A very good post on the Green Party website by Meteiria Turei condemning the government for pimping out our beautiful coastal environment to the highest bidder.
The Green Party is condemning the Government for announcing the tender process today for new permits to conduct exploratory deep sea drilling in New Zealand waters off the west coast of the North Island and the east coast of the South Island. Much of the area is in deep water.
“The Government is putting the economic interests of the oil companies over the environmental values of the people of New Zealand,”
“The Government’s argument of an economic boon are rubbish. There is little evidence that there would be many jobs from these deep sea rigs and they put at risk the local economies if there is a spill.
“With deep sea drilling the Government is pursuing a failed economic agenda that runs totally counter to our real economic advantages and opportunities.”
Metiria Turei
To have any meaning words need to be backed up with actions.
The Green Party if they choose, could stop deep sea oil drilling now.
A united opposition stand in parliament against deep sea oil exploration and drilling would have the effect of killing off the oil company investors enthusiasm to take up the current government’s offer.
This is the time for the Green Party to put in a serious real world effort to win the Labour Party over to oppose deep sea oil drilling.
To back up her words Meteiria Turei needs to take immediate action in the house, with a Green Party private member’s bill calling for a moratorium on all deep sea oil and gas drilling. And seriously lobby the Labour Party to back it.
This needs to be dealt with now. Not in the closed, heated, hot house environment of rushed coalition talks held behind closed doors following an election.
If the Green Party Bill is drawn from the ballot and the Labour Party refuse to support it and instead choose to stand with the Nats, instead of their future coalition partner, then the respective parties will know where they all stand, and will be able to make their future coalition decisions based on that.
Likewise the voting public will know where to place an informed vote, instead of being kept in the dark and crossing their fingers as they vote, hoping that it works out.
If on the other hand……
The Labour Party do agree to back the Green Party private members bill to turn it into an opposition members bill to banish deep sea oil drilling from our economic zone then this as well as driving investors off, would set the strong foundations for a principled coalition that will stand the test of time.
Mark my words
For the Green Party to ignore this major policy difference between the two major opposition parties at this time and place and leave it for later, will be a major tactical error that will see Turiana’s good words being turned into empty rhetoric in the name of pragmatism and under the pressure of “real politik”, to be left on the cutting room floor, during future coalition talks, to the disappointment of Green Party members and supporters.
Trouble about the jobs burble. They are temporary construction stuff and when done they are gone and the new ones arising are fewer and may not be available to locals, but the often tenuous economy of the surrounding towns has changed and life is more difficult, houses dearer etc and still not many jobs.
So Auckland Council wants to consult with Aucklanders about our transport future. There is a significant funding hole if all important projects are proceeded with.
There needs to be a debate about how these projects are funded and it is proper to put the evidence in front of the people and ask them for their view.
So what does the Government do? It effectively sabotages the consultation on day one by ruling out most of the possible funding mechanisms.
Why can’t it wait for the evidence to be properly analysed and for the people to speak? What is it afraid of?
Sometimes I am so glad I live in Levin, No traffic Jams, (No Car) cheap rents, can get everywhere by bike. Yep no jobs I know, also no 2 hour stress fest morning and night either.
But it’s also way safer to bring up my 2 year old, very few cars. But I do know one thing my Blood pressure has gone down since I left the Capital, and it’s rat race. But my littley does keep it bouncing now he can climb.
It’s a damn site better than what was offered before and all under the same roof. and it will be good when it’s all finished. Oh well I seem to work when Labour is in power, and am on the dole when the Nats get in, and fuck up the economy again.
Yes David H. We too in Marlborough have all those that you have (but so far we have only roundabouts- no traffic lights where you have 2 sets.) I am bemused that so many people choose to live in big cities! They seem to have so much against making their lives enjoyable. I don’t get it.
Some of us were born in cities, and have our roots there. It’s also where the jobs are. There are also many other exciting benefits to living in cities, if they were organised for the benefit of all, and not dominated by the wealthiest of the propertied classes.
Hah! Worked and studied in that area back in the 80s and early 90s – cycled many times between Newcross, Walthamstow and Stockwell – sometimes doing a whole round trip to those areas on the same day, and into the evening. Cycling seemed relatively safe back then too.
I know being London born and bred. Now there’s a city full of history, I used to go to all the Museums (Not fussed on the stately homes) Growing up in South east London in the 60’s was fun working down the Markets at Deptford. I think we got out at the right time 1969.
Well Karol I was born in Sydenham in a hovel owned bybthe Duke of Westminster ,
We were hard up,but happy Then along came Hitler who seemed to have grudge for me bombing us out three times . 3 new places in 6 years finished up in a flat above The shops in Lordship Lane in Dulwich , Then served my apprenticeship in Newmarket . later on moved to Epsom and courted my wife who lived in the East End by biking from Epsom 3 or 4 nights a week . Married and lived in the country ever since ,60m years inFeb.
Used to stop for pie at a pie stall in New Cross on the way back .
Were you born within the sound of Bow Bells Pink Postman? My father was… although his family shifted soon afterwards. He loved telling Kiwis he was a Cockney even though he had no Cockney accent. As a child I never tired of listening to the stories and songs of old London. Seen the Julie Andrews film ‘Mary Poppins’ half a dozen times.
Damn, you’ve seen some changes, TPP. Epsom to the East End is a long commute by bike.
I remember hearing some of the Blitz stories when I lived in London. 60 years married! Congratulations – a full, productive and interesting life so far.
Hi Pink Postman Like to hear others tales about where they come from. You mentioned New Cross I used to go to New Cross as that was where Millwall had there football ground. Great childhood days prior to the Thatcher shit with a lot of care by the so called “lower” classes. I remember as a kid the grown ups putting their hands on the wall of the exit stairs forming a tunnel so all us kids could get out safely. just like today eh. I think it would do good for some of these right wing prats to live in that type of community, it might teach them that there is more to life than screwing everybody for a dollar.
And the Winkle stall, with the Jellied eels, and Pie and Mushy Peas. Ahhh theMemories
My stepfather ran the Centurian public house in Deptford, A 3 story edifice Well to a 11 year old it was, with lots of rooms to play in, and the roof to sit, and get soaked in the Thunderstorms.
David H
Your remark about roundabouts triggered a thought I’ve had for a while. Courtesy on the roads – could be a great facilitator for better conditions and less accidents.
And one thing would be that at roundabouts a driver should slow a little say 10km or change down, which gives time for other traffic to enter or pass safely. The extra seconds provided by just a more deliberate approach to a roundabout, give way etc. would allow other traffic to go. Instead people often maintain a 50 kmh speed up to and through, and hardly seem aware of others around them. Get them up in a high 4WD and they’re like royalty in a world of their own.
In my experience the practices of (mainly Auckland) drivers are puzzling. When there are road works, with signs showing the stretch of road has a 30 or 40 kph speed limit, I seem to be one of the few drivers that actually slow down. And I usually feel pressured by other drivers to go faster.
Usually there are clear reasons why there is a temporarily low speed limit – workers working near to the stream of traffic, uneven road surface, narrowed road with little space for diverging in case of a collision, etc.
Ditto for people slowing down when approaching a pedestrian crossing. Some drivers seem to have no respect for anyone else, just an attitude of getting to their destination as fast as possible. Why the constant need for so much haste?
I thought I was the only one who actually slows down to 30.
Pisses me right off seeing people ignore those signs. I don’t mind that they aren’t concerned for their own safety, but they could give a thought to the people working within feet of their hurtling block of steel.
