Vic Uni should not host an event whitewashing Israeli war crimes!
IDF soldiers are on a speaking tour attempting to justify Israel’s horrific bombing of Gaza in 2014.
The IDF talk at Victoria University is part of the Israeli government’s propaganda programme to justify war crimes. Victoria University should not be a party to this.
In July 2014, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in a military offensive it called ‘Operation Protective Edge’, killing 1,523 civilians including over 500 children. The international community, including New Zealand, condemned the attacks on civilian areas in Gaza. The United Nations stated that the heavy artillery and mortars were not designed for specific military targets. Massive carpet bombing of civilians is a war crime.
Decades of international diplomacy has failed to curtail Israel’s increasing racism, occupation, violence and expansionism. Palestinian civil society has called for non-violent Disinvestment, Boycott and Sanctions (BDS) to push Israel to comply with international law.
Victoria University must cut all ties with Israeli whitewashing, starting with this obvious defence of atrocities by the Israeli Defence Force. This is not a free speech issue; IDF soldiers represent the Israeli state. There is no neutral position on providing a platform to justify atrocities.
The IDF event is planned for Tuesday the 29th of September 2015, Cotton Building (Victoria University) at 8.30 pm.
SJP are calling for Victoria University to cancel the booking, and will picket the IDF event if it goes ahead.
My problem is with those who would ban one and not the other. (Kyle Chapman, by the way, is a benign and humane fellow compared to those who give the orders in the IDF.)
In Canada the Conservative government’s blatant ploy to simply wear the electorate down with the country’s longest ever election campaign looks to be succeeding. The NDP are sliding from 1st to 3rd place in most of the most recent polls. The Liberals are up a bit but at the moment it looks like the Tories are tracking to win the most seats (they had an advantage after redistribution) and, perhaps, a weak minority government with about 33% of the vote.
@ScottGN Not according to these polls where the NDP/LIB/Green parties are currently forecast to get 209 seats and the Conservatives only 128 seats where 170 are needed to form a majority.
None of the parties are expected to get a majority of seats in the House of Commons, though the most recent EKOS poll for the Toronto Star suggested the Conservatives might be getting near that with 35% of the vote.
Canada doesn’t do coalition governments or even C & S agreements like we do, whichever party gets the most seats (and that was always likely to be the Cons in a pretty even 3 way split) is expected to get the nod from the GG to put a throne speech up in the Commons to test confidence. Conventional wisdom says the opposition parties should support the throne speech rather than a risk voter backlash for triggering an early election by voting it down.
Currently the Cons could be as many as 40-odd seats short of an overall majority which points to a very weak minority government which may not last terribly long.
It’s still possible either the Liberals or NDP might win the most seats but clearly that’s more difficult since they are effectively splitting the centre left (anti Harper) vote.
Like all the Westminster Systems Bearded Git there’s no constitutional impediment preventing a coalition government. Canadians, however, generally seem to dislike the prospect of one. Also the Conservatives have fed into this by hawking the ‘coalition-of-losers’ theme that Key borrowed from them to trot out every now and again during our election campaign last year.
Yes but the “c of l” argument doesn’t really work at all where the seats are 128 on one side and 95 and 113 on the other. (it is bollocks anyway)
Surely in this situation, where the Conservatives are far from a majority and the opposition can form a very strong coalition government this will happen?
Sorry but I don’t buy your “general dislike of coalition” argument.
yes exactly as the minister resposnsible has been awol and way out of his pompous lawyer arse depth.
Nice to see acknowledgment from you as to who’s actually driving some potential change here cos it aint dodgy 2 salary sammy who’s major skill is fleecing the system.
Your first link is recent, and yes I would be expecting an investigation as to how it occurred.
Your second link shows exactly what should happen: prisoner misconduct is detected, reported, and the prisoners punished. As opposed to when serco run things.
Your third link is a bit random, especially as 3M has the contract for installing and monitoring the bracelets.
Your fourth link occurred barely three weeks after corrections took over management from serco – the public service is efficient, but doesn’t work miracles.
Your “union” comment is fucking stupid, considering that two of the three worst cases involved privatised security rather than how corrections should be run.
Again, your moral compass is broken.
“Bad shit” is, yes, bad. But there’s the occasional-turd-in-the-middle-of-the-lawn bad, and then there’s the someone-emptied-a-septic-truck-on-my-lawn bad.
Bad shit does happen in most if not all prisons. But, as I pointed out to you above, it’s the role of the prison authorities to identify the bad shit, and discipline the prisoners to try to prevent it happening again. Not to ignore it or be oblivious to it until it ends up on fucking youtube.
It’s not bad because serco runs the prison. It’s worse because serco is bad at running prisons.
Yes, goes to show that the Stalinist, totalitarian radical left dictator-in-waiting that we all knew Corbyn to be has now crushed and purged the democratic processes of his party with an iron fist so that they would fall into line with his position. Oh hang on …
Radionz interview with USA corespondent this morning has a lot of background on USA ways to what he calls gerrymander the system. It explains some of the things that they have done in connection with Tea Party strength. It explains their intransigent approach.
I will put up audio link when it comes available. It will be enlightening for people who want to learn more, and try to understand how our democracy could be warped like that of the USA.
This would be comforting to us who believe in living in a co-operative community way, and helping each other where possible. Worth a listen.
1:30 Effective Altruism, Doing Good Better
William MacAskill, as a Research Fellow at Cambridge University spent five years developing the philosophy of effective altruism, which applies data and scientific reasoning to the normally sentimental world of doing good. During the course of his research he concluded that many ways of making a difference achieve little, but by targeting our efforts on the most effective causes, we each have an enormous power to make the world a better place. In his book, Doing Good Better he introduces the principles underlying effective altruism and sets out a practical guide to increasing your impact through your charity, volunteering, purchases and choice of cause.
