Revenue Minister David Parker said on Tuesday he had virtually no idea how much tax New Zealand's wealthiest people were paying, and he wanted to find out. He said it was part of the work he was doing on new legislation which will become the Tax Principles Act, setting out the rules around a fair taxation system… The task of gathering the data on how much tax the top cohort pays has been given to IRD. Parker said the department was the only one that could do it.
Becoming the first person in history to create a fair tax system is a laudable ambition, of course. Parker's self-effacing style is likely to lull opponents into a false sense of security. They will assume he's the last person to be capable of achieving it.
In the US, a similar interest is being displayed:
To capture the financial reality of the richest Americans, ProPublica undertook an analysis that has never been done before. We compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time period.
We’re going to call this their true tax rate. The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%.
The site has been beneficiary of a departmental whistleblower:
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing… ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg.
It's a long report so intellectually-challenged readers ought to have a cuppa & lie down before getting into it. Forensic analysis can be daunting.
Maybe David Parker needs to be introduced to this person here who states that he pays no (basically no) tax, despite being a multi millionaire. Is has been known since 2010. 🙂
Wellington-based Trade Me founder and philanthropist Sam Morgan says he doesn't pay tax.
"I pay basically no tax," said the entrepreneur, who founded Trade Me in 1999 and sold it in 2006 to Australian publisher Fairfax for more than $700 million.
Mr Morgan, 32, who was estimated to have made at least $227 million from the sale of his business, was recently named as a director of Fairfax in New Zealand.
His admission that he effectively doesn't pay tax was made on the SciBlogs website.
The wealthiest New Zealanders pay just 12 per cent of their total income in tax on average, according to research from Inland Revenue and Treasury, Stuff can reveal.
Many Kiwis with assets of more than $50m declared income of less than $70,000 in their tax returns
Two-thirds of New Zealand's richest people are not paying the top personal tax rate, with increasingly complex overseas schemes and bank accounts being used to evade the taxman.
Inland Revenue has found that 107 out of 161 "high-wealth individuals" who own or control more than $50 million worth of assets declared their personal income in the last financial year was less than $70,000 – the starting point for the top tax bracket of 33 cents in the dollar.
The multimillionaires used a variety of 6,800 tax-planning devices – such as companies, trusts and overseas bank accounts – to avoid paying tax. One had a network of 197 entities.
but then i guess that David Parker was doing somehting else in the years 2010 – 2022 to know that rich people in NZ are not on record for paying taxes. But i am sure they are going to find a lot of small business owners that may be 'avoiding' paying taxes that they must tax some more. Sure thing here he is speculating just that.
OPINION: Small business owners are the target of a recent Government proposal to extend tax avoidance laws to a wider range of small business owners to make sure they are paying their fair share.
New Zealand has had personal services income attribution (PSIA) rules since the 39% top personal tax rate was introduced in 2000. Now that the 39% tax rate has been reinstated, the Government is proposing to widen their ambit considerably. Proposals are contained in a new discussion document.
Jonathan Haidt's Babel thesis reflects on how the past decade of social media has produced "mob dynamics".
Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind together successful democracies: social capital (extensive social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions, and shared stories. Social media has weakened all three.
When people lose trust in institutions, they lose trust in the stories told by those institutions. That’s particularly true of the institutions entrusted with the education of children. History curricula have often caused political controversy, but Facebook and Twitter make it possible for parents to become outraged every day over a new snippet from their children’s history lessons––and math lessons and literature selections, and any new pedagogical shifts anywhere in the country.
The motives of teachers and administrators come into question, and overreaching laws or curricular reforms sometimes follow, dumbing down education and reducing trust in it further. One result is that young people educated in the post-Babel era are less likely to arrive at a coherent story of who we are as a people, and less likely to share any such story with those who attended different schools or who were educated in a different decade.
The former CIA analyst Martin Gurri predicted these fracturing effects in his 2014 book, The Revolt of the Public. Gurri’s analysis focused on the authority-subverting effects of information’s exponential growth, beginning with the internet in the 1990s. Writing nearly a decade ago, Gurri could already see the power of social media as a universal solvent, breaking down bonds and weakening institutions everywhere it reached. He noted that distributed networks “can protest and overthrow, but never govern.” He described the nihilism of the many protest movements of 2011 that organized mostly online and that, like Occupy Wall Street, demanded the destruction of existing institutions without offering an alternative vision of the future or an organization that could bring it about.
Mobs nowadays merely do moral outrage – there's no attempt to do constructive engagement with politics. No attempt to find common ground. Just mobs of haters competing with other mobs of haters. People who spend their lives pushing cellphone buttons don't have time to think.
I've always considered that NZ's social cohesion in the past, reflected the fact that almost all of us, apart from a few "wannabees" went to the same State schools.
The shared experience meant that Māori, Pakeha, new immigrants and different social classes, became familier with, and tolerant of each other.
A level of social trust that has been undermined in more recent years.
Covid shows that social cohesion in NZ, is still better than in many places. Something that the "There is no such thing as society" Right Wing, are determined to fix! A divided society is easier to screw.
That societal norm of the 1950s/60s was indeed characterised by a general sense of tolerance. My parents offered me the option of going to Wanganui Collegiate in late '62 and I immediately rejected it in favour of the state alternative. I already felt at age 13 that the upper class thing was distasteful.
Social identity as nonconforming member of that monoculture resulted, but the seventies diversified us into multiculturalism. Social media has ramped up that biodiversity to a toxic level. Pendulum swing back to cohesion is required.
The transient nature of housing, has affected the stability needed to form robust communities as well.
Time poverty, for whatever reasons, has reduced the number of volunteers available for creating or maintaining community organisations which also contribute to opportunities for different demographics to meet and mix. Falling church/religious service attendance has an impact as well.
Even with state school attendance, the increase in inequality in terms of income, means that the diversity within particular schools is often limited by the economic demographic of its location.
Increases in inequality and the separation by class, of housing and school zones that has resulted, is breaking down our social cohesion and quality of life.
The negative effects are quite extensive when you take time to consider the possibilities.
For an individual, increased likelihood of isolation, loneliness, and reduced support structures for any difficulties.
For families – reduced trust in regards to other people in neighbourhood, less opportunities for mutual support, no social contracts in regards to behaviour.
For communities – reduced cohesion so harder to create and maintain political movements for community benefits, lack of influence on community assets and resources etc.
I can think of more, but that's pretty depressing to start with…
Two weeks ago Red Stag Timber chief executive Marty Verry declared he had personally donated funds to the protest.
He said he supported the opposition to vaccine mandates, and had given $250 – what he called a "small personal donation".
"But I haven't been at all impressed with the way it's evolved over time. I think a dangerous fringe got in there and started to take it over and I think it lost the support of the public." Verry said with hindsight he would not have given the protest money.
Large sums of money traded hands during and leading up to the 23-day occupation, but it is unclear how the money was spent and who has benefitted. Fight Against Conspiracy Theories (Fact) Aotearoa spokesperson Lee Gingold said groups like Voices For Freedom had been flexing their financial muscle.
Voices For Freedom is the trading name of TJB 2021 Limited. VFF founders Claire Deeks, Libby Jonson, and Alia Bland serve as its sole directors and shareholders. The anti-vax group has admitted they were behind the distribution of two million flyers, thousands of large rally signs seen at the parliament protest and other protests around the country, as well as billboards in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.
On their website, Voices For Freedom claim they intend to be transparent about their finances. “VFF is funded through individual donations from thousands of concerned Kiwis. Funding is put towards the various projects we facilitate and the general running costs and overheads of the organisation,” the website says.
“Like any well run organisation receiving funding we intend to provide basic information on finances such as to provide accountability and transparency at appropriate junctures and at least annually.”
Yes the Red Stag people were in the open, appreciated.
I was checking for more.
It bothers me that we are only going to get an IPC review rather than a deeper intelligence review of the protest. You never kill a movement until you kill the money. It also bothers me that our intelligence services were reporting this week that far and away their largest effort is into hard right wing chatter including repeated viewing of the Christchurch massacre.
In the middle of the Parliament Grounds protest there was a sufficient risk for the DPMC threat group to be gathered, and lots of dark mutterings from Minister Wood.
I sure hope Newsroom has the capacity for a decent investigation if Ardern is going to keep squashing a solid answer to the power and speed of the movement.
I agree that dark money input ought to be brought to light. Obviously the media will focus on crowd-funding – since the set-up was designed on that basis it's convenient for them. I doubt Newsroom can go where the spooks can.
If the PM is indeed averse to investigating, not much citizens can do except remind her that covert US RW funding of attempts to destabilise democracies in other countries has been established practice for a long time. Point out to her that if she hasn't yet read the exposé by John Perkins who masterminded such ops long ago then she obviously is leading from a position of ignorance!
Ad @ 4
It was widely believed that a large portion of the money was being donated from off-shore including from both America and Canada. Exactly how it entered NZ has never been revealed, but it is sounds like it might have been through a circuitous financial route to prevent exposure of the original donors.
Edit: I see Dennis Frank @ 4.1.1.1 has already alluded to it.
I too would like to see a thorough investigation into the anti-mandate/freedom protest that coalesced around the convoy from the Cape and Bluff and the gatherings in Wellington and Picton.
I was one of the many people who flicked a few dollars (and having been mandated out of my paid employment this was not easy) to individuals and groups to support an action that in earlier times I would have joined in person.
A few dollars becomes a sizeable amount when you consider the vast number of people who supported the convoys…both from the North and the South. Thousands and thousands of us got out there in the atrocious weather to cheer and wave and cook food and donate petrol money. Thousands stood on motorway over bridges with their signs…many of them VFF which were funded through donations…but also an equal quantity of hand made signs. I broke my 'no facebook' rule and found some of the very many people filming and posting the entire journey. Many of the postings were from non participants traveling home from Waitangi weekend who were wondering 'wtf all the cars and campers and trucks were doing and why are so many people cheering them on? '
Hours of footage and much discussion, and when there was fuck all mention of the sheer numbers of participants that night on the news some folks really began to ask serious questions about selective reporting and msm censorship.
