—The below response (cut and paste from pre written material), via Nikki Kaye…
“There is currently no conclusive evidence that depleted uranium poses a significant threat to health or the environment. In 2005, the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee considered a petition to ban depleted uranium, and concluded that there was no consensus in the international scientific community as to the effect of depleted uranium on human health, but that New Zealand should continue to monitor the international research on the health consequences of its use. For this reason, the Government supports continued monitoring and research into the effects of depleted uranium, but will not take further action without clear scientific evidence.
Whenever New Zealand Defence Force personnel are deployed in theatres of operations where depleted uranium munitions may have been used, more stringent health monitoring has been untaken on those personnel. To date, there have been no adverse health effects identified in NZDF personnel. Most reports also conclude that any health and environmental risks associated with depleted uranium can be controlled with simple counter-measures by national authorities such as monitoring, clean-up operations where depleted uranium has been used, and further research.
New Zealand is closely following studies by international agencies on the potential health impacts of depleted uranium, and The Government will continue to monitor international developments, reports and studies on depleted uranium and potential health risks. New Zealand also supports a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed last year encouraging Member States to facilitate and Monitor studies and research on depleted uranium by relevant international organisations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
The IAEA has participated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in several international appraisals of depleted uranium, with the objective of these assessments being to draw conclusions regarding the toxic and radiological safety of depleted uranium, and to make recommendations to mitigate the hazards of the population and the environment.
In general, the results of these assessments indicated that the existence of depleted uranium residues dispersed in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the population of the affected regions. The IAEA estimated that annual radiation doses from depleted uranium would be very low and of little radiological concern, with cases of prolonged skin contact with depleted uranium or fragments being the only possible exposure pathway leading to significant risks. Provided access to where these fragments exist remain restricted, the likelihood that members of the public come into such contact is low.
An IAEA assessment came to the same conclusion in Southern Iraq in 2010, and provided recommendations for safe management of fragments of depleted uranium.
I hope you find this information useful, thank you again for your email.”
The response came back within 24 hours of the original email, which suggests that there is someone/something monitoring her inbox, and spewing back this garbage, as I would be surprised if it were NK, even though I have had responses which I can tell are actually from her previously.
Either way whether cut and pasted by her hand, or by someone else, it is her endorsement of the vote she cast againse the bill, and then this attempt to vindicate her choice.
NK is the chair of the education and science select committe, so the email signature states…
This is truly staggering that we are into such dangerous territory now, with the blatant bowing to those who control NATO, which we have recently signed up for…
I will post my response to her on open mike tomorrow, and ecourage people to get onto any and all NACT members, and those who voted this bill down, and in no uncertain words let them know that this is beyond reproach!
Either way whether cut and pasted by her hand, or by someone else, it is her endorsement of the vote she cast againse the bill, and then this attempt to vindicate her choice.
Kevin, Freedom and others who have fallen under the spell of the anti-depleted uranium jihad and have not taken the time to do actual scientific research as opposed to a YouTube or Google look up where everyone just repeats the same lies that first were presented in about 1992 – some are sincere lovers of peace, but others are just con artists who seek to profit from the lies or are professional propagandists. Sadly, I expect that MP Phil Twyford has had his compassionate side mislead by these people as well.
The Phil Twyford Private Member’s bill is full of false and misleading information. There has been an active worldwide campaign against depleted uranium since Saddam Hussein’s regime decided to kill two birds with one stone. They did not like the fact that their vaunted Soviet built tanks could be killed by US/UK tanks at long range with a single shot of a depleted uranium kinetic energy penetrator round from the main gun of the M1 Abrams Tank or the UK’s Challenger Tank. They also did not want to be subject to the UN Sanctions that ended the Gulf War. As a result, all birth defects and cancers were blamed on that horrid radioactive weapon, depleted uranium. How many readers of this have ingested some DU today? All of you! Why, because DU is naturally occuring Uranium-238, and every being on this planet ingests, drinks in or breathes in a fraction of a microgram of U-238 every day of their life. Uranium is a toxic chemical if you take in too much of it and the first sign of a toxic dose is kidney failure, something that surprisingly has seldom been alleged by any of the people who claim to have been made ill by claimed depleted uranium contamination. The toxic radioactive dose of U-238 is unlimited according the IAEA’s Dangerous Quanitities of Radioactive Material (D-values) page 11 http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/EPR_D_web.pdf
If anyone would like to write to me, I will gladly correspond with you about my independent research (paid by no one) over the past seven plus years. I even tried to make MP Twyford aware of grave errors in his Bill when he first presented it in 2010 but his comments during the first reading on June 27th and his comments about the Maaori Party since then have led me to believe that he cares little about facts and just wants to believe that he is making a better world. You can write me at owner at the Yahoo group that is linked to this comment. There are a number of public links at this Yahoo group to actual scientific reports by the IAEA and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and others.
