There is virtually none left.
yes CV i agree totally peak oil, lack of eco stability etc etc…There must and will be a shift from oil for energy to oil for consumerables only at some point but limiting factors are availability of govt cash reserves and willpower (both in very short supply ). I wonder if the extreme right ,who can read the same signals as the left, havent a plan for after as well. Use cheap energy and resources and then via science / techno use their system liquidity and cash in / control the next phase of development.
I see two paths – social democratic slow adaption to the next growth/ developement phase via govt control and constructs or a sole bought out /leveraged mega-private sector society without any public controls or direction at all.
The societial arrangement surely isn’t all that relevant, its the one we choose.
Centralizers want to control resources, but its turning out that the solutions
to our world crisises, food, population, climate, resources, energy, is more
ant like. The ‘central’ of an ant colony is a egg producer, nothing more
nothing less. Government in the new networked local centric world will\
not be the centre. So you could be right, depending on who you ask
the world could look owned by mega-private ‘queens’ yet still be slowly
adapt to the next growth phase. The right could be right, government is
the problem, and the left could be right that businesses are not the engine
of society. That when we all conform our behavior – think local act
globally – then we will survive. Think of it like this, why do you
drive within the white lines. Well the council makes the best road
in between the lines. The lines aren’t there to contain you, its your
choice to stay within the lines, its in your interest since others
stay on the other side of the line and so you gain safety by
staying within the line. This is when government should be,
drawing lines, measuring if they work, and keeping us from harming
ourselves and prospering. But government does not do this anymore,
the right believe its their right to get very very rich and exploit,
the left believe its there right to decide what society should look like,
what we need is neither the right or the left, we need to trust people
and provide the people networks to faciliate their personal growth,
and everything will come right again. We just have too many sociopathic
control narcissists in power and in the media, and we will all pay
dearly for their needy attention disorders. clip of Key dressed in drag
at a gay festival.
yes but each region or country is on its own economic pathway with its own pace of economic evolution. stability, security and consumerism would appear to be necessary factor that allow for a sucessful adoption into the western paradym…oh and the McDonalds too.
We all know the rational for USA etc to support or invade non connected or misaligned strategic countries such as iraq…and dictate to other countries adherance to internation regs that allow free trade or movment of capital.
We IMO need every country connected and functioning so we can face the challenges ahead over the next 50-100 years.
The only viable long term solution is a ‘next way’ economic system that will manage the transition from a Neolib / Socialist matrix flipflop to a more balanced, globally connected social democratic govt where we still have room for capital investment in a limited private sector.
My thoughts would see the rise of workplace co-ops ( as the new work unions ) expanded SOE / Public sector sphere that provide control / influence on wages and worker condition ( the expanded public sector would provide a balance to the private sector ). Erodicate the concept of traditional model of ownership of housing and control the price of land as this cause market created bubbles and artifical instabilities.
Why not a complex ‘rent to own’ scheme where need is meet by the state…The real nominal cost of a new average house build is far far lower than present values.
At present our economic system is chaotic, full of contridiction, lack of coordination and simply inefficient in a holistc sense. resources are being misused and wasted.
What right does 1500 billionaire individuals have to live a utopian dream when the billions upon billions of the global population starve or eck out a miserable existance?
There is no such thing as a private sector or, for that matter, a government sector – there is only society.
At present our economic system is chaotic, full of contridiction, lack of coordination and simply inefficient in a holistc sense. resources are being misused and wasted.
Yep, there is a massive misallocation of the worlds resources caused by the capitalist paradigm.
I can’t remember the name of the woman either but ….OMG!
Our binge drinking culture is a product of children coming home and watching Home and Away where people meet at the local bar for drinks?
That’s it! Pissed teens are gathering on the North Shore for riotous parties because they saw it on Home and Away! Well, that’s easily solved.
Let’s axe Home and Away and replace with something safer….like Cheers.
Going by the discussion of The Spirit Level, I don’t think any of them had read the book.
Their problems with the theory had been covered and refuted in the book.
They were not even listening, the prof said inequality measure was a flag indicating
poor economic outcomes for rich and poor. Rich parent are just as likely too be
uneducated enough to stop their kids getting immunized, for example.
But the ost conceited media was laid law on entrepreneurs, that was a shocker
for myopia.
inerestingly the balance is alreay presnt at grassroot levels…’the spirit level’ and its insight are being discussed at various levels or sectors such as in ECE.
Q&A is another soapbox to ensure Ellis pockets a circa million p.a. Package from his nat mates and masters.
due to a lack of a public broadcaster providing balance and objectivity we get this one sided approach…..look across the Tasman where ABC and SBS set a bar the others follow or just don’t get watched when it matters.
They enjoy jumps in ratings when major events occur as people know they can be trusted….whereas here it’s reality tv and jokers like Holmes, Espiner, garner and associated sycophants.
I dont know about the rest of the country but round here the Labour Party candidate and his team have been working away for over a year and I think they have avery good chance of toppling the incumbent National party and dispatching them with a very healthy majority for Labour. Locally Labour is seen as the can do party and the chances are looking better every day.
“Yes you’re right. There is this famous exchange at the G* a year or so back between Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel where Brown asks why Germany weathered the GFC so well and Britain had just plummeted into debt. Merkel answered “Because Germany still makes things Mr Brown!””
Anyone noticed that Labour’s blog site ‘Red Alert’ is being rapidly taken over by trained trollers whose brief is to undermine the site’s owners and supporters? These individuals seem to work in loose groups, and bully their victims with repetitive criticisms and insults. I put much of the blame on the timidity of the MP owners who talk about the problem, but seem unwilling to take positive action to get rid of them. Genuine critics are welcome and make for healthy debate, but these narcisstic nasties are anything but genuine.
All I can say is: it will be to the site’s detriment, because soon there will be nobody of worth bothering to comment there – which I guess is the ultimate aim of the NAct campaign.
Haven’t properly visited for awhile, but always thought that ‘Red Alert’ would be a prime target for attack by trolls, whether coordinated by spin merchants or just a bunch of losers with an axe to grind. I think it was always going to happen sooner or later unless they switched comments off or engaged in very strict moderation.
always thought that ‘Red Alert’ would be a prime target for attack by trolls, whether coordinated by spin merchants or just a bunch of losers with an axe to grind
There’s both. It’s easy to tell which is which. The ‘losers’ are one man bands and, as you say, they have a bee in their bonnet. The professional spin merchants repeatedly attack the authors and commenters until – particularly in the case of commenters – they fall silent presumably cowered. Their lines are just too pat to be random.
I’m sorry but did you mention spud and witty one liners in the same breath?
Seriously though any swing voter that goes onto red alert and reads his comments are likely to think hes a bit…(not sure how to say this without insulting anyone) simple
I was responding to your comment in friendly jest. Spud his who he is. He’s of Pacific Island extraction and it’s part of his personality. He may like to use seemingly simple minded one liners much of the time but he isn’t simple, and contributes pertinent observations when he want to. Cmon chris73, live and let live.
NRT has removed the comments feature without much trouble. Personally I think having a forum for people to directly communicate with their representatives is a good idea. The trolls be damned!