I know for a fact that collections were taken up around the regions for clothes and camping gear and food and cooking equipment and some dollars to be taken down/up to Welly by those who had to work during the week but wanted to join in on the weekends. Short- lived (largely because the were taken down by the moderators) Faceache pages facilitated this…securing rides for those without cars and space for stuff to be delivered. Seldom were requests for $$$ made…and almost all that were were subjected to much scrutiny.
The cooking tents and the portaloos were all donated as was the plumbed in loos and the showers. And the hay to soak up Mallard's water. And the laundry pick-up, wash and dry and deliver back to the Freedom Camp. And the accommodation for those not able to camp. Facebook pages…the short-lived ones again… would put out a call for particular items…like disposable rain ponchos…and hundreds would be delivered. Sound and movie systems and gazebos and pavillions…all magically appeared. Wellington region signwriting companies donated banners and posters or offered heavily discounted rates. Then there were those Wellington food businesses who broke ranks with the Welly Wokesters and set up at the Camp to provide free treats.
There were signal groups at the Camp who attracted some extra support…and some of this was in the form of cash donations…namely the NZ Health Forum and NZDSOS, who have done sterling work supporting those many, many Kiwis who rolled up their sleeves and had the jab and ended up physically foobarred. And subsequently got treated like garbage by much of the mainstream health system and ignored by msm media.
It was obvious that those not supporting this protest action were baffled and disbelieving that this was actually a relatively casual and leaderless movement. The entire population of NZ was represented…all ethnicities and 'classes' and ages and faiths. One group…the Destiny Church rooted Freedom and Rights Coalition…very quickly got their wings clipped both at the Camp and on Faceache (one of the few times I commented was to tell them to back off because they were a liability) because of their domineering, 'we're in charge here' demeanor that was deemed intolerable.
Despite what the media and parliamentarians claimed the Freedom Camp was not a river of filth. It was not full of weak- minded and emotionally damaged racists, misogynists, anti-Semites and tinfoilhat- wearing nutbars. The children there were much loved and well cared for and until the Police decided violence was the best way of dealing to their parents had an altogether wonderful experience.
It was not funded and organised by some Dark Overlord from the Far Far Right hell bent on undermining democracy and laying waste to order. I suspect that at least one of the alt media groups might have ties to overseas organisations but most of the very best footage is informal homegrown or from Kiwi vloggers.
It scares folks, doesn't it, that even now no individual has been identified as being the organiser/leader/spokesperson of the Freedom Camp? Folks can't get their tiny little brains around the fact that so very many of our fellow New Zealanders came together over a what will be seen in the future as a constitutionally unsound and scientifically unjustifiable government over reach. This was People Power at its absolute finest.
The subsequent treatment of those of us who protested or actively supported the protest by the government and it's pet media has done untold damage and will never be forgotten.
Now…which would you say is the more worthy issue? The issue most deserving of demonstrations of anger and retribution towards the perpetrators?
An elected government selling off the country's stuff…or an elected government penalising and punishing citizens who have very real and valid concerns about a novel and experimental pharmaceutical product being mandated for just about everyone over the age of 12 in one form or another? A product with known performance inadequacies and a growing reputation for causing serious side effects in far too many recipients?
People or stuff?
Those expressing their anger at the government and the media at the anti mandate protests in such a manner were in the definite minority. And I heard no cheering from the assembled crowd as they held actual mock hangings.
Could it be that Rosemary's account holds truth, and is a reflection of many of those who supported and participated in the protest?
There seem to be many on TS unable to even entertain the thought that the protestors were not hive mind.
I too, had concerns over those either affected by adverse vaccine effects, or those who lost their employment due to the vaccines. AFAIK, despite knowing there would be fallout (and some were unable to be vaccinated) there was no provision for these NZers.
I admire Rosemary for donating to these people when her own income had been severely curtailed.
I can understand how her compassion and empathy for others lead to a financial contribution. Even when frustrated or challenged she has not manifested at any time into a personal call for violence that I know of.
Why would you assert that she donated to a "lynch mob"?
A lot of people managed to take in the import and impact of the pandemic and maintain equilibrium to some extent. They may also have had in place shock absorbers in terms of financial security, family and friends support systems, and the general contributions to resilience and well-being.
Not all are that lucky.
Some of the first demographic, may have also found themselves dealing with extra shocks: unable to be with loved ones when ill or dying, unable to mourn with others when someone has passed away, being advised to not avail themselves of the vaccine, yet unable to get an exemption – so they either lose their employment, or jeopardise their health.
I can see how the marginalised were enthusiastically marginalised, by the righteously pious – in public and here, on TS. That 'othering' is also a managing technique for stress. Seems to have worked for many here.
NZ did forget that the team of five million, required the inclusion of everyone. While many may have considered the mass vaccination of the population as the only public response of merit, we could have still held the principle that we don't ostracise others who felt differently. Anyone who has suffered iatrogenic harm, or seen that harm done to others knows that 100% trust in medical advice, can sometimes make you unprepared for the consequences, and the fight that you will have ahead to get issues redressed.
Do we really want to live in a country where compliance is 100%, and no questions are asked?
I know people who went to the protests. One particularly selfish twat brought Covid back to our small community and school. Her husband, a teacher, asked her not to go. As far as most of our community is concerned, that will never be forgotten.
Wonderful comment, thank you. Meanwhile many of the bright minds here could only engage with ridicule and rage as their fellow NZers cried out for help. This response I can only sum up as anti New Zealand.
A precis of what is occurring, for those unable/unwilling to engage:
Several countries who have undertaken medical literature reviews regarding the social, medical and surgical transitions of young people have concluded that not only do the harms of this approach outweigh any benefit, the outcomes are improved if the response is quality exploratory therapy.
(Harms include bone damage, cognitive impairment, removal of sexual function, infertility, diminished mental health, a requirement for life long medication, and often unaddressed trauma or other health issues.)
Could those advocating the continuation of NZ's affirmation health care explain why they support this treatment of children and young people, when objective reviews are indicating such high levels of harm?
Yes I would like to see hear from anyone including on this site who promotes affirmative care for gender dysphoric teens justify its continuance after reading this.
Anybody out there??????
I found it particularly disturbing when I realized the NZ Association of Counsellors actively promotes affirmative care, particularly as most school counsellors are registered with that body.
ie. What would be your position if you discovered that without clinical evidence – Russian medics were treating non-conforming, autistic, traumitised and gay children with therapy, medications and surgeries that would likely lead to sterilisation, lack of sexual function and sensation, perpetual requirement for medication, unresolved mental health issues, and detrimental physical and cognitive side effects?
and yes, again, it is the Daily Mail that writes about this issue cause the left wing media does not dare touch it whilst being covered by a full body condom and a barge pole. They might fear that their identities fall off if they do.
I watched the Swedish documentary that featured Leo.
The deliberate ignoring of this issue by the supposed 'adults' in the room is both fascinating and appalling. I fully understand the criticism of identity politics superseding sense, as I see it played out here.
No-one who truly cared about children and young people would take the chance that harm was happening – and would continue to happen – because no-one asked for good evidence, or looked at it when it was presented.
Yet, here we are. a growing coven of Cassandras shouting into the gale.
I've been conducting some informal research over the past few months… trying to ascertain random women's knowledge of, and thoughts about, the two Bills recently passed in our Parliament. You know which two I'm talking about.
These women are between the ages of 45 and 65 and are either Maori or Pakeha.
They all watch some telly, listen to some radio and spend a bit of time on line. All are reasonably generally well informed and have been around the block a time or two. All of them identify as 'Left'.
None of them realised the BDMRR Bill made it possible for a person to simply rock on up to a Registry Office and sign a declaration to change the sex on their Birth Certificate. No conditions. no tests, no medical input. They are simply righting the wrong of being 'assigned the wrong sex at birth'. (I'm starting to enjoy the look of stunned confusion on their faces when they come to understand the potential ramifications of this.) A pity there was no open discussion of this in msm other than the odd reference to 'transphobes'.
Moving on to the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill … all these women friends are of course familiar with and opposed to the (mostly historic) practice of 'praying the gay away'…and were happy to see it buried for good.
When I explained to them that the legislation incorporates (and indeed was somewhat hijacked by) the treatment of people identifying as trans, they were not overly concerned…no problem with folks living their authentic life etc etc.
When I pointed out there was, and still are concerns that failure to affirm and medically treat a child who claims to have been 'born into the wrong body' could be interpreted as "Conversion Therapy" and the perpetrators censured or prosecuted there was that look again.
I'm calling it the 'what the actual fuck' look.
This crap was passed after a deliberate campaign of keeping any in- depth discussion of the deeper issues and possible ramifications out of the wider public eye. This is not how the democratic process is supposed to work.
And we have two Bills in force that demand we all suspend reality and unquestioningly accept the world view of a very small, but very loud and strangely influential section of society.
FWIW…I will take any and every opportunity to bring these two pieces of legislative madness to the attention of those who care, but perhaps were looking the other way when they were trundling through the House.
staggered (but pleased that this item was on the front page of Stuff.
Daphna is a Marxist feminist and one of the founding members of SUFW. She was due to give a talk about how SUFW had a number of their meetings cancelled in public libraries as a result of activism by trans activists. SUFW took their case to the High Court in Palmerston North and won and the Judge concluded that they could not be considered a hate group.
so the talk to talk about how free speech got cancelled was cancelled
I found the article a bit wishy-washy. More concerned with the Barbra Streisand effect, rather than the principles of free speech, and the importance of informed debate. (Particularly in our tertiary education institutions.)
Not a fan of David Farrar, or Curia, and would support instead any left-wing organisation that truly articulated the importance of free speech, and of public discussion and debate. But I am unaware if there is one in NZ at present.
