"Considering these issues against the backdrop of slower Chinese economic growth, it is difficult to be overly optimistic about New Zealand’s medium-term economic prospects. There have been positive facets to our economic performance over the last 40 years, but too often we have ignored problems and failed to plan for the future. The emerging imbalances are now signalling that we’re not as well-off as we might have thought."
And when we do get a govt with a little forward vision – ie Three Waters, the Inter-islander ferries etc, we 'elect' a short term neolib govt with as much vision as a mole at midnight!
What do you do when you commission research into an important topic and then you don't like the results? The Economist shows that in this case, the answer was to try and influence the results and then suppress them where possible.
"In April Hilary Cass, a British paediatrician, published her review of gender-identity services for children and young people, commissioned by nhs England. It cast doubt on the evidence base for youth gender medicine. This prompted the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (wpath), the leading professional organisation for the doctors and practitioners who provide services to trans people, to release a blistering rejoinder. wpath said that its own guidelines were sturdier, in part because they were “based on far more systematic reviews”.
"Court documents recently released as part of the discovery process in a case involving youth gender medicine in Alabama reveal that wpath’s claim was built on shaky foundations. The documents show that the organisation’s leaders interfered with the production of systematic reviews that it had commissioned from the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Centre (epc) in 2018."
They are welcome. However the questions have to be asked about why drag has morphed from the midnight show at a Gay bar or Club into something suitable for preschoolers at 10am without so much as a costume change.
And you can't sanitise "womanface" by draping it in a Rainbow Flag.
What is next – the Black and White Minstrel Show?
Cultural appropriation is unacceptable in any guise.
Why is NAct wrecking the economy? I don’t think it’s deliberate, I think the problem is that Luxon is getting a nagging feeling that he may not be as clever as he thought, we all know that’s the case, evidence of this is his reluctance to have a portfolio, nothing to manage, hence nothing to fuckup and somebody else gets the blame. couple this with a Finance minister who can’t count, and frankly doesn’t know she can’t, and what could possibly go wrong ?
More to the point is that so much damage was done by the previous administration that there are no quick fixes and the destruction deliberately started then is still unwinding.
Broken things need replacing if they cannot be fixed – and that takes LOTS of time and resources. Cannot happen in the time this administration has had.
$100 BILLION of debt which has resulted in $8 BILLION of interest being sucked out of Government budgets every year for the foreseeable future …. perhaps the biggest damage. Plus the lack of any of that used for investment in infrastructure such as roading maintenance and maintenance of existing ferry and electric grid infrastructure.
The collapse has not been brought about by ONE year of the present administration but has been coming for much longer.
$100 BILLION of debt which has resulted in $8 BILLION of interest being sucked out of Government budgets every year for the foreseeable future …. perhaps the biggest damage.
Why did you make up this false fact? To suit your own narrative?
So is even worse than $100 Billion – Debt added on top of debt – $273 BILLION… I was understating the position then?
Debt was getting under control before 2018 but since then it is apparent that our debt ratio has kept on rising even after the economy had recovered and Covid spending had ended. Resulting in $8.8 BILLION interest payments shackling Government spending going forward. The new Government has clearly been too timorous and must try some real austerity. Cue the present howling!
Polling in France is showing the far right National Rally (RN) with a very substantial lead over the leftist block, with the the centrist (Macron) trailing in third place. A huge turn around for the political situation in France.
At least one poll, calculates that the RN + allies could end up with an absolute (if slender) majority.
calculated that the RN and allies could end up with 260-295 seats in the new parliament – potentially crossing the 289-seat bar for an absolute majority giving them a clear mandate to govern.
Although, I wouldn't read too much into this – since tactical voting – withdrawing candidates, etc., is a mainstream part of French politics.
As you might recall from my last newsletter yesterday was a family celebration in the Rockel household, with our youngest lad Matty turning 16. He’s an enthusiastic cook, especially of steak, with plenty of garlic, rosemary, and far too much butter. So when asked what he’d like to do he ...
Anybody who went to Karangahape Road for Matariki last Thursday evening (27 June), would have seen it absolutely packed with people. From Queen Street ...
Completed reads for June: Aecerbot, a Field Blessing (poem) Against a Dwarf [remedy XCIIIb] (poem) Against a Wen (poem) The Nine Herbs Charm (poem) For a Sudden Stitch (poem) For the Loss of Cattle I (poem) For the Loss of Cattle II (poem) For the Loss of Cattle III ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, June 23, 2024 thru Sat, June 29, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is extreme weather juiced by our climate fumble creating an extreme start ...
YouTuber Jess of the Shire has put out a video, looking at Frodo’s failure to destroy the Ring: The Lord of the Rings would be a substantially weaker book had Frodo not failed, of course. We are dealing with the core of Tolkien’s themes ...
Problem Solved? When all other options are exhausted, the firing squad remains. As Joseph Stalin is said to have declared: “Eliminate the person, eliminate the problem.”THE BEST GUESS I can offer as to the author of the line is William Brandt. He wrote scripts for the 1990s New Zealand television crime ...
Good morning all, I hope you’re continuing to have a lovely long weekend without too many worries about the things we usually talk about. First things first, today is a special day in our family, the youngest member, our Matty, my Mister Man, turns 16.Public transport in Bangkok, 2016.I’ve mentioned ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by John Mason in collaboration with members from the Gigafact team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does temperature have to rise before CO2 ...
TL;DR: Mānawatia a Matariki! It’s that time of the year for reflection and renewal so here’s our annual State of The Kākā Nation Report for 2024. Total subscribers grew 46% to 20,600 and paying subscribers grew 29% to 2,520 over the last year. Subscriber comments, ‘views’ and likes’ increased more ...
Can't stop believin' I'm the greatestHearts breaking 'til I know I made itI'll never know what second place isNo pain, no doubt'Til the lights go outMatariki feels like such a positive event. People around the country enjoying time with whānau and friends, trying new things or just relaxing and reflecting. ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on what you may have missed. Still on the move!ShareGreetings Jack Craw and Te Aka Music, love your work. Read more ...
Hi,When I started Webworm four years ago (four years! thanks for being here!) it was motivated by a world slowly falling into conspiratorial madness.Reality felt like it was slipping, and I wanted to document the chaos. That has never stopped, be it examining how huge chunks of society have retreated ...