They got rid of one and have threatened (too timidly in my view) to moderate or ban a few others but that’s all. They need a lesson or two from lPrent.
The problem is that a troll is a subjective term and if you’re going to start banning right-wing trolls will you then ban the left-wing trolls as well?
We have done it a number of times, booting people from all sides when required. There is a definite bias against rwnj’s. But I suspect that most of that is because the nj’s of other persuasions tend to value having the site available more – they amend their behavior when warned.
But we look much more at behavior rather than peoples philosophy. The underlying criteria is the good of the site as expressed in the about. You don’t do that by supression of alternate ideas. You do it by removing people who are incapable of arguing and have the flexibility of a badly programmed robot.
The fastest way to find out if someone is capable of learning is to stress them at a personal level. Personally I have decades of experience at how to do it, and query level access to a rather large database of whatever is said here makes it a hell of a lot easier. That is why I will sometimes start to torment people – I want to find out is they are merely automata.
All that being said, I have one major advantage at moderating on a site like this. I simply do not care about what others think about me. I am not a politician nor anything more than a member of a political party. The things that I consider as being crucially important questions are not those discussed here.
My involvement in the political sphere because of a sense of duty in constraining the ability of political people from screwing up too badly. Having open and public forums is a effective way to do it.
Getting back to Annes point about team trolling – I just don’t tolerate it. To me it is just evidence of a berserk reproducing virus type program, and programmers hate CPU gobblers like that. People will operate as individuals here if theydo not want to attract my attention.
Well thats what I mean, this site doesn’t allow it and red alert doesn’t allow it yet it seems to me that red alert is far more “trigger-happy” when it comes to banning people for being trolls
Getting the right balance is far more of an art than a science and it depends on how far the local comment culture is from what is wanted.
I was a *lot* more trigger happy when I was changing pattern of the comment culture here. But we’re also far more sadistic than a politician can be seen to be. That gives us far more options about how to modify behavior. We can do other things rather than banning, and those are frequently a damn sight worse.
Like the climate change deniers who spend vast sums to discredit the convincing science that supports it, there is an equivalent reaction to Wilkinson and Pickett’s research on income inequality. The panel on Q&A were very dismissive of The Spirit Level based on the interview with Richard Wilkinson but I wonder how many of them actually read the book and the data that supported it. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/08/spirit-level-deserves-attention.html
Last Wednesday it was revealed that the New Zealand superannuation fund holds 44,595 shares worth $2,082,736 in a Mumbai-based multinational company called Larsen and Toubro, which in partnership with the Indian Navy, is involved in designing and manufacture a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines for India. But that’s not all Larsen & Toubro (L&T) India’s largest engineering group gets up to…
Last Wednesday it was revealed that the New Zealand superannuation fund holds 44,595 shares worth $2,082,736 in a Mumbai-based multinational company called Larsen and Toubro, which in partnership with the Indian Navy, is involved in designing and manufacture a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines for India. But that’s not all Larsen & Toubro (L&T) India’s largest engineering group gets up to…
“THE HOLLOW MEN” the film, is on Maori channel tonight at 8.30 pm. Very pertinent especially now, the main players are still getting away with their shady, self-serving scams.
NZ loves to grow weeds! Evn when it finds a king crop, milk, it puts its whole weight
behind it and leaves a bit pile of cow shit floating down the water ways. Its always
so black and white. NZ needs to diversify, so that means we should ignore the
problem with all the weedy companies we have now, throw money at new start ups
with a now discreited consumer paradigm. Oh, what insipidness. Any farmer
does better with what he has, and that’s why we spend so much time with
jingoistic business mantras about new innovation. We need to seize the new
world economic reality, local, networked, low energy (or high energy where
its cheap – i.e. Here IN nz), but no with new roads, and less education we
are going to drive ourselves into a new growth phase.
Bit surprised to see Meth-Whore Barbie missed out. When I saw her on telly screaming about how she hates animals I thought she’d be fighting off the party list offers with a shitty stick.
John Key is one of our most popular prime ministers ever. It seems nothing Labour throws at him can stick. But even he can’t beat Peter Jackson when it comes to the popularity contest that is Google.
…
Figures show that in the last three years Key was well above Goff in terms of Google searches by name.
Hah, he was searched because people didn’t know who this Prime Mincer of newsland, robber baron, cheap wannabe comedian, agent of the NWO, buddy of Obama, John ‘Keys’ really is….
It was most probably people looking for overweight camp male catwalk models, with a greedy streak and an overinflated sense of self worth coupled with a deep and insatiable need for recognition and public affirmation – I’ve heard that that particular combo is harder to find and more popular than you would think.
For all you people with fingers poised above the search keys – you don’t need google to find out what this prick is like – just come to New Zealand, swim in our rivers of effluent and see the faces of the people whose lives he has touched (hint: you won’t see them at the RWC – begging is to be made an offense just in time for the big game)
…and thanks Jum for highlighting the fact it was on. I am glad not to have missed it, I don’t usually watch TV so thanks for the heads-up (and I know I should have seen it back then, but they were on their way out back then). Very timely to see the young Key so enthusiastically lying, and to observe the groups formed during the Brash/English takeover.
concur, thanks Maori TV. I really hope others watched, especially blind Key-followers.
Congratulations to Hillary Calvert for being, er, dropped from the ACT party list. Don Brash richly rewarded Clavert for her support during his putsch by cutting her out of the top 10 on the ACT list. Doesn’t say much for Brash and his commitment to reward loyalty. His purchase of the ACT Party was bad enough however, sorry Hillary, his project for take over of the party and stacking it with his mates is total. If that means you are a casualty then that is expedient for Brash.
And the ACT Party, man, you have to be white male and old to be at the top. Anyone not old, male and white need not apply. “Young” Don Nicholson is the youthful face of ACT. The only other party with such a similar homogeneous list of candidates is the Maroi Party and they are clear about who their support base is and even they have women at the top.
Handling the profusion of names and TLDs is a relatively simple problem for a computer, even though it will require extra work to redirect hundreds of new names (when someone types them in) back to the same old Web site. It will also create lots of work for lawyers, marketers of search-engine optimization, registries, and registrars.
All of this will create jobs, but little extra value. To me, useless jobs are, well, useless. And, while redundant domain names are not evil, I do think that they are a waste of resources.
Don’t you just love the competitive free-market? It keeps costing more and more and more.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Government rulemakers looking to decide how much money to spend to avoid adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere need a good estimate of what a warming climate will cost in social damages, for example through more extreme weather events. That point makes ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. Rainbow Tick threatens to pull Massey’s tick if lesbians are allowed to speak Freer Lives – a gender-critical Marxist site Freer Lives on Violence, debate and Britain’s Gender Recognition Act British ...
Fact Check: New Zealand’s own relationship with China might, however, be salvageable if our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was willing to equip its minister, Winston Peters, with a few facts. Legislating for the protection of national security – the very action our Foreign Minister is decrying – ...
I hope we can all agree that charging only certain returning expats for isolation costs is the right call. Instead of a blanket fee, which may have resulted in a small number of Kiwis deciding not to return home because of financial reasons, the Government has chosen to implement a ...