My apologies for spelling your name wrong. My arthritis does not get my fingers on the right keys at times, and I find this site a shit to edit.
Regards
karol
Is the behaviour we mostly display as drivers an indication of national character? Some people are unwilling to limit or control themselves for their, and others, safety.
That can be applied to more situations than that of driving too.
Drivers seem to be very self-centred – who lifts a hand for a thank-you gesture to a car that makes way for you when not legally obliged, who gives a couple of short toots to a large vehicle that moves over to let you past etc. I usually do, but don’t notice many others though it used to be common in my younger days. (I’m probably thinking prior to 1984 when we were sprayed and saturated with the propaganda of – ‘There is no such thing as society.’)
CHH may be looking for temps, if its any help. It’s not the busy season yet, but they do have a regular turnover in the casual pool. Reasonably well paid, unionised site. They use the temp pool to assess whether to hire workers as permanents, so it might be a foot in the door for you or other family members who are looking for a long term job.
And if you can ever get a start at Graphic Press, you’ve won the job lottery! One of the most amazing worksites I’ve ever been in, with a genuine commitment to profit sharing and total respect for their workers. Lovely place.
30G is just stingy, the rent seeker in our elites just can’t seem to understand, their greed is a corruption of our economic health, and we’d all be richer should they remove the private tax shackles evident in all areas of our economy. In order for them to get rich, they need to leverage their existing capital to multipliers of what is sensible, and to maintain their solvency they need mum and dad nz to pay the interest on the debt. Its wrong, its extortion, its bad economics.
Broadband will open up small town NZ with huge opportunities to have the lifestyle and the means to sustain it. Well it would if the rent seekers weren’t so stingy with 30G a month.
Thanks, micky. I have been thinking of doing another Auckland post, particularly on how the NZ herald is blatantly opposed to the Auckland Unitary Plan. Just too many things happening right now.
But the Auckland Transport Blog has done some very good posts on the NZ Herald’s blatant bias against the AUP and the City Central Rail Loop – so many NZH articles opposed to the AUP that it is looking like a concerted campaign.
It is interesting Karol that out west the Unitary Plan is not raising anything like the sort of opposition that central and north Auckland is showing.
I believe it is because locally we have been talking about intensification around Henderson and New Lynn and in a smaller way around Glen Eden for the past decade as well as at the same time trying to preserve the Waitakere Ranges by holding the MUL in place. The area is already developing the way that the rest of the city will hopefully.
The alternative of uncontrolled urban sprawl is too awful to comprehend. You just have to think about the problems associated with uncontrolled sprawl with a lack of community infrastructure to realise how stupid this is.
We should have learned about this from suburbs such as Kelston, Otara, Managere, Flat Bush, Birkdale etc where they basically plonked a whole lot of houses in with no cultural centre. These areas are full of good people but they are handicapped because they are just a collection of roads and houses and have not social centre.
Surely we should have learned from the experience.
Why does there need to be a debate – Just issue the funds required, at close to zero %, for the key transport programmes to go ahead, get it done!
This continued nonsense of *manufactured scarcity*, and having to raise steal the funds, by borrowing and/or picking the pokets of Aucklanders, even further!
Only debate needs to be , which projects to get moving first!
The Wellington mandarin’s and the Agri lobby block do not want Auckland to have an dffective tax raising power. And they collectively manipulate Smith et al.
Why stop Auckland have an effective tax base and control over its destiny?
It looks like it will be controlled by leftish people for the foreseeable future.
It is not controlled by big business.
It owes no allegiances to the primary industries sector.
Yup, scot free for Hotchin/Watson etc not even any corporate breach charges on care of duty issues against boys club members like Muir. Wish I could’ve laid odds at the TAB on it, a shoe in.
This is one reason why we can’t attract foreign investment, no effective policing of the cowboys club. The SFO is a F’n joke just the way neo lib’s like it while they PPP up more incarceration capacity for the masses.
However foreign investors will line up for the family silverware such as MRP etc.
The questions in the poll said: “The Government Communications Securities Bureau the GCSB is responsible for defending New Zealand against an increasing number of cyber attacks, but it’s been caught up in controversy, including potentially illegal spying on 88 people including New Zealand citizens and residents. Can our GCSB spies be trusted to act in the best interests of New Zealanders?”
There is a load of bias in the lead up to the question. And the question should really be about the spy boss and the role of the PM in providing oversight, not the spy-workers who are most likely following orders or set parameters for their activities.
On Backbenches last week that horrible little turd Jamie Lee Ross once again repeated his favourite trite Thatcherism about how “the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money to spend”.
Apparently he’s too thick to notice that the slogan implies that the people who oppose socialism are the ones who want to spend other people’s money.
Repeating such pure cliché, is the sign of a very ill-informed individual, who was *selected* for his ability to bend over, and to repeat the messages he has been brainwashed into believing!
As felix points out, very thick, but a supporter of evil none the less!
Listening to the news this a.m. First Hanover – after lengthy examination there isn’t enough evidence to hang a criminal case on. Shouldn’t tricksters and negligent and deliberately ignorant businesspeople have a lifetime ban or near, on running any business that involves providing finance! They could open a garage and repair cars, or buy a property and farm, but keep them away from being directors or owners of any other company where they can carpet the floor with NZ’s venture capital and retirement savings.
And second. The politicians have been treated like businesses, limited liability entities. If they couldn’t just step out of the spotlight and into some well-paid job and vanish from sight, leaving their detritus behind them for the people, they might think twice. If John Key and his band of degenerates think they are going to open us up to deep water disasters and ruin our livelihoods for at least a generation, and get off scot-free they are mistaken. The passion that goes into opposing abortion by the febrile fervent, may be a small example of what will come.
‘Climate Collision Course: CO2 Levels About to Hit 400 PPM
In a first in human history, “it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400-ppm level without losing a beat.” ‘
‘Now we know that the Earth has shown a remarkable ability to regulate its temperature within a range conducive to Life, and that several natural carbon cycles have served as temperature regulators. When humans extract carbon from geologic reservoirs hundreds of millions of years old, dumping it into the surface reservoirs (especially the air), we are attacking the Earth’s metabolism.
There’s no known means of getting rid of the excess carbon we’ve already disgorged. The only secure way to sequester carbon is to leave it in the ground. Fossil fuel extraction must stop.’
‘The truth is, we are in terrible, terrible times on every front. Judge that however you wish, call me whatever, but we are in terrible times and they are going to get a lot worse. Climate change is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure. There is a growing number of credible people who are convinced, based on science, that we have very few years left on the planet. Maybe fewer than 10, and certainly no more than 35.
Global warming alone is sufficient to cause extinction of all life, and it is far worse than most people know because all our information is so filtered and politicized. We have triggered between 8 and 12 feedback loops that contribute to increased warming, depending on which expert you pay attention to. Living beings are dying, forests, the oceans, hundreds of species per day are going extinct, plants are dying, rivers are dying, aquifers are depleted, and the dying is going to get a lot bigger before it gets smaller. The things that are causing the dying, including the CO2, are increasing every year. Every year we put however much percentage again over last year’s amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. If we could stop right now, which is not possible, the earth would continue to warm because of the melting glaciers, ice caps and permafrost that have been triggered. The role in climate stability that the ice caps and ice sheets play is critical to understanding what is occurring and what will occur. ‘
The book—titled The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, written by David Stuckler, an Oxford University political economist, and Sanjay Basu, an epidemiologist at Stanford University—uses historical case studies from around the globe and throughout history to show “how government policy becomes a matter of life and death” during deep or prolonged financial crises.