Another own-goal by this bungling and less than competent MP.
Like the own-goal by a bungling and less than competent PM who allowed an alleged child sex offender to remain as chairman of the law and order select committee in Parliament?.
So this Kiribati man could have been guilty of something. It does not change the fact that he and his children can state rightly that they are climate refugees.
I doubt if this fault-finding Rw power broker has always been clean in word and deed. For goodness sake stick to the point in your thinking clean, your processes are muddy.
Outmanoeuvred and outsmarted by Russia and Iran,
Obama’s only response is a bumptious display of pique.
The United States and Britain have been comprehensively humiliated. Their program of sowing chaos and mayhem in Syria is now coming to an end, now that Russia is committing troops to support the government against the Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and ISIS terrorists the U.S. and U.K. have supported for the last four years.
In the United Nations, at a luncheon hosted by that corpse Ban Ki-moon, Obama hypocritically proposed a toast “to the United Nations.” He clinked glasses with everyone around him, but made a point of grimacing and scowling when interacting with Putin.
Obama’s ill-advised antics represent the most pathetic attempt at a tough-guy act by a U.S. president since Harry Truman’s risible ambush of Vyacheslav Molotov in 1945.
Who called National Party MPs “sheep fuckers” in Parliament? Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 29 September 2015
About 11:55 a.m. …..
KATHRYN RYAN: …. Now, speaking of taste and decency. This David Cameron story was BIZARRE, wasn’t it!
GAVIN ELLIS: I’m not going to describe what we’re talking about, beyond saying it involved a pig, and it allegedly happened when he was at university.
KATHRYN RYAN:[chortling] Trying to beat around the bush and use euphemisms only makes it infinitely worse!
GAVIN ELLIS: I don’t think there is a euphemism for this. …[He embarks on a lengthy discourse about the way language is used to evade the sordid realities of what people like Conservative prime ministers get up to]….
KATHRYN RYAN: So where does this leave us with the David Cameron story?
GAVIN ELLIS: Well, it’s horses for courses, or pigs for courses…. [Another lengthy descant follows]….
Then, right at the end, the host say something intriguing….
KATHRYN RYAN: I could tell you of something that happened in parliament a few years ago, when I was political correspondent there. One MP yelled out an accusation at a whole party! I dare not say it because it would bring down a whole heap of trouble on my head!
Pregnant silence….
KATHRYN RYAN: Two words. The first one was “sheep”!
GAVIN ELLIS:[uncertainly] Ho ho!
So…. who was it that yelled “Sheep fuckers!” at those hapless National Party members? Was it Trevor Mallard? Grant Gillon? David Benson-Pope? Jill Pettis? Winston Peters?
Zoe George seems to be completely pointless. Her silly voices are even more annoying than Chris Trotter’s. She has to be pretending to be that shallow and flippant. Sue Guthrie speaks like an infant. She’s even more annoying than Jesse ‘yeah yeah’ Mulligan.
SOUNDS INTERESTING http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201771841
Propaganda and Public Opinion
Updated at 4:28 pm on 25 September 2015
Professor Jason
Professor Jason Stanley of the Philosophy Department at Yale University talks about the subtle and insidious ways that propaganda presents itself as pragmatism within liberal democracies.
Jason Stanley is the author of How Propaganda Works.
Just what would it take for Chris Brown
to be acceptable to the New Zealand government?
Chris Brown beat up Rihanna. That means he is an insalubrious person. So insalubrious, in fact, that those paragons of virtue, John Key and his henchmen, have banned him from entering New Zealand.
In order to get in the good books of the NZ government, there are certain actions Chris Brown should have taken….
He could have ordered the bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, enforced brutal sanctions that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and supported the grossest human rights abusers in Riyadh, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Amman, Islamabad, Bogotá, Jakarta….
Where the hell are you? Visiting friendly Australia? Don’t forget it has poisonous spiders, snakes and politicians. And will give you the song of the laughing jackass as you leave.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201772505
Trans Tasman Travel Arrangement is not a binding treaty
9:26 AM. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) provides that Australians and New Zealanders can travel to and live and work in one another’s country without restriction. However it is not part of any binding bilateral treaty between New Zealand and Australia. Andrew Smith of Victoria University’s School of Accounting and Commercial Law has looked at the TTTA and the impact of Australia changed the rules for New Zealanders living in Australia.
(Actually, the Ozzies are trawling through records to search for NZs who have served one, or more sentences for anything, up to one whole year’s jail served as long as 10 years ago. Done, behaved. But now, out. Pack your bags, leave your family, don’t get told anything. Dumped on an off-shore island.
Of course under our RW government we had dawn raids that were a ‘bit’ unfair. But we hoped that was all behind us. However Oz can bite like a poisonous snake and they can choose when, and have decided now they have squeezed all the financial advantage from us, they will pick us off over the next years, as other world ‘superior’ forces have done after deciding some group is contemptible.
Can we be sure that Ozzies will be restrained by their fairness, their innate kindness and intelligence? Brahahahaha.)
“…
US media reports suggest the US is pushing Canada to open its dairy market to New Zealand and Australian competition, signalling progress on one of the last remaining issues to be negotiated among the 12 nations of the Asia-Pacific.
That news is alarming US and Canadian dairy farmers but is likely to involve far more limited concessions than New Zealand has pushed for.
