Pretty tough one first up – the more we work through this stuff the better we will all be. Moana Jackson lays it out very well
… In this particular case, the Crown’s refusal to publicly inquire into the abuse in its own institutions is consistent with a long-held misperception about its power, and the nature and consequences of colonisation within which it was assumed.
For, while people express shock over the removal of Aboriginal children from their families in Australia, and abhor the residential schools set up to “kill the Indian in order to save the child” in Canada and the United States, there is an almost smug belief that such abuse never happened here.
Indeed, there’s a presumption that because of the honour of the Crown, colonisation was somehow “better” in this country than anywhere else.
Yet the belief that there can be honour in the dishonour of colonisation is a contradiction in terms.
By its very nature, the colonisation of indigenous peoples has always been an abusive process — if only because the imposition of the colonisers’ values and institutions could never be achieved peacefully or with any pretence to good faith. It was always a violent race-based privileging of Pākehā realities, which was only made possible by subordinating those of Māori.
No matter how it’s achieved — through a legal subterfuge or the brute force of a gun — colonisation is always a dishonourable dispossession. To assume there is some sliding scale of honourable acceptability, or a Hit Parade of comparative benevolence in which New Zealand is Number One, is a misleading lie.
The point of that quoted bit is to lay that lie down. It is time to move past the fictions we have made up in this country about how great we are – we aren’t particularly great, any more than any other country – we aren’t kinder, cleaner, nicer – we are very similar, we are good, bad and ugly. Front up to that truth and then we can get through the bullshit to a place where changes and improvements can be made and THAT is where we want to be, THAT is the future, THAT is our future.
For many people it’s a matter first of knowing something about them. To this day we are still not being taught any real history of New Zealand – the level of ignorance is horrendous!
The State has a lot to answer for here – I presume the lack of education on this subject starts with policy – even if unexpressed
If this is the “infrastructure government”, and it’s what they are betting Budget 2017 and the election on, Waterview tunnel just shifted into full electoral spotlight.
I think they will stall openibg until July, and effectively open their campaign right there at that moment.
What matters is NZTA allowing itself to be played.
NZTA now looks like it has no political experience: if govt changes in Sept after NZTA assisting opposing team during campaign, they expose themselves to v high mistrust from New government and a good media scorching.
I bought a second hand book about the Regulatory Road to Serfdom thinking that it sounded very laissez faire and I’d see what the author had to say -JR Edwards, University Press of America – so I picked RW. But I wanted to learn.
It seems that the writer does not like regulations at all but I haven’t read it through yet. But there can definitely be a case for keeping regulations to practical levels and just seeking to deter risky or irresponsible behaviour, and I think less punishment and more strict oversight till the fault is amended would end up with net gains.
He talks about the new ‘undemocratic legislation’ added yearly. ‘In th 1990s new regulations printed in the Federal Register have regularly exceeded 60,000 pages per year.’ He looks at the fact that the regulations depend on statutory law, are overseen by relevant Congressional oversight committees, and the argument is that therefore there is ‘no loss of democratic control’.
One legal judgment stated ‘The administrative agency may be given the power to “fill in the details,” but the details are of the essence; they give meaning and content to vague contours’.p.28.
(It is ironic to see in the frontispiece, ‘The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences–Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, …1984.)
It is interesting to me because it touches on the ability of bodies outside elected officials to pass regulations and run the country to suit their own agenda. They may have little oversight from government and their interaction with ordinary people may be very limited. It’s like fiefdoms separate from a supposedly democratic government.
The Transport Authority is such, I think, with control over the country with local bodies having much less. Enormous budget and rigid ideas, virtually untouched by human hands concerned with our humanity, just our machines.
In this time of turbulence and doubt! Sounds like the start of a Sunday sermon; we should be thinking about whether our present style of government delivers the basis for the sort of society that seems good to most of us, or whether it serves a small minority of us and still disadvantages that minority in many ways.
People in apartments are noticing in a personal way how their body corporates are not serving their needs, but may cause them financial and life management difficulties from their decisions that are binding on the other occupants. It is a good working example of a bad system, that expanded in its reach, is our present government.
“I think NZTA don’t know what is going to happen to traffic volumes at peak hours when they open those tunnels. There is a real risk we may see at peak times severe congestion, particularly on the northwestern motorway,” Twyford said.
He said NZTA and the Government had not learned that if you just build more motorways without a rapid transit system, the motorways fill up with cars and cannot cope with peak-hour demand.
“That’s why we have had this debate about the unbelievably stupid decision not to build a rapid transit busway on the SH16 when they did the widening,” Twyford said.
“Hate speech” you say Xanthe. Well unless you’re Sean Spicer to whom indisputable facts and historical record matter not a fig then your ‘humble opinion’ is no more than this – “I hate Jackson’s speech……you know…….just overall.” A different and completely unedifying quantity altogether. Which raises more questions about you than it does about Jackson. Try again Squawker.
I haven’t heard (or read) anything resembling “hate speech” coming from Moana Jackson.
What I do recognise is a level of patience and fortitude that must have developed after having to spend a long time explaining history and implications to people who have little knowledge.
Face it Xanthe, if you can’t accept the damage ‘we British’ have done then you are trying your best to fit into the two latter aspects of “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
I can only imagine Xanthe has never actually listened to Moana Jackson. His gentleness and patience is legendary – this in spite of having to explain over and over again the effects of colonisation on Māori.
His persona might be gentle and patient (which it is) but his message is radical.
He basically attributes every ill to colonisation, and does not see a single redeeming feature in New Zealand’s history since 1840.