Back at the beginning of this government, the Greens made a foolish decision to support the Electoral Integrity Act - demanded by Winston Peters to keep his own backbench in line as part of his coalition deal with Labour - as an act of good faith within the coalition. It ...
SATURDAY AUGUST 1Artefact (Prime, 7.30pm). The series presented by Dame Anne Salmond screened on Māori Television, but is totally worth revisiting if you saw it the first time. Dame Anne tells the stories of taonga that highlight the history of Aotearoa. Further reading: this 2013 interview with Dame Anne by the lovely ...
Have unions and the Government sold workers short with their attempt at fixing the so-called “Hobbit Law”? Unionist Ian Powell argues that the union movement has been outmanoeuvered, and the Government has agreed to a new piece of anti-worker legislation that retains the principles of the previous National Government’s hated ...
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source:Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ...
An article in the EETimes suggests that advances in autonomous vehicles are not moving as quickly as expected because those working on them have confused complicated problems with complex ones. Engineering can only take you so far in complex worlds. Complicated systems tend to have fairly predictable inputs, processes and outputs. Complex systems (like ...
Last week, after Judith Collins announced that National would be cruel and vicious to kiwis caught overseas by the pandemic, and rob them at the border if they returned home, Labour looked like it was falling all over itself to cry "me too". But now, it looks like kindness has ...
If entry into New Zealand from abroad is safe, it should be allowed. People arriving from places that are Covid-free, or no more risky than New Zealand, and who get here on flights that do not intersect with risky places, should return to normal travel arrangements. Currently, the Cook ...
Liz SlootenScientists from the University of Otago, working with colleagues from around the world, have found that New Zealand right whales are doing much better than right whales in other parts of the world. The research was published as the feature article in the journal Marine Ecology Progress ...
Back in 2019, the government asked for a comprehensive, independent review of the Resource Management Act and associated legislation. That review has now reported back and recommended a complete repeal and re-enactment. Despite the headlines, this is not a "scrapping" - we're still going to have a resource management law, ...
By Associate Professor Mik Black, Department of Biochemistry, University of OtagoThe increased availability of complex biological data sets means that analysis and computation are becoming critically important skills for New Zealand’s future scientists. Because of this, we need to be doing everything we can to help our students develop ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIs humanity doomed? If in 2030 we have not reduced ...
Britain's spy agencies are supposedly overseen by various watchdogs, including the investigatory powers tribunal. But it turns out that MI6 at least has contempt for those watchdogs, and attempted to interfere with the operations of the tribunal by concealing evidence from its judges: MI6 has been accused of “inappropriate interference” ...
Daphna Whitmore So far this year over 7.4 million people have died from preventable communicable diseases. There were 4.3 million children who died under the age of five. Nearly one million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the past six months. A similar number of people have died from malaria ...
Four weeks ago I wrote about the last time a sizable asteroid hit our planet – the ‘Tunguska Event’ of 1908, when an object about 50 metres across exploded above the Siberian taiga – but smaller cosmic rocks shoot close by Earth fairly frequently. In the past 42 hours ...
Last month, China imposed a new "national security law" on Hong Kong. The law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment for secession, subversion, and "colluding with foreign forces" - which basicly means peacefully advocating for democracy or independence. It has been used to crush peaceful protests and interpreted by the ...
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...
Kia orana and kia ora koutou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak in this adjournment debate and to mark and acknowledge the fact that we are now two years and 10 months into the conclusion of a parliamentary term that has been extraordinary in so many ...
On 1 August, we marked the anniversary of Jacinda Ardern becoming the Leader of the Labour Party. On that day in 2017, Leader Andrew Little nominated Jacinda Ardern to succeed him and lead the party to victory.Now, three years on, we look back at some of the key moments ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Law changes to end tenure review and provide for better management of Crown pastoral lands in the South Island high country were considered by Parliament today with the first reading of the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill says Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has ridiculed the National Party "circus", with the politician saying it was in "chaos" after the resignation of another MP.Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon announced on Monday he would retire from politics after he allegedly sent inappropriate pornographic images to a young woman. Following a ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today outlined what he saw as the requirements to re-open New Zealand's borders for tourists and travellers. If New Zealand was dealing solely with an Australian state such as Tasmania, we wouldn't need a vaccine, said Mr Peters, but these moves were complicated by the ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters appears to have prompted last-minute alterations to proposed legislation for commercial landlords and their tenants. Mr Peters told reporters on Wednesday said that he was making sure the proposed bill was in step with what the parties had actually agreed to. He said he ...
Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprise and New Zealand First List MP Shane Jones attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new NZ Post "super depot" in Wellington. The state-owned postal service, which got $280 million from the Coalition Government last month, is expanding its operations to handle surging parcel volumes. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYIntroduction Good afternoon. Welcome to you all here today and party supporters watching from around the country. We appreciate your hard work keeping New Zealand First strong; thank you for keeping the faith. Sixty-three days out from Election Day, ...
The diversity of conservation boards around Aotearoa is increasing with 47 appointments to 14 of the 15 conservation boards across New Zealand announced today by the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party is honoured to be remembering former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today at a public memorial service in the heart of Wellington at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s. Following her passing in March, this celebration of her life brings together her friends, family and colleagues to honour her life ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a $2.5 million boost for South Westland to help a regional alliance of local businesses and government agencies provide nature based jobs. ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
New Zealand and Australia reaffirmed today the need for the closest possible collaboration as they tackle a global environment shaped by COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In these challenging times, our close collaboration with Australia is more vital than ever,” said Mr Peters. Mr Peters and his Australian ...
The recovery and forensic examination of the loader driven by survivor Russell Smith means the underground team are now moving into an area of the Pike River Mine that has not been seen since the explosion, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said. “The fifth and last robot ...
The Government has confirmed a community-wide trial of CovidCard technology as it explores options for COVID-19 contact tracing. “Effective contact tracing is a vital part of the COVID-19 response,” Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said. “While manual processes remain the critical component for contact tracing, we know digital solutions can ...
The government is proposing changes to aquaculture legislation to improve the process for allocating and transferring aquaculture assets to iwi. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has introduced the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill to Parliament. It proposes a limited new discretionary power for Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (ToKM). ...
The Minister of Justice has today introduced the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Legislation Bill – the next step in the ongoing programme of work to fix the failed 2014 Family Court reforms led by then Justice Minister Judith Collins. The Bill arises from the report of the Independent ...
A new Department of Conservation (DOC) action plan tackles the impacts of climate change on New Zealand’s biodiversity and DOC managed infrastructure including tracks, huts and cultural heritage. Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage says extreme weather events around the country have really brought home our vulnerability to changing weather patterns. ...
A heavily scaled back international Antarctic season will commence this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods have confirmed. “Antarctica is the only continent that is COVID-19 free,” Mr Peters said. “Throughout the global pandemic, essential operations and long-term science have continued at ...
The Government is providing up to $30 million to help fund the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt - an investment that will create 244 jobs. “The sports hub is designed to be a world-leading shared service for a range of sports, offering the level of facilities ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today transport projects currently in construction will continue at pace due to extra Government support for transport projects to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. To keep the $16.9 billion 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme going the Government has allocated funding from the COVID Response and ...