Groser said last week there would not be a “gold-plated deal” on dairy, but a deal had to emerge or New Zealand could not sign. Groser is in the US for climate change talks in New York and had not decided last week whether to attend the Georgia meeting, unless there was a dairy deal to discuss.
Justice Collins asked Palmer to reflect on his recent decision “about the extent to which courts should give direction”, which Hardy later cited as saying that “to make a declaration, the statement must be fact-specific, efficacious and capable of practical application.”
“The crux of the argument is that the information that could properly be released and was unlawfully withheld is the anodyne, publicly available material.”
Palmer argued that the New Zealand government should not be “contracting out” its legal obligations under the OIA by making it subservient to the requirements of a strict confidentiality agreement between the 12 TPP nations.
Justice Collins observed that such a decision “could be consistent” with the act.
Palmer also dwelt on the approach being taken by the European Union, which has been willing to allow release of negotiating texts relating to the European-US equivalent of TPP, known as TTIP, and comments by the European Ombudsman suggesting the traditional secrecy surrounding trade negotiations is counter-productive to public trust in such processes.
The hearing is expected to conclude today and Justice Collins said he would “do my best to get it (a judgement) out as quickly as I can.”
Compare the lack of ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ central (and local) government, at the highest levels, with the increased infringements of citizens’ lawful rights to privacy and ‘freedom of expression’?
In whose ‘national interest’ is New Zealand really being run?
For the benefit of (U$A) and other foreign corporations, or the public majority of New Zealand citizens?
(HINT: Follow the dollar ….
NZ Prime Minister John Key IS a shareholder in the Bank of America.
Pg 29, the 2015 MP’s’ Register of Financial Interests), and a major advocate for the TPPA.
How is that not a significant ‘conflict of interest’, and why is more FUSS not being made about this, given New Zealand’s ‘perceived’ status as the SECOND ‘least corrupt country in the world’?
It seems to be a Tony Abbott initiative – Malcom had not been in power long enough to put it through the Australian Commonealth government decision cycle.
It is part of our zeitgeist as zionists & neo-cons flail around about Russian & Chinese forces in Syria. They have resources, like nukes.
NBR (those ‘wild-eyed radicals’ 😉 – interview Professor Jane Kelsey on TPP legal action:
_________________________________________________________________________________
NBR Radio Special: Jane Kelsey on TPP legal action
NBR RADIO TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Jane Kelsey
Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey talks about her TPP legal challenge
Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey told NBR Radio she is challenging an “unlawful” government decision to deny an official trade document request.
The High Court in Wellington is hearing an application for a judicial review brought by Professor Kelsey, Consumer New Zealand, Oxfam and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
The case is in response to the government’s refusal to release the draft negotiation documents of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) despite Professor Kelsey’s request through Official Information Act channels.
Professor Kelsey claims the decision to withhold the information was unlawful and had “concerning precedents.”
“The approach that was taken [to deny the request], as well as the considerations that led to the minister to reach that conclusion, is what we’re challenging,” she says.
The government has defended its decision by saying it is obliged to withhold the documents by a strict confidentiality agreement with the 12 other members of the TPP negotiations.
“One of my concerns is this response removes accountability from the decision makers. That’s not just an issue for the TPP negotiations but also an issue more broadly.”
If the review goes ahead, it will “hopefully bring about a shift in government behaviour and mind-set” in regards to future multilateral negotiations, Professor Kelsey says.
What I would like to know is how the government lawyers can say the Govt has signed a strict confidentiality with other TTPA governments when at least some of the taxpayers (corporates) have seen the negotiations.
And then I suppose the government lawyers are going to say that the secrecy agreement prevents the govt from divulging the names of the parties they have given the TTPA secrets to already. And down the rabbit hole we go .
At this point there is a recursive argument- lets hope the judge can see it
Will TTIP Get Terminated? Negotiations Falter as Europe Balks
As EU-US trade talks flounder, France doesn’t rule out ‘an outright termination of negotiations’
by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Almost 3 million people across Europe have signed a petition calling on the European Commission to scrap the agreement.
While public opposition to the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—the massive proposed “trade” deal between the European Union and the United States—has grown steadily since negotiations started two years ago, new signs suggest that official government backing is also faltering across Europe.
In an interview with French regional newspaper Sud Ouest published Monday, Junior Trade Minister Matthias Fekl said TTIP negotiations were favoring American interests and “either weren’t advancing or were progressing in the wrong direction.”
“If nothing changes, it will show that there isn’t the will to achieve mutually beneficial negotiations,” he said, before adding: “France is considering all options including an outright termination of negotiations.”
Meanwhile, a group of more than 55 UK members of parliament (MPs) has signed onto a motion expressing major concerns about the mammoth trade pact, which civil society groups have dubbed a corporate giveaway. Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP, put forward the Commons motion, and it has now been signed by every member of the Scottish National Party group at Westminster, as well as the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
Politico’s Paul Ames wrote of the “cooling ardor on both sides of the Atlantic” earlier this month, saying that since talks began in July 2013, the trade deal “has lost some of its shine.”
“Concern over the impact of TTIP has united disparate groups,” he wrote, “from French farmers to German constitutional lawyers and politicians on the left and right.”
Almost 3 million people across Europe have signed a petition calling on the Commission to scrap the agreement.
Last week, the Oxford-based group ‘We Own It,’ which deals with national issues surrounding public services, held a demonstration against the proposed TTIP, warning that it could lead to private businesses being too heavily involved in public services.
Cat Hobbs, an organizer with the group, told the Oxford Mail: “The idea is that it would open up new markets to private companies and the reality here is that it’s going to open up public services to private companies. Multi-national corporations’ rights will become more important than ours.”