I have always assumed he would have preferred Aotearoa to have become like Fiji, Samoa or Tonga where the indigenous people have remained in control. But how long would it have taken for a fully functioning democracy to emerge? Samoa at least is now a full democracy, though Tonga has some way to go in this regard.
As I see it nations that are based on tribal societies struggle to be fully successful. They tend to have too much hereditary leadership and ownership of property. It is hard for the central government to extend full authority across the nation.
Tribal societies historically are not based on universal principles of equality, where each person can set their own path. Legal equality depends of the uniform rule of law applicable to everyone, and thus the ability of everyone to have the right to own and control property. These two virtues are the basis of capitalism, as indeed Marx acknowledged.
It took hundreds of years before the UK was able to develop a state based on universal values, rather than powerful dukedoms and fiefdoms with a feudal allocation of rights. Feudalism was only fully extinguished after the civil war of the 1640’s, though the modern nation was emerging during the elizabethan period. Britain’s success as a global nation based on trade primarily occurs after the core elements of the rule of law, and secure property rights were established.
So unlike Jackson, I think the colonial era did vest New Zealand and all its people, Maori and Pakeha alike, with some fundamental virtues including the rule of law, a democracy that by 1900 had a universal franchise, and broadly speaking a free enterprise economy with secure property rights. The modern treaty settlements are based on these virtues.
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have not ‘remained in control’ if by remained you mean uninterrupted Indigenous self-determination (Tonga has gone closest but was a British Protectorate).
And I think you overstate British universal values though that country certainly was a refuge in bad times.
Wayne , for a reasonably smart guy you are unbelievably ignorant about colonial history. At least make an effort to look at the history of colonialism in the Pacific before spouting such nonsense. I’d suggest you read Michael Field’s book “Black Saturday” just to start you off.
Also, you seem to have entirely missed the point of Moana Jackson’s article.He doesn’t “blame colonialism for every ill” but he does point out that the blindness of many to the effects of colonialism on Māori means problems are not adequately addressed. Your comment is a perfect example of this blindness.
Feudalism was only fully extinguished after the civil war of the 1640’s,
Britain still has it’s aristocracy and capitalism is just another form of it. The commons shifted to the personal ownership of a few who then dictate societies laws.
Britain’s success as a global nation based on trade primarily occurs after the core elements of the rule of law, and secure property rights were established.
Britain’s ‘success’ wasn’t based upon trade but upon conquest and invasion.
The ongoing increase in the rule of law has helped to some degree but property rights are still the foundation of massive inequality, inequity and poverty as they were 500 years ago – as Piketty proved.
Well yes Wayne, you’re entitled to your smug superiority precisely because of how colonialism played out. It was just a natural process after all – whereby lesser peoples and ways succumbed or faded before a self-evidently superior white, material, western way that they, as is evinced by their failure to adapt, failed to measure up to.
Or maybe liberalism’s contemporary primacy is better traced (at least in part) to a belief in some notion of Christian exceptionalism that excused unbridled violence and theft, that allowed for the exercise of inhumanity on a vast scale well beyond the experience of the peoples and traditions that encountered it?
I look to my own family’s past – the enclosures, and the labour of children and women and men secured by the immediate and very real prospect of starvation and destitution – my descendants, forced under-ground to dig coal; forced to work with the debilitating dyes used on stolen cotton…
At least one of them took the Queen’s shilling (or was it the penny back then?) so they wouldn’t have to go under the ground any more. And yes, the irony is that he was helping to expand and secure the very thing that oppressed him.
And some of the next generation scattered across the world on a one way trip to anywhere that promised an escape from the slums and tenements they’d been consigned to.
It was only the generation after that one who were able (for the most part) to get away from those slums and tenements – when the authorities, in the process of finally knocking them down, scattered the very last remnants of community that had survived the nigh on 200 year frontal assault of liberal capitalism.
And you have the gall to speak of its apparent ‘virtues’.
Wayne…….I see your point but as far as our current society is concerned it’s basically a limited one, in the consummation. Tribal societies – “…….not based on universal principles of equality…….they (tribal societies) tend to have too much hereditary leadership and ownership of property.” Where have you been all your life Wayne? What is the New Zealand housing market right now unless it be a dangerous manifestation of excessive hereditary ownership ?
Just saw the Mayor of Greytown pleading to give an off shore company based in NY the right to take native trees out of the DOC land on the West coast.
This man is beyond the realm of reason. He would sacrifice the west-coasts potential for a bonanza in tourism for 100K because it would be quick cash. Certainly not enough to have some economic miracle happen.
They got compensation for having the forest protected but spend it on spurious things, fanciful for the few. Now that the funds are gone this is all he can come up with.
My questions are:
1/who are the people sending this man to the forefront to do the greed battle for them in order to get their hands on native wood in pristine native forest?
2/Where are the voices of the people of the area and what do Maori have to say?
3/The area also mines phosphor – a Nauru in slow motion in the making and now the forest is also an interest?
Just watched Q&A and noticed the feed back by locals. Proposed logging by Mayor Tony Kokshoorn was completely contrary to the views expressed by the locals.
Mayor Tony Kokshoorn, from past news, appears to be ‘cocksure’ and inclined to jump into his tank and charge off as a man of action, but without reflection. No excuse for that in West Coast, plenty of puddles to see your face in there./sarc
Here is a book on Trade me about how the Upper Buller was cleared by settlers
ready for farming, th cover shows a billowing cloud of smoke, which was common in those early years and which helped to kill of the huia by the way. Country areas tend to be slow to change and accept new ideas, so are significant movers and shakers on the southern West Coast very far advanced from those early days in their mindsets? http://www.trademe.co.nz/books/rare-collectable/nz-published/history/auction-1312790210.htm
It is not DOC land but is council owned. Also not Greytown but rather Greymouth !