‘Discovering that the cure to the financial crisis of 2008 was in some ways worse than the affliction, Stucklet and Basu argue that countries “turned their recessions into veritable epidemics” by championing austerity measures that ultimately “ruined or extinguished” thousands of lives in series of “misguided” attempts to balance budgets, appease financial markets, and bow to the economic elite.’
‘New Research: Economic Austerity in US and Europe ‘Is Killing People’
HIV/AIDS, malaria outbreaks, shortages of essential medicines, lost healthcare access, and an epidemic of drug abuse, depression and suicide.’
‘Citing examples from the historical and current record, Stuckler and Basu show that many countries have weathered financial and other crises by investing in public health and innovative social programs.
“Ultimately what we show is that worsening health is not an inevitable consequence of economic recessions. It’s a political choice,” said Professor Basu.’
A bankrupt and in huge debt to the US Socialist UK brought in the NHS and Unemployment benefits.
And more on the appointment of Susan Devoy as Race Relations Commissioner.
TVNZ sought more information on the appointment and ‘other applicants’ and – surprise, surprise – Devoy was not the only sports star considered for the role.
“Rugby legend Michael Jones and netballer Irene Van Dyk were both shortlisted for the position before it was given to Devoy earlier this year.
The revelation has prompted fresh questions over what qualifications are needed for the job. …
As I/S at NRT says
Like Devoy, its hard to see how either of these people could possibly have been regarded as qualified for the role. Their sole qualification seems to be fame (and in Jones’ case, his strong links with the National Party).
The Human Rights Commission is an important body and a vital watchdog in our society. It deserves better than National’s celebrity crony-appointments.
I was remembering Paul Henry’s sensitive comment about our Governor General with an Indian name not being a real New Zealander. Well Irene Van Dyk was South African wasn’t she, certainly not born and bred in our fair land. But rugby players know how to handle pesky racist name callers etc.
In Paul Henry’s world, white South Africans are real New Zealanders. Unless of course, they’re white South Africans who fought apartheid. I have no idea what van Dyk’s history is in that respect.
Michael Jones probably knows a bit more about race relations than many of the previous holders of the position – what with knowing the oppression first hand and such.
Yup and his religious beliefs caused him issues so he actually would’ve been OK IMO, but he’s too smart to sully his persona being Collins lapdog, Devoy on the other hand….
When is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to stand down John Banks as a Minister?
The John Banks Private Prosecution has been referred to the Solicitor General with a request that the Crown take over the prosecution and appear for the Informant when Banks is summonsed to appear in the Auckland District Court sometime in May or early June 2013.
“When is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to stand down John Banks as a Minister?”
When the ref sends him off, not before.
I’m looking forward to Banks’ day in court, the media scrums where he bleats on and on in his bully/shouty way about how he’s the victim as narcissists typically do. I’m looking forward to Banks doing the walk of shame out of court followed by yet another ‘I am standing tall’ speech. And I’m looking forward to John Key matter-of-factly announcing in the house that he is standing Banks down as a minister as if it’s just an other one of his ‘corrections’.
Also the John Key press conference afterwards where he acts like it’s just some technical thing between Banks and ‘the courts’, like it’s nothing to do with him anyway, like he’d rather talk about ‘jobs’, and like ackshully, he’s not bovvered about it.
The link provides a further link to the Judge’s decision to allow the case to go forward.
I had been meaning to read the decision in full and found it well worth reading in terms of how the Judge very fully dealt with the (weak IMO) arguments of Banks’ counsel seeking to have the case thrown out.
Looking forward to the next round. Referral to the Solicitor General leaves the SG and Key etc in a real conundrum!
Another sign that the honeymoon is over? I don’t usually read Travel pieces as my travel days are essentially over, but was drawn to read this one in the Herald by the title – “Why the PM’s wandering eye does matter”.
It’s none of our business if any old Minister of Tourism – or any old Prime Minister, for that matter – chooses to take his family holidays in Hawaii each year.
But when John Key chose to pick up the tourism portfolio he was making a marque declaration about the industry’s importance to New Zealand. Like David Lange baggsying the education portfolio back in the 1980s, this sends a powerful message – look Rest Of The World, this stuff is so important to us that the Prime Minister runs the shop … er, when he’s not tanning himself on Waikiki, of course.
…
When quizzed at last week’s Trenz tourism conference about taking his big holidays in Hawaii rather than in New Zealand, Key – who takes shorter breaks at his holiday home in Omaha – had a smart enough answer.
“The reason I go is not because I don’t love New Zealand. The reason I go is because if I truly want to have a couple of weeks where it’s just me and the family – given the other 50 weeks it’s seven days a week 360-odd days a year – I can’t do that in New Zealand because you can’t switch off being Prime Minster.”
Yep, a smart enough answer. A smarter one might have been to say, “You know what, funny you mention it, next summer we are staying in New Zealand.”
Go on, John, there are plenty of places a millionaire can hole up for a week or two of privacy in Nelson or Coromandel.
Key’s reply also suggests that the Hawaii holidays are only two weeks a year???? Cannot be bothered checking but IIRC, their summer breaks there are definitely longer than two weeks.
“Go on, John, there are plenty of places a millionaire can hole up for a week or two of privacy in Nelson or Coromandel”
or closer to home even, there is a big place in his own electorate that seems perfect to hide away unknown and unseen, worked for that german billionaire, JK never even knew he was there
In other STUFF news:
SFO will not be prosecuting Hotchins or Golden Boy *juxtaposed* against the jailing of the ‘dirty filthy’ for drug offences.
I was just thinking (and NOT that I’m an advocate for so called ‘dealers’): Which of the two has caused its victims greater long term damage – given that the Polis generally over-value drug hauls’ street value?
Oh yea – Eric Watshis name!
Just a thought. Let’s imagine for a moment that 100,000 Americans all up and off to some right wing state in the US, there they stole each others phones, three times, and all got locked away for life. How long would the three strikes law last under the weight of that many inmates. The reason why the right wing exists is they know that Americans no longer want to standup and be counted to defend their constitution. geez, like there aren’t 100,000 people jobless in the US.
the message is out, guess we all were wrong. looks like NZ is fine
funny how it does not mention 57 billion dollars of new debt and where oh where do they get the after tax wage increase of 22% since 2008. Aside from a couple of high-end ad guys I know of no-one whose pay jumped by a fifth.
Oh, please! the last thing Aucklanders need is Maurice Williamson being let loose on it. In such a case I will likely fast-forward my retirement out of Auckland. Enough is Enough!
I just saw Gerry Brownlee on TV3 explaining why the Government ill not do anything for Auckland’s transport intentions. He ruled out everything except increased rates.
Labour should focus on this. They need to designate someone, eg Phil Twyford as spokesperson for Auckland issues. This person should have no other obligations or roles. All they need to do is take care of Auckland issues, talk about Auckland issues and investigate Auckland issues. With a third of the country’s population in the area this person should, like Len Brown, just talk about Auckland.
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Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
by The Spark On September 14, a total of 22 drones and cruise missiles struck two oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field. Abqaiq is the largest oil production facility in the world. For a few days afterwards, Saudi Aramco, the Saudi national ...
How much will NeoLiberal irregulation of the building sector and subsequent leaky homes crisis cost us? $47 billion, according to a new book:The total cost to fix all of New Zealand's leaky homes would be $47 billion, probably. The estimate comes from a new book, Rottenomics written by journalist Peter ...