NZ Prime Minister John Key backs up his golfing buddy USA President Barack Obama over Syria.
No surprises there …. (Radio NZ 29 September 2015)
————————————————————————
The Prime Minister says the immediate removal of the Assad regime is no longer a necessary starting point for achieving peace in Syria.
Prime Minister John Key
Speaking from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, John Key said he supported comments made by US President Barack Obama.
“If you listen very carefully to what President Obama said today, he said that there was essentially a sort of multi-staged way of carrying out changes in Syria,” said Mr Key.
“And it was very much along the lines that both elements of concern in Syria would need to change over time, but not necessarily as a starting point.
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The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
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 ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme was always a neoliberal, market-based, get-out-of-jail-free plan. Time to lead the way with Tradable Energy Quotas insteadOpinion: The old saying about news – that it’s always bad or it wouldn’t be news – is distressingly true for the climate, both in terms of this summer’s weather ...
The Detail finds out why a law change in 2017 has led to a proliferation of independent taxi drivers – and why they're leaving some passengers feeling ripped off Not all taxis are created equal. RNZ newsreader Evie Ashton found this out the hard way, after Dave Chapelle's recent show at Auckland's ...
Companies have tended to be louder in lobbying politicians against climate change mitigation rather than in favour of it. This election, that needs to change ...
H5N1 only sporadically infects humans - but it kills half of those who catch it. As the largest ever outbreak of the virus continues to rage, is New Zealand prepared?Special report: Kiwi scientist Robert Webster knew two things about the avian flu virus he dripped into his nose one day ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
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 Dan Himbrechts/Paul Braven/AAP The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday. I had a preview of both ...
Whether the anti-trans campaigner can enter the country without a visa is now up in the air. Controversy surrounds the upcoming visit by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner on a global tour who is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. During an appearance in Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images The controversial 2021 decision by the government drug-buying agency Pharmac to prioritise Māori and Pacific patients in its funding of two game-changing new diabetes drugs appears to have paid ...
The idea of the Greens flirting with National gets an airing before almost every election. It remains as much of a nonstarter as ever, writes Henry Cooke.This article was first published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. It’s far more reliable than clockwork. Every election cycle – often several ...
With half the value of all Lotto, Powerball and Strike tickets going to cyclone relief, the "Must-be-won" draw for $15.5 million on Saturday went to a Canterbury player. ...
Auckland’s mayor has taken aim at road closures and traffic disruption around the super city, revealing a plan to reduce road cones. Wayne Brown had previously pledged to clean up the city of road cones and set it out as an “immediate priority” for the council’s transport agency. Now, he’s ...
The name's Bond – unhedged Treasury bond. Jonathan Milne argues that bond traders have again become sexy, for all the wrong reasons.Analysis: Giant Swiss bank UBS has agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.23 billion) and to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a shotgun ...
‘Don’t fucking come and talk to me, write a submission,’ reckons Mayor Wayne Brown. So how do you do that?Let’s be honest, most people don’t understand local politics. We know that we vote for a mayor and councillors every couple of years, and that’s about it. But local politics ...
The link between Napier and Taupō has reopened this week for the first time since it was damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. State highway five will be open to all traffic between 7am and 7pm, with overnight closure points at Kaimata Road, Glengarry Road and Matea Road. Kiri Allan, the associate ...
Analysis by By Geoffrey Miller. Political Roundup: NZ’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq ...
If you find yourself stressing about the cost of living crisis and how it will impact your home loan, talking to your bank as soon as possible is important. If you are experiencing financial challenges or think you might in the future, it’s important to reach out to your bank ...
Despite being entrenched practice in New Zealand schools, the practice of academic streaming in schools might not be around much longer. A plan launched today sets out a pathway to achieve this.If you went to school in Aotearoa, odds are that streaming was part of your experience. The numerically-inclined ...
The Paediatric Society of New Zealand/Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa are very concerned about the high number of tamariki injured by dogs in Aotearoa. Auckland emergency doctor Natasha Duncan-Sutherland says, “Over 2800 dog-related injuries ...
MP Ibrahim Omer will replace Grant Robertson as Labour’s candidate in the Wellington Central electorate after beating former party president Claire Szabo in the candidate selection race. Omer arrived in New Zealand as a refugee and worked as a cleaner before enrolling at Victoria University in 2014. “As someone who has ...
A new report from Australia highlights the significant community exposure to alcohol advertising through social media platforms. Over a one-year period researchers observed nearly 40,000 advertisements from a subset of alcohol-related accounts on Meta platforms ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of Melbourne pexels/tara winstead, CC BY-SA You’ve probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Shutterstock You’ve probably heard about the medication Ozempic, used to manage type 2 diabetes and as a weight loss drug. Ozempic (and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Menna Elizabeth Jones, Associate Professor in Zoology, University of Tasmania Human life on Earth is utterly dependent on biodiversity but our activities are driving an increase in extinctions. Yet some extinct species continue to hold our fascination. New methods in genetics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Kidson, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Australian schools have been under huge pressures in recent years. On top of concerns about academic progress and staff shortages, schools have faced significant, ongoing disruptions due to ...
The Green Party has made it clear it’s frustrated after being shafted by Labour during last week’s so-called policy bonfire. The prime minister recently ditched a number of policies announced during Jacinda Ardern’s tenure, many of which were backed strongly by the Greens. In a state of the nation address ...
The US banking crisis may help force a rethink by the Reserve Bank here, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Did last week’s turmoil stop interest rate hikes in their tracks? ...
The Greens have laid down a challenge to potential coalition partners: come to the table with faster and stronger climate action if you want our support. ...