I think the mayor is firing a few shots aimed at encouraging central government to purchase the forested land and add it to the DOC estate. Can’t blame him for that in a society where everything is “owned” and has a monetary value that must be utilised and cashed up.
The views of the forester concerned re ‘sustainable logging’ are interesting. I was under the impression that NZ’s native forests do not respond to the sustainability theory. The Forest Service tried that on the West Coast years ago with no success.
From the foresters point of view they’re going to be wanting to take out the biggest trees. More bang for their buck that way as they’re doing it by helicopter. They say they will only take out the trees that are on their last legs, but why would they gamble on taking out a large tree that had half rotted out. Doesn’t make economic sense. So lets say they remove all the 400 – 600 year old trees present and leave the next gen which might be a hundred years old. Basically they’ve altered that forest for 500 years.
Well the council have extended the time to send submissions, so please do. I suspect the Mayor of Greymouth is trying to pressure DOC into a land swap. I live here and I can assure you that the areas are indeed pristine and no, not all the locals are in support. Please add your support against this obscene proposal.
Not quite; we now have photos and some spectral measurements but that’s about it AFAIK. In other words, we think we know more about the planets than we actually do, which can be said just about everything we think we know (about).
[feel free to try again, but you need to provide a link to support the quote, I’d suggest dropping the misogyny (read the Policy re exclusive language). I’d also suggest not using expressions of violence towards women who are speaking out about violence against women. All 3 of those things are likely to attract further moderator attention and a ban – weka]
I don’t believe what Labour is proposing re rape cases is as big a change as its opponents make it out to be. Could any lawyer reading this explain the difference between claiming consent as a defence against a rape charge under Labour’s proposals, and claiming self-defence as a defence against a murder charge under existing law?
Because they look similar to me. If you’re charged with murder and claim it was self defence, the court expects you/your lawyer to describe how you came to believe you were under threat, what the deceased did to prompt that belief and what actions you took in response. And if your case for self defence lacks credibility, it’s unlikely the jury will find for it. That’s fully compatible with being innocent until proven guilty.
Likewise, if you claim consent as a defence against a rape charge, it should be up to you to describe the basis for your belief there was consent and why that belief wasn’t shaken by anything the victim did/didn’t do. And it should be up to the jury to decide how credible your account is.
I’m not sure that they’re proposing anything. My link above dates back to 2014 (as weka points out) and I don’t think describes current Labour policy.
Anyway, you asked for a lawyer’s view and I’m not a lawyer, but I think the key point is the level of evidential support needed would change markedly. If the jury was in doubt about consent, the finding would become ‘guilty’ rather than ‘not guilty’ as at present. Is the idea.
Labour is promising a radical overhaul of the way the justice system deals with sexual assault and rape cases if it wins the election.
Associate justice spokesperson for sexual and domestic violence Poto Williams said only 13 per cent of the sexual assault cases reported to police ended in a conviction and something needed to be done to address the “power imbalance”.
Labour would change the system so that a victim was believed as a starting point, and that an accused would have to prove consent – an idea rejected by National.
“That might cause some people difficulty but we have to do something about increasing the prosecution rates. There’s no doubt sexual assault is a problem in our country,” Williams said.
Shouldn’t the person making a claim have to present some evidential basis for that claim? The person claiming rape does, so why shouldn’t the person claiming consent? If the Police are refusing to prosecute because rapists can claim it was consensual without having to back up that claim, it’s a problem that needs something doing about it.
“If the Police are refusing to prosecute because rapists can claim it was consensual without having to back up that claim, it’s a problem that needs something doing about it.”
I agree, and I also think that the Police are being negligent under the current law.
The accused in any case can raise a reasonable doubt. The keyword here is reasonable. It isn’t enough to just say “the victim consented.” A jury would take into consideration the credibility of the witnesses. I’d also imagine it’d only be an issue with “date” rapes where the victim knows the accused.
Labour’s proposal would have meant that the accused would be required to prove consent to the same standard as in a civil proceeding. It would mean more rapists going to jail but would increase the risk of someone being wrongly convicted.
I can see the mental well that Poto Williams draws from right here.
[take 2 weeks off, and add self-martyrdom and having a go at a moderator to the bits I mentioned above. Expect any subsequent bans to increase in length – weka]
Could any lawyer reading this explain the difference between claiming consent as a defence against a rape charge under Labour’s proposals, and claiming self-defence as a defence against a murder charge under existing law?
They are fundamentally different for a very practical reason. Homicide is a relatively rare act and almost never consented to by the victim. Almost equally rare is killing by reason of self-defense. If you are going to claim consent or self-defense as justification for homicide a Court is going to demand corroborating evidence for such an extraordinary claim.
By utter contrast sexual relations between adults is exceedingly common and almost always consented to. And where consent is contested it can be subject to complex shades of misunderstanding, manipulation, duress, or abuse by both accused and accuser.
Given the high number of reported sexual assaults this suggests false complaints are not rare:
Between 1997 and 2008, the number of validated sexual attacks was relatively stable, averaging over 2,200 a year. However, it was estimated in the early 2000s that only about 10% of sexual assaults were reported to the police.
A review of 1,955 sexual violation offences involving adults reported to the police between 1 July 2005 and 31 December 2007 concluded that 31% of all reported complaints led to prosecutions and 42% of these prosecutions resulted in a conviction.