Evaluating the impact of social policies will be very difficult but the government does not seem to be doing much real evaluation. A couple of terms that have recently become fashionable are ‘cost-benefit analysis’ (CBA) and ‘social-investment analysis’ (SIA), typically proposed by people who have never done either. They sound ...
Conspiracy theories attempt to explain events as the secretive plots of powerful people. While conspiracy theories are not typically supported by evidence, this doesn’t stop them from blossoming. Conspiracy theories damage society in a number of ways. To help minimise these harmful effects, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, by Stephan Lewandowsky ...
Worst. Presidential. Debate Ever. President Joe Biden and former President have just squared off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign and the rest of the world has watched in slack-jawed horror as democracy’s once “shining city on the hill” hit a new low.The hyperbole in that introduction ...
Sun is up, I'm a messGotta get out now, gotta run from thisHere comes the shame, here comes the shameYesterday Golriz Ghahraman’s fall from grace was complete. Convicted and sentenced, more harshly that I’d anticipated. In my view Golriz had suffered quite disproportionally already, considering the nature of her crime. ...
Open access notables Tipping point in ice-sheet grounding-zone melting due to ocean water intrusion, Bradley & Hewitt, Nature Geoscience:Here we develop a model to capture the feedback between intruded ocean water, the melting it induces and the resulting changes in ice geometry. We reveal a sensitive dependence of the ...
Some of the wilder things that have crossed our paths in the last couple of weeks:Wilder thing #1: A snake sunning itself on the hot asphalt as we came riding towards itDick was in front and was slowing down to take a picture, thinking it to be another carcass.But this ...
As part of its coalition agreement, the climate-change denier National government promised its climate-change denier coalition partners a review of our agricultural methane reduction target. Today they announced the members of their "independent" review, and released its terms of reference. I'm not familiar with the academic records of the panel, ...
And you can see it in the way they look at youFeel it in the way they treat youAlways the last to knowAlways the first to leaveJust let them walk all over youLaugh through the punches and the painLet the life-blood drain away from youThey're right, you're wrongOK, first things ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Astrong majority of registered voters support certain policies aimed at tackling climate change, according to recent research by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (the publisher of this site) and the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason ...
Finally, Julian Assange is free after 12 years of confinement, much of it spent while under the threat of rendition to the US to face charges carrying a term of 175 years in prison. Yet ultimately, Assange has not been set free because the charges (of espionage and conspiracy to ...
A note to readers This satirical post is based on this document. Received from Auckland Transport under a LGOIMA request. the document reveals the ranking process used by the working group for the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP). It shows how the RLTP working group (Auckland Transport, KiwiRail, NZTA/Waka Kotahi, and ...
TL;DR: Six things from Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy I think are worth noting on the morning of Thursday, June 27:The NZIER has estimated almost a third of new spending in Budget 2024 will have worsened the Government’s Paris agreement climate liability, which Treasury has already estimated at up to $23.7 billion. ...
Hi,Four days ago New Zealand pop royalty Brooke Fraser broke yet another record — largest attendance for a Kiwi solo artist at her Spark Arena gig.She was joined on stage by the Auckland Philharmonia orchestra, Radio New Zealand gushing that it was “hard to pick a singular high point of ...
Whenever people make the perfectly sensible suggestion that the world could solve its problems by taxing billionaires, the latter's stooges flood the zone with claims it would never work. Apparently billionaires are so inherently criminal that they would evade such taxes, laundering their money and hiding it in criminal jurisdictions ...
Breathe.Inhale deeply through your nose, and hold it.Open your mouth slightly. Exhale slowly, feel the breath passing over your lips.Hear it. You’re alive.Statistically, if the last government hadn’t taken the actions it did, about twenty of you, even in my small audience, would be dead now. If I do a ...
TL;DR: Electricity affordability is a growing concern for households and small businesses, despite falling generation costs for solar and wind, a survey has found.Meanwhile, Stats NZ is forecasting more than a third of 19-29 year olds will stay living at home within the next two decades, no doubt because of ...
This is a guest post by Darren Davis, reposted with his kind permission. It originally appeared on his excellent blog Adventures in Transitland, which we warmly encourage you to check out.Aotearoa has one of the worst road safety records in the developed world. Australia is doing quite a bit ...
The audio in today’s newsletter contains a conversation I had last year with journalist Elizabeth Williamson, author of an incredibly moving book on Sandy Hook. We talked America, conspiracies, and Alex Jones. It’s been gathering dust for reasons we’ll get to, but I wanted to share our conversation today. ...
The anti Three Waters campaign which seemed so simple during the election campaign is now bogged down in a Select Committee as submitter after submitter raises issues with the replacement legislation. The so-called “Local Water Done Well” has now morphed into the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill, which ...
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 ...
On we go, at 20 kilometres an hour, truly the best pace for rolling through the world and breathing it all in.Fascinating to get to see two, four, twenty new places each day. Marvellous to get to see how very many different ways you can make it good for people ...
There's a couple of pieces about architect-of-our-constitution Geoffrey palmer's views on the current government doing the rounds today. The first, on Newsroom is an excerpt from a speech he gave to a Young Labour meeting last weekend, in which he says NZ an executive paradise, not democratic paradise. The Spinoff ...
The government just introduced its Education and Training Amendment Bill to the House. The name is deliberately obfuscatory, because what the bill actually does is reintroduce charter schools - effectively allowing National to privatise the education system. That's corrupt and it stinks, but to add insult to injury, National's new ...
Confidence about future job availability collapsed after Budget 2024 to lows last seen during the the Global Financial Crisis of 2008/09. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Employee confidence in more jobs being available in a year’s time collapsed in the first two weeks of June after the Budget, falling ...
Walking through the rooms in my headI came across your image,You looked at me with that sweet smile and saidSomething they won't let me repeatWe hurt the ones we love the mostIts a subtle form of complimentAfter you’ve watched Christopher Luxon for a while you think to yourself - that ...