Below is the start of another excellent article on the Freer Lives blog. Click onto the link at the end of this extract to read the full article. The punch-a-terf, kill-a-terf message pervades social media, always righteously delivered, chin held high. By contrast, the dehumanised “terfs” themselves, that is gender-critical ...
The Reserve Bank is currently planning tighter banking regulation, requiring banks to hold enough local capital to survive a 1-in-200 year financial crisis in order to protect consumers. The big Aussies banks, those foreign leeches who suck $5 billion in profit out of our economy every year, don't like that, ...
Its the usual story: a police officer beats a handcuffed suspect so hard they break one of their own fingers. The IPCA investigates and concludes that the use of force was unlawful. And the police refuse to do anything about it:A man punched repeatedly in the face by a police ...
From time to time we add links to our blogroll. The latest blog we have added is Freer Lives. This is a Marxist gender-critical blog, based in Melbourne, Australia. On it you will find a bunch of excellent articles which use the tools of Marxist analysis to critique the rise ...
Last Friday say the largest protest in a generation, as 170,000 people joined the school strike and marched to demand real action on climate change. The demands of the school strike were simple and clear: declare a climate emergency, set a climate target of net-zero by 2040, impose a total ...
Labour is a rather middle of the road capitalist party and earlier this year we discussed how far from being ‘transformative’, Ardern’s government is. An article published this week in the Guardian, by Bryce Edwards (political scientist and commentator at Victoria University), looks at Ardern’s business as usual performance. Where ...
In the hours since my last interminable wittering about the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain, there has been a slight maybe development:A Corbyn-led caretaker government could then sit for several months while it enacted and delivered a referendum with the support of smaller parties and ...
Jeremy Clarkson says much like Greta Thunberg, Anne Frank “didn’t like what was going on”, but “she didn’t have a tantrum about it.” Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has offered praise to historical figure Anne Frank, comparing her favourably to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who he attacked in ...
Press release by Speak Up For Women Lesbians from women’s rights group Speak Up For Women are furious at reports that Rainbow Tick are threatening Massey University with the removal of their ‘tick’ if they let the group’s event go ahead. The group has been under attack from trans ...
By Duncan Garner Before you jump down my throat, nobody cares about the environment more than me. I have a garden, and since my wife and I broke up, I’ve let it grow wildly out of control, so please don’t tell me I’m not doing enough for plants. They’re ten ...
Local government elections are upon us again. It is a fair bet that, when they are over, we will have all the usual complaints that, despite their undoubted importance, the turnout was depressingly low. So, why do local elections attract so little attention and involvement from the general public? I ...
Yesterday the High Court released its decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited, on the (alleged) decision by the Auckland Council and Mayor Phil Goff to deny use of a public venue to a pair of visiting nazi grifters. Based on the information available back then, I said that ...
Image credit:45 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Blog I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. ...
So, more on the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) in Britain.Two things, first. The numbers in parliament make things very difficult. And anyone who is saying X will happen or Y is impossible is spinning. We can not tell and will not know until votes are actually ...
The government is promising tough action against climate change via the Zero Carbon Bill and a strengthened ETS. Meanwhile, the Overseas investment Office is granting foreign coal companies permission to expand coal mining:Coal Action Network Aotearoa has slammed a decision by the Overseas Investment Office to allow Bathurst Coal to ...
Don't You Dare Let Them Down, Jacinda! Many New Zealanders, especially young New Zealanders, continue to believe that change – real change – is possible. Do we have criticisms about the way in which Jacinda’s government has gone about “transforming” New Zealand? Of course we do. But the very fact ...
. . With some historical and present context, it should become readily apparent to Pakeha that the occupation at Ihumātao is not a free-for-all conflict for any and everyone to become involved in. First, some important dates: . 1840 . The year in which the Treaty of Waitingi was signed. ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said he was "immensely disappointed" at the withdrawal of the Jetstar airline from regional routes. He has also warned national carrier Air New Zealand not to capitalise on the Australian budget airline’s decision by “gouging” regional air travellers. "Air New Zealand has historically challenged ...
International credit ratings agency Moody's gave a glowing assessment of New Zealand’s economy in its latest report, which ranks the country’s economic strength as "very high" while saying growth remains "robust". The report says it's expected New Zealand's economy will grow between 2.5 and 3 percent in the next few ...
The Coalition Government is allocating nearly $6 million to a campaign to stop Australian beekeepers marketing their products as "mānuka" honey. This move comes after Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones accused Australian honey producers of trying to steal what was indigenous to New Zealand. "The Aussies are trying to ...
The Provincial Growth Fund has provided $400,000 to Great South to help the agency drive Southland's regional economic development aspirations. The funding will allow Great South, which is Southland's economic development agency, to appoint a portfolio manager and a project support adviser, who will provide project management expertise and support ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The One Billion Trees Fund has just hit two significant milestones that will create more than 7,500 hectares of new forest cover, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Speaking at a celebratory dinner at Parliament to mark 100 years of the New Zealand Forestry Service, Minister ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today welcomed the NZ Transport Agency’s decision to fund urgent safety improvements and confirm the designation of the Ōtaki to North of Levin highway. Safety upgrades will be made along 23.4km of the existing state highway, running along SH1 from the end of the Peka Peka ...
New Zealand playing its part in Asia-Pacific and globally are behind changes announced today to the Coalition Government’s three year refugee quota policy, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “We are proud to be a welcoming and inclusive nation committed to supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people to rebuild ...
One of the important parameters of the agreement’s aims was to ensure there was no threat to food production from the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. ...
A monument to Winston Peters and Think Big projects would both boost the economy, but Argentina learned the hard way they can also impoverish a nation, writes Tony Burton.Everyone who loves New Zealand should visit Argentina. There are more similarities than you might think – large areas of wild natural ...
The Salvation Army foodbank in Waitakere ran out of food last week; an indication of the strain many New Zealand whanau are under as they struggle to afford the cost of living. Wednesday, October 16 is World Food Day, and as demand for services offered ...
Phil Goff was re-elected by a huge margin on Saturday. How will he put that mandate to use this term? Hayden Donnell asks the questions.Phil Goff is once again Auckland’s mayor. Preliminary local election results show him with a lead of nearly 100,000 votes over his nearest challenger, John Tamihere. ...
Catherine Bindon from Ban the Boom has created these colourful and positive posters for you to use to show you don't support the use of fireworks in your neighbourhood over the next few weeks distressing our animals and birds. ...
On Tuesday morning the Operation Burnham inquiry hearing resumed after it was suspended three weeks ago. The hearing is being held at Royal Society of New Zealand, 11 Turnbull St, Thorndon, Wellington on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland It’s not uncommon for science and religion to be framed as two opposing forces. The Catholic church has famously struggled to accommodate scientific research in its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cat Pausé, Senior Lecturer in Human Development, Massey University The British Psychological Society is calling for changes for how we talk about fatness, suggesting we should no longer use the phrase “obese people”, but instead, “people with obesity” or “people living with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University The federal government’s much-vaunted Snowy Hydro expansion is supposed to smooth out the bumps in electricity supply as Australia transitions to renewables. But not only is the project a bad deal for taxpayers, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By María Yanotti, Lecturer of Economics and Finance Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania The housing market is moving again. In the past month, national prices have climbed 0.9%. What matters most to buyers (and especially to investors), along with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne It seems appropriate that a painting titled Feng Shui dominates the new exhibition of Guan Wei’s work ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Matthews, Lecturer in Digital Media and Popular Culture Researcher, Auckland University of Technology According to a recent study, the sixth leading cause of death for young men in the United States is the warranted and unwarranted use of police force. With ...