Thirty-four percent of the 1,955 complaints were classified as ‘no offence’ and of these, almost a quarter were defined as ‘false complaints’.
That suggests over 600 ‘no offence’ complaints and about 150 ‘false complaints’ over two and a half years, more than 50 per year. These are significant numbers.
Trump in his Pennsylvania (reminiscent of another) rally…….live right now…….triumphally claiming that there’s no president for the last 103 years who’s filled a Supreme Court vacancy in 100 days. Well how tremendous !
Chronology I’ve read (for which despite best efforts can’t find the link, meant to be from ‘Congressional Research Service’)……..identifies a number of more recent instances of ‘nomination-to-confirmation’ in less than 100 days –
99 days — Clarence Thomas (H.W. Bush), confirmed 52-48, Oct. 15, 1991 (11 public hearings, first was 64 days after nomination)
89 days — William H. Rehnquist (Reagan), confirmed to be chief justice 65-33, Sept. 17, 1986 (4 public hearings, first was 39 days after nomination)
87 days — Elena Kagan (Obama), confirmed 63-37, Aug. 5, 2010 (4 public hearings, first was 49 days after nomination)
85 days — Antonin Scalia (Reagan), confirmed 98-0, Sept. 17, 1986 (2 public hearings, first was 42 days after nomination)
82 days — Samuel Alito (W. Bush), confirmed 58-42, Jan. 31, 2006 (5 public hearings, first was 60 days after nomination)
79 days — Melville W. Fuller (Cleveland), confirmed 41-20, July 20, 1888 (no recorded hearings)
78 days — Thurgood Marshall (Johnson), confirmed 69-11, Aug. 3, 1967 (5 public hearings)
So where does the insecure braggard’s 103 years crap come from ? Possibly this – 125 days — Louis D. Brandeis (Wilson), confirmed 47-22, June 1, 1916 (19 public hearings, first was 12 days after nomination)
So…….more patently false superlatives and bullshit, what ?
Turns out the cops were hiding vital video evidence about the Pike Mine reentry since 2011 and Bill English is still repeating his mantra that the reentry is unsafe.
They’ve been lying to Pike Mine families and all NZers all these years.
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This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
The Cook Islands PM is in Beijing to sign an agreement with China - but the government says he failed to consult with NZ on the matter, as is required. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Alcohol and other drug specialist, UNSW Sydney Fewer young Australians are drinking. And when they do drink, they are drinking less and less often than previous generations at the same age. It’s a trend happening all around the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Macau, Associate Dean – School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Hitra/Shutterstock Coles is reducing its product range by at least 10%, a move that has sparked public backlash and renewed discussions about the role of supermarkets in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Humphrey, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, RMIT University Golf courses are sometimes seen as harmful to the environment. According to the popular notion, the grass soaks up too much water, is cut too short and sprayed with dangerous chemicals. But in ...
New Zealand has long championed a fair, stable, and resilient global order. As a nation with deep ties to the Pacific and beyond, we cannot afford to be passive in the face of these shifts. ...
Things are going to look a little different this year. Here’s what to expect.Good news, Shortland Street fans: after a well-earned summer holiday, New Zealand’s longest running drama returns to TVNZ2 and TVNZ+ tonight. Ahead of us is a fresh year of living, loving and laughing in the nation’s ...
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 February, shows National up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent, while Labour has risen 0.4 points from last month to 31.3 percent. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional ...
A diplomatic scuffle with the Cook Islands. Plus: What went down at Waitangi. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of the New Zealand foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the ...
The deputy chairperson of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Michael Connelly, said simply setting targets without "resourcing" them was a pointless exercise, as the number of patients - and their acuity - continuing to grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suvradip Maitra, PhD Student, Australian National University Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock Late last year, ChatGPT was used by a Victorian child protection worker to draft documents. In a glaring error, ChatGPT referred to a “doll” used for sexual purposes as an “age-appropriate toy”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niven Winchester, Professor of Economics, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Donald Trump has already made good on his threat to impose an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods, and is due to announce a 25% tariff on all steel and ...
Diplomatic tension between the Cook Islands and New Zealand is growing. Here's what it's about about, what China has to do with it, and why it matters. ...
Sick of human reality TV? Alex Casey has found a perfect solution in David Attenborough’s latest. I’m know I’m not alone when I say this: humans are bleaking me out at the moment. Turn on the news for the bleakest updates imaginable. Try to numb the pain with Married at ...
The Director of Public Health is a statutory role providing public health leadership across the Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, and the National Public Health Service within Health NZ. ...
Zachary Forbes, a maths teacher from Whanganui, has started an unusual initiative on videogame streaming service Twitch. Shanti Mathias interviews him. “The people want First Samuel,” says the man who calls himself Brother Zac. Brown hair, headphones on, a wall behind him, he pauses and reflects on the comments he’s ...
Endless New Zealand politicians, including the present government, have pointed to our support for a rules-based international system, says PSNA National Chair John Minto. ...
In January, the reversals to speed limit reductions on the state highway network began. Councils have been asked to reverse all reduced speed limits since 2020 by July. A retired rural healthcare worker found something missing from the conversation – a maths equation she learned in high school. As told ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natarsha McPherson, PhD Candidate in Spatial Ecology, University of Adelaide Rob D / Shutterstock On the vast expanse of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia, two very different creatures live side by side – but not always peacefully. One is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John White, Associate Professor in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Deakin University Fire broke out in the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) in December and raged for weeks. Then lightning strikes ignited fresh blazes late last month, which merged to form a mega-fire that’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karley Beckman, Senior Lecturer in Digital Technologies for Learning, University of Wollongong If you are a parent of a school student, you may have received a form seeking permission to use your child’s image on school social media accounts. It’s very ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato The day he took office for his second term, United States President Donald J. Trump unveiled his “America First” trade policy, including tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada (both of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack McGrath, Lecturer in Animation, University of Newcastle Netflix The 2025 Academy Awards could shape up to be a big one for stop-motion animation. Australian director Adam Eliott’s Memoir of a Snail (2024) has raked in a nomination for Best Animated ...