$50 million for further rural broadband digital connectivity has been allocated from the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the COVID Response and Recovery Fund has been announced by Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure and Kris Faafoi, Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media. The investment will go to boosting broadband ...
The Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has congratulated the Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB) programme on its major milestone of connecting more than 1 million New Zealand households and businesses to UFB. “This milestone has been 10 years in the making and demonstrates the popularity of the UFB network. “Uptake ...
Landmark legislation passed today puts New Zealand on track to saving thousands of lives and having a smokefree generation sooner rather than later, Associate Health Minister, Jenny Salesa says. The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill regulates vaping products and heated tobacco devices. “There has long been concern ...
A discriminatory law that has been a symbol of frustration for many people needing and providing care and support, has been scrapped by the Government. “Part 4A of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced under urgency in 2013 by a National Government,” Associate ...
Kiwi motorists are set to reap the benefits of a more competitive fuel market following the passing of the Fuel Industry Bill tonight, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says. “This Act is where the rubber meets the road in terms of our response to the recommendations made in the ...
The Government has delivered on its promise to New Zealanders to modernise tenancy laws with the passing of the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill 2020 today, says Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing), Kris Faafoi. “The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 was out-dated and the reforms in the RTA modernise our ...
New rules to protect and restore New Zealand’s freshwater passed into law today. Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor welcomed the gazetting of the new national direction on freshwater management. “These regulations deliver on the Government’s commitment to stop further degradation, show material improvements within five years and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointment of Jeremy Clarke-Watson as New Zealand’s new Consul-General in Los Angeles. “New Zealand and the United States share a close and dynamic partnership, based on a long history of shared values and democratic traditions,” Mr Peters said. “Mr Clarke-Watson is a ...
Victims of family violence can end a tenancy with two days’ notice Landlords can terminate tenancies with 14 days’ notice if tenants assault them Timeframe brought forward for limiting rent increases to once every 12 months Extension of time Tenancy Tribunal can hear cases via phone/video conference Reform of New ...
Two employment schemes – one new and one expanded – going live today will help tens of thousands of people continue training on the job and support thousands more into work, the Government has announced. Apprenticeship Boost, a subsidy of up to $12,000 per annum for first year apprentices and ...
The Government is funding a significant infrastructure package at Omokoroa which will create 150 new jobs and help transform the Western Bay of Plenty peninsula, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the Government is investing $14 million towards the $28 million roading and water package. This ...
The Bill allowing the Government to recover some costs for managed isolation and quarantine passed its third reading today, with charges coming into force as soon as regulations are finalised. Putting regulations into force is the next step. “The COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill and its supporting regulations will ...
Today’s unemployment data shows the Government’s plan to protect jobs and cushion the blow for businesses and households against the economic impact of COVID-19 was the right decision, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ said today that New Zealand’s unemployment rate in the June quarter – which includes the ...
A new role of New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people is being established, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Internal Affairs and for Children, Tracey Martin announced today. The Reading Ambassador, announced at a Celebration of Reading event at ...
Community Law Centres will receive a funding boost to meet the increased need for free legal services due to COVID-19, Justice Minister Andrew Little said. The $3.5m funding is for the next three financial years and is additional to the almost $8 million for Community Law Centres announced in Budget ...
New Zealand has joined Canada and Chile in a new trade initiative aimed at increasing women’s participation in global trade. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker, together with Canada’s Minister for Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrés Allamand, and Chile’s Vice ...
Building owners around New Zealand have benefited from the latest round of Heritage EQUIP funding with grants totalling $2,230,166. “The Heritage EQUIP grants for seismic strengthening assist private building owners to get the professional advice they need to go ahead with their projects or support them to carry out the ...
Latest from the Beehive – We had just finished digesting an outpouring of announcements from the Beehive over the previous 24 hours or so when the Point of Order Trough Monitor shrieked an alert. A new trough had been established. While we were inspecting the contents of this new trough, ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1, Historical: Australian much lower than Spain, Belgium and Sweden. Chart by Keith Rankin. The known incidences of Covid19 in Spain, Belgium and Sweden are similar, although Sweden lagged for a while before overtaking the other two. In deaths, Sweden is slightly lower than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The good news in the Reserve Bank’s latest quarterly set of forecasts is that the recession won’t be as steep as it thought last time. The bad news is it ...
Analysis: National entices voters with big infrastructure projects, Judith Collins rips into Jacinda Ardern and Parliament passes a bill that could affect every tenant in the country. ...
By RNZ Pacific France’s new overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu says New Caledonia’s restrictions over the covid-19 pandemic will not affect the preparations for the October referendum on independence. Lecornu gave the assessment during a visit to New Caledonia House in Paris. Paris is expected to send dozens of officials and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University National crises, like the pandemics that can provoke them, come in stages. Each stage presents leaders with unique problems that require mental, moral and emotional agility to manage. Change is the only constant, as ...
How is New Zealand faring in during the Covid-19 pandemic? Newsroom is taking a weekly look at the latest numbers related to the virus and the impact on the economy.Excess deaths Overseas the death toll in some countries has risen sharply, with the ...
Justice campaign organisation JustSpeak has outlined a vision for a society without prisons in its 2020 election campaign ‘ Our Justice Our Future ’. The campaign was launched last night in Wellington, to a sold out audience of supporters and volunteers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vasso Apostolopoulos, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Partnerships, Victoria University During the COVID-19 pandemic we’re constantly being reminded to practise good hygiene by frequently washing our hands and regularly cleaning the spaces where we live and work. These practices aim to remove or kill ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics. This week Michelle and Caroline discuss the closure of ‘non-essential’ businesses in Melbourne under stage ...
Labour's campaign slogan "Let's Keep Moving" is hardly the most inspirational but reflects the conservative game plan - trade on the Covid response and stay on track. ...
By granting a permit to OceanaGold to mine under DOC land in the Coromandel, the government is not only threatening an endangered species, says Catherine Delahunty – it’s threatening future generations.I woke up angry. The government has given a 40-year permit to OceanaGold to mine under DOC land behind Whangamatā. ...
How come, after numerous condemnatory reports, Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss holds on to her job? Aaron Smale wonders if those harmed by her tenure aren't a big enough voting bloc So, what happens when a government department breaks the law and breaches its own policies? Nothing, apparently. The latest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: The Meddler, screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival For movie scholars and enthusiasts, one of the worst things about the COVID-19 pandemic has been the shutting down of ...
The combination of solar panels, electricity storage batteries, smart household gadgets, and a boring looking black box is set to change forever how our electricity system works. But do we need subsidies? ...
The New Zealand Bar Assocation says misinformed criticism of a South Island judge’s sentencing of a sex offender has the potential for disturbing consequences for the justice system and society generally. The Bar Association’s President Kate Davenport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Royal Commission into Aged-Care Quality and Safety delivered it’s interim report in October 2019. Titled ‘Neglect’, it provided a scathing insight into the aged care industry – finding it centred around transactions not care. ...