There certainly is a shortage of left wing organisations which are exposing the unscientific and homophobic agenda of gender ideology. We have no left wing Parliamentarians who are brave enough to speak out against the complete capitulation of the Public Service to the ideology. We have no Clare Chandler, no Joanna Cherry etc. All we have is Deborah Russell wishing that we would all just "fuck off", and a host of others who have never heard the word "autogynephilia" thinking we are just being nasty to people like Carmen and Georgina. In the meantime Healthline is asking 72yo women booking Covid Vax appointments if they "identify as a woman" , and schoolkids are being taught that sex is "assigned" at birth.
Visubversa agree with all you say! Do these people have noboundaries asking a 72 year old woman if she identifies as a woman?
I must add that Deborah Russell also was very keen to promote the idea that sex is on spectrum, as per one article from Scientific America (which I understand the author later said that what she wrote is being mis interpreted).
The Labour Party is presently reviewing its "Diversity and Inclusion" Policy after a bunch of women pointed out that it was not in accordance with the protections in the Human Rights Act. They had – of course, left out SEX.
21Prohibited grounds of discrimination
(1)
For the purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are—
If you can – Visubversa -can you ask why 'Sex' is missing from the Sentencing Act 2002 s9(1)(h), given all the other characteristics relate to the Human Rights Act 1993 s7(21)(1).
And how, why and when 'gender identity' replaced it?
Especially given that that the police policy on hate incidents uses the Sentencing 2002 categories, and only those categories to determine hate.
ie. You will get assessed for ageism, but sexism is no longer a problem. Misgendering? Well, depends on the perception of the complainant. Anyone kept up with what's happened in the UK?
Molly – this seems to be the answer to your question.
A bit more digging about the Sentencing Act reveals that Phil Goff at the time decided that "gender identity" covered all the bases. Gender identity in s9(1)(h) was included largely on the basis of lobbying by gay activist Callum Bennachie, better known for his pro-prostitution work. Must be one of the earliest examples of gender identity trumping sex in our law.
There's an article here setting it out in detail. Also shows up how 'sex' is a much clearer and better term than 'gender'.
Yes agree Molly. I think most of the left wing are asleep at the wheel on gender ideology. Having considered myself left wing all my life, I am finding that I now critically examine most things coming from Labour and Greens and the left wing in general.
And I agree about the article, but I was amazed it even made stuff. They usually only publish stuff that supports gender ideology
A very interesting and rather well-balanced article.
The cancel-culture and the woke brigade are certainly having an influence on freedom of academic debate, let alone public commentary.
No doubt they would be delighted by this outcome…
Academic institutions are failing in one of their primary mandates – to foster and protect academic debate. Seizing bureaucratic loopholes in order to cancel debate with which the leadership team doesn't agree – is a misuse of their power.
Those on the left should regard this with trepidation. Pendulums swing back. Who will protect their academic freedom/freedom of speech when a right-leaning group is in power?
In their unrealistic attempts to ensure the ‘health & safety’ of every individual they strip all playgrounds of all equipment, pad the ground with bark, and put rubber mats to prevent muddy and slippery patches. Universities are treated as intellectual playgrounds for vulnerable and gullible wee intellects whose fragile minds need to be protected against any bad influences from outside. Their over-cautiousness during the pandemic is just another symptom. Academics are no longer taught to think for themselves or allowed to teach others how to think for themselves unless it is according to a prescribed method & content aka ‘the curriculum’.
Chris Trotter nails it today. Brash's Orewa speech will look like a minor interjection compared with the the racist bile we are going to see during the upcoming election campaign.
My own comment from the other night expressed much more eloquently….with an exception…
"Labour and the Greens will find themselves being dragged further and further to the left in order to keep this nascent Red-Green-Brown coalition together. To distract their still dubious working-class Pakeha supporters from the co-governance question, Labour may lay before them reforms aimed squarely at dismantling the neoliberal economic order in favour of “real Labour policies”.
…will not happen because they are idealogically neoliberal and wouldn’t know how to construct a working class manifesto.
Visubversa agree with all you say! Do these people have no boundaries asking a 72 year old woman if she identifies as a woman?
I must add that Deborah Russell also was very keen to promote the idea that sex is on spectrum, as per one article from Scientific America (which I understand the author later said that what she wrote is being mis interpreted).
I suspect the majority of Labour politicians are captured rather than scared. Shows an absence of critical thinking.
the next phase: Biculturalism 3.0 – also known as “Co-Governance”
Nice one, Chris. Shoulda told Labour about it last year, eh? If they had fronted with Biculturalism 3.0 back then, all them mainstreamers doing collective shudders at co-governance would've thought differently.
Then he offers this:
lack of any serious preparation of the non-Māori population for the revolutionary implications of setting New Zealand’s democratic political system aside in favour of “parity” between the Treaty “partners”, has already set in motion the growth of potentially massive electoral resistance to the co-governance project.
Good point – if Labour are actually doing that. Instead, Labour seem to be very carefully constructing the impression in the public mind that they aren't really. Perception management is all about plausible deniability so the best binary model to use is those optical illusions that combine two images in one.
Chris pushes the thrilling prospect of the next election being fought on the basis of ideology. When did that last happen?? Racists on one side, everyone else on the other. Exciting stuff will happen within families, as some members become stridently racist – to the horror of other members. Lively up yourselves!
This Scoop column has much about the extreme right-wing mind set of the Natz leader, and his general mediocracy! A new JohnKey he is not!
Footnote Two: This column doesn’t usuallyfeature much in the way of personal anecdotes. Yet this Facebook anecdote by the Wellington journalist Jeremy Rose is so consistent with Luxon’s comments yesterday that it reads as confirmation:
“I met a former Air NZ flight attendant recently. She told me how their conditions were cut to the point that she had to pay for her own tickets to Auckland to work on international flights. On a return trip to Wellington she was told she'd be sitting next to Luxon. She asked not to be, but they said it was the only seat.
So, she told, me she had to decide whether to tell him how she felt or live with the fact that she hadn't. So, she started to explain the situation and he interrupted her with: "You're just waiters and waitresses…". She said to me not only was that not true – there's a lot of safety training, first aid etc, etc – but it was insulting to wait staff. She then pointed out to Luxon that the top 10 staff were earning $19 million between them to which he replied: "I could earn a lot more elsewhere." He seems to lack any self-awareness, humility, decency or even intelligence.”
There are no simple answers. The trend had already begun before Covid, but the lockdowns and consequent disengagement from schools has accelerated it.
Poverty and housing insecurity are a significant factor. Parents who are working multiple jobs, or who need teens to work part-time to contribute to the family income, are not in a position to encourage/enforce school attendance. And frequent shifts in home address make it much harder for kids to engage with school (and schools to track where they are and what's happening).
But, also, the disengagement from education as a whole. Schools not equipping kids with the basic building blocks needed to learn (reading/maths) – the profound failure in NZ education philosophy in teaching 'balanced literacy' rather than 'phonics' has now gone intergenerational.
Many of these truant kids are so far behind educationally, that they see simply no point in going back to school. Resourcing schools to adequately support their learning (rather than simply dumping them in a main-stream class, for them to continue to flounder), is also needed.
Some kids learn reading by phonics, while others benefit from a different approach.
Education institutions should be able to offer another option when the initial one is not working. There are always some who take longer, learn differently, and have other priorities at the time you are trying to teach them.
It would be good to have intention statements about what our education systems are trying to achieve at different levels.
eg. Primary – encourage the child's natural curiosity, and while providing the basic tools, encourage and reward self-directed learning and achievements.
(I'm sure there are teachers on this site, that can markedly improve on that offering).
As you say, the reasons for truancy are diverse and hard to address for that reason. Improving a student’s experience at school may be one of the only options in a teachers control.
Unfortunately, for the last 20 years, only the 'balanced literacy' approach has been taught in teacher training – so few new teachers have anything else to offer when it fails.
Thoroughly experienced teachers, of course, are more likely to have a grab bag of skills, acquired over many years, to use in teaching the exceptions – which is why Mums network like crazy to figure out who are the 'good' teachers…
According to this article (which I have no reason to disbelieve), teacher trainees have 90 minutes of training on how to teach reading.
Now, it may well be that they pick up extra skills in placements and on the job – but that's a very hit-and-miss method of education.
And individual schools (mostly wealthy, high decile schools) are spending a ton of money on running teach-the-teacher programs on structured literacy (decodable reading, or phonics). Poorer schools – who arguably have the most need, mostly miss out – and struggle on with a method which absolutely fails with a significant proportion of students.
[This is a US article – but the literacy approach and learning-to-read strategy is the same one taught in NZ schools. We seem to be wedded to it, in an educational sense, because it was popularized and promoted by kiwi, Marie Clay]
Actually making it a mission to teach the basics well – and continuing to teach them until the child has the learning building-blocks (reading & maths) to enable them to learn – would be the No. 1 thing that schools could do to turn around learners who are currently failing.
"Actually making it a mission to teach the basics well – and continuing to teach them until the child has the learning building-blocks (reading & maths) to enable them to learn – would be the No. 1 thing that schools could do to turn around learners who are currently failing."
Agree.
The training for the teacher training also needs scrutiny by the sounds of it.
My mother, Doris Ferry taught in poor areas in Dunedin state primary schools in the 1930s and 1940s. As a primer teacher she said you lost grading if you did not have every child reading with a reading age of seven years by the time they were seven years old. School inspectors allowed no excuses for a child who had not achieved this . It would have been quite unreasonable to have expected this standard from the teacher without a method of teaching reading that could effect this. The method ,of course, was intensive phonics . Only now being resurrected as structured literacy. It has taken 80 years for our education establishment to come to their senses and reluctantly allow phonics once again!
My mother claims she never saw a dyslexic child nor in fact any child needing remedial reading help . Whereas whole language (W. L.) aka balanced literacy ,suits only a proportion of students, phonics succeeds with all. Multitudes of studies for decades confirm this. No research ,done thoroughly, has ever shown W.L. to be superior to phonics. Cognitive science and neurological studies, also confirm this .