Pretty tough one first up – the more we work through this stuff the better we will all be. Moana Jackson lays it out very well
https://e-tangata.co.nz/news/colonisation-and-the-suffering-of-children
The point of that quoted bit is to lay that lie down. It is time to move past the fictions we have made up in this country about how great we are – we aren’t particularly great, any more than any other country – we aren’t kinder, cleaner, nicer – we are very similar, we are good, bad and ugly. Front up to that truth and then we can get through the bullshit to a place where changes and improvements can be made and THAT is where we want to be, THAT is the future, THAT is our future.
+1
We need to admit and accept the injustices of the past so that we can make the necessary changes to stop them continuing.
For many people it’s a matter first of knowing something about them. To this day we are still not being taught any real history of New Zealand – the level of ignorance is horrendous!
The State has a lot to answer for here – I presume the lack of education on this subject starts with policy – even if unexpressed
Moana Jackson is a very smooth purveyor of hate speach. IMHO
But i do think there should be an inquiry into historic and current institutional abuse
You sure you meant humble in your opinion?
Hard to hear what we don’t want to hear.
If this is the “infrastructure government”, and it’s what they are betting Budget 2017 and the election on, Waterview tunnel just shifted into full electoral spotlight.
I think they will stall openibg until July, and effectively open their campaign right there at that moment.
NZTA is rolling its dice for the Nats.
Board is controlled by National appointees so it is on the cards.
Wasn’t the tunnel Clark’s inititative?
What matters is NZTA allowing itself to be played.
NZTA now looks like it has no political experience: if govt changes in Sept after NZTA assisting opposing team during campaign, they expose themselves to v high mistrust from New government and a good media scorching.
The risk for them is the tunnel could be a disaster if the worries about traffic flows eventuate. Could then be politically damaging.
I bought a second hand book about the Regulatory Road to Serfdom thinking that it sounded very laissez faire and I’d see what the author had to say -JR Edwards, University Press of America – so I picked RW. But I wanted to learn.
It seems that the writer does not like regulations at all but I haven’t read it through yet. But there can definitely be a case for keeping regulations to practical levels and just seeking to deter risky or irresponsible behaviour, and I think less punishment and more strict oversight till the fault is amended would end up with net gains.
He talks about the new ‘undemocratic legislation’ added yearly. ‘In th 1990s new regulations printed in the Federal Register have regularly exceeded 60,000 pages per year.’ He looks at the fact that the regulations depend on statutory law, are overseen by relevant Congressional oversight committees, and the argument is that therefore there is ‘no loss of democratic control’.
One legal judgment stated ‘The administrative agency may be given the power to “fill in the details,” but the details are of the essence; they give meaning and content to vague contours’.p.28.
(It is ironic to see in the frontispiece, ‘The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences–Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, …1984.)
It is interesting to me because it touches on the ability of bodies outside elected officials to pass regulations and run the country to suit their own agenda. They may have little oversight from government and their interaction with ordinary people may be very limited. It’s like fiefdoms separate from a supposedly democratic government.
The Transport Authority is such, I think, with control over the country with local bodies having much less. Enormous budget and rigid ideas, virtually untouched by human hands concerned with our humanity, just our machines.
In this time of turbulence and doubt! Sounds like the start of a Sunday sermon; we should be thinking about whether our present style of government delivers the basis for the sort of society that seems good to most of us, or whether it serves a small minority of us and still disadvantages that minority in many ways.
What about participatory democracy instead of simple representation of the majority?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_democracy
People in apartments are noticing in a personal way how their body corporates are not serving their needs, but may cause them financial and life management difficulties from their decisions that are binding on the other occupants. It is a good working example of a bad system, that expanded in its reach, is our present government.
Twyford on Waterview: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11845437
“I think NZTA don’t know what is going to happen to traffic volumes at peak hours when they open those tunnels. There is a real risk we may see at peak times severe congestion, particularly on the northwestern motorway,” Twyford said.
He said NZTA and the Government had not learned that if you just build more motorways without a rapid transit system, the motorways fill up with cars and cannot cope with peak-hour demand.
“That’s why we have had this debate about the unbelievably stupid decision not to build a rapid transit busway on the SH16 when they did the widening,” Twyford said.
Yep North Western is already severely congested. Funnelling a whole lot of more traffic into it will be a disaster.
I said this four weeks ago and you told me I was wrong and that the delay was a just a sprinkler problem.
Some people are quite naive…until they’re not.
“Hate speech” you say Xanthe. Well unless you’re Sean Spicer to whom indisputable facts and historical record matter not a fig then your ‘humble opinion’ is no more than this – “I hate Jackson’s speech……you know…….just overall.” A different and completely unedifying quantity altogether. Which raises more questions about you than it does about Jackson. Try again Squawker.
+ 1
With you there, North.
I haven’t heard (or read) anything resembling “hate speech” coming from Moana Jackson.
What I do recognise is a level of patience and fortitude that must have developed after having to spend a long time explaining history and implications to people who have little knowledge.