PS – Kevin, there is overwhelming evidence that depleted uranium has not been used in Afghanistan and I would be glad to discuss that with you.
John Armstrong in today’s Herald. The man must write speeches for the Nats.
Some interesting points though. “There is no indication Labour has woken up to the fact that some of the targets – such as boosting child immunisation rates, lifting the numbers getting trade qualifications and tackling youth crime – amount to an invasion of its traditional domains.”
JA is part of the NACT spin machine as is O’sullivan/Roughan etc not much intelligence or rigour just CT authored rhetoric presented as if it’s objective comment.
It’s a large reason they got back in as the sheeple take this crap as wise opinion rather than paid for advertorial pieces from the 4th estate dinosaurs.
The Armstrong piece demonstrates National’s way of doing things.
1. Announce big and important targets (so it looks as if you care and are doing important things)
2. “?”
3. Success (or er.. Profit) – see “Underpants Gnomes” for reference.
No interim goals or benchmarks – nothing to measure progress against, and no responsibility. They will claim the incidental wins as their own and ignore the failures that they perpetrated.
Hmmm… speaking of underpants gnomes – I need some coffee.
And some more interesting reading…..From the Nation: NAFTA on steroids. The Americans are also worried about the Trans Pacific Partnership. Here’s an article about the damaging effects the TPP will bring to democracy, from an American perspective. I couldn’t agree with their applause for New Zealand though. Even the Nats accept, after much persuading, that loosening Pharmac’s role would be bad for them, not to mention us as people. The article seems to allude to our govt being principled.
A pity really, with its older forgotten sibling, TVNZ6, was an anchor for a new improved digital TV era. But its fate was more or less sealed on election night 2008. If you want to get anything that is remotely public service, you have to fork out for Sky, which IMO is crap for what you pay for. You dont have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.
“You don’t have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.”
Years. I am seeing repeats of the repeats of the repeats I saw repeated 3 to 4 years ago.
And I agree it is crap and I have told sky as soon as I can download good stuff via the infernalnet they can shove it right up where the sun doesn’t shine.
Like everybody else I got a letter advising me what a WUNDERFUL JOB they were doing and how I can now look at about 50 million channels (complete with adverts every 5 minutes) of the Olympics.(Couldn’t give a toss about the Olympics), and how fortunate as a sky subscriber I already have HD and don’t need to do anything else when all television goes digital in NZ.
Because of this utopia that Sky is supplying my fee has to go up by about 6%. for the same crap I have seen for years.
This is why Channel 7 has been killed off. It was a threat to Keys fat cat mate’s future advertising revenue,
Trotter is right, the left today seems to be more worried about racial minorities and gay marriage than public ownership, the welfare state, workers rights and poverty.
I have no problem with that. Sure it’s a minor issue compared to some others but it is also easy to do and shows that the new government will be doing and not just saying which has been the problem of left governments for the last few decades. Now the real test comes, now they need to enact legislation to start to undo the damage that neo-liberalism has done.
As a right winger I have no problem with gay marriage, in fact I’d say it should be a non-event. Supporting marriage and (hopefully) fidelity should be looked as something good for society as a whole, I’d have thought.
You mean the French government is only capable of passing a single law at any one time? They only have one ministry/department operating at any one time and all the rest go on holiday?
Or … oh noes, their first *announcement* of policy was something that hetero white middle-class Waitakere Myths couldn’t benefit from? Gosh, how terrible.
Not like people ‘fought’ to have the state and church removed as ‘licensing’ authorities over relationships. But hey. Nothing like a bit of ‘progressive’ conservatism to galvanise folks.
Trotter is right, the left today seems to be more worried about racial minorities and gay marriage than public ownership, the welfare state, workers rights and poverty.
Agreed! (I’m delighted too, that someone here other than me said it first! 🙂 )
The housing crisis in Christchurch really shouldn’t be allowed to happen. But I believe that the government is allowing this to happen to enrich private landlords, who are the only ones who will benefit from a housing crisis.