The decision taken last December to cancel the contract for the two purpose-built Cook Strait ferries – without having a Plan B in mind, let alone in place – has been a calamity that’s going to haunt New Zealand for decades to come, long after the Luxon government has been ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meets again,so I’ve taken a look through the items on their public agenda to see what’s interesting. Musical Chairs The first item of note is another change to the make-up of the AT Board. The legislation that established Auckland Transport allows for Waka Kotahi to ...
How does France deal with opponents of its colonisation of the Pacific? Arrest them and deport them to France to face prosecution in a foreign court: A group of pro-independence leaders charged with allegedly organising protests that turned into violent unrest in New Caledonia last month was indicted on ...
On this edition of AVFA Selwyn Manning and I discuss post-pandemic economics and the rise of national populism. It seems that a post-pandemic turn to more nationalist economic policies may have encouraged the rise of populists who use xenophobia and … Continue reading → ...
Two weeks ago the climate denier government announced they would be giving farmers what they want and removing agriculture from the ETS. On Friday they introduced the bill for it to the House. Due to past efforts and backdowns, the Climate Change Response Act has a lot of inactive clauses ...
The Struggle Continues: Keith Locke belonged to a generation that still believed in a world that could be, through struggle, relieved of its chains. That struggle constituted the core of a life lived with purpose, courage and determination. MANY NEW ZEALANDERS would, no doubt, have been surprised to discover that Keith Locke was ...
A couple of my stories – A Breath Through Silver, and The Last Libation – have previously earned themselves reprints. Well, I am pleased to report that the nice people at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly (https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/) have included my narrative horror-poem, The Night Before Yule, in their newly-compiled Best Of anthology. ...
TL;DR: Responding to the grounding of the Aratere over the weekend, the Government has signalled it will buy new replacement ferries, but only enough to replace existing freight capacity.That would effectively limit Aotearoa-NZ’s ability to handle any growth in population or the need to reduce emissions by shifting freight from ...
Hi, we’re Greater Auckland. We’ve been a part of the landscape for over 15 years now. Over that time, we’ve provided informed commentary, evidence-based analysis, and inspiring visions for the future of Tāmaki Makaurau. You might know us from such hits as: The Congestion-Free Network2013 (and its 2017 ...
Fancy, a fast carA bag full of lootI can nearly guaranteeYou'll end up with the bootThe Prime Minister arrived home, perhaps a bit surprised, maybe even secretly a little pleased at the diversion, to find the country falling apart. Things going more badly that even his c-list, self back-slapping, trip ...
The problems at KiwiRail go further and deeper than the maintenance issue, which caused the inter-island ferry Aratere to run aground on Saturday. The company is also the subject of a damning report published last week about the way it runs its rail operations from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission. ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, June 16, 2024 thru Sat, June 22, 2024. Stories we promoted this week, by publication date: Before June 16‘Unprecedented mass coral bleaching’ expected in 2024, says expert, ...
The People’s House:What would it be like to live in a country where a single sermon could prick the conscience of the comfortable? Where a journalist could rouse a whole city to action? Where the government could be made to respond to the people’s concerns? Where real change was possible? And ...
Good morn or evening friendsHere's your friendly announcerI have serious news to pass on to everybodyWhat I'm about to sayCould mean the world's disasterCould change your joy and laughter to tears and painIt's thatLove's in need of love todayDon't delaySend yours in right awayHate's goin' 'roundBreaking many heartsStop it pleaseBefore ...
I loved everything about my first Cook Strait ferry crossing: a day parked in the car in howling Wellington wind and driving Wellington rain, waiting to hear if they were going to sail or not; watching the huge black ministerial limousines come and go; listening to the adventures of Chicken ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by John Mason in collaboration with members from the Gigafact team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Was the Medieval Warm Period a global ...
Your face has fallen sad nowFor you know the time is nighWhen I must remove your wingsAnd you, you must try to flyCome sail your ships around meAnd burn your bridges downWe make a little history, babyEvery time you come aroundWhen I went to bed last night I thought the ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past somewhat interrupted week. Still on the move!Share Read more ...
Mainstreaming need not be inherently anti-Māori. It will be if it is done badly because it will be anti-those-in need, and proportionally more of them are Māori.That the Coalition Government says it will deliver public services on the basis of need rather than, say, race deserves consideration, even though many ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the government's racist bill to eliminate Māori representation in local government. The report duly notes the Waitangi Tribunal's finding that the bill breaches te Tiriti, and the bill's inconsistency with our international human rights obligations - and then proceeds to ignore both. Instead, ...
This week our Prime Minister Christopher Luxon… mmm, let’s take a moment to consider just how good that sounds. Hope you weren’t eating.Anyway that guy. Better? That bloke from the telly, he said - what I would say to you is… I’m big in Japan. My kind of people, hard ...
Tis the winter solstice! The shortest day and longest night of the year. The good news: we’re on our way back to summertime. Here’s another roundup of stories to brighten up your Friday. Our header image is from CRL and shows Waihorotiu Station lit up for Matariki 2024. The ...
Our economic momentum remains anaemic, and it’s possible the tiny increase in GDP was a ‘dead cat bounce’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Per-capita GDP has fallen 4.3% from its peak over the last 21 months, which is more than it it fell in the Global Financial Crisis recession ...
Hi,I was in Texas recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how in some parts of America they really like to kill their prisoners. As a society we tend to agree murder is wrong, but somewhere along the way Texas figured it’s fine if it’s after 6pm and the killing is ...
A persistent theme has been weaving between the Committee rooms at Parliament all this so-called “Scrutiny” week as MPs have probed Ministers and agencies about their work and plans. The question has been simply what the environmental price might be if the country begins to accelerate its infrastructure building to ...
Open access notables Climate Change Is Leading to a Convergence of Global Climate Distribution, Li et al., Geophysical Research Letters:The impact of changes in global temperatures and precipitation on climate distribution remains unclear. Taking the annual global average temperatures and precipitation as the origin, this study determined the climate distribution with the ...
Readers keeping count will know it's more than five years since I gave up booze. Some of you get worried on my behalf when I recount a possibly testing moment. Anxious readers: today I got well tested.All the way across France I've been enquiring in my very polite and well-meaning but ...
Turn awayIf you could, get me a drinkOf water 'cause my lips are chapped and fadedCall my Aunt MarieHelp her gather all my thingsAnd bury me in all my favourite coloursMy sisters and my brothers, stillI will not kiss you'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving youI remember the ...