The early days of Māori Television were chaotic. After the founding CE was fired and imprisoned for fraud, Dr. Jim Mather was tapped to lead the fledging broadcaster. An account with no previous media experience, he was an unlikely choice for the role, but ended up leading the channel through ...
Regional public transport is where money can do the most good in the shortest time. So why is the government giving the regions’ funding to the main centres? I used to think of public transport mainly as a way to reduce our environmental impact. It was only when I started ...
The most recent piece of research on actual menstrual blood volume was conducted in 1964, which has left many people without key health information, writes researcher Claire Badenhorst. Last month, after being in the office for only half a day, I headed home early for the sole reason that I ...
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The precious metal surged almost 4 percent as investors, shaken by US bank collapses and trouble at the venerable Swiss bank Credit Suisse, fled to a safe haven ...
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By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr says the Royal PNG Constabulary is “stretched” with only 5000 men and women serving the country of more than 9 million people. “Now more than ever we need leadership, we are stretched as a force, ...
No platform for war criminals on campus! Students for Justice in Palestine (Victoria University)
+1 Institutions need to stay clear of well funded propaganda drives. Killing people is wrong. period.
No I’m going to have to disagree.
Universities should not be limiting free speech in any way, isn’t it better to let them speak and then raise questions and challenge their view ?
Do you also think Kyle Chapman and his neo-Nazi thugs should be allowed to stage events at Victoria University?
Did you have some trouble reading what I wrote ?
Good man, tinfoilhat! Long as you’re consistent.
My problem is with those who would ban one and not the other. (Kyle Chapman, by the way, is a benign and humane fellow compared to those who give the orders in the IDF.)
woman actually..
I’d even support you being able to hold a meeting at a university.
They ban Chris Brown but they allow IDF terrorists in.
Who’s making the decisions here? Garth McVicar?
Vic Uni doesn’t compromise with other religions.
In Canada the Conservative government’s blatant ploy to simply wear the electorate down with the country’s longest ever election campaign looks to be succeeding. The NDP are sliding from 1st to 3rd place in most of the most recent polls. The Liberals are up a bit but at the moment it looks like the Tories are tracking to win the most seats (they had an advantage after redistribution) and, perhaps, a weak minority government with about 33% of the vote.
@ScottGN Not according to these polls where the NDP/LIB/Green parties are currently forecast to get 209 seats and the Conservatives only 128 seats where 170 are needed to form a majority.
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/poll-tracker/2015/index.html
Have to say my trust of polls has taken a knock since the UK election though.
None of the parties are expected to get a majority of seats in the House of Commons, though the most recent EKOS poll for the Toronto Star suggested the Conservatives might be getting near that with 35% of the vote.
Canada doesn’t do coalition governments or even C & S agreements like we do, whichever party gets the most seats (and that was always likely to be the Cons in a pretty even 3 way split) is expected to get the nod from the GG to put a throne speech up in the Commons to test confidence. Conventional wisdom says the opposition parties should support the throne speech rather than a risk voter backlash for triggering an early election by voting it down.
Currently the Cons could be as many as 40-odd seats short of an overall majority which points to a very weak minority government which may not last terribly long.
It’s still possible either the Liberals or NDP might win the most seats but clearly that’s more difficult since they are effectively splitting the centre left (anti Harper) vote.
Interesting. Is it constitutionally impossible that they form a coalition? Is it simply wishful thinking from the Conservatives?
Like all the Westminster Systems Bearded Git there’s no constitutional impediment preventing a coalition government. Canadians, however, generally seem to dislike the prospect of one. Also the Conservatives have fed into this by hawking the ‘coalition-of-losers’ theme that Key borrowed from them to trot out every now and again during our election campaign last year.
Yes but the “c of l” argument doesn’t really work at all where the seats are 128 on one side and 95 and 113 on the other. (it is bollocks anyway)
Surely in this situation, where the Conservatives are far from a majority and the opposition can form a very strong coalition government this will happen?
Sorry but I don’t buy your “general dislike of coalition” argument.
Wheres Kelvin Davis?
https://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/manawatu-prison-guards-inmate-involved-in-stabbing-2015092818
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/prisoners-sacked-from-unit-after-home-brew-found-in-cells-q12666
https://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/man-who-removed-electronic-monitoring-bracelet-still-at-large-2015082208
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/71116086/inmate-found-dead-at-former-sercorun-mt-eden-prison-named
yes exactly as the minister resposnsible has been awol and way out of his pompous lawyer arse depth.
Nice to see acknowledgment from you as to who’s actually driving some potential change here cos it aint dodgy 2 salary sammy who’s major skill is fleecing the system.
Its funny we don’t hear a peep from Kelvin about this…wonder if its anything to do with them being run by the union
You really are chronically full of bullshit.
Your first link is recent, and yes I would be expecting an investigation as to how it occurred.
Your second link shows exactly what should happen: prisoner misconduct is detected, reported, and the prisoners punished. As opposed to when serco run things.
Your third link is a bit random, especially as 3M has the contract for installing and monitoring the bracelets.
Your fourth link occurred barely three weeks after corrections took over management from serco – the public service is efficient, but doesn’t work miracles.
Your “union” comment is fucking stupid, considering that two of the three worst cases involved privatised security rather than how corrections should be run.
You know as well I as do that there are plenty more examples of s**t that goes down in prisons
It doesn’t matter if its corrections run or serco run stuff like this will go down but its only a bad thing if it happens in a serco run prison
Again, your moral compass is broken.
“Bad shit” is, yes, bad. But there’s the occasional-turd-in-the-middle-of-the-lawn bad, and then there’s the someone-emptied-a-septic-truck-on-my-lawn bad.