For those interested in the literacy debate ,I recommend listening to the radio recording of 'Nine to Noon", This week on Wednesday in which Kathryn Ryan featured a U.S. professor of statistics ,Tom May ,whose research reveals Marie Clay's much exalted reading recovery, W.L.programme , actually damages participating children in the long term. The eight -year old reading slump that those with inadequate phonic skills experience once there are too many words in a text to memorise. It has been an appalling waste of money, let alone caused untold misery to very many thousands of children here and world wide.
The sooner the disastrous whole language era is over the better. Structured literacy courses for all teachers should be free. I have taught students to read with phonics ,privately, many of them dyslexic, using my mother's methods. She taught 1500 students ,who had failed to read in local schools,using phonic workbooks and other phonic material and parents to help with their own child, every day She even taught semi-literate parents how to teach their own child . She was spectacularly successful but ignored by the ministry.
If the ministry really believed in literacy for all they would find a way to train teachers . But it clashes with their progressive philosophy which dwells on many fanciful things but certainly not universal literacy as NZ did and excelled at in the past .
As you say, NZ reading levels in the early parts of last century and up to the 70's (IIRC) were recognised as excellent around the world.
I don't know if the incidence of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other learning impediments like ADHD etc have been proven to have increased in the last few decades and why. It could be that these conditions are more widely known, and so the diagnosis is more often given. It may also be environmental factors (low-level pollution) or some form of ingestion during childhood that have contributed.
I have home educated four of my children. In terms of learning to read, it has been a lesson in understanding how skilled teachers have to be in a larger classroom to meet so many different needs.
Two of my children didn't need reading instruction at all. They learnt the alphabet, and picked up reading from following along – without instruction – when being read to.
One of them, from the age of two or three, used to write screeds of symbols that looked like writing, so they loved the written word before they even knew the alphabet.
Another was both dyspraxic and dyslexic. Interesting, but not saying conclusive fact, is that when pregnant with him, we lived directly on one of NZ's most busy residential roads, with traffic (and pollution) 24 hrs a day. He also returned to pre-verbal state for 6 months after receiving an infant vaccine. Strict phonics is what was necessary to get him reading, and taking time with this allowed him to enjoy reading when he finally got it.
My youngest is dyslexic – as his father was, and resembles him the most in terms of personality. The classic problems with a 3D mind presented with a 2D code, often flipping d, b, p and q and reading them all the same. He is the only child with a short limit on being read aloud to. While all the rest would listen for as long as I would read, his attention span would go after a very short period. He has a hearing impairment that is not related to the structure of the ear, but the fact that his ear canals are incredibly narrow, and wax buildup interferes with hearing well. That has improved markedly over the years, but it has taken time. On the other hand, his ability to think in 3D is noticeable, and useful.
I don't know if there is any reason that greater numbers of children are diagnosed with neuro-divergent thinking, or attention disorders. I do think it has increased, rather than it is diagnosed more often because of awareness. But that's only my personal observation and theory.
Phonics definitely worked for the two that had difficulties with reading, and helped them both navigate towards independent reading. If introduced to the other two that were mainly self-taught, it would not have interrupted that process too much I think. But it may have interrupted the easy falling in love with the written word, that kept them reading for quite a while through their childhood and adolescence.
We need to bring all the best tools available forward, and keep working on it. My very limited experience with my own children, does remind me how valuable successful teachers are in our schools. Perhaps as always, they are the ones best suited to assess their students and be able to request and easily access materials for those they have at any one time.
Certainly, pedagogy is both the art and science of teaching. Unfortunately the current W.L. dominant in N.Z. has stubbornly ignored the science,
Choosing suitable books,materials and fun activities for students as well as teachers who can cajole,motivate and cultivate a students interest in reading are valuable. Gifted junior class teachers ,however, came to our private school room with their own children, they had failed to teach to read , indicating that ,this is not enough without also the science of reading.
I can assure you the 'natural reader' who seems not to need any explicit phonics instruction, greatly benefits in spelling and comprehension from having as much structured phonics as the rest of the class. They can just cover the phonic work more quickly.
With no proof at all the, the progressive philosophy, states as gospel that structured learning in any subject produces mindless robots with zilch imagination . As a student in the 1950s and 60s, I actually did not see any robotic classmates who were incapable of critical thinking or creativity.What I dud see was everyone in the class could read the set text ,all knew their tables ,absorbed knowledge,and did the A and half the B exercises in the arithmetic book the whole class were doing. One student in my class had better solutions to the worked examples in the text book ,so the teacher had him write them on the board and the class wrote them down .
Other students in my classes went on to write songs and music,write novels and poems,create wearable art etc Structured learning did not seem to damaged them !
Doris, in her youth had been aware of dyslexia ,since she had a cousin with an organic form of it . Unlike now, it was a rare condition . One percent or even less . According to Wikipedia,the prognosis is "Dyslexic children require special instruction for word analysis and spelling from an early age…………instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics,vocabulary and reading fluency ". But in the 1930s and 40s a large proportion of N.Z. five and six- year olds were receiving this exact treatment ,hence being fortified against dyslexia .
Certainly toxic substances,in the environment do impact on children's learning, But there have always been environmental and social problems . In the '30s and '40s there was severe poverty from the Depression and trauma from W.W.2 The environment was loaded from lead ,DDT and other toxins now banned . Children were kept home from school to do the laundry and other work and because of a shortage of teachers up to 50 in a class.
Still the expectation was that every child could become literate and numerate to the correct level for their age.
Parents coming to our school room ,late last century, were annoyed by the diagnoses of neuro-diversities put on their children by psychology. To the parents it seemed they acted as excuses for the schools to account for their children's failure to learn. They wanted a cure .
I have respect for teachers as people ,but I am concerned they have been brainwashed into believing failure in children to achieve at the correct level is inevitable.
There are some images floating around of Russian soldiers eating among the corpses of their fellows. They appear oblivious to the violence, death and misery surrounding them and that they’re responsible for it. I feel for them. But what choice do they have? Poots' head chopping Kadyrovite barrier troops are a reality. Russian military penal institutions are likely as deadly as they were 75 years ago and kin punishment is a thing in Russia.
The entire shit-show, the brutality, the cruelty, and the plight of those Russian draftees is on Poots yet he and his apologists continue to spin this as somehow being Ukraine or NATO’s fault. Pricks.
Just been thinking we need to be sending more "lethal aid" to Ukraine. There is a heap of Avocados around at the moment. That's dangerous stuff. If you get hit by an avocado – you're toast!
Good ol' Joe 90 just mindlessly regurgitating straight out propaganda, without a thought for truth…as usual… one thing I can say about you, is that you are incredibly consistent…you are like that leaky tap for any and all unverified propaganda that no one has ever bothered fixing…just a drip…drip….drip…dripping
Btw this is one of the greatest Donald Duck episodes ever…just kind of reminded me of you for obvious reasons.
[Quack, quack, quack.
You’re quacking like a mad duck and again yapping & snapping at other commenters without offering anything relevant and of substance. Of course, you added another inane YT clip from your personal collection of irrelevant infantile memorabilia.
Go paddling in your own pond for a week – Incognito]
Renters continue to have their health and comfort sacrificed due to ineffective enforcement of legislation regarding heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage and draught-stopping:
Without the need for licensed inspectors, anyone, including the property owners themselves, can claim a property meets the standards. They can also decide if their home is exempt from meeting a standard.
The Government does not keep track of which homes meet or are exempt from the standard, or why.
“You're not accountable if you're not counting,” said Swarbrick.
However, the Government commissioned an annual survey of renters and landlords by Colmar Brunton, the results of which found damp and mould was worsening, and revealed discrepancies between what renters and landlords reported.
Once again the stacked power dynamic of rental housing is laid bare, and as per usual Labour has preemptively signalled their intention to not do anything about it because, according to Poto Williams at least, the costs outweigh the benefits.
Building and Construction Minister Poto Williams was asked if it was acceptable a home could meet the standards, yet cause health issues and damage to property for tenants, and if not what the Government would do about it.
Williams said work was not planned to improve the standards, while the cost of introducing licensed inspectors would outweigh the benefits.
Renters deserve to live comfortably and without their home endangering their health, it seems out of step with our consumer rights to have such substandard 'products' being marketed. Renters need a WoF style regime to provide some transparency and confidence.
Swarbrick, who advocated for a rental warrant of fitness, a Green Party policy, said renters should not have to live in an unfit house, just as workers should not have to drive an unfit car.
Some other changes that could help readdress the imbalance in addition to a rent WoF, from Renters United:
Limit rent increases to no more than inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the preceding 12 months.
Allow reasonable and proportionate rent increases above CPI where significant improvements have been made to the quality or facilities of the home – beyond ordinary maintenance. Such improvements would not include those made in order for the property to comply with minimum standards.
Prevent unreasonable rent hikes between tenancies by requiring the landlord to set rent within a reasonable range of the previous rent charged for that property (except where significant improvements beyond normal maintenance have been made) and inform incoming tenants in writing of the rent paid by the previous tenants.
According to a 2019 profile in The New York Times, Broeksmit was a musician and the son of a Deutsche Bank executive who died by suicide in 2014.
After his father's death, Broeksmit gained access to his father's email account and found hundreds of files related to the bank, including board meeting minutes, financial plans, spreadsheets and password-protected presentations, the newspaper reported.
Federal and state authorities were scrutinizing allegations of criminal misconduct and the bank's long relationship with former President Donald Trump, the newspaper reported.
According to The Times, Broeksmit supplied the documents to journalists and others, including Fusion GPS, the research firm linked to an unverified dossier about Trump, and investigators with the FBI's New York office.
I have previously said this government is primarily reacting to the ‘public mood’ as described by the media, BUT it’s even worse:
Documents released to RNZ show Annalect surveilled public comments on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other sites, about current topics like ‘Covid response’, ‘virus’, ‘vaccine rollout’, ‘economy’, ‘business and consumers’, ‘contact tracing’ and ‘team of five million’, posted by New Zealanders.