The changes to state housing underlines this. Throwing thousands of vulnerable tenants out of state housing and off waiting lists, will only add to a large pool of people in the private rental market chasing a scare number of homes, and thus lead to rents being pushed up, for even grotty dives.
creating another housing bubble something the right always try to blame on the left.
the only people who benefit are the banks and the don’t tax me capital gaingsters
Maori are lodging a claim on water, and the left shoudnt really support this. Water is a public ownership owned by everyone, not a private asset owned by the few.
And, yeah, water is owned by the whole community and not just one small sector of it. Go that route and we will see massive deprivation for the sector that doesn’t own it.
160 odd years ago, Maori may have stated they owned the water that was laying around on what they refer to as their land.
The water came from rainclouds they do not have any claim to.
The water that arrives today may have come from clouds that travelled from Antartica airspace so I am at a loss to understand Maori logic that is their water.
Fartrain the money ended up in Anglo Saxon hands mainly.
Now in courts that has been proven and Maori have been generous to us by accepting
between 1 and 3% seettlements.
Fartrain I smell the politics of envy from you and your cohorts and it stinks.
You must be joking! NZlaenders have paid BILLIONS in the last few years out of their meager pay packets and have forgone proper healthcare, increase on minimum wages, pensions etc. It seem you are one of those who only will be happy when the pakehas are in rags and begging on street corners.
feigning Weka the settlements haven’t past $2billion and are closer to $1 billion.
envy.
Some Maori tribes have turned their 1to3% settlements into very large portfolios
jealous
Stop being an ignoranting idiot and get your facts right before you
promote your redneck racist attitudes.
Feigning Weka, wrong name – Foreign Waka, as in we are all foreign (just a degree on seperation in years) and came on a Waka.
http://www.nzcpr.com/guest275.htm excerpt from NZ Centre of Political Research:
..total redress agreed to and mostly paid to February 1 this year is $2.455-billion. The Treaty Negotiations Vote in last year’s Budget contains a multi-year appropriation of $1.4-billion for the five-year period 2011 to 2015. Since we listed a total of $2.079-billion last July, if that $1.4-billion Budget appropriation were added to our last year’s total, expected redress would reach $3.479-billion.
Envy? Jealous? Of what? I think that the majority of Maoris know very well that the money comes from working people who struggle all the same. The claim however is directed to the crown, or the Queen, so to speak. This seems to pass you by and my assertion is that you have a mighty handout mentality.
Maori were promised the same rights as British citizens but were these rights were under mined
By shonkey traders taking full advantage of Maori illiteracy .
Maori have a Different value system than Tory Anglo Saxons.
It depends on the substance of the Maori claim. People everywhere should have access to clean water as a basic human right. It should be a public utility not a source of monopoly power for a wealthy elite.
Maori have access to schools? Yes? Illiteracy is an issue of neglect within the family, so don’t roll this on to someone else. By what my experience is, Maori do have the same rights. In fact, there are many more benefits available to Maori than to any other race. This seem to be based on a legislated “affirmative action” model stemming from the Treaty, albeit equality was a key word.
As to the use of water – we all need to drink water in order to survive. And this should be freely accessible.
However, it is also clear that the drawing of ground water for irrigation has to have strict monitoring if not levies imposed as any depletion will lower the water table and salinate the ground water. This would make it unusable – forever. I doubt that the value system is very different on that point.
* Do try to limit your Americanisms. “Different than” is an Americanism New Zealanders (including Don Brash) use, as they hear it on TV., but even some Americans admit it’s actually wrong…
Maori 160 odd years ago had concepts of land and land ‘ownership’ distinctly different than European concepts then, or Pakeha concepts how. Until you understand what those differences are, and how Maori treaty rights have been undermined because of those differences (amongst other things) then you are ignorant and you have no basis on which to express an opinion.
Instead of indulging in Maori bashing, why not educate yourself? You might be surprised at how interesting and useful Maori views about land are.
The Greens want to commodofy water because Russel Norman believes in a curious version of market theory that says putting a price on water will magically clean up our waterways.
I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..
I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..
Would this be similar to the Maori guardianship/ownership/protection of our fisheries, using poorly paid foreign fisher labour in appalling and dangerous working conditions?
Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovernitu terms the Americans have in the TPP.
The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
“Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?”
I think the immigration minister.
I have noticed that Collins has not repeated her mistake (covering up incompetence as she did with the CEO and Chairman of ACC) with Judge Winklemann’s ruling re Dotcom. Collins knows she has to tread carefully because Dotcom has the cash when it comes to litigation.