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Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A pair of polls put pressure on the Labour Party, a wild night of weather in the North Island, and Shane Jones snapped brandishing a semi-automatic.Parliament resumes today after a fortnight recess, and MPs were given a welcome-back present in ...
Mandy Hager, the newly elected head of the New Zealand Society of Authors, is lobbying the government to improve the lot of writers - to no avail, despite the Prime Minister's championing of the arts. ...
Given the vast impacts that poor diet have had on global health, a deficit in nutrition education in medicine represents a big problem, writes Dr Jennifer Crowley. ...
Any time Olympian Luuka Jones needs advice or encouragement in her pursuit of more canoe slalom success, she doesn’t have to look far. Jones’ coach, Campbell Walsh, is also her partner. ...
Competition for the rights to broadcast sports matches involving NZ’s top teams has produced a bonanza for the sporting bodies, forcing media companies to be a lot more innovative. ...
The Wellington suburb’s successful opposition to a proposed Bottle-O shows how the system is biased towards communities with the organisation, capacity and resources to protest effectively, says Jenesa Jeram.For those unfamiliar with Wellington geography, Khandallah is a Very Nice place to live (Aucklanders: think Remuera). So when it was reported ...
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Dr Bryce EdwardsThe results of the local government elections appear to show that New Zealanders are generally supportive of a more diverse range of representatives, having voted in greater numbers for candidates from traditionally under-represented groups. The elections have therefore modernised our councils in a small but very significant ...
The Inquiry has today published Minute No 21. This Minute sets out how the Inquiry intends to proceed given that the Attorney-General the Hon David Parker has agreed to extend the Inquiry’s reporting date by three months to 31 March 2020. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Skrzypiec, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University Many Australian students don’t know the difference between banter and bullying, with some saying they joke about wishing their friend would “drown” or “die in a car crash”. More than 800 Australian students aged 11-16 took ...
But he did play a crucial role in helping journeyman Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and ...
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown speaks to Ben Reid, executive director of the AI Forum, about the role of government in embracing and regulating AI.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Henry Cooke (Stuff): How to lose an election: Over-promise or under-deliver Simon Collins ...
By RNZ Pacific A Solomon Islands province has agreed to lease a large island to a Chinese developer to develop into a special economic zone, weeks after the country opened diplomatic ties with China. But already cracks abound; there has been no official announcement and the provincial premier says the ...
The New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones is still backing the firearms ban, despite being pictured with what appears to be an AR-15 semi-automatic while holidaying in Asia. ...
Everyone needs to be concerned about the draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development that the Ministry for the Environment has released. It is incompatible with the spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. ...
Prodigal Son is a new crime procedural coming hot and fresh to TVNZ 1 on Mondays at 8.30pm.Jean Sergent has a few reasons why you should be watching it. If you like serial killer shows, Michael Sheen, dark drama, Michael Sheen, twisted family dynamics, or Michael Sheen – strap yourself ...
Voters in the 2019 local elections have elected the largest number of new mayors in 30 years, with 26 candidates set to don mayoral chains for the first time later this month. ...
A team of investigators dedicated to stamping out violent extremism online is being set up with the government announcing $17 million in funding over four years. ...
In a major boost to efforts to counter violent extremism on the internet, the Government has promised $17m over four years to the Censorship Compliance Unit. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is recommending members hold on to potentially illegal shotgun shells containing steel shot until the law banning certain types of ammunition is clarified. ...
The final dinner party on Married at First Sight NZ brought an ugly misogyny to light. But it was far from the first time sexism reared its head this season, writes Alex Casey.It began with a man being edited out of the show after his domestic violence charges came to ...
New collaborative gifting platform Joyable is looking to shake up how we group-purchase gifts. Co-founders (and sisters) Rochelle Sheldon and Kimberley Crossman explain how their latest venture works. Joyable (not to be confused with the social anxiety-reducing app of the same name) is a somewhat left-field move for co-founder Rochelle ...
The extraordinary battle for the Tron has ended in a way no one quite saw coming, with the city relinquishing its stranglehold on the title of New Zealand’s most embarrassing council. Angela Cuming reports.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a ...
On the eve of the announcement of the winner of the 2019 Booker prize, Spinoff books editor Catherine Woulfe outs herself as a giant know-nothing. Booker time. Tomorrow morning I will sit there refreshing Twitter like the drinking bird on The Simpsons. A winner will be announced. And I’ll be gripped ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Melbourne There’s an old maxim: not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. But there are some things we should count, and gender and sexual diversity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Pollock, Climatologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Northern Australia is likely to see fewer cyclones than usual this season, but hot, dry weather will increase the risk of fire and heatwaves across eastern and southern Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology today released ...
We are in The Good Time for avocados. Alex Casey talked to an expert on how to make the most of it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time when a new avocado headline is published somewhere in New Zealandeverysingleday. A time when it is ...
Sexual harassment and assault are an issue in all walks of life, but addressing the problem is particularly difficult when the perpetrator holds public office. Today campaigner Carrie Buckmaster launches a parliamentary petition calling for more transparency on the issue.The ongoing Labour Party scandal around handling of sexual harassment allegations ...
Dunedin’s new mayor Aaron Hawkins is the first official Green Party mayor in NZ and, arguably, the first to represent the city’s student population as much as its older residents. Josie Adams, who guessed he would win, asked him ten questions about his win.The Spinoff local election ...
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (F&P) has upgraded its full year guidance again after gaining the right to sell its new full face mask in the United States. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Shadow foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia needs to “define the boundaries” of its engagement with China now the relationship between the two countries is in a new phase. Focusing on China policy in a ...
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With the government recently announcing a desire to help our cities grow up and out, leading New Zealand IoT expert Kriv Naicker today questioned whether New Zealand is falling behind in the use of smart city technology to help achieve this goal. ...
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Open mike 30/04/2013 
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A very good post on the Green Party website by Meteiria Turei condemning the government for pimping out our beautiful coastal environment to the highest bidder.
http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/govt-exposing-auckland-dangers-deep-sea-drilling
But doesn’t the Labour Party as well as the National Party in Government currently also support deep sea oil drilling and exploration?
Could this be the deal breaker for a Labour/Green coalition government?
To have any meaning words need to be backed up with actions.
The Green Party if they choose, could stop deep sea oil drilling now.
A united opposition stand in parliament against deep sea oil exploration and drilling would have the effect of killing off the oil company investors enthusiasm to take up the current government’s offer.
This is the time for the Green Party to put in a serious real world effort to win the Labour Party over to oppose deep sea oil drilling.
To back up her words Meteiria Turei needs to take immediate action in the house, with a Green Party private member’s bill calling for a moratorium on all deep sea oil and gas drilling. And seriously lobby the Labour Party to back it.
This needs to be dealt with now. Not in the closed, heated, hot house environment of rushed coalition talks held behind closed doors following an election.
If the Green Party Bill is drawn from the ballot and the Labour Party refuse to support it and instead choose to stand with the Nats, instead of their future coalition partner, then the respective parties will know where they all stand, and will be able to make their future coalition decisions based on that.
Likewise the voting public will know where to place an informed vote, instead of being kept in the dark and crossing their fingers as they vote, hoping that it works out.
If on the other hand……
The Labour Party do agree to back the Green Party private members bill to turn it into an opposition members bill to banish deep sea oil drilling from our economic zone then this as well as driving investors off, would set the strong foundations for a principled coalition that will stand the test of time.