Face it Xanthe, if you can’t accept the damage ‘we British’ have done then you are trying your best to fit into the two latter aspects of “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
Moana Jackson is continuing with the contest as written about by the late great Dr Ranginui Walker, died 28 February 2016, in his book ‘ Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou’ – Struggle Without End. And he was part Maori/part Lebanese
https://e-tangata.co.nz/news/ranginui-walker-no-beating-about-the-bush-with-him
and obituary
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/297704/dr-ranginui-walker-dies
+1 Molly.
I can only imagine Xanthe has never actually listened to Moana Jackson. His gentleness and patience is legendary – this in spite of having to explain over and over again the effects of colonisation on Māori.
+ everyone. Jackson also comes across to me as one of the great compassionate thinkers of our time.
Karen,
His persona might be gentle and patient (which it is) but his message is radical.
He basically attributes every ill to colonisation, and does not see a single redeeming feature in New Zealand’s history since 1840.
I have always assumed he would have preferred Aotearoa to have become like Fiji, Samoa or Tonga where the indigenous people have remained in control. But how long would it have taken for a fully functioning democracy to emerge? Samoa at least is now a full democracy, though Tonga has some way to go in this regard.
As I see it nations that are based on tribal societies struggle to be fully successful. They tend to have too much hereditary leadership and ownership of property. It is hard for the central government to extend full authority across the nation.
Tribal societies historically are not based on universal principles of equality, where each person can set their own path. Legal equality depends of the uniform rule of law applicable to everyone, and thus the ability of everyone to have the right to own and control property. These two virtues are the basis of capitalism, as indeed Marx acknowledged.
It took hundreds of years before the UK was able to develop a state based on universal values, rather than powerful dukedoms and fiefdoms with a feudal allocation of rights. Feudalism was only fully extinguished after the civil war of the 1640’s, though the modern nation was emerging during the elizabethan period. Britain’s success as a global nation based on trade primarily occurs after the core elements of the rule of law, and secure property rights were established.
So unlike Jackson, I think the colonial era did vest New Zealand and all its people, Maori and Pakeha alike, with some fundamental virtues including the rule of law, a democracy that by 1900 had a universal franchise, and broadly speaking a free enterprise economy with secure property rights. The modern treaty settlements are based on these virtues.
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have not ‘remained in control’ if by remained you mean uninterrupted Indigenous self-determination (Tonga has gone closest but was a British Protectorate).
And I think you overstate British universal values though that country certainly was a refuge in bad times.
Wayne , for a reasonably smart guy you are unbelievably ignorant about colonial history. At least make an effort to look at the history of colonialism in the Pacific before spouting such nonsense. I’d suggest you read Michael Field’s book “Black Saturday” just to start you off.
Also, you seem to have entirely missed the point of Moana Jackson’s article.He doesn’t “blame colonialism for every ill” but he does point out that the blindness of many to the effects of colonialism on Māori means problems are not adequately addressed. Your comment is a perfect example of this blindness.
Britain still has it’s aristocracy and capitalism is just another form of it. The commons shifted to the personal ownership of a few who then dictate societies laws.
Britain’s ‘success’ wasn’t based upon trade but upon conquest and invasion.
The ongoing increase in the rule of law has helped to some degree but property rights are still the foundation of massive inequality, inequity and poverty as they were 500 years ago – as Piketty proved.
Property rights aren’t a virtue but a vice.
Well yes Wayne, you’re entitled to your smug superiority precisely because of how colonialism played out. It was just a natural process after all – whereby lesser peoples and ways succumbed or faded before a self-evidently superior white, material, western way that they, as is evinced by their failure to adapt, failed to measure up to.
Or maybe liberalism’s contemporary primacy is better traced (at least in part) to a belief in some notion of Christian exceptionalism that excused unbridled violence and theft, that allowed for the exercise of inhumanity on a vast scale well beyond the experience of the peoples and traditions that encountered it?
I look to my own family’s past – the enclosures, and the labour of children and women and men secured by the immediate and very real prospect of starvation and destitution – my descendants, forced under-ground to dig coal; forced to work with the debilitating dyes used on stolen cotton…
At least one of them took the Queen’s shilling (or was it the penny back then?) so they wouldn’t have to go under the ground any more. And yes, the irony is that he was helping to expand and secure the very thing that oppressed him.
And some of the next generation scattered across the world on a one way trip to anywhere that promised an escape from the slums and tenements they’d been consigned to.
It was only the generation after that one who were able (for the most part) to get away from those slums and tenements – when the authorities, in the process of finally knocking them down, scattered the very last remnants of community that had survived the nigh on 200 year frontal assault of liberal capitalism.
And you have the gall to speak of its apparent ‘virtues’.
+111
Wayne…….I see your point but as far as our current society is concerned it’s basically a limited one, in the consummation. Tribal societies – “…….not based on universal principles of equality…….they (tribal societies) tend to have too much hereditary leadership and ownership of property.” Where have you been all your life Wayne? What is the New Zealand housing market right now unless it be a dangerous manifestation of excessive hereditary ownership ?
Yes you have figured it out
Pre european society, feudalism
Post colonial society, feudalism
Difference, some different carrion eaters in control
Now what does moana jackson bring to this picture?
Just saw the Mayor of Greytown pleading to give an off shore company based in NY the right to take native trees out of the DOC land on the West coast.
This man is beyond the realm of reason. He would sacrifice the west-coasts potential for a bonanza in tourism for 100K because it would be quick cash. Certainly not enough to have some economic miracle happen.
They got compensation for having the forest protected but spend it on spurious things, fanciful for the few. Now that the funds are gone this is all he can come up with.