Its not often that one has to agree with Judith Collins, but yes, it would indeed cost “hundreds of millions of dollars” (at least) to buy replacement aircraft to fly the Prime Minister on his overseas missions of diplomacy and trade. And yes, the public might well regard that spending ...
A few weeks ago, Auckland Council took another step in the long-running stadium saga, narrowing its shortlist down to two options for which they will now seek feasibility studies. The recommendation to move forward with a feasibility study was carried twenty to one by the council’s Governing Body for the ...
Social Development Minister Louise Upston has defended the Government’s decision to save money by dumping a programme which tops up the pay of disabled workers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: It has emerged the National-ACT-NZ First Government decided to cut wages for disabled workers from the minimum wage to $2 an hour ...
The new Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) yesterday gave a Select Committee a brutally frank outline of the department’s role as the agency right at the centre of power in Wellington. Ben King, formerly a deputy Chief Executive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Carbon dioxide is the main culprit behind climate change. But in second place is methane: a greenhouse gas stronger than CO2, ...
Oh, take me, take me, take meTo the dreamer's ballI'll be right on time and I'll dress so fineYou're gonna love me when you see meI won't have to worryTake me, take mePromise not to wake me'Til it's morningIt's all been trueEarly morning yesterday, well before dawn, doom-scrolling.Not intentionally, that’s ...
The first widespread survey of consumers and voters since the Budget on May 30 shows a collapse in confidence. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The belt-tightening and tax-cutting Budget delivered on May 30 has not delivered the boost to confidence in the economy the National-ACT-NZ First Government might have ...
Correspondence released under the Official Information Act reveals the Government’s boot camp concept is not backed by the military that is expected to run it. ...
The Government is risking the wellbeing of vulnerable children across Aotearoa who benefit from services like counselling, intensive family support, parent programmes and early intervention, as they claw back funding. ...
Thousands of people have taken to the streets and voiced their concerns about National’s destructive and undemocratic Fast Track Approvals Bill. Add your voice and tell National why this legislation needs to be stopped in its tracks. ...
Celebrating Matariki as a public holiday over the past two years has made sure everyone gets to spend some extra time with friends and family, as well as the chance to learn more about what makes this time of year meaningful. ...
The Government needs to be transparent about the cuts they are making to hospital infrastructure, so that cities are clear on the health resources they will have into the future. ...
Our students deserve access to fresh, healthy food to fuel their busy school days and lives.That’s why Labour introduced the Ka Ora, Ka Ako healthy school lunch programme. Teachers, parents, principals and health experts all saw the benefits of it. ...
The new Covid-19 Inquiry we campaigned and fought for will start in November.The current Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response will be divided into two phases. ‘Phase Two’ of the inquiry will start from November 2024 and will be the independent, full scale, and public inquiry we ...
“Today’s announcement is simply a repeat of the Government rejecting decades of evidence and expert advice, as they forcibly try to turn marketing slogans into policy,” said children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
“I am relieved Pharmac will be funded more to buy medicines for Kiwis. It is important that decisions on which drugs get funded remain independent from politics,” Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
The Green Party welcomes the announcement of more funding for cancer treatments and medicines, however, calls for more to be done to address the severe health inequities that come with cancer. ...
Frivolous check-ins with beneficiaries are the Government’s latest plan to find excuses to punish those on the Job Seeker allowance and add to the stigma they face. ...
The grounding of the Aratere Interislander Ferry is a wake-up call to the Coalition Government; they need to front up with a realistic long term solution to moving people and freight between our islands. ...
New Zealanders need and deserve a strong public health system. Throughout the country, we need to ensure hospitals, clinics and community providers have the resources needed to provide the best level of care. ...
Victims of family violence could fall through the gaps in New Zealand, as Police stop responding to some call outs and the Government chooses to prioritise other things. ...
The lack of bids at today’s ETS auction is a sad indictment on this Government's staggering indifference to the climate crisis and their lack of a plan. ...
“I am deeply disappointed in the National Party's budget. Their broken promises and cuts to essential services, including health, education, and support for vulnerable groups, will have long-lasting negative impacts” – Raymor, Auckland ...
Today marks the beginning of Schools Pride Week in New Zealand, an important calendar event largely run by rainbow rangitahi to advocate for safer, more inclusive school environments. ...
The Government’s announcement of a roadshow consultation on work health and safety is a smokescreen for its plan to throw out regulations which keep workers safe. ...
The Government has reportedly scrapped a policy that would have gone far to fix gender and ethnic pay gaps and instead is implementing a watered-down voluntary system. ...
The Government knew its changes to the school lunch programme would risk achievement, attendance, nutrition and wellbeing of New Zealand children, as well as having wider impacts on reducing child poverty, and made the changes anyway, new documents show. ...
Two months have passed since the National Government said it was a question of ”when, not if” New Zealand would recognise Palestine, in response to Labour’s call. ...
Today the coalition government has announced that a select committee inquiry into banking competition will be led by the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.New Zealand First campaigned to take on foreign owned banks, and we committed to that in our coalition agreement by ensuring the inquiry has a broad ...
Te Pāti Māori stand with the people of Kanaky who are fighting for their independence and their lives against oppressive French occupation. The colonisation of the Pacific relies on the manufactured disconnection of Aotearoa from our Pasifika whanaunga. The moana does not separate us, it connects us. ...
The National Government is doing everything it can to delay taking action on climate as it announces that years of work on agricultural emissions will start from scratch. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour is glad to see the Natural Hazards Insurance Act come into force today, further protecting homeowners’ rights after a natural hazard event and seeing the Earthquake Commission (EQC) become the Natural Hazards Commission. “The Government is committed to ensuring Kiwis continue to get reliable insurance ...
Restoring the brightline test to two years will help increase the supply of residential property putting downward pressure on rent, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “From 1 July, the brightline test will replace the five and ten-year periods with a more balanced two-year period. “Every day, New Zealanders are struggling ...
Councils, iwi, businesses and community organisations with infrastructure projects that support regional priorities are invited to apply for funding from the Regional Infrastructure Fund, which opened today. “The Coalition Government is focused on growing the economy. We are doing everything we can to enable an export-led recovery, regional prosperity and ...