By Tom Peters, Socialist Equality Group More than one year after the March 15, 2019 terrorist attack, an official inquiry into the mass shooting that killed 51 people and injured 49 in two Christchurch mosques has still not released any information ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien Manuel, Director, Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation (CSRI), Deakin University Australia’s long-awaited cybersecurity strategy, released yesterday, pledges to spend A$1.67 billion over the next ten years to improve online protection for businesses, individuals and the country as a whole. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roxana Diamond, PhD Candidate, Flinders University This article has links that contain graphic content Many industries and employees have been hurt by COVID-19. But sex workers, who face stigma and discrimination at the best of times, have been hit particularly hard by ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Port Moresby may need to expand its covid-19 isolation facilities quickly and effectively in case a big spike in cases occurs, a doctor says. Rita Flynn isolation facility manager Dr Gary Nou said it would be a disaster if the spread of covid-19 in ...
Paige Tapara is a fast-rising young singer-songwriter whose debut EP explores themes of sexuality, coming of age, mental health and relationships. We asked her how it came together, and why she thinks it’s so important for NZ music to include voices like hers.Paige swoops into the room, a cream doughnut in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cathy Foley, Chief Scientist, CSIRO Universities and other research organisations in Australia have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, a group led by Australia’s Chief Scientist Alan Finkel forecasted severe impacts for our research workforce. These included the loss ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Carnt, Scientia Senior Lecturer, School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, Sydney, UNSW You’re rushing and accidentally drop a contact lens on the bathroom floor. Should you: a) run it under the tap and pop it in? b) spit on it ...
The Māori Party is celebrating World Indigenous Day the Māori way, surrounded by friends and whānau at a Meet-the-Candidates at the Third Place Café in Rotorua this weekend. To mark World Indigenous Day, the Māori Party wants to remind Aotearoa ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Wayland, Lecturer, University of Sydney As part of new research into missing persons in Australia, I have been asking people who return after disappearing what they needed or wanted. Mary, who has gone missing four times in the last few years, ...
Forest & Bird is calling for all political parties to back an end to mining conservation land, after a permit was issued to mine the home of a critically-endangered native animal. This week Oceana Gold was granted a 40-year mining permit from the ...
Here’s a snapshot of a single day in parliament. A day where changes were made to laws that govern everything from the milk in your refrigerator to the speed you can drive your car, and to Netflix, and war crimes, and who tests your water. It was a big day.The ...
*This article was first published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Māori leaders say they have no faith in Oranga Tamariki and the chief executive needs to go after the latest report into the organisation found it was routinely taking newborns without whānau consultation. The Chief Ombudsman's report He Take Kōhukihuki, ...
So is the government succeeding in steering the country through the Covid-19 crisis and what it calls a “one-in-100-year shock”. And just what is it costing? These are questions which will be uppermost in the minds of voters when they cast their ballots in next month’s general election. Finance Minister ...
Peddlethorp calls on other businesses that cancelled events due to Covid to donate now when need is greatest Peddlethorp Architects is calling on businesses that cancelled events due to Covid-19 to donate event catering or funding to those in need, if circumstances ...
A poem by Rhian Gallagher from her new collection Far-Flung.At the Boatshedfor Sonja MitchellWe carried the day through the door the harbour had earned its keep light laid its hands on each contourthe shed held abreast with the shore spreading the waves in pleats we carried the day through the ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alistair Sisson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Social and public housing is intensely stigmatised in Australia and has been for several decades. Estates in particular are often labelled “ghettos”, framed as places of danger, drugs and vice. This stigma ...
National is promising to spend $20 million over four years on increasing testing rates and accessibility to clinical trials for gynaecological cancer if elected. ...
The National Party is criticising the government's list of "shovel-ready projects", meant to kickstart the economy, for not generating enough jobs for women. ...
Wedged between punitive commercial law and an ineffective government, a once-thriving business is dying a slow and expensive death.It was one of the most acclaimed backpackers in New Zealand.Perched at the top of the Elliot Stables building in central Auckland, it was voted by Hostelworld as the city’s most popular ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this ...
When Covid-19 forced New Zealanders to live most of their lives online it exacerbated the effects of digital exclusion. Jean Teng spoke to the organisations that kept vulnerable communities connected during the pandemic. From job hunting and banking to watching TV and scrolling through the news, there is hardly a ...
Bernard Hickey writes this election's argument over who will repay Government debt faster is a dangerous and pointless replay of a 30-year old debate rendered obsolete by today's financial facts Often the myths and legends of the past are more powerful in the minds of politicians, bureaucrats and voters than the reality. Just the fear ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki says the Government has utterly betrayed the public by allowing MBIE to grant a 40 year mining permit to Oceana Gold on Dept of Conservation land at Wharekirauponga near Whangamata this week. " It is appalling that this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Moffat, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow in Archaeological Science, Flinders University How did the first person evolve? Mabel, age 7, Anglesea, Victoria. Hi Mabel, what a great question! We know humans haven’t always been around. After all, we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago On Sunda Your heading here , New Zealand will mark 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19. From the first known case imported into New Zealand on February 26 to the last case ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanne Gannaway, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, The University of Queensland The federal government’s proposed increase in the cost of studying humanities and communications degrees at Australian universities has stirred much debate. One aspect that should not be overlooked is that these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alistair Sisson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Social and public housing is intensely stigmatised in Australia and has been for several decades. Estates in particular are often labelled “ghettos”, framed as places of danger, drugs and vice. This stigma ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute A big part of the Morrison government’s response to COVID-19 has been allowing people early access to their superannuation. Australians who have claimed hardship have applied for A$30.7 billion to date. This has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Phiddian, Professor of English, Flinders University For a long time, the answer has been yes. When Saturday Night Live, John Oliver and the satirical establishment railed at him, the president’s supporters were only strengthened in their belief there was a highbrow ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election season click here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Policy launching soon. Get in touch ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Preparing for a possible return of the pandemic, SFO prevents JLR document release, and stoush over National candidate selection deepens.I say possible in the headline there, because we can’t know for sure that community transmission of Covid-19 absolutely will come ...
Attention spans were low and hijinks high on Parliament's last sitting day before the September 19 election, as Sam Sachdeva writes “Welcome to the last day of school.” Chris Hipkins’ opening line at his last Covid-19 press conference before the dissolution of Parliament was remarkably fitting - not just because ...
Lockdown highlighted and exacerbated difficulties for young Māori students on the wrong side of the digital divide A lack of access to suitable digital devices, internet connectivity and quality learning resources during the eight weeks of lockdown hindered the learning of rangatahi and tamariki and negatively impacted their mental health and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford says he's asked NZTA to strike a deal that will reset the clock and give Transmission Gully a clear path to completion. ...
The future's looking bright for Junior Tall Fern Leah Mafua - pursuing a US college scholarship in basketball, and a business degree that's focused on the sea. Leah Mafua must feel like her ship has come in. The Junior Tall Fern is happy in her new life at Otero Junior College in Colorado, USA ...
Dr Amanda Landers uses the examples of the pandemic and assisted dying to ask: when does your autonomy start and finish? Autonomy is a double-edged sword. It is defined as the right to self-govern, to be independent in thought or deed. It is highly valued by many New Zealanders, but it ...