Bad shit does happen in most if not all prisons. But, as I pointed out to you above, it’s the role of the prison authorities to identify the bad shit, and discipline the prisoners to try to prevent it happening again. Not to ignore it or be oblivious to it until it ends up on fucking youtube.
It’s not bad because serco runs the prison. It’s worse because serco is bad at running prisons.
And then tries to hide the fact that they fucked up so that they get the bonuses anyway and then, when found out, still get to keep the bonuses.
We hear even less from the minister responsible….wonder if its anything to do with the govt being run by the hollowmen.
Great new speech from Jeremy Corbyn – so many parallels with New Zealand – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPLs2m3E0p0
Maybe not quite new – just realised it was before he won the Labour Party election
Good to see Corbyn got his way on trident. Oh hang on….
Yes, goes to show that the Stalinist, totalitarian radical left dictator-in-waiting that we all knew Corbyn to be has now crushed and purged the democratic processes of his party with an iron fist so that they would fall into line with his position. Oh hang on …
Radionz interview with USA corespondent this morning has a lot of background on USA ways to what he calls gerrymander the system. It explains some of the things that they have done in connection with Tea Party strength. It explains their intransigent approach.
I will put up audio link when it comes available. It will be enlightening for people who want to learn more, and try to understand how our democracy could be warped like that of the USA.
Where there’s a will there’s a way to win elections.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/janet-adkins-corinne-brown-prisoners-gerrymandering?
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/10/the-league-of/309084/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/01/this-is-the-best-explanation-of-gerrymandering-you-will-ever-see/
This would be comforting to us who believe in living in a co-operative community way, and helping each other where possible. Worth a listen.
1:30 Effective Altruism, Doing Good Better
William MacAskill, as a Research Fellow at Cambridge University spent five years developing the philosophy of effective altruism, which applies data and scientific reasoning to the normally sentimental world of doing good. During the course of his research he concluded that many ways of making a difference achieve little, but by targeting our efforts on the most effective causes, we each have an enormous power to make the world a better place. In his book, Doing Good Better he introduces the principles underlying effective altruism and sets out a practical guide to increasing your impact through your charity, volunteering, purchases and choice of cause.
This is the person Phil Twyford was defending as “climate change refugee”. Another own-goal by this bungling and less than competent MP.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/-a-dark-underbelly-sex-allegations-made-against-kiribati-climate-change-refugee-q12092
Like the own-goal by a bungling and less than competent PM who allowed an alleged child sex offender to remain as chairman of the law and order select committee in Parliament?.
So this Kiribati man could have been guilty of something. It does not change the fact that he and his children can state rightly that they are climate refugees.
I doubt if this fault-finding Rw power broker has always been clean in word and deed. For goodness sake stick to the point in your thinking clean, your processes are muddy.
Outmanoeuvred and outsmarted by Russia and Iran,
Obama’s only response is a bumptious display of pique.
The United States and Britain have been comprehensively humiliated. Their program of sowing chaos and mayhem in Syria is now coming to an end, now that Russia is committing troops to support the government against the Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and ISIS terrorists the U.S. and U.K. have supported for the last four years.
In the United Nations, at a luncheon hosted by that corpse Ban Ki-moon, Obama hypocritically proposed a toast “to the United Nations.” He clinked glasses with everyone around him, but made a point of grimacing and scowling when interacting with Putin.
Obama’s ill-advised antics represent the most pathetic attempt at a tough-guy act by a U.S. president since Harry Truman’s risible ambush of Vyacheslav Molotov in 1945.
http://www.people.com/article/barack-obama-vladimir-putin-toast-frown
http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war5_effect.htm
Who called National Party MPs “sheep fuckers” in Parliament?
Nine to Noon, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 29 September 2015
About 11:55 a.m. …..
KATHRYN RYAN: …. Now, speaking of taste and decency. This David Cameron story was BIZARRE, wasn’t it!
GAVIN ELLIS: I’m not going to describe what we’re talking about, beyond saying it involved a pig, and it allegedly happened when he was at university.
KATHRYN RYAN: [chortling] Trying to beat around the bush and use euphemisms only makes it infinitely worse!
GAVIN ELLIS: I don’t think there is a euphemism for this. …[He embarks on a lengthy discourse about the way language is used to evade the sordid realities of what people like Conservative prime ministers get up to]….
KATHRYN RYAN: So where does this leave us with the David Cameron story?
GAVIN ELLIS: Well, it’s horses for courses, or pigs for courses…. [Another lengthy descant follows]….
Then, right at the end, the host say something intriguing….
KATHRYN RYAN: I could tell you of something that happened in parliament a few years ago, when I was political correspondent there. One MP yelled out an accusation at a whole party! I dare not say it because it would bring down a whole heap of trouble on my head!
Pregnant silence….
KATHRYN RYAN: Two words. The first one was “sheep”!
GAVIN ELLIS: [uncertainly] Ho ho!
So…. who was it that yelled “Sheep fuckers!” at those hapless National Party members? Was it Trevor Mallard? Grant Gillon? David Benson-Pope? Jill Pettis? Winston Peters?
I think we should be told.
It would have been sheep shaggers. That’s the correct term of abuse that goes with sheep don’t you know that!
Certainly, “Sheep shaggers” has the power of alliteration to commend it, but I prefer the coarse beauty of “Sheep fuckers”.
Zoe George seems to be completely pointless. Her silly voices are even more annoying than Chris Trotter’s. She has to be pretending to be that shallow and flippant. Sue Guthrie speaks like an infant. She’s even more annoying than Jesse ‘yeah yeah’ Mulligan.