Mark my words
For the Green Party to ignore this major policy difference between the two major opposition parties at this time and place and leave it for later, will be a major tactical error that will see Turiana’s good words being turned into empty rhetoric in the name of pragmatism and under the pressure of “real politik”, to be left on the cutting room floor, during future coalition talks, to the disappointment of Green Party members and supporters.
Nobody can say it hasn’t happened before.
Trouble about the jobs burble. They are temporary construction stuff and when done they are gone and the new ones arising are fewer and may not be available to locals, but the often tenuous economy of the surrounding towns has changed and life is more difficult, houses dearer etc and still not many jobs.
So Auckland Council wants to consult with Aucklanders about our transport future. There is a significant funding hole if all important projects are proceeded with.
There needs to be a debate about how these projects are funded and it is proper to put the evidence in front of the people and ask them for their view.
So what does the Government do? It effectively sabotages the consultation on day one by ruling out most of the possible funding mechanisms.
Why can’t it wait for the evidence to be properly analysed and for the people to speak? What is it afraid of?
What is it afraid of? My guess would be, reality
Sometimes I am so glad I live in Levin, No traffic Jams, (No Car) cheap rents, can get everywhere by bike. Yep no jobs I know, also no 2 hour stress fest morning and night either.
and we have Te Takere !
but yeah, the dearth of employment opportunities is a growing concern
But it’s also way safer to bring up my 2 year old, very few cars. But I do know one thing my Blood pressure has gone down since I left the Capital, and it’s rat race. But my littley does keep it bouncing now he can climb.
It’s a damn site better than what was offered before and all under the same roof. and it will be good when it’s all finished. Oh well I seem to work when Labour is in power, and am on the dole when the Nats get in, and fuck up the economy again.
Yes David H. We too in Marlborough have all those that you have (but so far we have only roundabouts- no traffic lights where you have 2 sets.) I am bemused that so many people choose to live in big cities! They seem to have so much against making their lives enjoyable. I don’t get it.
Some of us were born in cities, and have our roots there. It’s also where the jobs are. There are also many other exciting benefits to living in cities, if they were organised for the benefit of all, and not dominated by the wealthiest of the propertied classes.
I know Carol being born and bred London style. Now that’s a city. I used to go on the train from Deptford to new Cross and then
Hah! Worked and studied in that area back in the 80s and early 90s – cycled many times between Newcross, Walthamstow and Stockwell – sometimes doing a whole round trip to those areas on the same day, and into the evening. Cycling seemed relatively safe back then too.
I know being London born and bred. Now there’s a city full of history, I used to go to all the Museums (Not fussed on the stately homes) Growing up in South east London in the 60’s was fun working down the Markets at Deptford. I think we got out at the right time 1969.
“I think we got out at the right time 1969.”
You did. What happened next wasn’t pretty.
Well Karol I was born in Sydenham in a hovel owned bybthe Duke of Westminster ,
We were hard up,but happy Then along came Hitler who seemed to have grudge for me bombing us out three times . 3 new places in 6 years finished up in a flat above The shops in Lordship Lane in Dulwich , Then served my apprenticeship in Newmarket . later on moved to Epsom and courted my wife who lived in the East End by biking from Epsom 3 or 4 nights a week . Married and lived in the country ever since ,60m years inFeb.
Used to stop for pie at a pie stall in New Cross on the way back .
Were you born within the sound of Bow Bells Pink Postman? My father was… although his family shifted soon afterwards. He loved telling Kiwis he was a Cockney even though he had no Cockney accent. As a child I never tired of listening to the stories and songs of old London. Seen the Julie Andrews film ‘Mary Poppins’ half a dozen times.
Damn, you’ve seen some changes, TPP. Epsom to the East End is a long commute by bike.
I remember hearing some of the Blitz stories when I lived in London. 60 years married! Congratulations – a full, productive and interesting life so far.
Hi Pink Postman Like to hear others tales about where they come from. You mentioned New Cross I used to go to New Cross as that was where Millwall had there football ground. Great childhood days prior to the Thatcher shit with a lot of care by the so called “lower” classes. I remember as a kid the grown ups putting their hands on the wall of the exit stairs forming a tunnel so all us kids could get out safely. just like today eh. I think it would do good for some of these right wing prats to live in that type of community, it might teach them that there is more to life than screwing everybody for a dollar.
And the Winkle stall, with the Jellied eels, and Pie and Mushy Peas. Ahhh theMemories
My stepfather ran the Centurian public house in Deptford, A 3 story edifice Well to a 11 year old it was, with lots of rooms to play in, and the roof to sit, and get soaked in the Thunderstorms.
Centurian Pub – closed 2004.
But I have found that Roundabouts can be more hazardous to your health, than Traffic lights, especially when on a bike.
David H
Your remark about roundabouts triggered a thought I’ve had for a while. Courtesy on the roads – could be a great facilitator for better conditions and less accidents.
And one thing would be that at roundabouts a driver should slow a little say 10km or change down, which gives time for other traffic to enter or pass safely. The extra seconds provided by just a more deliberate approach to a roundabout, give way etc. would allow other traffic to go. Instead people often maintain a 50 kmh speed up to and through, and hardly seem aware of others around them. Get them up in a high 4WD and they’re like royalty in a world of their own.
In my experience the practices of (mainly Auckland) drivers are puzzling. When there are road works, with signs showing the stretch of road has a 30 or 40 kph speed limit, I seem to be one of the few drivers that actually slow down. And I usually feel pressured by other drivers to go faster.
Usually there are clear reasons why there is a temporarily low speed limit – workers working near to the stream of traffic, uneven road surface, narrowed road with little space for diverging in case of a collision, etc.
Ditto for people slowing down when approaching a pedestrian crossing. Some drivers seem to have no respect for anyone else, just an attitude of getting to their destination as fast as possible. Why the constant need for so much haste?
“More haste, less speed”.
I thought I was the only one who actually slows down to 30.
Pisses me right off seeing people ignore those signs. I don’t mind that they aren’t concerned for their own safety, but they could give a thought to the people working within feet of their hurtling block of steel.
Kasrol
Unfortunately that is the world today. Get out of my fucking way, you are stopping me from making or getting a another dollar.
[lprent: I think that I can help. Would you like to not be able to comment here? That would give you the time.
You really are a dickshit – do something that is more than stupid trolling. Or leave one way or another. ]
Karol
My apologies for spelling your name wrong. My arthritis does not get my fingers on the right keys at times, and I find this site a shit to edit.
Regards
I think halfcrown was echoing a current zeitgeist which he doesn’t agree with – being sarc/satirical.
karol
Is the behaviour we mostly display as drivers an indication of national character? Some people are unwilling to limit or control themselves for their, and others, safety.
That can be applied to more situations than that of driving too.
Drivers seem to be very self-centred – who lifts a hand for a thank-you gesture to a car that makes way for you when not legally obliged, who gives a couple of short toots to a large vehicle that moves over to let you past etc. I usually do, but don’t notice many others though it used to be common in my younger days. (I’m probably thinking prior to 1984 when we were sprayed and saturated with the propaganda of – ‘There is no such thing as society.’)
“a driver should slow a little say 10km” It’s not Rocket Science is it? And when I drove I always slowed down because of the danger.
CHH may be looking for temps, if its any help. It’s not the busy season yet, but they do have a regular turnover in the casual pool. Reasonably well paid, unionised site. They use the temp pool to assess whether to hire workers as permanents, so it might be a foot in the door for you or other family members who are looking for a long term job.
And if you can ever get a start at Graphic Press, you’ve won the job lottery! One of the most amazing worksites I’ve ever been in, with a genuine commitment to profit sharing and total respect for their workers. Lovely place.