An aspiring National MP has used a QC threatening urgent legal action to warn off those she believes launched a dirty tricks campaign against her within the party The fight to replace Nikki Kaye as National’s Auckland Central candidate has taken another turn for the worse, with one aspirant threatening ...
Two deeply religious men are standing for Labour in South Auckland. But Justin Latif reports that their views on the abortion law reforms are very different.On a bitterly cold Friday morning, the Māngere electorate candidates’ debateheated up when the topic of abortion was raised. Following a question related to whether ...
Jacinda Ardern was called an enemy of landlords and a threat to tenants after a series of changes to New Zealand’s rental law. Justin Giovannetti contrasts the law for renters here with that of his native Canada.“Our national sport is real estate.” I’ve heard some version of that phrase over ...
New Zealand is both trusted and trusting - good and bad factors if we want to move into the high-tech cyber space and become the Seattle of the South. Auckland has won the right to host the International Privacy, Security and Trust Conference at the end of next year - so as well ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra COVID-19 has now made us two Australias. There’s Victoria – most specifically Melbourne – and then there’s the rest of the country. Melbourne’s extraordinary lockdown complete with curfew is an act of desperation by Daniel ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The Hiroshima devastation 75 years ago today. Image: ICAN By David Robie While the globe struggles to cope with the deadly onslaught of the covid-19 pandemic, communicators, historians, journalists and activists ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Indonesia’s West Papua province has again been recorded as having the worst democracy index in the republic, reports CNN Indonesia. This year (2019), the West Papuan Democracy Index (IDI) was 57.62, even dropping lower from 2018 when it was 58.29 points. Based on data from the ...
This week’s 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with 250,000 killed and many more suffering terrible effects on their health, is a sombre reminder of the appalling destruction of nuclear weapons and should spur international efforts ...
Open mike 28/08/2011 
‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ should be on your reading list. New Zealand does not have a Minister of Labour. It has Ministers of Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety but there is no minister with responsibility for the labour market. That responsibility was abolished in 2012 when ...6 hours ago
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by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...2 days ago
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Analysis by Keith Rankin.
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Lockdown highlighted and exacerbated difficulties for young Māori students on the wrong side of the digital divide A lack of access to suitable digital devices, internet connectivity and quality learning resources during the eight weeks of lockdown hindered the learning of rangatahi and tamariki and negatively impacted their mental health and ...18 hours ago
Transport Minister Phil Twyford says he's asked NZTA to strike a deal that will reset the clock and give Transmission Gully a clear path to completion. ...18 hours ago
The future's looking bright for Junior Tall Fern Leah Mafua - pursuing a US college scholarship in basketball, and a business degree that's focused on the sea. Leah Mafua must feel like her ship has come in. The Junior Tall Fern is happy in her new life at Otero Junior College in Colorado, USA ...18 hours ago
Dr Amanda Landers uses the examples of the pandemic and assisted dying to ask: when does your autonomy start and finish? Autonomy is a double-edged sword. It is defined as the right to self-govern, to be independent in thought or deed. It is highly valued by many New Zealanders, but it ...18 hours ago
An aspiring National MP has used a QC threatening urgent legal action to warn off those she believes launched a dirty tricks campaign against her within the party The fight to replace Nikki Kaye as National’s Auckland Central candidate has taken another turn for the worse, with one aspirant threatening ...18 hours ago
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I wonder if it would be possible to get a petition going to have the ‘Left Leaning’ column, which ostensibly provides one of the few spaces for the voices of the left in our largely right-leaning media, to be written by someone who is, I dunno, a bit left? Even centre would be a step in the left direction.
In this particularly appalling piece, http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/blogs/john-pagani-left-leaning/5511201/Heres-how-we-stop-our-kids-being-bashed Pagani links to an even more appalling item written by Tony Blair, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/20/tony-blair-riots-crime-family which he says he found “moving”.
On a positive note: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10747833
Here’s what I think would be a realistic outcome from the election with a good balance of power that reflects the current state of politics.
National 56
UnitedFuture 6
Maori Party 4
Act 4
Labour 40
Greens 10
Mana 1
Explained more: Election Predictions
But Pete you won’t even declare who you are going to vote for. Why should we place credence in your views?
And ACT 4 ups but Mana only one? Is this a sign of right wing bias?
It’s got nothing to do with left right anything, I’d be quite happy with Act 1, Mana 1.
I rate Act 0-5 depending on Epsom and how much party vote they get.
Mana are a probably going to get one, ok, they could pick up one or two more on party vote but that would be at the expense of Labour.
Just listening to Sepuloni, I wish she wouldn’t talk in election slogans.
United Future 6??
hahha comedy central
Seconded! 😀
So let’s all play pull figures out of our arse.
And by no means should we discuss anything meaningful, like the country’s problems and what to do about them.
One way of dealing with problems is to get into government, but that’s not all I’m doing, I work off the net as well.
Today I’m also working on doing something about problems, like NARK, Child Matters, and here’s a really neat thing that I’m helping promote at the moment: chatbus.org.nz
I’d prefer if UF got 6 seats at the expense of National and Act too.
No doubt you want this outcome as well so you can swan off to Wellington and suck up the nice salary and pension scheme.
Unfortunately for you, they’re not likely to get more than 2 seats, and only then if Dunne can take his seat which isn’t exactly the safest in the country.
And do they even have 6 candidates????
Often on the net you see unwarranted ‘LOL’s but today I actually Laughed Out Loud after reading tory Pete’s mirthful post-UF 6? Harr effin harr!
only just read this UF6 – lol – hahahahaha
Gawd on Q&A they have three right wingers, Tamihere, Phil O’Reilly, and some woman who thinks the Spirit Level has been discredited, discussing the book. O’Reilly thinks that not growing “is just madness”. And Holmes admitted he diid not understand an interview with one of the authors of the book.
Where is the balance?
although we don’t really need the MSM’s facile version of ‘balance’…we need critical discussion and a media able to use facts and figures to force people to move on from their little PR platitudes.
MS – surely in a global sense with more and more countries and modern type consumers coming onstream there must be net global growth to cater for the increased number who demand consumerables. More connected countries means more efficiencies in resource utilisation surely.
Do we as a global connected society simple say too the rest i.e africa, etc too late, you missed the boat but we’ll take your resources though.
Now good points from Q+A
– discource on envirnomental impact and increased awareness and contribution from agri sector.
– need for a socital discusion around social inequality and at what slope do we ‘float the boats’.
-good imput on crime and how to lessen impact on society and police resources.
Orlov put it very well: Mother Nature does not change its behaviour due to price signals.
There will be no more global net growth because the physical world system cannot support exponential growth any longer. And our financial system cannot support exponential growth (of debt) any longer.
And the main constraint: cheap oil. There is virtually none left.
yes CV i agree totally peak oil, lack of eco stability etc etc…There must and will be a shift from oil for energy to oil for consumerables only at some point but limiting factors are availability of govt cash reserves and willpower (both in very short supply ). I wonder if the extreme right ,who can read the same signals as the left, havent a plan for after as well. Use cheap energy and resources and then via science / techno use their system liquidity and cash in / control the next phase of development.