Her silly voices are even more annoying than Chris Trotter’s.
Now, THAT is annoying!
USA POLITICAL MACHINATIONS – http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201772508
Effective Altruism – http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201772518
SOUNDS INTERESTING http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201771841
Propaganda and Public Opinion
Updated at 4:28 pm on 25 September 2015
Professor Jason
Professor Jason Stanley of the Philosophy Department at Yale University talks about the subtle and insidious ways that propaganda presents itself as pragmatism within liberal democracies.
Jason Stanley is the author of How Propaganda Works.
Just what would it take for Chris Brown
to be acceptable to the New Zealand government?
Chris Brown beat up Rihanna. That means he is an insalubrious person. So insalubrious, in fact, that those paragons of virtue, John Key and his henchmen, have banned him from entering New Zealand.
In order to get in the good books of the NZ government, there are certain actions Chris Brown should have taken….
He could have ordered the bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, enforced brutal sanctions that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and supported the grossest human rights abusers in Riyadh, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Amman, Islamabad, Bogotá, Jakarta….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand–United_States_relations#/media/File:Bill_Clinton_Jenny_Shipley_toast.jpg
Where the hell are you? Visiting friendly Australia? Don’t forget it has poisonous spiders, snakes and politicians. And will give you the song of the laughing jackass as you leave.
But NZ has good politicians who will stand by NZs at all times?
NZ Justice Minister Amy Adams said on 17 September 2015 – http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201770979
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/284441/nz-to-challenge-australian-immigration-policy
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201772505
Trans Tasman Travel Arrangement is not a binding treaty
9:26 AM. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) provides that Australians and New Zealanders can travel to and live and work in one another’s country without restriction. However it is not part of any binding bilateral treaty between New Zealand and Australia. Andrew Smith of Victoria University’s School of Accounting and Commercial Law has looked at the TTTA and the impact of Australia changed the rules for New Zealanders living in Australia.
Altogether, 184 New Zealanders are being detained.
Eighty have already been deported since new laws came into force in Australia last year.
Australian Lawyers Alliance national president Greg Barns said immigration officials could eventually round up many of the 5,000 New Zealanders who have served more than 12 months in Australian jails.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201772506
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/285568/1-in-10-held-in-oz-detention-centres-are-kiwis
(Actually, the Ozzies are trawling through records to search for NZs who have served one, or more sentences for anything, up to one whole year’s jail served as long as 10 years ago. Done, behaved. But now, out. Pack your bags, leave your family, don’t get told anything. Dumped on an off-shore island.
Of course under our RW government we had dawn raids that were a ‘bit’ unfair. But we hoped that was all behind us. However Oz can bite like a poisonous snake and they can choose when, and have decided now they have squeezed all the financial advantage from us, they will pick us off over the next years, as other world ‘superior’ forces have done after deciding some group is contemptible.
Can we be sure that Ozzies will be restrained by their fairness, their innate kindness and intelligence? Brahahahaha.)
FYI – more info on the TPPA Judicial Review:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/crown-law-defends-grosers-inaction-tpp-oia-request-b-179334?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NBR%2520Heads%2520Up
“…
US media reports suggest the US is pushing Canada to open its dairy market to New Zealand and Australian competition, signalling progress on one of the last remaining issues to be negotiated among the 12 nations of the Asia-Pacific.
That news is alarming US and Canadian dairy farmers but is likely to involve far more limited concessions than New Zealand has pushed for.
Groser said last week there would not be a “gold-plated deal” on dairy, but a deal had to emerge or New Zealand could not sign. Groser is in the US for climate change talks in New York and had not decided last week whether to attend the Georgia meeting, unless there was a dairy deal to discuss.
Justice Collins asked Palmer to reflect on his recent decision “about the extent to which courts should give direction”, which Hardy later cited as saying that “to make a declaration, the statement must be fact-specific, efficacious and capable of practical application.”
“The crux of the argument is that the information that could properly be released and was unlawfully withheld is the anodyne, publicly available material.”
Palmer argued that the New Zealand government should not be “contracting out” its legal obligations under the OIA by making it subservient to the requirements of a strict confidentiality agreement between the 12 TPP nations.
Justice Collins observed that such a decision “could be consistent” with the act.
Palmer also dwelt on the approach being taken by the European Union, which has been willing to allow release of negotiating texts relating to the European-US equivalent of TPP, known as TTIP, and comments by the European Ombudsman suggesting the traditional secrecy surrounding trade negotiations is counter-productive to public trust in such processes.
The hearing is expected to conclude today and Justice Collins said he would “do my best to get it (a judgement) out as quickly as I can.”
__________________________________________________________
Compare the lack of ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ central (and local) government, at the highest levels, with the increased infringements of citizens’ lawful rights to privacy and ‘freedom of expression’?
In whose ‘national interest’ is New Zealand really being run?
For the benefit of (U$A) and other foreign corporations, or the public majority of New Zealand citizens?
(HINT: Follow the dollar ….
NZ Prime Minister John Key IS a shareholder in the Bank of America.
Pg 29, the 2015 MP’s’ Register of Financial Interests), and a major advocate for the TPPA.
http://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-nz/00CLOOCMPPFinInterests20151/8bb43d9064b110c19c88349a36301a9580cfb3ed
How is that not a significant ‘conflict of interest’, and why is more FUSS not being made about this, given New Zealand’s ‘perceived’ status as the SECOND ‘least corrupt country in the world’?
https://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
Who else agrees that it is a serious ‘conflict of interest’ for NZ prime Minister John Key, to be a shareholder in the Bank of America?