Kia ora koutou katoa – it’s a pleasure to join you here at Tōtara Haumaru on Auckland’s North Shore I would like to begin by acknowledging the many hands, over many years, that have been involved in the creation of this wonderful new facility Tōtara Haumaru, particularly those who are ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will visit the Kingdom of Tonga to take part in the opening of a New Zealand-funded His Majesty’s Armed Forces Leadership Centre and to meet with counterparts. “New Zealand has a long, shared military history with Tonga and the development of this leadership centre is an ...
Today the Crown joined Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu at Papawai Marae to mark the return of Wairarapa Moana to iwi, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith and Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. “The legal transfer of the ownership of Wairarapa Moana is the final chapter in a fraught dispute between ...
Changes to the Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Standard) Act will enable changes to the emissions targets more easily with a review of the Clean Vehicle Standard currently underway, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Large changes in technology, fuel efficiency, and consumer trends and preferences means that the Clean Car Importer Standard ...
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden has today announced that four members have been reappointed to the Fire and Emergency New Zealand [FENZ] board. “I am pleased to announce that Rebecca Keoghan has been reappointed as chair for a two-year term of office,” says Ms van Velden. Rebecca was appointed ...
The Government has taken further steps to providing better regulation for medicines, medical devices, and natural health products with the first reading of a bill to repeal the Therapeutic Products Act 2023. Repealing the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) shows the Government is listening to the concerns of industry and consumers, says Associate ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says $343.5 million in lottery profits have been allocated to New Zealand communities across the country – an increase of around $29.8 million from previous years. “The distribution of lottery profits can have a significant and enduring impact on the lives of New ...
Civil Defence payments are now available for people affected by the severe weather in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti to help cover some emergency costs, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston has announced. “We want to make sure those communities that are doing it tough because of the latest severe ...
The coalition Government is progressing its commitment to reinstate livestock exports by sea, with public consultation set to start before September, Associate Minister of Agriculture Hon Andrew Hoggard says. Reinstating livestock exports by sea will require an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and strengthened welfare standards will be ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today released his decisions on elements of Tauranga City Council’s Intensification Planning Instrument. Two recommendations were referred to the Minister after the Council rejected two of those made by the Independent Hearings Panel. “I was asked by the Tauranga City Council to reject two ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a high-level political delegation to Solomon Islands, Nauru and Niue next week. "New Zealand's relationships in the Pacific are fundamental to our foreign policy, and we are determined to continue strengthening them,” says Mr Peters. “We look forward to engaging with ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Health Minister Dr Shane Reti to officially open a new primary birthing unit in Wānaka today. Dr Reti says the event demonstrates the Government’s commitment to improving health infrastructure and is particularly special as it will support many families before birth and in the first ...
The final Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024 (GPS 2024) outlines the Government’s ambitious $22 billion transport plan to boost productivity and support economic growth, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Upon being elected, the Government was clear that we wanted to make good on our transport promises to New Zealanders ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointments of 19 King’s Counsel. Also known as a silk, in reference to a gown traditionally worn as part of their robes, the rank of King’s Counsel is awarded to barristers sole who have demonstrated excellence in their careers or, from time to time, ...
New crime data highlights how critical the Government’s plan is to restore law and order, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey data is shameful, with New Zealanders experiencing 1.88 million incidents of crime between November 2022 and October 2023. “There were 185,000 New ...
The Government is delivering on its promise to commence an independent review of the methane science and targets for consistency with no additional warming from agriculture emissions, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay say. “An independent panel announced today, will report back to the Government by ...
The Government today repealed legislation requiring the compulsory registration of log traders and forestry advisers. “The existing legislation fails to deliver outcomes and places unnecessary costs on forest businesses,” Forestry Minister Todd McClay says. “I am confident that voluntary registration through the New Zealand Institute of Forestry is a better ...
The Overseas Investment (Build To Rent and Similar Rental Developments) Amendment Bill has passed its first reading this evening, Housing and Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop says.“We need to take every option available to increase the supply of housing in New Zealand, and Build to Rent is one of those ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown welcomes the opening of State Highway 1 through the Brynderwyn Hills from midnight tonight, following four months of closure to complete critical recovery and maintenance works. “Northlanders, local businesses, drivers, and freight operators will be relieved to have this important lifeline open. The Government thanks them ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today welcomed the release of the Parliamentary Counsel Office’s (PCO) Secondary Legislation Drafting Toolkit. "Both businesses and people tell us they find it hard to understand their obligations under secondary legislation,” Ms Collins says. “This toolkit, with its focus on design and content, will help with both ...
The Government is reforming sentencing to ensure criminals face serious consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences despite a 33 per cent increase in violent crime. ...
The Education and Training Amendment Bill, which will set up charter schools, encourage more early learning centres to open, and provide increased transparency on school attendance, has been introduced for its first reading in Parliament, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. “Every child deserves an education that enables them to ...
The coalition Government welcomes the presentation of the final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care to the Governor-General. “This marks the end of the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has today released the terms of reference for the Electricity Authority’s investigation into the Northland transmission tower failure that occurred on 20 June 2024, causing significant power outages in the region.“What happened in Northland last week was unacceptable, with tens of thousands of consumers left without ...
Space Minister Judith Collins is applauding students from Canterbury University’s Aerospace Club on their success at the world’s largest inter-collegiate rocket engineering competition, the Spaceport America Cup. “More than 120 teams from 20 countries participated in Spaceport America Cup, with the team from Canterbury University winning in their ‘30,000 Foot’ ...
Tena koutou.Ki nga kaumatua,Ki nga whanau,Ka maumahara tonu tatou ki a ratou. Greetings.To the elders,To the families,We will remember them. Firstly, a special welcome to all the veterans here this morning and their families. I want to acknowledge the veterans who are marking this day but cannot be with us ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says three appointments to the WorkSafe board have been made to strengthen the organisation, ensuring it has the skills and expertise it needs to carry out its functions. “WorkSafe has faced a number of recent challenges, including accumulating an almost $18 million ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says this coalition Government is delivering on our commitment to expand the terms of reference for the independent Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons Learned. “There will be a second phase to the Royal Commission which features new commissioners and an expanded terms of ...