I see two paths – social democratic slow adaption to the next growth/ developement phase via govt control and constructs or a sole bought out /leveraged mega-private sector society without any public controls or direction at all.
The societial arrangement surely isn’t all that relevant, its the one we choose.
Centralizers want to control resources, but its turning out that the solutions
to our world crisises, food, population, climate, resources, energy, is more
ant like. The ‘central’ of an ant colony is a egg producer, nothing more
nothing less. Government in the new networked local centric world will\
not be the centre. So you could be right, depending on who you ask
the world could look owned by mega-private ‘queens’ yet still be slowly
adapt to the next growth phase. The right could be right, government is
the problem, and the left could be right that businesses are not the engine
of society. That when we all conform our behavior – think local act
globally – then we will survive. Think of it like this, why do you
drive within the white lines. Well the council makes the best road
in between the lines. The lines aren’t there to contain you, its your
choice to stay within the lines, its in your interest since others
stay on the other side of the line and so you gain safety by
staying within the line. This is when government should be,
drawing lines, measuring if they work, and keeping us from harming
ourselves and prospering. But government does not do this anymore,
the right believe its their right to get very very rich and exploit,
the left believe its there right to decide what society should look like,
what we need is neither the right or the left, we need to trust people
and provide the people networks to faciliate their personal growth,
and everything will come right again. We just have too many sociopathic
control narcissists in power and in the media, and we will all pay
dearly for their needy attention disorders. clip of Key dressed in drag
at a gay festival.
That’s what we’ve been telling them since colonisation a few hundred years ago.
yes but each region or country is on its own economic pathway with its own pace of economic evolution. stability, security and consumerism would appear to be necessary factor that allow for a sucessful adoption into the western paradym…oh and the McDonalds too.
We all know the rational for USA etc to support or invade non connected or misaligned strategic countries such as iraq…and dictate to other countries adherance to internation regs that allow free trade or movment of capital.
We IMO need every country connected and functioning so we can face the challenges ahead over the next 50-100 years.
The only viable long term solution is a ‘next way’ economic system that will manage the transition from a Neolib / Socialist matrix flipflop to a more balanced, globally connected social democratic govt where we still have room for capital investment in a limited private sector.
My thoughts would see the rise of workplace co-ops ( as the new work unions ) expanded SOE / Public sector sphere that provide control / influence on wages and worker condition ( the expanded public sector would provide a balance to the private sector ). Erodicate the concept of traditional model of ownership of housing and control the price of land as this cause market created bubbles and artifical instabilities.
Why not a complex ‘rent to own’ scheme where need is meet by the state…The real nominal cost of a new average house build is far far lower than present values.
At present our economic system is chaotic, full of contridiction, lack of coordination and simply inefficient in a holistc sense. resources are being misused and wasted.
What right does 1500 billionaire individuals have to live a utopian dream when the billions upon billions of the global population starve or eck out a miserable existance?
There is no such thing as a private sector or, for that matter, a government sector – there is only society.
Yep, there is a massive misallocation of the worlds resources caused by the capitalist paradigm.
I can’t remember the name of the woman either but ….OMG!
Our binge drinking culture is a product of children coming home and watching Home and Away where people meet at the local bar for drinks?
That’s it! Pissed teens are gathering on the North Shore for riotous parties because they saw it on Home and Away! Well, that’s easily solved.
Let’s axe Home and Away and replace with something safer….like Cheers.
BTW…..there is no bar on Home and Away!
Going by the discussion of The Spirit Level, I don’t think any of them had read the book.
Their problems with the theory had been covered and refuted in the book.
They were not even listening, the prof said inequality measure was a flag indicating
poor economic outcomes for rich and poor. Rich parent are just as likely too be
uneducated enough to stop their kids getting immunized, for example.
But the ost conceited media was laid law on entrepreneurs, that was a shocker
for myopia.
inerestingly the balance is alreay presnt at grassroot levels…’the spirit level’ and its insight are being discussed at various levels or sectors such as in ECE.
Q&A is another soapbox to ensure Ellis pockets a circa million p.a. Package from his nat mates and masters.
due to a lack of a public broadcaster providing balance and objectivity we get this one sided approach…..look across the Tasman where ABC and SBS set a bar the others follow or just don’t get watched when it matters.
They enjoy jumps in ratings when major events occur as people know they can be trusted….whereas here it’s reality tv and jokers like Holmes, Espiner, garner and associated sycophants.
I dont know about the rest of the country but round here the Labour Party candidate and his team have been working away for over a year and I think they have avery good chance of toppling the incumbent National party and dispatching them with a very healthy majority for Labour. Locally Labour is seen as the can do party and the chances are looking better every day.
Totally
I met the new MP for Otaki 3 weeks ago
Primo guy
Had good 30 mins talking with him
and he said from his meeting people in Levin- it highly likely Guy will lose his seat
made my day
Spotted in the Herald comments.
“Yes you’re right. There is this famous exchange at the G* a year or so back between Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel where Brown asks why Germany weathered the GFC so well and Britain had just plummeted into debt. Merkel answered “Because Germany still makes things Mr Brown!””
Anyone noticed that Labour’s blog site ‘Red Alert’ is being rapidly taken over by trained trollers whose brief is to undermine the site’s owners and supporters? These individuals seem to work in loose groups, and bully their victims with repetitive criticisms and insults. I put much of the blame on the timidity of the MP owners who talk about the problem, but seem unwilling to take positive action to get rid of them. Genuine critics are welcome and make for healthy debate, but these narcisstic nasties are anything but genuine.
All I can say is: it will be to the site’s detriment, because soon there will be nobody of worth bothering to comment there – which I guess is the ultimate aim of the NAct campaign.
Haven’t properly visited for awhile, but always thought that ‘Red Alert’ would be a prime target for attack by trolls, whether coordinated by spin merchants or just a bunch of losers with an axe to grind. I think it was always going to happen sooner or later unless they switched comments off or engaged in very strict moderation.
always thought that ‘Red Alert’ would be a prime target for attack by trolls, whether coordinated by spin merchants or just a bunch of losers with an axe to grind
There’s both. It’s easy to tell which is which. The ‘losers’ are one man bands and, as you say, they have a bee in their bonnet. The professional spin merchants repeatedly attack the authors and commenters until – particularly in the case of commenters – they fall silent presumably cowered. Their lines are just too pat to be random.
in the case of commenters – they fall silent presumably cowered.
err… in the case of some commenters- not all.
Or maybe the arguements presented are piss-weak and easily countered…
But at least you’ve still got your true believers like spud 🙂
He’s alright chris 73. I enjoy his witty one liners. Although even Spuddy boy has been silenced a bit of late…
I’m sorry but did you mention spud and witty one liners in the same breath?
Seriously though any swing voter that goes onto red alert and reads his comments are likely to think hes a bit…(not sure how to say this without insulting anyone) simple
I was responding to your comment in friendly jest. Spud his who he is. He’s of Pacific Island extraction and it’s part of his personality. He may like to use seemingly simple minded one liners much of the time but he isn’t simple, and contributes pertinent observations when he want to. Cmon chris73, live and let live.