Levana … not so much!
Thanks for that TRP will make a few inquiries.
I guess that CHH means Carter Holt Harvey?
30G is just stingy, the rent seeker in our elites just can’t seem to understand, their greed is a corruption of our economic health, and we’d all be richer should they remove the private tax shackles evident in all areas of our economy. In order for them to get rich, they need to leverage their existing capital to multipliers of what is sensible, and to maintain their solvency they need mum and dad nz to pay the interest on the debt. Its wrong, its extortion, its bad economics.
Broadband will open up small town NZ with huge opportunities to have the lifestyle and the means to sustain it. Well it would if the rent seekers weren’t so stingy with 30G a month.
Thanks, micky. I have been thinking of doing another Auckland post, particularly on how the NZ herald is blatantly opposed to the Auckland Unitary Plan. Just too many things happening right now.
But the Auckland Transport Blog has done some very good posts on the NZ Herald’s blatant bias against the AUP and the City Central Rail Loop – so many NZH articles opposed to the AUP that it is looking like a concerted campaign.
It is interesting Karol that out west the Unitary Plan is not raising anything like the sort of opposition that central and north Auckland is showing.
I believe it is because locally we have been talking about intensification around Henderson and New Lynn and in a smaller way around Glen Eden for the past decade as well as at the same time trying to preserve the Waitakere Ranges by holding the MUL in place. The area is already developing the way that the rest of the city will hopefully.
The alternative of uncontrolled urban sprawl is too awful to comprehend. You just have to think about the problems associated with uncontrolled sprawl with a lack of community infrastructure to realise how stupid this is.
We should have learned about this from suburbs such as Kelston, Otara, Managere, Flat Bush, Birkdale etc where they basically plonked a whole lot of houses in with no cultural centre. These areas are full of good people but they are handicapped because they are just a collection of roads and houses and have not social centre.
Surely we should have learned from the experience.
Why does there need to be a debate – Just issue the funds required, at close to zero %, for the key transport programmes to go ahead, get it done!
This continued nonsense of *manufactured scarcity*, and having to
raisesteal the funds, by borrowing and/or picking the pokets of Aucklanders, even further!Only debate needs to be , which projects to get moving first!
MS – which funding options has it ruled out?
The Wellington mandarin’s and the Agri lobby block do not want Auckland to have an dffective tax raising power. And they collectively manipulate Smith et al.
Why stop Auckland have an effective tax base and control over its destiny?
It looks like it will be controlled by leftish people for the foreseeable future.
It is not controlled by big business.
It owes no allegiances to the primary industries sector.
A handy resource for battling the privatisation of Education in New Zealand, and other issues of course http://saveourschoolsnz.wordpress.com/do-something/
Pissed off the Parekura isn’t given as much attention on the front page of Stuff as the Jamie’s World child.
Or the Hanover Thieves getting away with it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8610994/No-SFO-charges-over-Hanover
Yup, scot free for Hotchin/Watson etc not even any corporate breach charges on care of duty issues against boys club members like Muir. Wish I could’ve laid odds at the TAB on it, a shoe in.
This is one reason why we can’t attract foreign investment, no effective policing of the cowboys club. The SFO is a F’n joke just the way neo lib’s like it while they PPP up more incarceration capacity for the masses.
However foreign investors will line up for the family silverware such as MRP etc.
TV3 Reid poll – wrong & poorly constructed question.
There is a load of bias in the lead up to the question. And the question should really be about the spy boss and the role of the PM in providing oversight, not the spy-workers who are most likely following orders or set parameters for their activities.
On Backbenches last week that horrible little turd Jamie Lee Ross once again repeated his favourite trite Thatcherism about how “the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money to spend”.
Apparently he’s too thick to notice that the slogan implies that the people who oppose socialism are the ones who want to spend other people’s money.
Thatcher: evil and thick. Jamie: just thick.
“the problem with capitalism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money to steal”
too true!
Repeating such pure cliché, is the sign of a very ill-informed individual, who was *selected* for his ability to bend over, and to repeat the messages he has been brainwashed into believing!
As felix points out, very thick, but a supporter of evil none the less!
Listening to the news this a.m. First Hanover – after lengthy examination there isn’t enough evidence to hang a criminal case on. Shouldn’t tricksters and negligent and deliberately ignorant businesspeople have a lifetime ban or near, on running any business that involves providing finance! They could open a garage and repair cars, or buy a property and farm, but keep them away from being directors or owners of any other company where they can carpet the floor with NZ’s venture capital and retirement savings.
And second. The politicians have been treated like businesses, limited liability entities. If they couldn’t just step out of the spotlight and into some well-paid job and vanish from sight, leaving their detritus behind them for the people, they might think twice. If John Key and his band of degenerates think they are going to open us up to deep water disasters and ruin our livelihoods for at least a generation, and get off scot-free they are mistaken. The passion that goes into opposing abortion by the febrile fervent, may be a small example of what will come.
‘Climate Collision Course: CO2 Levels About to Hit 400 PPM
In a first in human history, “it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400-ppm level without losing a beat.” ‘
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/29-2
‘Now we know that the Earth has shown a remarkable ability to regulate its temperature within a range conducive to Life, and that several natural carbon cycles have served as temperature regulators. When humans extract carbon from geologic reservoirs hundreds of millions of years old, dumping it into the surface reservoirs (especially the air), we are attacking the Earth’s metabolism.
There’s no known means of getting rid of the excess carbon we’ve already disgorged. The only secure way to sequester carbon is to leave it in the ground. Fossil fuel extraction must stop.’
‘The truth is, we are in terrible, terrible times on every front. Judge that however you wish, call me whatever, but we are in terrible times and they are going to get a lot worse. Climate change is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure. There is a growing number of credible people who are convinced, based on science, that we have very few years left on the planet. Maybe fewer than 10, and certainly no more than 35.
Global warming alone is sufficient to cause extinction of all life, and it is far worse than most people know because all our information is so filtered and politicized. We have triggered between 8 and 12 feedback loops that contribute to increased warming, depending on which expert you pay attention to. Living beings are dying, forests, the oceans, hundreds of species per day are going extinct, plants are dying, rivers are dying, aquifers are depleted, and the dying is going to get a lot bigger before it gets smaller. The things that are causing the dying, including the CO2, are increasing every year. Every year we put however much percentage again over last year’s amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. If we could stop right now, which is not possible, the earth would continue to warm because of the melting glaciers, ice caps and permafrost that have been triggered. The role in climate stability that the ice caps and ice sheets play is critical to understanding what is occurring and what will occur. ‘
The book—titled The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, written by David Stuckler, an Oxford University political economist, and Sanjay Basu, an epidemiologist at Stanford University—uses historical case studies from around the globe and throughout history to show “how government policy becomes a matter of life and death” during deep or prolonged financial crises.
‘Discovering that the cure to the financial crisis of 2008 was in some ways worse than the affliction, Stucklet and Basu argue that countries “turned their recessions into veritable epidemics” by championing austerity measures that ultimately “ruined or extinguished” thousands of lives in series of “misguided” attempts to balance budgets, appease financial markets, and bow to the economic elite.’
‘New Research: Economic Austerity in US and Europe ‘Is Killing People’
HIV/AIDS, malaria outbreaks, shortages of essential medicines, lost healthcare access, and an epidemic of drug abuse, depression and suicide.’
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/29-1
‘Citing examples from the historical and current record, Stuckler and Basu show that many countries have weathered financial and other crises by investing in public health and innovative social programs.