The Government has introduced a Bill today to restore the Three Strikes sentencing law, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. “New Zealanders are rightly concerned about violent crime. We are delivering on our commitment to introduce a revised Three Strikes law as one of our key law and order priorities. ...
The Government and the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) are together committing an additional $8 million towards AgriZeroNZ to boost New Zealand’s efforts to reduce agricultural emissions. Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says the strength of the New Zealand economy relies on effective and affordable emission reduction solutions for New Zealand’s ...
Tākina Puanga. Ko Puanga kei runga. Ko Puanga e Rangi. Tākina mai te ara o Puanga nui o te rangi. Tākina ngā pou o te tau. Ki te whai ao ki te ao marama. Puanga or Rigel celebrations reflect a renewed energy across our communities – to acknowledge those who ...
The coalition Government is delivering up to 26 cancer treatments as part of an overall package of up to 54 more new medicines, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. “Pharmac estimates that around 175,000 people will benefit from the additional treatments in just ...
The coalition Government is providing more financial support to drought-stricken farmers and growers in many parts of the country to help with essential living costs. “Rural Assistance Payments have been made available in 38 districts affected by dry conditions to help eligible farmers and growers whose income has taken a ...
A new requirement for people on Jobseeker Support benefits to meet with MSD after six months to assess how their job search is going gets underway today. About 20,000 Jobseeker beneficiaries with full-time work obligations are expected to attend MSD’s new ‘Work check-in’ seminars over the next 12 months, Social ...
The decision to deploy more Police on the beat in Auckland CBD has been welcomed by Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello. Starting from 1 July, an additional 21 police officers will be redeployed in Auckland City, bringing the total number of beat police in the ...
The Government is introducing a new declaration for young offenders to ensure they face tougher consequences and are better supported to turn their lives around, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour announced today. The establishment of a Young Serious Offender declaration delivers on a coalition Government commitment and supports the Government’s target ...
Professor Neil Quigley has been reappointed as Chair of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Board for a further term of two years, until 30 June 2026. “Professor Quigley has played a key role in establishing the new Board after the commencement of the new RBNZ Act on 1 July ...
The chief executive of the state housing agency and developer Kainga Ora is leaving the business in October, and five board directors ended their tenure on Sunday, staff learned on Monday. The announcement of Andrew McKenzie’s exit comes just a month after a new chair, former Spark boss Simon Moutter, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Hosting a major sporting event like the Olympic and Paralympic Games can deliver benefits to the host country, such as improved infrastructure (new sport facilities, better public transport, greater accessibility ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted June 24–28 from a sample of 1,260 people, gave Labor a 51–49% lead over the Coalition, a one-point ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted June 24–28 from a sample of 1,260 people, gave Labor a 51–49% lead over the Coalition, a one-point ...
In overturning the convictions of Peter Ellis, the Supreme Court showed Māori tikanga has a place in New Zealand’s common law. The lower courts and the law schools now need to make it work. ...
The recent European Parliament election delivered a clear message on far-right political parties, but the broader narrative is still taking shape. According to some analysts, the improved performance of these parties will not put them at the centre of European politics, while for others it is an important confirmation that the balance ...
“Democracy requires transparency, and officials cannot be allowed to get away with sneering down their nose at members of the public. The Ministry of Justice needs to confirm those involved have been sacked." ...
If you want to be the cool friend in the group chat that always seems to know about secret shows and underground gigs, here’s where to look. Every week seems to kick off with that one dreaded question from your coworker. “So, what did you get up to this weekend?”. ...
Dear Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Minister for Social Development, Employment & Child Poverty Reduction, Community and Voluntary Sector Louise Upston, Minister for Finance, Public Service, and Social Investment Nicola Willis, Minister ...
Anna Rawhiti-Connell made many Pinterest boards in the lead-up to her Japan trip. None of these things were on them. My husband and I were too late for the cherry blossoms when we visited Japan last year. We arrived in mid-April, the blossoms already gone from the cities we were ...
Despite recent government austerity measures that have reduced funding and shifted focus away from shared outcomes, the agritech industry remains steadfast in its commitment to investing in a collaborative future. ...
Hutt City Council is seeking the public’s view on proposed changes to the number of city Councillors, the wards they represent, and the disestablishment of Community Boards. ...
1 July marks two years since the pay equity claim was initiated in 2022. It was recently filed at the Employment Relations Authority after significant delays and slow progress. ...
The Game of Thrones prequel is a smaller show than its predecessor, and that’s not a bad thing. James Poniewozik, the New York Times’s chief TV critic, recently said, “We have entered the golden age of Mid TV.” The casts of the numerous series being pumped out and tossed into ...
Starting 1 July 2024, a significant shift in New Zealand’s port health and safety has taken place with Maritime NZ becoming the primary regulator for the country’s 13 major ports. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stanislav Roudavski, Founder of Deep Design Lab and Senior Lecturer in Digital Architectural Design, The University of Melbourne A point cloud of a large old tree with green indicating branches preferred by birds.Stanislav Roudavski / Alex Holland, CC BY Grassy box ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Arnott, PhD Candidate, Griffith University Shutterstock Half the global population are voting in elections in 2024. Many already have. This has prompted concerns about fairness and electoral integrity, particularly with the growth of generative AI. A global tracker has identified ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renee Carey, Senior Research Fellow, School of Population Health, Curtin University Tama2u/Shutterstock From today, engineered stone is banned in Australia in a bid to protect workers from inhaling deadly silica dust, which has long been linked to diseases such as lung ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Roberts, Professor of Education and Social Justice, Monash University Komorebi Photo/Unsplash , CC BY Many parents are worried about their children using social media. But these concerns tend to focus on privacy, exposure to explicit material or contact with strangers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Wesselbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Otago In the ups and downs of the global economy over the last decade, New Zealand has had one relatively consistent challenge: persistent productivity stagnation. Productivity compares the amount of goods and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie University The Conversation Ready to dive into the latest buzz from the screens? In this month’s streaming list you’ll find not one, not two, but three Australian productions, including one starring a lead you ...
There are question marks over what the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga will mean for the millions of dollars of loans between different parts of the mega-institute. ...