My questions are:
1/who are the people sending this man to the forefront to do the greed battle for them in order to get their hands on native wood in pristine native forest?
2/Where are the voices of the people of the area and what do Maori have to say?
3/The area also mines phosphor – a Nauru in slow motion in the making and now the forest is also an interest?
Has anybody heard of this or has any info?
Just watched Q&A and noticed the feed back by locals. Proposed logging by Mayor Tony Kokshoorn was completely contrary to the views expressed by the locals.
Mayor Tony Kokshoorn, from past news, appears to be ‘cocksure’ and inclined to jump into his tank and charge off as a man of action, but without reflection. No excuse for that in West Coast, plenty of puddles to see your face in there./sarc
Here is a book on Trade me about how the Upper Buller was cleared by settlers
ready for farming, th cover shows a billowing cloud of smoke, which was common in those early years and which helped to kill of the huia by the way. Country areas tend to be slow to change and accept new ideas, so are significant movers and shakers on the southern West Coast very far advanced from those early days in their mindsets?
http://www.trademe.co.nz/books/rare-collectable/nz-published/history/auction-1312790210.htm
It is not DOC land but is council owned. Also not Greytown but rather Greymouth !
I think the mayor is firing a few shots aimed at encouraging central government to purchase the forested land and add it to the DOC estate. Can’t blame him for that in a society where everything is “owned” and has a monetary value that must be utilised and cashed up.
The views of the forester concerned re ‘sustainable logging’ are interesting. I was under the impression that NZ’s native forests do not respond to the sustainability theory. The Forest Service tried that on the West Coast years ago with no success.
Thank you, I stand corrected.
I’m pretty sure that NZs native forests under natural conditions are, as a matter of fact, sustainable.
So, which particular ‘sustainability theory’ doesn’t work within those natural confines?
[citation needed]
From the foresters point of view they’re going to be wanting to take out the biggest trees. More bang for their buck that way as they’re doing it by helicopter. They say they will only take out the trees that are on their last legs, but why would they gamble on taking out a large tree that had half rotted out. Doesn’t make economic sense. So lets say they remove all the 400 – 600 year old trees present and leave the next gen which might be a hundred years old. Basically they’ve altered that forest for 500 years.
http://www.greydc.govt.nz/our-council/consultation/Pages/sustainable-forestry.aspx?reference=GDC-QF-170430-835YD-15ZS
Well the council have extended the time to send submissions, so please do. I suspect the Mayor of Greymouth is trying to pressure DOC into a land swap. I live here and I can assure you that the areas are indeed pristine and no, not all the locals are in support. Please add your support against this obscene proposal.
Cassini’s swan song.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2017-126
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/system/resources/detail_files/7565_MAIN_PIA21052.jpg
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/system/resources/detail_files/7545_PIA20502_full.jpg
Though it is strange that we know more about the planets than we do about our oceans.
Not quite; we now have photos and some spectral measurements but that’s about it AFAIK. In other words, we think we know more about the planets than we actually do, which can be said just about everything we think we know (about).
The beauty, literally, of the planets is that they are still (largely) unspoiled by humans. We are already polluting the space surrounding Earth http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11843004
If I were a technologically-advanced alien race I would serve humankind a trespass notice as soon as we land on Mars.
[deleted]
[feel free to try again, but you need to provide a link to support the quote, I’d suggest dropping the misogyny (read the Policy re exclusive language). I’d also suggest not using expressions of violence towards women who are speaking out about violence against women. All 3 of those things are likely to attract further moderator attention and a ban – weka]
DId she say that? Where?
Is it a follow on from this business – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11289979 ?
(And do we really need the strangling talk?)
A.
that article is from 2014.
Maybe you would delete my reply to Sanc as well, it seems unneeded now? (Please)
I don’t believe what Labour is proposing re rape cases is as big a change as its opponents make it out to be. Could any lawyer reading this explain the difference between claiming consent as a defence against a rape charge under Labour’s proposals, and claiming self-defence as a defence against a murder charge under existing law?
Because they look similar to me. If you’re charged with murder and claim it was self defence, the court expects you/your lawyer to describe how you came to believe you were under threat, what the deceased did to prompt that belief and what actions you took in response. And if your case for self defence lacks credibility, it’s unlikely the jury will find for it. That’s fully compatible with being innocent until proven guilty.
Likewise, if you claim consent as a defence against a rape charge, it should be up to you to describe the basis for your belief there was consent and why that belief wasn’t shaken by anything the victim did/didn’t do. And it should be up to the jury to decide how credible your account is.
How are those situations any different?
I’m not sure that they’re proposing anything. My link above dates back to 2014 (as weka points out) and I don’t think describes current Labour policy.
Anyway, you asked for a lawyer’s view and I’m not a lawyer, but I think the key point is the level of evidential support needed would change markedly. If the jury was in doubt about consent, the finding would become ‘guilty’ rather than ‘not guilty’ as at present. Is the idea.
A.
It’s current afaik, just not in the skewed way that Sanctuary presented it.
Ah, I found what Sanc was talking about.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/91913865/Police-are-telling-rape-victims-their-hands-are-tied-if-the-accused-denies-it
——
Labour is promising a radical overhaul of the way the justice system deals with sexual assault and rape cases if it wins the election.
Associate justice spokesperson for sexual and domestic violence Poto Williams said only 13 per cent of the sexual assault cases reported to police ended in a conviction and something needed to be done to address the “power imbalance”.
Labour would change the system so that a victim was believed as a starting point, and that an accused would have to prove consent – an idea rejected by National.