“Ultimately what we show is that worsening health is not an inevitable consequence of economic recessions. It’s a political choice,” said Professor Basu.’
A bankrupt and in huge debt to the US Socialist UK brought in the NHS and Unemployment benefits.
And more on the appointment of Susan Devoy as Race Relations Commissioner.
TVNZ sought more information on the appointment and ‘other applicants’ and – surprise, surprise – Devoy was not the only sports star considered for the role.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/sports-stars-shortlisted-race-relations-top-job-5422082
“Rugby legend Michael Jones and netballer Irene Van Dyk were both shortlisted for the position before it was given to Devoy earlier this year.
The revelation has prompted fresh questions over what qualifications are needed for the job. …
As I/S at NRT says
Like Devoy, its hard to see how either of these people could possibly have been regarded as qualified for the role. Their sole qualification seems to be fame (and in Jones’ case, his strong links with the National Party).
The Human Rights Commission is an important body and a vital watchdog in our society. It deserves better than National’s celebrity crony-appointments.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2013/04/nationals-celebrity-cronyism.html
What a joke. On us.
File under: ‘Contempt For Democracy.’
I was remembering Paul Henry’s sensitive comment about our Governor General with an Indian name not being a real New Zealander. Well Irene Van Dyk was South African wasn’t she, certainly not born and bred in our fair land. But rugby players know how to handle pesky racist name callers etc.
In Paul Henry’s world, white South Africans are real New Zealanders. Unless of course, they’re white South Africans who fought apartheid. I have no idea what van Dyk’s history is in that respect.
Michael Jones probably knows a bit more about race relations than many of the previous holders of the position – what with knowing the oppression first hand and such.
Yup and his religious beliefs caused him issues so he actually would’ve been OK IMO, but he’s too smart to sully his persona being Collins lapdog, Devoy on the other hand….
As recent history shows, that’s a completely incidental consideration.
Collins confuses “probably being good at running a race” with “being good at running Race Relations commission”?
At least Jones seemed aware that he was not the right crony for this job.
When is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to stand down John Banks as a Minister?
The John Banks Private Prosecution has been referred to the Solicitor General with a request that the Crown take over the prosecution and appear for the Informant when Banks is summonsed to appear in the Auckland District Court sometime in May or early June 2013.
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com/uncategorized/john-banks-prosecution-referred-to-solicitor-general/
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation campaigner’
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
“When is NZ Prime Minister John Key going to stand down John Banks as a Minister?”
When the ref sends him off, not before.
I’m looking forward to Banks’ day in court, the media scrums where he bleats on and on in his bully/shouty way about how he’s the victim as narcissists typically do. I’m looking forward to Banks doing the walk of shame out of court followed by yet another ‘I am standing tall’ speech. And I’m looking forward to John Key matter-of-factly announcing in the house that he is standing Banks down as a minister as if it’s just an other one of his ‘corrections’.
Also the John Key press conference afterwards where he acts like it’s just some technical thing between Banks and ‘the courts’, like it’s nothing to do with him anyway, like he’d rather talk about ‘jobs’, and like ackshully, he’s not bovvered about it.
The government is trying to run the country on a knife-edge!
And the legs are slipping one slip too far and snjiick off they go.
Such an accurate painting of the totality of Shonkey Python there EM.
Bloody tragic isn’t it ? “That” is our Prime Minister.
Word of warning. I wouldn’t hold my breath over Botox Banks. Shonkey’s spooned with that boy. Would take a very sharp knife !
Thanks for the news and link, Penny.
The link provides a further link to the Judge’s decision to allow the case to go forward.
I had been meaning to read the decision in full and found it well worth reading in terms of how the Judge very fully dealt with the (weak IMO) arguments of Banks’ counsel seeking to have the case thrown out.
Looking forward to the next round. Referral to the Solicitor General leaves the SG and Key etc in a real conundrum!
Another sign that the honeymoon is over? I don’t usually read Travel pieces as my travel days are essentially over, but was drawn to read this one in the Herald by the title – “Why the PM’s wandering eye does matter”.
It’s none of our business if any old Minister of Tourism – or any old Prime Minister, for that matter – chooses to take his family holidays in Hawaii each year.
But when John Key chose to pick up the tourism portfolio he was making a marque declaration about the industry’s importance to New Zealand. Like David Lange baggsying the education portfolio back in the 1980s, this sends a powerful message – look Rest Of The World, this stuff is so important to us that the Prime Minister runs the shop … er, when he’s not tanning himself on Waikiki, of course.
…
When quizzed at last week’s Trenz tourism conference about taking his big holidays in Hawaii rather than in New Zealand, Key – who takes shorter breaks at his holiday home in Omaha – had a smart enough answer.
“The reason I go is not because I don’t love New Zealand. The reason I go is because if I truly want to have a couple of weeks where it’s just me and the family – given the other 50 weeks it’s seven days a week 360-odd days a year – I can’t do that in New Zealand because you can’t switch off being Prime Minster.”
Yep, a smart enough answer. A smarter one might have been to say, “You know what, funny you mention it, next summer we are staying in New Zealand.”
Go on, John, there are plenty of places a millionaire can hole up for a week or two of privacy in Nelson or Coromandel.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10880426
Key’s reply also suggests that the Hawaii holidays are only two weeks a year???? Cannot be bothered checking but IIRC, their summer breaks there are definitely longer than two weeks.
Key probably works ~40 weeks a year. Hard work, sure, but it’s not 50.
“Go on, John, there are plenty of places a millionaire can hole up for a week or two of privacy in Nelson or Coromandel”
or closer to home even, there is a big place in his own electorate that seems perfect to hide away unknown and unseen, worked for that german billionaire, JK never even knew he was there
LOL!
Somehow I don’t think Key would be welcome there from reading KDC’s twitters.
In other STUFF news:
SFO will not be prosecuting Hotchins or Golden Boy *juxtaposed* against the jailing of the ‘dirty filthy’ for drug offences.
I was just thinking (and NOT that I’m an advocate for so called ‘dealers’): Which of the two has caused its victims greater long term damage – given that the Polis generally over-value drug hauls’ street value?
Oh yea – Eric Watshis name!
Just a thought. Let’s imagine for a moment that 100,000 Americans all up and off to some right wing state in the US, there they stole each others phones, three times, and all got locked away for life. How long would the three strikes law last under the weight of that many inmates. The reason why the right wing exists is they know that Americans no longer want to standup and be counted to defend their constitution. geez, like there aren’t 100,000 people jobless in the US.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/397854_10151631553985429_867186158_n.jpg
the message is out, guess we all were wrong. looks like NZ is fine
funny how it does not mention 57 billion dollars of new debt and where oh where do they get the after tax wage increase of 22% since 2008. Aside from a couple of high-end ad guys I know of no-one whose pay jumped by a fifth.
Looks like National’s low pay policies and teacher cuts are already biting them in the bum.
That’s English pulling his bullshit “after tax” wages figure, which after the tax cuts to the wealthy did leap ahead.
Oh, please! the last thing Aucklanders need is Maurice Williamson being let loose on it. In such a case I will likely fast-forward my retirement out of Auckland. Enough is Enough!
I just saw Gerry Brownlee on TV3 explaining why the Government ill not do anything for Auckland’s transport intentions. He ruled out everything except increased rates.
Labour should focus on this. They need to designate someone, eg Phil Twyford as spokesperson for Auckland issues. This person should have no other obligations or roles. All they need to do is take care of Auckland issues, talk about Auckland issues and investigate Auckland issues. With a third of the country’s population in the area this person should, like Len Brown, just talk about Auckland.