Relief at the pump, but that’s not the only change coming into effect today, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Fuel is a little bit cheaper (in Auckland) It’s somehow already July 1, a day that tends ...
A salacious new discovery about Katherine Mansfield’s sex life has “astonished” the world’s leading authorities on the life and work of the great New Zealand writer. Newly released divorce papers filed by her first husband, the hapless George Bowden, claim the reason their marriage broke down was because of her ...
Shane Jones says the fund's focus on resilience is aimed at climate adaptation - and until the rest of the world cuts emissions, New Zealand's ability to do so is "somewhere near zero". ...
A Labour councillor says selling the airport will end the Wellington mayor’s career. But it may not be that simple. Last Thursday’s Wellington City Council meeting was convened to finalise the long term plan – including the contentious decision to sell the council’s 34% stake in Wellington International Airport. It ...
Our capital is a far cry from hot, bustling Kuala Lumpur, so why is this freezing city full of excellent Malaysian cuisine?My dad once told me that there are more Malaysian restaurants in Wellington per square kilometres than there are back in Malaysia. He was completely wrong, of ...
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Opinion: Our belief in the quasi-religious power of the central bank to control inflation must be rethought The post Time for an inflation rethink appeared first on Newsroom. ...
This is the second and final episode of The Detail’s two-part podcast. Part one can be found here. In 2013 things were going well for 3 News. It was performing strongly in the Auckland market, often beating TVNZ in the key 25 to 54 demographic. There were signs that it was also making progress ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has revealed a review of New Zealand’s overseas aid programme will take place later this year, as he fends off criticism over the Government’s failure to increase funding in the Budget. Heading into the coalition’s first Budget on May 30, aid groups had been calling for ...
Atlanta Lolohea (20) exudes the exuberance of the sprawling American city she is named after. Atlanta, Georgia, boasts the biggest airport in the world, hosted the Olympic Games and is renowned for casinos, Coca-Cola, blues and hip-hop music. “Big, I guess that matches my personality,” Lolohea laughs. “My cousin was ...
Opinion: The global space industry is worth US$546 billion and expected to triple in the next decade. The domestic aerospace sector, catalysed by Rocket Lab USA’s privately owned launch site at Māhia Peninsula, the fourth busiest site in the world, is primed to be worth NZ$10 billion by 2030. Growth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese sprang into action after his recalcitrant senator, young Muslim woman Fatima Payman, gave a defiant Sunday morning on the ABC Insiders program in which she vowed to cross the floor again if similar ...
The Monitoring Mechanism was established in 2015 to monitor governments’ implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Boyloso/Shutterstock Australia’s top economic forecasters expect the Reserve Bank to start cutting interest rates by March next year, taking 0.35 points of its cash rate by June. If passed ...
The AA says it will be watching closely to make sure fuel companies pass on savings to customers once they are no longer collecting the Auckland regional fuel tax. ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Voters in New Caledonia will go to the polls this weekend under tight security, almost eight weeks after destructive and violent unrest broke out in the French Pacific archipelago. They will vote for their two representatives in the 577-seat French National ...
Professor David Robie is among this year’s New Zealand Order of Merit awardees and was on the King’s Birthday Honours list earlier this month for his “services to journalism and Asia-Pacific media education.” His career in journalism has spanned five decades. He was the founding editor of the Pacific Journalism ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lester Munson, Non-Resident Fellow, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney Within minutes of the conclusion of this week’s presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, it became clear to many that the 81-year-old Biden may not be capable of winning ...
Christopher Luxon Do I see the grounding of the Aratere ferry as a metaphor? Look, I’m going to take that under advice, and look up the meaning of the word ‘metaphor’ before making a comment, but if it’s some sort of veiled suggestion that the government is drifting into oblivion ...
This is part one of a two-part podcast. The second part will run Monday. At 6pm on July 6, Mike McRoberts and Samantha Hayes will read the last ever Newshub bulletin. Both have spent the majority of their careers at New Zealand’s first private television network. The studio desk they sit ...
Elise hadn’t bought anything new – like, brand new – for a long time. Months, maybe even a year; certainly not since Christmas. “Every now and then just buy yourself a new lipstick,” advised her neighbour Yvette, who took Thomas for three hours on Wednesday mornings while she worked on ...
After the runaway success of the 2023 film, the Tongan showcase of Red, White and Brass is now a live show. Madeleine Chapman reviews its opening night. The lowdown A play based on a movie based on a real-life event, Red, White and Brass is the story of the Tongan ...
Pop artist Paige shares the soundtrack to her perfect weekend. If you want to listen to Paige this weekend, she reckons there’s only one way to do it: “turn it on in the lounge on a quiet Sunday morning,” she says. “Coffee in hand and sun beaming through the window.” ...
Jake Arthur explains why his latest poetry collection was inspired by the Pamela Coleman-Smith illustrations on the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Done well, a Tarot reading, like all rituals, creates its own aura. Like walking off a busy street in a European city into the quiet and cool of a church, ...
Thomas Giblin rounds up the best local films you can treat yourself to at home this Matariki. If you haven’t made plans for this long Matariki weekend, why not expand your knowledge of the cinema of Aotearoa? Gather your friends and whānau, indulge in some kai and watch a film ...
Claire Mabey’s early brush with evangelical Christianity sparked a life’s fascination with the power of stories – and the fuel to write her own. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Five years oldAt Bethlehem College the carpet is a crowd of ...
Professional cycling is tough. It can also be lonely. Bandaging your own wounds on the other side of the world without a loved one next to you to give you a hug, or some words of comfort, can lead to plenty of emotional, stressful moments. But from those moments ...
By Laura Smith, Local Democracy Reporter Last night’s Matariki drone show was an emotional experience for some of the thousands who huddled under the glow at the edge of Lake Rotorua on the eve of Aotearoa’s national indigenous holiday today. The Aronui Indigenous Arts Festival is hosting the first ever ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Two years after the deal was first announced, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has today given the green light for ANZ to acquire the banking arm of Queensland-based insurer Suncorp. The A$4.9 billion ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Khan, Professor and Head of School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney r.classen/Shutterstock A new Productivity Commission report has urged Australian governments to commit to providing universal access to safe and reliable drinking water, warning that public health depends on ...