…
The reports were provided to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), and released to RNZ with a statement from Covid-19 Response deputy chief executive Cheryl Barnes.
It had helped the Covid-19 group to be “agile and adapt communications to address the questions and concerns of New Zealanders,” she said.
“The analysis compiled by Annalect has also helped measure the success of the Unite Against Covid-19 communications and public information campaign.”
…
Barnes said the reports had provided “valuable insights” into the effect of pandemic restrictions and people’s acceptance of them, and their willingness to carry out Covid-19 related health behaviours.
That has been important in ensuring the safety of communities and mentioning public trust, she said.
Agreed, but my emphasis is on the distortions of the medium in particular. I certainly wouldn’t trust such social media platforms to fairly represent public mood any more than I trust a Herald or Stuff poll that’s used to drive a narrative. These often can undermine good intentions. In this particular case it appears to have contributed to the weakening of the effective COVID measures but another good example is the CGT argument, or the recommendations of the WEAG. Sometimes you have to take people with you.
University of Auckland researcher Dr Andrew Chen said the reports seemed like “essentially an extension of polling or focus groups”.
This comparison is confusing and potentially misleading. The public knows that political parties commission and pay for polling and focus groups. However, this is the Government commissioning and paying for ‘market research’ from the Taxpayers’ purse without being upfront about it. To be fair, Chen does mention this a little further down.
Chen said outsourcing the information was probably a “good thing” in terms of privacy, because it ensured the government did not have access to the original comments and the identities of the people that posted them.
I think this is a bold assumption by Chen unless he checked and verified it. Although the Government as commissioning and paying customer may and probably did not have direct access to the data, it is quite common (i.e., default) in outsourced contracts that the customer receives a copy of all raw data at the end of the contract and in fact becomes owner and trustee/guardian of the data.
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Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, 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. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
RNZ, 11.35 this morning:
Check it out for current broomstick prices. Black cat Loki is featured.
Mild, diffident chap wants to make history:
Becoming the first person in history to create a fair tax system is a laudable ambition, of course. Parker's self-effacing style is likely to lull opponents into a false sense of security. They will assume he's the last person to be capable of achieving it.
In the US, a similar interest is being displayed:
The site has been beneficiary of a departmental whistleblower:
It's a long report so intellectually-challenged readers ought to have a cuppa & lie down before getting into it. Forensic analysis can be daunting.
Maybe David Parker needs to be introduced to this person here who states that he pays no (basically no) tax, despite being a multi millionaire. Is has been known since 2010. 🙂
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/no-tax-for-trade-me-millionaire/AKW6GEETFDSUUBZ36DU2GMOBUI/
or this one from 2021
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300238241/more-than-40-of-millionaires-paying-tax-rates-lower-than-the-lowest-earners-government-data-reveals
from 2013
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/how-super-rich-kiwis-dodge-tax/IYMID4GCWA7KNTJXOGAXZPCS6A/
but then i guess that David Parker was doing somehting else in the years 2010 – 2022 to know that rich people in NZ are not on record for paying taxes. But i am sure they are going to find a lot of small business owners that may be 'avoiding' paying taxes that they must tax some more. Sure thing here he is speculating just that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/300575175/are-small-business-owners-paying-their-fair-share-of-tax
Vote Labour, cause fuck it why not. Lol.
Jonathan Haidt's Babel thesis reflects on how the past decade of social media has produced "mob dynamics".
Mobs nowadays merely do moral outrage – there's no attempt to do constructive engagement with politics. No attempt to find common ground. Just mobs of haters competing with other mobs of haters. People who spend their lives pushing cellphone buttons don't have time to think.
I've always considered that NZ's social cohesion in the past, reflected the fact that almost all of us, apart from a few "wannabees" went to the same State schools.
The shared experience meant that Māori, Pakeha, new immigrants and different social classes, became familier with, and tolerant of each other.
A level of social trust that has been undermined in more recent years.
Covid shows that social cohesion in NZ, is still better than in many places. Something that the "There is no such thing as society" Right Wing, are determined to fix! A divided society is easier to screw.
That societal norm of the 1950s/60s was indeed characterised by a general sense of tolerance. My parents offered me the option of going to Wanganui Collegiate in late '62 and I immediately rejected it in favour of the state alternative. I already felt at age 13 that the upper class thing was distasteful.
Social identity as nonconforming member of that monoculture resulted, but the seventies diversified us into multiculturalism. Social media has ramped up that biodiversity to a toxic level. Pendulum swing back to cohesion is required.
The vast majority of kids still go to State Schools.
The transient nature of housing, has affected the stability needed to form robust communities as well.
Time poverty, for whatever reasons, has reduced the number of volunteers available for creating or maintaining community organisations which also contribute to opportunities for different demographics to meet and mix. Falling church/religious service attendance has an impact as well.
Even with state school attendance, the increase in inequality in terms of income, means that the diversity within particular schools is often limited by the economic demographic of its location.
Yep.
Increases in inequality and the separation by class, of housing and school zones that has resulted, is breaking down our social cohesion and quality of life.
The negative effects are quite extensive when you take time to consider the possibilities.
For an individual, increased likelihood of isolation, loneliness, and reduced support structures for any difficulties.
For families – reduced trust in regards to other people in neighbourhood, less opportunities for mutual support, no social contracts in regards to behaviour.
For communities – reduced cohesion so harder to create and maintain political movements for community benefits, lack of influence on community assets and resources etc.
I can think of more, but that's pretty depressing to start with…
With real estate people promoting "good schools".
Good find Dennis.
Repeatedly I have been struck at how outrage never seeks consensus or a path forward to making anything better.
Did anyone ever find out who was funding the Mandate protest at Parliament?
I asked Google:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/14-03-2022/murkiness-surrounds-sources-of-protest-donations-and-how-money-was-spent
Yes the Red Stag people were in the open, appreciated.
I was checking for more.
It bothers me that we are only going to get an IPC review rather than a deeper intelligence review of the protest. You never kill a movement until you kill the money. It also bothers me that our intelligence services were reporting this week that far and away their largest effort is into hard right wing chatter including repeated viewing of the Christchurch massacre.
In the middle of the Parliament Grounds protest there was a sufficient risk for the DPMC threat group to be gathered, and lots of dark mutterings from Minister Wood.
I sure hope Newsroom has the capacity for a decent investigation if Ardern is going to keep squashing a solid answer to the power and speed of the movement.
I agree that dark money input ought to be brought to light. Obviously the media will focus on crowd-funding – since the set-up was designed on that basis it's convenient for them. I doubt Newsroom can go where the spooks can.
If the PM is indeed averse to investigating, not much citizens can do except remind her that covert US RW funding of attempts to destabilise democracies in other countries has been established practice for a long time. Point out to her that if she hasn't yet read the exposé by John Perkins who masterminded such ops long ago then she obviously is leading from a position of ignorance!
Ad @ 4
It was widely believed that a large portion of the money was being donated from off-shore including from both America and Canada. Exactly how it entered NZ has never been revealed, but it is sounds like it might have been through a circuitous financial route to prevent exposure of the original donors.
Edit: I see Dennis Frank @ 4.1.1.1 has already alluded to it.
I too would like to see a thorough investigation into the anti-mandate/freedom protest that coalesced around the convoy from the Cape and Bluff and the gatherings in Wellington and Picton.
I was one of the many people who flicked a few dollars (and having been mandated out of my paid employment this was not easy) to individuals and groups to support an action that in earlier times I would have joined in person.
A few dollars becomes a sizeable amount when you consider the vast number of people who supported the convoys…both from the North and the South. Thousands and thousands of us got out there in the atrocious weather to cheer and wave and cook food and donate petrol money. Thousands stood on motorway over bridges with their signs…many of them VFF which were funded through donations…but also an equal quantity of hand made signs. I broke my 'no facebook' rule and found some of the very many people filming and posting the entire journey. Many of the postings were from non participants traveling home from Waitangi weekend who were wondering 'wtf all the cars and campers and trucks were doing and why are so many people cheering them on? '
Hours of footage and much discussion, and when there was fuck all mention of the sheer numbers of participants that night on the news some folks really began to ask serious questions about selective reporting and msm censorship.
I know for a fact that collections were taken up around the regions for clothes and camping gear and food and cooking equipment and some dollars to be taken down/up to Welly by those who had to work during the week but wanted to join in on the weekends. Short- lived (largely because the were taken down by the moderators) Faceache pages facilitated this…securing rides for those without cars and space for stuff to be delivered. Seldom were requests for $$$ made…and almost all that were were subjected to much scrutiny.
The cooking tents and the portaloos were all donated as was the plumbed in loos and the showers. And the hay to soak up Mallard's water. And the laundry pick-up, wash and dry and deliver back to the Freedom Camp. And the accommodation for those not able to camp. Facebook pages…the short-lived ones again… would put out a call for particular items…like disposable rain ponchos…and hundreds would be delivered. Sound and movie systems and gazebos and pavillions…all magically appeared. Wellington region signwriting companies donated banners and posters or offered heavily discounted rates. Then there were those Wellington food businesses who broke ranks with the Welly Wokesters and set up at the Camp to provide free treats.
There were signal groups at the Camp who attracted some extra support…and some of this was in the form of cash donations…namely the NZ Health Forum and NZDSOS, who have done sterling work supporting those many, many Kiwis who rolled up their sleeves and had the jab and ended up physically foobarred. And subsequently got treated like garbage by much of the mainstream health system and ignored by msm media.
It was obvious that those not supporting this protest action were baffled and disbelieving that this was actually a relatively casual and leaderless movement. The entire population of NZ was represented…all ethnicities and 'classes' and ages and faiths. One group…the Destiny Church rooted Freedom and Rights Coalition…very quickly got their wings clipped both at the Camp and on Faceache (one of the few times I commented was to tell them to back off because they were a liability) because of their domineering, 'we're in charge here' demeanor that was deemed intolerable.