Fair call, wouldn’t hurt though if he gave the emoticons a rest…
Agreed.
You havn’t spent much time reading Kiwibog.
Don’t blame you though. You leave feeling soiled.
NRT has removed the comments feature without much trouble. Personally I think having a forum for people to directly communicate with their representatives is a good idea. The trolls be damned!
Didn’t Clare mention that she was going get rid of the trolls?
They got rid of one and have threatened (too timidly in my view) to moderate or ban a few others but that’s all. They need a lesson or two from lPrent.
The problem is that a troll is a subjective term and if you’re going to start banning right-wing trolls will you then ban the left-wing trolls as well?
I have a recollection RA did ban one insufferably rude leftie not too long ago. Can’t remember is blogging name.
We have done it a number of times, booting people from all sides when required. There is a definite bias against rwnj’s. But I suspect that most of that is because the nj’s of other persuasions tend to value having the site available more – they amend their behavior when warned.
But we look much more at behavior rather than peoples philosophy. The underlying criteria is the good of the site as expressed in the about. You don’t do that by supression of alternate ideas. You do it by removing people who are incapable of arguing and have the flexibility of a badly programmed robot.
The fastest way to find out if someone is capable of learning is to stress them at a personal level. Personally I have decades of experience at how to do it, and query level access to a rather large database of whatever is said here makes it a hell of a lot easier. That is why I will sometimes start to torment people – I want to find out is they are merely automata.
All that being said, I have one major advantage at moderating on a site like this. I simply do not care about what others think about me. I am not a politician nor anything more than a member of a political party. The things that I consider as being crucially important questions are not those discussed here.
My involvement in the political sphere because of a sense of duty in constraining the ability of political people from screwing up too badly. Having open and public forums is a effective way to do it.
Getting back to Annes point about team trolling – I just don’t tolerate it. To me it is just evidence of a berserk reproducing virus type program, and programmers hate CPU gobblers like that. People will operate as individuals here if theydo not want to attract my attention.
Well thats what I mean, this site doesn’t allow it and red alert doesn’t allow it yet it seems to me that red alert is far more “trigger-happy” when it comes to banning people for being trolls
Maybe they’re a tad more… precious
Getting the right balance is far more of an art than a science and it depends on how far the local comment culture is from what is wanted.
I was a *lot* more trigger happy when I was changing pattern of the comment culture here. But we’re also far more sadistic than a politician can be seen to be. That gives us far more options about how to modify behavior. We can do other things rather than banning, and those are frequently a damn sight worse.
Like the climate change deniers who spend vast sums to discredit the convincing science that supports it, there is an equivalent reaction to Wilkinson and Pickett’s research on income inequality. The panel on Q&A were very dismissive of The Spirit Level based on the interview with Richard Wilkinson but I wonder how many of them actually read the book and the data that supported it.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/08/spirit-level-deserves-attention.html
anne..red alert red alert..bandits at 12 o’clock.
Super Fund Invests in Nuclear Weapons
Last Wednesday it was revealed that the New Zealand superannuation fund holds 44,595 shares worth $2,082,736 in a Mumbai-based multinational company called Larsen and Toubro, which in partnership with the Indian Navy, is involved in designing and manufacture a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines for India. But that’s not all Larsen & Toubro (L&T) India’s largest engineering group gets up to…
Shocking…
“THE HOLLOW MEN” the film, is on Maori channel tonight at 8.30 pm. Very pertinent especially now, the main players are still getting away with their shady, self-serving scams.
NZ loves to grow weeds! Evn when it finds a king crop, milk, it puts its whole weight
behind it and leaves a bit pile of cow shit floating down the water ways. Its always
so black and white. NZ needs to diversify, so that means we should ignore the
problem with all the weedy companies we have now, throw money at new start ups
with a now discreited consumer paradigm. Oh, what insipidness. Any farmer
does better with what he has, and that’s why we spend so much time with
jingoistic business mantras about new innovation. We need to seize the new
world economic reality, local, networked, low energy (or high energy where
its cheap – i.e. Here IN nz), but no with new roads, and less education we
are going to drive ourselves into a new growth phase.
ACT has released a list of rich white men from Auckland: http://www.act.org.nz/news/act-releases-its-party-list-for-2011-general-election
Bit surprised to see Meth-Whore Barbie missed out. When I saw her on telly screaming about how she hates animals I thought she’d be fighting off the party list offers with a shitty stick.
Where’s Cathy Odgers alias Cactus Kate? Is she the mystery no 3?
Haha I missed that nickname Meth-Whore Barbie, who does that refer too felix? I am pretty sure I will LOL at the answer 🙂
It’s a new nickname for a nasty old lady: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/outrage-act-mp-s-silly-little-chickens-comments-4218223/video
actaully ive met the ‘silly old lady’ on many an occasion – pleasant veneer with a smug superior interior, sums up anyone with money really IME.
Incredible, this is currently one of the top headlines on NACT PR webs—… er, sorry, Stuff:
Peter Jackson heads John Key on Googled list
Hah, he was searched because people didn’t know who this Prime Mincer of newsland, robber baron, cheap wannabe comedian, agent of the NWO, buddy of Obama, John ‘Keys’ really is….
It was most probably people looking for overweight camp male catwalk models, with a greedy streak and an overinflated sense of self worth coupled with a deep and insatiable need for recognition and public affirmation – I’ve heard that that particular combo is harder to find and more popular than you would think.
For all you people with fingers poised above the search keys – you don’t need google to find out what this prick is like – just come to New Zealand, swim in our rivers of effluent and see the faces of the people whose lives he has touched (hint: you won’t see them at the RWC – begging is to be made an offense just in time for the big game)
The Hollow Men is on Maori TV tonight at 8.30. Watch it and weep for our future.
Thanks Maori TV for screening it.
…and thanks Jum for highlighting the fact it was on. I am glad not to have missed it, I don’t usually watch TV so thanks for the heads-up (and I know I should have seen it back then, but they were on their way out back then). Very timely to see the young Key so enthusiastically lying, and to observe the groups formed during the Brash/English takeover.
concur, thanks Maori TV. I really hope others watched, especially blind Key-followers.
Congratulations to Hillary Calvert for being, er, dropped from the ACT party list. Don Brash richly rewarded Clavert for her support during his putsch by cutting her out of the top 10 on the ACT list. Doesn’t say much for Brash and his commitment to reward loyalty. His purchase of the ACT Party was bad enough however, sorry Hillary, his project for take over of the party and stacking it with his mates is total. If that means you are a casualty then that is expedient for Brash.
And the ACT Party, man, you have to be white male and old to be at the top. Anyone not old, male and white need not apply. “Young” Don Nicholson is the youthful face of ACT. The only other party with such a similar homogeneous list of candidates is the Maroi Party and they are clear about who their support base is and even they have women at the top.
OMG – Act really is the angry old white mans party (plus Cathy)
What’s in a Domain Name?
Don’t you just love the competitive free-market? It keeps costing more and more and more.