Does anyone have good tinfoilhat downloads on the Bolivian failed coup, as well as the on-off US sanctions on Venezuela?
Plenty of case to be made that each country's leaders are eating each other, plenty of world-scale assets, plenty of international intrigue.
Infometrics of 27 June is about as dark as I've seen an analysis of the New Zealand economy in my living memory.
https://www.infometrics.co.nz/article/2023-06-nz-economy-out-of-balance
"Considering these issues against the backdrop of slower Chinese economic growth, it is difficult to be overly optimistic about New Zealand’s medium-term economic prospects. There have been positive facets to our economic performance over the last 40 years, but too often we have ignored problems and failed to plan for the future. The emerging imbalances are now signalling that we’re not as well-off as we might have thought."
And when we do get a govt with a little forward vision – ie Three Waters, the Inter-islander ferries etc, we 'elect' a short term neolib govt with as much vision as a mole at midnight!
First published a year ago and nothings changed.
What do you do when you commission research into an important topic and then you don't like the results? The Economist shows that in this case, the answer was to try and influence the results and then suppress them where possible.
https://archive.ph/lyvdp
"In April Hilary Cass, a British paediatrician, published her review of gender-identity services for children and young people, commissioned by nhs England. It cast doubt on the evidence base for youth gender medicine. This prompted the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (wpath), the leading professional organisation for the doctors and practitioners who provide services to trans people, to release a blistering rejoinder. wpath said that its own guidelines were sturdier, in part because they were “based on far more systematic reviews”.
"Court documents recently released as part of the discovery process in a case involving youth gender medicine in Alabama reveal that wpath’s claim was built on shaky foundations. The documents show that the organisation’s leaders interfered with the production of systematic reviews that it had commissioned from the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Centre (epc) in 2018."
Big Hairy News and Sunita Torrence talk about suing Brian Tamaki over Destiny's attacks on Rainbow Story Time.
They are welcome. However the questions have to be asked about why drag has morphed from the midnight show at a Gay bar or Club into something suitable for preschoolers at 10am without so much as a costume change.
And you can't sanitise "womanface" by draping it in a Rainbow Flag.
What is next – the Black and White Minstrel Show?
Cultural appropriation is unacceptable in any guise.
Aaaaand I thought this place improved.
Goodbye for now.
IMHO the CoC is deliberately crashing the New Zealand economy I presume they have calculated a political profit for themselves in this.
Yes , I have been racking my brains with the same realisation .
Its like they are self perpetuating a home grown recession .
After all , pundits have known for years that austerity just exacerbates economic hardships .
Look how the Thatcherite years of Britain put its economy into freefall , which it could be argued they have never recovered from .
Na it's worse than that mate , the fuckers actually think they know what they're doing. !!!
Accredited Employer Visa changes (4 and 5 categories).
Open up the tap. Tighten it back up.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/06/migrant-group-horrified-by-ruthless-changes-to-visa-scheme.html
Federated farmers not at all happy about the AEV changes either!! Stephen Todd is our local Fed Farmers head.
https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/people/visa-changes-devastating-for-farmers-and-workers/
Just watched the Stuff documentary The Long Game.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350325795/how-mp-became-good-friends-ccp
Fascinating analysis of possible CCP infiltration of our government.
Sometimes I think we forget that the mandarins of China have been doing this sort of thing, pretty much uninterrupted, for 4000 years.
Why is NAct wrecking the economy? I don’t think it’s deliberate, I think the problem is that Luxon is getting a nagging feeling that he may not be as clever as he thought, we all know that’s the case, evidence of this is his reluctance to have a portfolio, nothing to manage, hence nothing to fuckup and somebody else gets the blame. couple this with a Finance minister who can’t count, and frankly doesn’t know she can’t, and what could possibly go wrong ?
More to the point is that so much damage was done by the previous administration that there are no quick fixes and the destruction deliberately started then is still unwinding.
Broken things need replacing if they cannot be fixed – and that takes LOTS of time and resources. Cannot happen in the time this administration has had.
Would you like to be specific about the"damage done by the previous administration"?
$100 BILLION of debt which has resulted in $8 BILLION of interest being sucked out of Government budgets every year for the foreseeable future …. perhaps the biggest damage. Plus the lack of any of that used for investment in infrastructure such as roading maintenance and maintenance of existing ferry and electric grid infrastructure.
The collapse has not been brought about by ONE year of the present administration but has been coming for much longer.
Why did you make up this false fact? To suit your own narrative?
If the Grimm brothers were still alive they would be asking you to write more fairy tales, Maurice.
We had liabilities of $237B in 2023.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/government-finance-statistics-general-government-year-ended-june-2023/
The current cost of public debt is $8.8B pa.
https://budget.govt.nz/budget/2024/bps/fiscal-strategy-debt.htm
So I would say you are misrepresenting the cost of $100B of debt.
So is even worse than $100 Billion – Debt added on top of debt – $273 BILLION… I was understating the position then?
Debt was getting under control before 2018 but since then it is apparent that our debt ratio has kept on rising even after the economy had recovered and Covid spending had ended. Resulting in $8.8 BILLION interest payments shackling Government spending going forward. The new Government has clearly been too timorous and must try some real austerity. Cue the present howling!
$237B
The cost of debt is as you will note not high. This is because of our good credit rating.
This is because our net debt is a much lower figure.
The increase in net debt 2008-2015 per GDP is not much different to that 2017-2024.
https://budget.govt.nz/budget/2024/bps/fiscal-strategy-debt.htm
Polling in France is showing the far right National Rally (RN) with a very substantial lead over the leftist block, with the the centrist (Macron) trailing in third place. A huge turn around for the political situation in France.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-far-right-extends-poll-lead-campaign-ends-2024-06-28/
At least one poll, calculates that the RN + allies could end up with an absolute (if slender) majority.
Although, I wouldn't read too much into this – since tactical voting – withdrawing candidates, etc., is a mainstream part of French politics.
Luxon at Go Media Stadium. Camera zeroed in and was spotted on the big screen.
Noticeable round of boos.
Just wait till they get to know him!!
It happened there, too:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/29/rishi-sunak-smoking-ban-bill-backlash-tobacco-firms