“That might cause some people difficulty but we have to do something about increasing the prosecution rates. There’s no doubt sexual assault is a problem in our country,” Williams said.
——
A.
(To be honest I’m not a fan of this proposal myself)
Shouldn’t the person making a claim have to present some evidential basis for that claim? The person claiming rape does, so why shouldn’t the person claiming consent? If the Police are refusing to prosecute because rapists can claim it was consensual without having to back up that claim, it’s a problem that needs something doing about it.
> Shouldn’t the person making a claim have to present some evidential basis for that claim?
Indeed, but then what happens if the evidence is inconclusive.
A.
That’s what the trial, judge and jury are for.
“If the Police are refusing to prosecute because rapists can claim it was consensual without having to back up that claim, it’s a problem that needs something doing about it.”
I agree, and I also think that the Police are being negligent under the current law.
The accused in any case can raise a reasonable doubt. The keyword here is reasonable. It isn’t enough to just say “the victim consented.” A jury would take into consideration the credibility of the witnesses. I’d also imagine it’d only be an issue with “date” rapes where the victim knows the accused.
Labour’s proposal would have meant that the accused would be required to prove consent to the same standard as in a civil proceeding. It would mean more rapists going to jail but would increase the risk of someone being wrongly convicted.
Assuming that is true, given the huge injustice that currently exists for women, I’m ok with that.
> Labour’s proposal would have meant that the accused would be required to prove consent to the same standard as in a civil proceeding.
I’m not sure this is correct. Rather, wouldn’t they have to prove consent beyond reasonable doubt?
If that’s correct, I think it would be a hard bar to clear in many cases.
A.
Rather, wouldn’t they have to prove consent beyond reasonable doubt?
If true, yes that would make it a very silly policy. Haven’t seen any Labour MP suggest it, though.
I can see the mental well that Poto Williams draws from right here.
[take 2 weeks off, and add self-martyrdom and having a go at a moderator to the bits I mentioned above. Expect any subsequent bans to increase in length – weka]
Could any lawyer reading this explain the difference between claiming consent as a defence against a rape charge under Labour’s proposals, and claiming self-defence as a defence against a murder charge under existing law?
They are fundamentally different for a very practical reason. Homicide is a relatively rare act and almost never consented to by the victim. Almost equally rare is killing by reason of self-defense. If you are going to claim consent or self-defense as justification for homicide a Court is going to demand corroborating evidence for such an extraordinary claim.
By utter contrast sexual relations between adults is exceedingly common and almost always consented to. And where consent is contested it can be subject to complex shades of misunderstanding, manipulation, duress, or abuse by both accused and accuser.
And juries are perfectly aware of this.
I’m pretty sure that being falsely accused of rape is also a rare event.
Rare relative to the number of legitimate complaints, but how uncommon? Statistics are difficult to find and are contentious.
But it happens: Man falsely accused of rape jailed for 10 months
– http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91020510/Man-falsely-accused-of-rape-jailed-for-10-months
Dated but this lists 11 documented false allegations in 2000:
– https://www.peterellis.org.nz/FalseAllegations/cases.htm
Also false accusations by the police are a problem:
David Dougherty, wrongly convicted of rape and abduction, dies after long illness
– http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92036244/man-who-was-wrongly-convicted-of-rape-and-abduction-dies-after-long-illness
Given the high number of reported sexual assaults this suggests false complaints are not rare:
That suggests over 600 ‘no offence’ complaints and about 150 ‘false complaints’ over two and a half years, more than 50 per year. These are significant numbers.
Trump in his Pennsylvania (reminiscent of another) rally…….live right now…….triumphally claiming that there’s no president for the last 103 years who’s filled a Supreme Court vacancy in 100 days. Well how tremendous !
Chronology I’ve read (for which despite best efforts can’t find the link, meant to be from ‘Congressional Research Service’)……..identifies a number of more recent instances of ‘nomination-to-confirmation’ in less than 100 days –
99 days — Clarence Thomas (H.W. Bush), confirmed 52-48, Oct. 15, 1991 (11 public hearings, first was 64 days after nomination)
89 days — William H. Rehnquist (Reagan), confirmed to be chief justice 65-33, Sept. 17, 1986 (4 public hearings, first was 39 days after nomination)
87 days — Elena Kagan (Obama), confirmed 63-37, Aug. 5, 2010 (4 public hearings, first was 49 days after nomination)
85 days — Antonin Scalia (Reagan), confirmed 98-0, Sept. 17, 1986 (2 public hearings, first was 42 days after nomination)
82 days — Samuel Alito (W. Bush), confirmed 58-42, Jan. 31, 2006 (5 public hearings, first was 60 days after nomination)
79 days — Melville W. Fuller (Cleveland), confirmed 41-20, July 20, 1888 (no recorded hearings)
78 days — Thurgood Marshall (Johnson), confirmed 69-11, Aug. 3, 1967 (5 public hearings)
So where does the insecure braggard’s 103 years crap come from ? Possibly this – 125 days — Louis D. Brandeis (Wilson), confirmed 47-22, June 1, 1916 (19 public hearings, first was 12 days after nomination)
So…….more patently false superlatives and bullshit, what ?
100 days in 100 seconds.
I can’t hold my breath for that long 😉
Turns out the cops were hiding vital video evidence about the Pike Mine reentry since 2011 and Bill English is still repeating his mantra that the reentry is unsafe.
They’ve been lying to Pike Mine families and all NZers all these years.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/04/video-inside-the-pike-river-mine-what-police-never-showed-the-families.html