Despite what the media and parliamentarians claimed the Freedom Camp was not a river of filth. It was not full of weak- minded and emotionally damaged racists, misogynists, anti-Semites and tinfoilhat- wearing nutbars. The children there were much loved and well cared for and until the Police decided violence was the best way of dealing to their parents had an altogether wonderful experience.
It was not funded and organised by some Dark Overlord from the Far Far Right hell bent on undermining democracy and laying waste to order. I suspect that at least one of the alt media groups might have ties to overseas organisations but most of the very best footage is informal homegrown or from Kiwi vloggers.
It scares folks, doesn't it, that even now no individual has been identified as being the organiser/leader/spokesperson of the Freedom Camp? Folks can't get their tiny little brains around the fact that so very many of our fellow New Zealanders came together over a what will be seen in the future as a constitutionally unsound and scientifically unjustifiable government over reach. This was People Power at its absolute finest.
The subsequent treatment of those of us who protested or actively supported the protest by the government and it's pet media has done untold damage and will never be forgotten.
At which time did you discover you had donated money to a lynch mob?
Which lynch mob?
This one… https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1207/S00070/asset-sales-march-in-auckland-ends-in-beheading.htm?from-mobile=bottom-link-01 ?
Now…which would you say is the more worthy issue? The issue most deserving of demonstrations of anger and retribution towards the perpetrators?
An elected government selling off the country's stuff…or an elected government penalising and punishing citizens who have very real and valid concerns about a novel and experimental pharmaceutical product being mandated for just about everyone over the age of 12 in one form or another? A product with known performance inadequacies and a growing reputation for causing serious side effects in far too many recipients?
People or stuff?
Those expressing their anger at the government and the media at the anti mandate protests in such a manner were in the definite minority. And I heard no cheering from the assembled crowd as they held actual mock hangings.
You donated to both? I don't like your track record.
Could it be that Rosemary's account holds truth, and is a reflection of many of those who supported and participated in the protest?
There seem to be many on TS unable to even entertain the thought that the protestors were not hive mind.
I too, had concerns over those either affected by adverse vaccine effects, or those who lost their employment due to the vaccines. AFAIK, despite knowing there would be fallout (and some were unable to be vaccinated) there was no provision for these NZers.
I admire Rosemary for donating to these people when her own income had been severely curtailed.
I can understand how her compassion and empathy for others lead to a financial contribution. Even when frustrated or challenged she has not manifested at any time into a personal call for violence that I know of.
Why would you assert that she donated to a "lynch mob"?
Unfortunately the truth in Rosemary's comments comes in homeopathic doses.
A lot of people managed to take in the import and impact of the pandemic and maintain equilibrium to some extent. They may also have had in place shock absorbers in terms of financial security, family and friends support systems, and the general contributions to resilience and well-being.
Not all are that lucky.
I can see how the marginalised were enthusiastically marginalised, by the righteously pious – in public and here, on TS. That 'othering' is also a managing technique for stress. Seems to have worked for many here.
NZ did forget that the team of five million, required the inclusion of everyone. While many may have considered the mass vaccination of the population as the only public response of merit, we could have still held the principle that we don't ostracise others who felt differently. Anyone who has suffered iatrogenic harm, or seen that harm done to others knows that 100% trust in medical advice, can sometimes make you unprepared for the consequences, and the fight that you will have ahead to get issues redressed.
Do we really want to live in a country where compliance is 100%, and no questions are asked?
I know people who went to the protests. One particularly selfish twat brought Covid back to our small community and school. Her husband, a teacher, asked her not to go. As far as most of our community is concerned, that will never be forgotten.
Wonderful comment, thank you. Meanwhile many of the bright minds here could only engage with ridicule and rage as their fellow NZers cried out for help. This response I can only sum up as anti New Zealand.
To be fair to these people – their highest priority became the hope of saving lives. It is hard to fault them for this.
Yet as you have observed there is a lesson to be learned here – that even when you have the best of motives it is possible to still go too far.
A precis of what is occurring, for those unable/unwilling to engage:
Several countries who have undertaken medical literature reviews regarding the social, medical and surgical transitions of young people have concluded that not only do the harms of this approach outweigh any benefit, the outcomes are improved if the response is quality exploratory therapy.
https://segm.org/news
(Harms include bone damage, cognitive impairment, removal of sexual function, infertility, diminished mental health, a requirement for life long medication, and often unaddressed trauma or other health issues.)
Could those advocating the continuation of NZ's affirmation health care explain why they support this treatment of children and young people, when objective reviews are indicating such high levels of harm?
Thanks Molly for posting this.
Yes I would like to see hear from anyone including on this site who promotes affirmative care for gender dysphoric teens justify its continuance after reading this.
Anybody out there??????
I found it particularly disturbing when I realized the NZ Association of Counsellors actively promotes affirmative care, particularly as most school counsellors are registered with that body.
Perhaps if we frame it as a thought experiment?
ie. What would be your position if you discovered that without clinical evidence – Russian medics were treating non-conforming, autistic, traumitised and gay children with therapy, medications and surgeries that would likely lead to sterilisation, lack of sexual function and sensation, perpetual requirement for medication, unresolved mental health issues, and detrimental physical and cognitive side effects?
did you see this?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10768707/When-Britain-wake-danger-giving-puberty-blockers-children.html
and yes, again, it is the Daily Mail that writes about this issue cause the left wing media does not dare touch it whilst being covered by a full body condom and a barge pole. They might fear that their identities fall off if they do.
I watched the Swedish documentary that featured Leo.
The deliberate ignoring of this issue by the supposed 'adults' in the room is both fascinating and appalling. I fully understand the criticism of identity politics superseding sense, as I see it played out here.
No-one who truly cared about children and young people would take the chance that harm was happening – and would continue to happen – because no-one asked for good evidence, or looked at it when it was presented.
Yet, here we are. a growing coven of Cassandras shouting into the gale.
And still the sound of silence from the left.
I've been conducting some informal research over the past few months… trying to ascertain random women's knowledge of, and thoughts about, the two Bills recently passed in our Parliament. You know which two I'm talking about.
These women are between the ages of 45 and 65 and are either Maori or Pakeha.
They all watch some telly, listen to some radio and spend a bit of time on line. All are reasonably generally well informed and have been around the block a time or two. All of them identify as 'Left'.
None of them realised the BDMRR Bill made it possible for a person to simply rock on up to a Registry Office and sign a declaration to change the sex on their Birth Certificate. No conditions. no tests, no medical input. They are simply righting the wrong of being 'assigned the wrong sex at birth'. (I'm starting to enjoy the look of stunned confusion on their faces when they come to understand the potential ramifications of this.) A pity there was no open discussion of this in msm other than the odd reference to 'transphobes'.
Moving on to the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill … all these women friends are of course familiar with and opposed to the (mostly historic) practice of 'praying the gay away'…and were happy to see it buried for good.
When I explained to them that the legislation incorporates (and indeed was somewhat hijacked by) the treatment of people identifying as trans, they were not overly concerned…no problem with folks living their authentic life etc etc.
When I pointed out there was, and still are concerns that failure to affirm and medically treat a child who claims to have been 'born into the wrong body' could be interpreted as "Conversion Therapy" and the perpetrators censured or prosecuted there was that look again.
I'm calling it the 'what the actual fuck' look.
This crap was passed after a deliberate campaign of keeping any in- depth discussion of the deeper issues and possible ramifications out of the wider public eye. This is not how the democratic process is supposed to work.
And we have two Bills in force that demand we all suspend reality and unquestioningly accept the world view of a very small, but very loud and strangely influential section of society.
FWIW…I will take any and every opportunity to bring these two pieces of legislative madness to the attention of those who care, but perhaps were looking the other way when they were trundling through the House.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300575920/permission-to-speak-freely-is-free-speech-under-threat
staggered (but pleased that this item was on the front page of Stuff.
Daphna is a Marxist feminist and one of the founding members of SUFW. She was due to give a talk about how SUFW had a number of their meetings cancelled in public libraries as a result of activism by trans activists. SUFW took their case to the High Court in Palmerston North and won and the Judge concluded that they could not be considered a hate group.
so the talk to talk about how free speech got cancelled was cancelled
Thanks, Anker.
I found the article a bit wishy-washy. More concerned with the Barbra Streisand effect, rather than the principles of free speech, and the importance of informed debate. (Particularly in our tertiary education institutions.)
Not a fan of David Farrar, or Curia, and would support instead any left-wing organisation that truly articulated the importance of free speech, and of public discussion and debate. But I am unaware if there is one in NZ at present.
There certainly is a shortage of left wing organisations which are exposing the unscientific and homophobic agenda of gender ideology. We have no left wing Parliamentarians who are brave enough to speak out against the complete capitulation of the Public Service to the ideology. We have no Clare Chandler, no Joanna Cherry etc. All we have is Deborah Russell wishing that we would all just "fuck off", and a host of others who have never heard the word "autogynephilia" thinking we are just being nasty to people like Carmen and Georgina. In the meantime Healthline is asking 72yo women booking Covid Vax appointments if they "identify as a woman" , and schoolkids are being taught that sex is "assigned" at birth.
Visubversa agree with all you say! Do these people have noboundaries asking a 72 year old woman if she identifies as a woman?
I must add that Deborah Russell also was very keen to promote the idea that sex is on spectrum, as per one article from Scientific America (which I understand the author later said that what she wrote is being mis interpreted).
The Labour Party is presently reviewing its "Diversity and Inclusion" Policy after a bunch of women pointed out that it was not in accordance with the protections in the Human Rights Act. They had – of course, left out SEX.
21Prohibited grounds of discrimination
(1)
For the purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are—
(a)
sex, which includes pregnancy and childbirth:
Oh, I am glad to hear this. Still a party member. Anyway I can get involved with this Visu? Anyone I should write to about this?
Nah – just keep your eyes and ears open. Especially at Conferences etc, Lynn P knows who I am if you want to get in touch.
There are a few of us. If you speak up you will find support.