Penny Bright
It seems to be a Tony Abbott initiative – Malcom had not been in power long enough to put it through the Australian Commonealth government decision cycle.
It is part of our zeitgeist as zionists & neo-cons flail around about Russian & Chinese forces in Syria. They have resources, like nukes.
Aotearoans will be familiar with
http://off-guardian.org/category/censored-on-cif/h
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-civil-war-kurdish-leader-says-collapse-of-assad-regime-would-be-a-disaster-despite-its-10515922.ht
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-david-cameron-raises-prospect-of-assad-staying-in-power-to-win-russian-support-for-anti-a6668896.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/syria-crisis-labour-calls-on-the-government-to-get-behind-un-resolution-to-end-the-conflict-a6669431.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-museum-new-institution-to-exhibit-the-history-of-a-beleaguered-people-a6668701.html
The Haj raises issues of competence, culpability, & compensation ..
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/hajj-stampede-death-toll-rises-to-at-least-769-after-victims-die-in-hospital-a6668346.html
Seen this?
NBR (those ‘wild-eyed radicals’ 😉 – interview Professor Jane Kelsey on TPP legal action:
_________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nbr-radio-special-jane-kelsey-tpp-legal-action-nr-179379?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NBR%2520Last%2520Call
NBR Radio Special: Jane Kelsey on TPP legal action
NBR RADIO TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Jane Kelsey
Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey talks about her TPP legal challenge
Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey told NBR Radio she is challenging an “unlawful” government decision to deny an official trade document request.
The High Court in Wellington is hearing an application for a judicial review brought by Professor Kelsey, Consumer New Zealand, Oxfam and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
The case is in response to the government’s refusal to release the draft negotiation documents of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) despite Professor Kelsey’s request through Official Information Act channels.
Professor Kelsey claims the decision to withhold the information was unlawful and had “concerning precedents.”
“The approach that was taken [to deny the request], as well as the considerations that led to the minister to reach that conclusion, is what we’re challenging,” she says.
The government has defended its decision by saying it is obliged to withhold the documents by a strict confidentiality agreement with the 12 other members of the TPP negotiations.
“One of my concerns is this response removes accountability from the decision makers. That’s not just an issue for the TPP negotiations but also an issue more broadly.”
If the review goes ahead, it will “hopefully bring about a shift in government behaviour and mind-set” in regards to future multilateral negotiations, Professor Kelsey says.
What I would like to know is how the government lawyers can say the Govt has signed a strict confidentiality with other TTPA governments when at least some of the taxpayers (corporates) have seen the negotiations.
And then I suppose the government lawyers are going to say that the secrecy agreement prevents the govt from divulging the names of the parties they have given the TTPA secrets to already. And down the rabbit hole we go .
At this point there is a recursive argument- lets hope the judge can see it
Meanwhile – in Europe – pressure against the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) grows ……
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/28/will-ttip-get-terminated-negotiations-falter-europe-balks? utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork
Monday, September 28, 2015
by Common Dream
Will TTIP Get Terminated? Negotiations Falter as Europe Balks
As EU-US trade talks flounder, France doesn’t rule out ‘an outright termination of negotiations’
by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Almost 3 million people across Europe have signed a petition calling on the European Commission to scrap the agreement.
While public opposition to the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—the massive proposed “trade” deal between the European Union and the United States—has grown steadily since negotiations started two years ago, new signs suggest that official government backing is also faltering across Europe.
In an interview with French regional newspaper Sud Ouest published Monday, Junior Trade Minister Matthias Fekl said TTIP negotiations were favoring American interests and “either weren’t advancing or were progressing in the wrong direction.”
“If nothing changes, it will show that there isn’t the will to achieve mutually beneficial negotiations,” he said, before adding: “France is considering all options including an outright termination of negotiations.”
Meanwhile, a group of more than 55 UK members of parliament (MPs) has signed onto a motion expressing major concerns about the mammoth trade pact, which civil society groups have dubbed a corporate giveaway. Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP, put forward the Commons motion, and it has now been signed by every member of the Scottish National Party group at Westminster, as well as the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
Politico’s Paul Ames wrote of the “cooling ardor on both sides of the Atlantic” earlier this month, saying that since talks began in July 2013, the trade deal “has lost some of its shine.”
“Concern over the impact of TTIP has united disparate groups,” he wrote, “from French farmers to German constitutional lawyers and politicians on the left and right.”
Almost 3 million people across Europe have signed a petition calling on the Commission to scrap the agreement.
Last week, the Oxford-based group ‘We Own It,’ which deals with national issues surrounding public services, held a demonstration against the proposed TTIP, warning that it could lead to private businesses being too heavily involved in public services.
Cat Hobbs, an organizer with the group, told the Oxford Mail: “The idea is that it would open up new markets to private companies and the reality here is that it’s going to open up public services to private companies. Multi-national corporations’ rights will become more important than ours.”
……..
NZ Prime Minister John Key backs up his golfing buddy USA President Barack Obama over Syria.
No surprises there …. (Radio NZ 29 September 2015)
————————————————————————
The Prime Minister says the immediate removal of the Assad regime is no longer a necessary starting point for achieving peace in Syria.
Prime Minister John Key
Speaking from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, John Key said he supported comments made by US President Barack Obama.
“If you listen very carefully to what President Obama said today, he said that there was essentially a sort of multi-staged way of carrying out changes in Syria,” said Mr Key.
“And it was very much along the lines that both elements of concern in Syria would need to change over time, but not necessarily as a starting point.
That’s really where New Zealand is at.”
The Kermadec marine sanctuary announcement was as blatant a “look at me moment” from Key as you could get.
Disgraceful.