If you can – Visubversa -can you ask why 'Sex' is missing from the Sentencing Act 2002 s9(1)(h), given all the other characteristics relate to the Human Rights Act 1993 s7(21)(1).
And how, why and when 'gender identity' replaced it?
Especially given that that the police policy on hate incidents uses the Sentencing 2002 categories, and only those categories to determine hate.
ie. You will get assessed for ageism, but sexism is no longer a problem. Misgendering? Well, depends on the perception of the complainant. Anyone kept up with what's happened in the UK?
Molly – this seems to be the answer to your question.
A bit more digging about the Sentencing Act reveals that Phil Goff at the time decided that "gender identity" covered all the bases. Gender identity in s9(1)(h) was included largely on the basis of lobbying by gay activist Callum Bennachie, better known for his pro-prostitution work. Must be one of the earliest examples of gender identity trumping sex in our law.
There's an article here setting it out in detail. Also shows up how 'sex' is a much clearer and better term than 'gender'.
http://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/2004/24.html#Heading39
Molly and Visubversa, I had no idea about this. Thanks for posting as usual.
And thanks to the Fairy Godmother
Yes agree Molly. I think most of the left wing are asleep at the wheel on gender ideology. Having considered myself left wing all my life, I am finding that I now critically examine most things coming from Labour and Greens and the left wing in general.
And I agree about the article, but I was amazed it even made stuff. They usually only publish stuff that supports gender ideology
A very interesting and rather well-balanced article.
The cancel-culture and the woke brigade are certainly having an influence on freedom of academic debate, let alone public commentary.
No doubt they would be delighted by this outcome…
Academic institutions are failing in one of their primary mandates – to foster and protect academic debate. Seizing bureaucratic loopholes in order to cancel debate with which the leadership team doesn't agree – is a misuse of their power.
Those on the left should regard this with trepidation. Pendulums swing back. Who will protect their academic freedom/freedom of speech when a right-leaning group is in power?
In their unrealistic attempts to ensure the ‘health & safety’ of every individual they strip all playgrounds of all equipment, pad the ground with bark, and put rubber mats to prevent muddy and slippery patches. Universities are treated as intellectual playgrounds for vulnerable and gullible wee intellects whose fragile minds need to be protected against any bad influences from outside. Their over-cautiousness during the pandemic is just another symptom. Academics are no longer taught to think for themselves or allowed to teach others how to think for themselves unless it is according to a prescribed method & content aka ‘the curriculum’.
Chris Trotter nails it today. Brash's Orewa speech will look like a minor interjection compared with the the racist bile we are going to see during the upcoming election campaign.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/04/no-good-options-will-co-governance.html
My own comment from the other night expressed much more eloquently….with an exception…
"Labour and the Greens will find themselves being dragged further and further to the left in order to keep this nascent Red-Green-Brown coalition together. To distract their still dubious working-class Pakeha supporters from the co-governance question, Labour may lay before them reforms aimed squarely at dismantling the neoliberal economic order in favour of “real Labour policies”.
…will not happen because they are idealogically neoliberal and wouldn’t know how to construct a working class manifesto.
Visubversa agree with all you say! Do these people have no boundaries asking a 72 year old woman if she identifies as a woman?
I must add that Deborah Russell also was very keen to promote the idea that sex is on spectrum, as per one article from Scientific America (which I understand the author later said that what she wrote is being mis interpreted).
I suspect the majority of Labour politicians are captured rather than scared. Shows an absence of critical thinking.
the next phase: Biculturalism 3.0 – also known as “Co-Governance”
Nice one, Chris. Shoulda told Labour about it last year, eh? If they had fronted with Biculturalism 3.0 back then, all them mainstreamers doing collective shudders at co-governance would've thought differently.
Then he offers this:
Good point – if Labour are actually doing that. Instead, Labour seem to be very carefully constructing the impression in the public mind that they aren't really. Perception management is all about plausible deniability so the best binary model to use is those optical illusions that combine two images in one.
Chris pushes the thrilling prospect of the next election being fought on the basis of ideology. When did that last happen?? Racists on one side, everyone else on the other. Exciting stuff will happen within families, as some members become stridently racist – to the horror of other members. Lively up yourselves!
The gloss seems to be coming off the Luxon image!
This Scoop column has much about the extreme right-wing mind set of the Natz leader, and his general mediocracy! A new JohnKey he is not!
“I met a former Air NZ flight attendant recently. She told me how their conditions were cut to the point that she had to pay for her own tickets to Auckland to work on international flights. On a return trip to Wellington she was told she'd be sitting next to Luxon. She asked not to be, but they said it was the only seat.
So, she told, me she had to decide whether to tell him how she felt or live with the fact that she hadn't. So, she started to explain the situation and he interrupted her with: "You're just waiters and waitresses…". She said to me not only was that not true – there's a lot of safety training, first aid etc, etc – but it was insulting to wait staff. She then pointed out to Luxon that the top 10 staff were earning $19 million between them to which he replied: "I could earn a lot more elsewhere." He seems to lack any self-awareness, humility, decency or even intelligence.”
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2203/S00071/on-christopher-luxon-s-trashing-of-the-poor.htm
I thought Boomer comparing flip flop Luxon to Shearer was spot on.
The nats are really lacking talent.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/04/30/chris-luxon-is-becoming-the-luckless-david-shearer-the-stank-of-political-rot-is-already-upon-him/
Truancy from school is a huge issue in NZ. And, if we accept the premise that education is a pathway out of poverty, a deeply concerning one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/truancy-issues-more-children-taking-longer-to-get-back-to-school-as-attendance-continues-to-fall/7B2KE6ABBFY7SRB7Q4Q2ESR26A/?c_id=1&objectid=12520714&ref=rss
There are no simple answers. The trend had already begun before Covid, but the lockdowns and consequent disengagement from schools has accelerated it.
Poverty and housing insecurity are a significant factor. Parents who are working multiple jobs, or who need teens to work part-time to contribute to the family income, are not in a position to encourage/enforce school attendance. And frequent shifts in home address make it much harder for kids to engage with school (and schools to track where they are and what's happening).
But, also, the disengagement from education as a whole. Schools not equipping kids with the basic building blocks needed to learn (reading/maths) – the profound failure in NZ education philosophy in teaching 'balanced literacy' rather than 'phonics' has now gone intergenerational.
Many of these truant kids are so far behind educationally, that they see simply no point in going back to school. Resourcing schools to adequately support their learning (rather than simply dumping them in a main-stream class, for them to continue to flounder), is also needed.
Some kids learn reading by phonics, while others benefit from a different approach.
Education institutions should be able to offer another option when the initial one is not working. There are always some who take longer, learn differently, and have other priorities at the time you are trying to teach them.
It would be good to have intention statements about what our education systems are trying to achieve at different levels.
eg. Primary – encourage the child's natural curiosity, and while providing the basic tools, encourage and reward self-directed learning and achievements.
(I'm sure there are teachers on this site, that can markedly improve on that offering).
As you say, the reasons for truancy are diverse and hard to address for that reason. Improving a student’s experience at school may be one of the only options in a teachers control.
Unfortunately, for the last 20 years, only the 'balanced literacy' approach has been taught in teacher training – so few new teachers have anything else to offer when it fails.
Thoroughly experienced teachers, of course, are more likely to have a grab bag of skills, acquired over many years, to use in teaching the exceptions – which is why Mums network like crazy to figure out who are the 'good' teachers…
According to this article (which I have no reason to disbelieve), teacher trainees have 90 minutes of training on how to teach reading.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/125953440/trainee-teachers-get-90-minutes-to-learn-how-to-teach-children-to-read-graduate-says
Now, it may well be that they pick up extra skills in placements and on the job – but that's a very hit-and-miss method of education.
And individual schools (mostly wealthy, high decile schools) are spending a ton of money on running teach-the-teacher programs on structured literacy (decodable reading, or phonics). Poorer schools – who arguably have the most need, mostly miss out – and struggle on with a method which absolutely fails with a significant proportion of students.
[This is a US article – but the literacy approach and learning-to-read strategy is the same one taught in NZ schools. We seem to be wedded to it, in an educational sense, because it was popularized and promoted by kiwi, Marie Clay]
https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading
Actually making it a mission to teach the basics well – and continuing to teach them until the child has the learning building-blocks (reading & maths) to enable them to learn – would be the No. 1 thing that schools could do to turn around learners who are currently failing.
"Actually making it a mission to teach the basics well – and continuing to teach them until the child has the learning building-blocks (reading & maths) to enable them to learn – would be the No. 1 thing that schools could do to turn around learners who are currently failing."
Agree.
The training for the teacher training also needs scrutiny by the sounds of it.
My mother, Doris Ferry taught in poor areas in Dunedin state primary schools in the 1930s and 1940s. As a primer teacher she said you lost grading if you did not have every child reading with a reading age of seven years by the time they were seven years old. School inspectors allowed no excuses for a child who had not achieved this . It would have been quite unreasonable to have expected this standard from the teacher without a method of teaching reading that could effect this. The method ,of course, was intensive phonics . Only now being resurrected as structured literacy. It has taken 80 years for our education establishment to come to their senses and reluctantly allow phonics once again!
My mother claims she never saw a dyslexic child nor in fact any child needing remedial reading help . Whereas whole language (W. L.) aka balanced literacy ,suits only a proportion of students, phonics succeeds with all. Multitudes of studies for decades confirm this. No research ,done thoroughly, has ever shown W.L. to be superior to phonics. Cognitive science and neurological studies, also confirm this .
For those interested in the literacy debate ,I recommend listening to the radio recording of 'Nine to Noon", This week on Wednesday in which Kathryn Ryan featured a U.S. professor of statistics ,Tom May ,whose research reveals Marie Clay's much exalted reading recovery, W.L.programme , actually damages participating children in the long term. The eight -year old reading slump that those with inadequate phonic skills experience once there are too many words in a text to memorise. It has been an appalling waste of money, let alone caused untold misery to very many thousands of children here and world wide.
The sooner the disastrous whole language era is over the better. Structured literacy courses for all teachers should be free. I have taught students to read with phonics ,privately, many of them dyslexic, using my mother's methods. She taught 1500 students ,who had failed to read in local schools,using phonic workbooks and other phonic material and parents to help with their own child, every day She even taught semi-literate parents how to teach their own child . She was spectacularly successful but ignored by the ministry.
If the ministry really believed in literacy for all they would find a way to train teachers . But it clashes with their progressive philosophy which dwells on many fanciful things but certainly not universal literacy as NZ did and excelled at in the past .
As you say, NZ reading levels in the early parts of last century and up to the 70's (IIRC) were recognised as excellent around the world.
I don't know if the incidence of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other learning impediments like ADHD etc have been proven to have increased in the last few decades and why. It could be that these conditions are more widely known, and so the diagnosis is more often given. It may also be environmental factors (low-level pollution) or some form of ingestion during childhood that have contributed.
I have home educated four of my children. In terms of learning to read, it has been a lesson in understanding how skilled teachers have to be in a larger classroom to meet so many different needs.
Two of my children didn't need reading instruction at all. They learnt the alphabet, and picked up reading from following along – without instruction – when being read to.
One of them, from the age of two or three, used to write screeds of symbols that looked like writing, so they loved the written word before they even knew the alphabet.
Another was both dyspraxic and dyslexic. Interesting, but not saying conclusive fact, is that when pregnant with him, we lived directly on one of NZ's most busy residential roads, with traffic (and pollution) 24 hrs a day. He also returned to pre-verbal state for 6 months after receiving an infant vaccine. Strict phonics is what was necessary to get him reading, and taking time with this allowed him to enjoy reading when he finally got it.
My youngest is dyslexic – as his father was, and resembles him the most in terms of personality. The classic problems with a 3D mind presented with a 2D code, often flipping d, b, p and q and reading them all the same. He is the only child with a short limit on being read aloud to. While all the rest would listen for as long as I would read, his attention span would go after a very short period. He has a hearing impairment that is not related to the structure of the ear, but the fact that his ear canals are incredibly narrow, and wax buildup interferes with hearing well. That has improved markedly over the years, but it has taken time. On the other hand, his ability to think in 3D is noticeable, and useful.
I don't know if there is any reason that greater numbers of children are diagnosed with neuro-divergent thinking, or attention disorders. I do think it has increased, rather than it is diagnosed more often because of awareness. But that's only my personal observation and theory.
Phonics definitely worked for the two that had difficulties with reading, and helped them both navigate towards independent reading. If introduced to the other two that were mainly self-taught, it would not have interrupted that process too much I think. But it may have interrupted the easy falling in love with the written word, that kept them reading for quite a while through their childhood and adolescence.
We need to bring all the best tools available forward, and keep working on it. My very limited experience with my own children, does remind me how valuable successful teachers are in our schools. Perhaps as always, they are the ones best suited to assess their students and be able to request and easily access materials for those they have at any one time.
Certainly, pedagogy is both the art and science of teaching. Unfortunately the current W.L. dominant in N.Z. has stubbornly ignored the science,
Choosing suitable books,materials and fun activities for students as well as teachers who can cajole,motivate and cultivate a students interest in reading are valuable. Gifted junior class teachers ,however, came to our private school room with their own children, they had failed to teach to read , indicating that ,this is not enough without also the science of reading.
I can assure you the 'natural reader' who seems not to need any explicit phonics instruction, greatly benefits in spelling and comprehension from having as much structured phonics as the rest of the class. They can just cover the phonic work more quickly.
With no proof at all the, the progressive philosophy, states as gospel that structured learning in any subject produces mindless robots with zilch imagination . As a student in the 1950s and 60s, I actually did not see any robotic classmates who were incapable of critical thinking or creativity.What I dud see was everyone in the class could read the set text ,all knew their tables ,absorbed knowledge,and did the A and half the B exercises in the arithmetic book the whole class were doing. One student in my class had better solutions to the worked examples in the text book ,so the teacher had him write them on the board and the class wrote them down .
Other students in my classes went on to write songs and music,write novels and poems,create wearable art etc Structured learning did not seem to damaged them !
Doris, in her youth had been aware of dyslexia ,since she had a cousin with an organic form of it . Unlike now, it was a rare condition . One percent or even less . According to Wikipedia,the prognosis is "Dyslexic children require special instruction for word analysis and spelling from an early age…………instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics,vocabulary and reading fluency ". But in the 1930s and 40s a large proportion of N.Z. five and six- year olds were receiving this exact treatment ,hence being fortified against dyslexia .
Certainly toxic substances,in the environment do impact on children's learning, But there have always been environmental and social problems . In the '30s and '40s there was severe poverty from the Depression and trauma from W.W.2 The environment was loaded from lead ,DDT and other toxins now banned . Children were kept home from school to do the laundry and other work and because of a shortage of teachers up to 50 in a class.
Still the expectation was that every child could become literate and numerate to the correct level for their age.
Parents coming to our school room ,late last century, were annoyed by the diagnoses of neuro-diversities put on their children by psychology. To the parents it seemed they acted as excuses for the schools to account for their children's failure to learn. They wanted a cure .
I have respect for teachers as people ,but I am concerned they have been brainwashed into believing failure in children to achieve at the correct level is inevitable.
It is not!
There are some images floating around of Russian soldiers eating among the corpses of their fellows. They appear oblivious to the violence, death and misery surrounding them and that they’re responsible for it. I feel for them. But what choice do they have? Poots' head chopping Kadyrovite barrier troops are a reality. Russian military penal institutions are likely as deadly as they were 75 years ago and kin punishment is a thing in Russia.
The entire shit-show, the brutality, the cruelty, and the plight of those Russian draftees is on Poots yet he and his apologists continue to spin this as somehow being Ukraine or NATO’s fault. Pricks.
Just been thinking we need to be sending more "lethal aid" to Ukraine. There is a heap of Avocados around at the moment. That's dangerous stuff. If you get hit by an avocado – you're toast!
They may need avocados.
https://twitter.com/DecodingTrolls/status/1520164721911083008
Gangster state gonna gangster.
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https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1519620543510687744
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1519620833118990336
https://topnynews.com/the-farmers-were-warned-that-they-would-cut-off-their-heads-where-do-cheap-kherson-vegetables-come-from-in-crimea/
heh
https://twitter.com/deAdder/status/1519797781300453379
Good ol' Joe 90 just mindlessly regurgitating straight out propaganda, without a thought for truth…as usual… one thing I can say about you, is that you are incredibly consistent…you are like that leaky tap for any and all unverified propaganda that no one has ever bothered fixing…just a drip…drip….drip…dripping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkEsaVAlM0w
Btw this is one of the greatest Donald Duck episodes ever…just kind of reminded me of you for obvious reasons.
[Quack, quack, quack.
You’re quacking like a mad duck and again yapping & snapping at other commenters without offering anything relevant and of substance. Of course, you added another inane YT clip from your personal collection of irrelevant infantile memorabilia.
Go paddling in your own pond for a week – Incognito]
Mod note
Renters continue to have their health and comfort sacrificed due to ineffective enforcement of legislation regarding heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage and draught-stopping:
Once again the stacked power dynamic of rental housing is laid bare, and as per usual Labour has preemptively signalled their intention to not do anything about it because, according to Poto Williams at least, the costs outweigh the benefits.
Renters deserve to live comfortably and without their home endangering their health, it seems out of step with our consumer rights to have such substandard 'products' being marketed. Renters need a WoF style regime to provide some transparency and confidence.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/128478931/houses-are-still-mouldy-damp-and-cold-despite-healthy-home-standards-survey-shows
Some other changes that could help readdress the imbalance in addition to a rent WoF, from Renters United:
Fifty years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWLRrQmSSMA
Move along, people. Nothing to see here..
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https://twitter.com/Emolclause/status/1519796673345691653
According to a 2019 profile in The New York Times, Broeksmit was a musician and the son of a Deutsche Bank executive who died by suicide in 2014.
After his father's death, Broeksmit gained access to his father's email account and found hundreds of files related to the bank, including board meeting minutes, financial plans, spreadsheets and password-protected presentations, the newspaper reported.
Federal and state authorities were scrutinizing allegations of criminal misconduct and the bank's long relationship with former President Donald Trump, the newspaper reported.
According to The Times, Broeksmit supplied the documents to journalists and others, including Fusion GPS, the research firm linked to an unverified dossier about Trump, and investigators with the FBI's New York office.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/reputed-federal-informant-whistleblower-found-dead-l-reported-missing-rcna26382
I have previously said this government is primarily reacting to the ‘public mood’ as described by the media, BUT it’s even worse:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/466208/nzers-social-media-comments-scanned-to-inform-covid-19-response
Listening to the public mood is a basic function of democratic government.
They do tonnes of it. As they should.
Agreed, but my emphasis is on the distortions of the medium in particular. I certainly wouldn’t trust such social media platforms to fairly represent public mood any more than I trust a Herald or Stuff poll that’s used to drive a narrative. These often can undermine good intentions. In this particular case it appears to have contributed to the weakening of the effective COVID measures but another good example is the CGT argument, or the recommendations of the WEAG. Sometimes you have to take people with you.
There's no fairness in it, just making sure social are part of the data picture.
They would also track The Standard and Kiwiblog as well for bookends.
This lot are in general paranoid about stepping beyond public acceptance.
It's possible to have too much democratic responsiveness, but it could be worse.
Succinctly put.
This comparison is confusing and potentially misleading. The public knows that political parties commission and pay for polling and focus groups. However, this is the Government commissioning and paying for ‘market research’ from the Taxpayers’ purse without being upfront about it. To be fair, Chen does mention this a little further down.
I think this is a bold assumption by Chen unless he checked and verified it. Although the Government as commissioning and paying customer may and probably did not have direct access to the data, it is quite common (i.e., default) in outsourced contracts that the customer receives a copy of all raw data at the end of the contract and in fact becomes owner and trustee/guardian of the data.