When it comes to Collins fixing ACC I feel that she will not walk the talk. An inquiry is required and then RECOMMENDATIONS from claimants/their legal advisor and non ACC health professionals could be implemented.
What did Collins do to implement Bazley’s recommendations into police culture?
There was an independent report criticising the police dragging their heels and all I heard from Collins was tut tut, they need to be hurried along.
Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovereignty terms the Americans have in the TPP.
The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
I listened to the tail end of the debate in parliament on Wednesday evening where Richard Prosser of NZFirst gave a quick fire but detailed resume of the dangers of depleted uranium from his experience having being involved in the missile business.
It is to New Zealand’s detriment that the debate on this bill did not make waves in the media because the implications of cross shipping yellowcake uranium through New Zealand from Australia is fraught with potential dangers that New Zealand is underprepared to deal with in the event of an accident or worse terrorist activity.
Second to that is the exposure New Zealand Military are exposed to in Afghanistan and Iraq where depleted uranium has been deployed in an armour piercing capability thereby exposing all in close proximity to possible toxic dust.
Depleted uranium is considered in the same light as Agent Orange of the Vietnam era with the same insidious genetic damage and prevalence of cancers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5876622/Radioactive-uranium-passing-through-NZ-ports
Large amount of yellowcake uranium is being shipped in and out of NZ ports since 1996. This material is regarded as useful for manufacturing of weapons.
Health effects to prolonged exposure include chromosome aberrations, cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bronchial, bone, connective tissue, kidney and liver.
People reading the Christchurch Press re the CTV rescue 22/3 Feb this morning?? Truly tragic for trapped survivors.
In the account of a husband in cell phone and physical (voice/tapping) contact with his trapped wife, he feels he locates her exact position. The news doesn’t, apparently, galvanise rescuers.
He is removed from the site and, hours later, his wife and others die. The article asks why efforts were not made to cut a hole through the concrete slab trapping her, as well as why her location was not protected from approaching fire.
Lessons, responsibility, compensation… Post Pike River etc, let’s hope.
Thanks to whoever mentioned this documentary by John Pilger… The War on Democracy I have only been watching it in small pieces, so many crimes against democracy and the Venezuelan people are documented.
It is as if writers as watchdogs are extinct, or in thrall to a sociopathic zeitgeist, convinced they are too clever to be duped. Witness the stampede of sycophants eager to deify Christopher Hitchens, a war lover who longed to be allowed to justify the crimes of rapacious power. “For almost the first time in two centuries”, wrote Terry Eagleton, “there is no eminent British poet, playwright or novelist prepared to question the foundations of the western way of life”. No Orwell warns that we do not need to live in a totalitarian society to be corrupted by totalitarianism. No Shelley speaks for the poor, no Blake proffers a vision, no Wilde reminds us that “disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue”. And grievously no Pinter rages at the war machine, as in American Football:
Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord for all good things…
We blew their balls into shards of dust,
Into shards of fucking dust…
Into shards of fucking dust go all the lives blown there by Barack Obama, the Hopey Changey of western violence. Whenever one of Obama’s drones wipes out an entire family in a faraway tribal region of Pakistan, or Somalia, or Yemen, the American controllers in front of their computer-game screens type in “Bugsplat”. Obama likes drones and has joked about them with journalists. One of his first actions as president was to order a wave of Predator drone attacks on Pakistan that killed 74 people. He has since killed thousands, mostly civilians; drones fire Hellfire missiles that suck the air out of the lungs of children and leave body parts festooned across scrubland.
We could do with a few more like Pilger. Hitchens became the darling of the lifestyle left because he was a militant atheist, not because he stood against abuses of power. If I had my time over again, I’d like to be a journalist like Pilger. Being a theoretical physicist doesn’t bring the opportunity to change much that matters.
Thanks to whoever mentioned this documentary by John Pilger… The War on Democracy I have only been watching it in small pieces, so many crimes against democracy and the Venezuelan people are documented.
I found it in my local VideoEzy a few months back, which is amazing! I look for documentaries, but it’s one of the very few they have.
It’s so awesome, that I actually cried!
Obama likes drones and has joked about them with journalists.
I heard one referred to, bizarrely, on the BBC news today as ‘an unmanned plane’. I suppose that’s a new eupehmism… it made me feel sick!
I see where the uniforms for the NZ Olympic team have been designed and manufactured overseas. The contract was awarded to the NZ arm of Rodd and Gunn and conditions of awarding this contract should have been that it must be designed and manufactured in this country. Instead it was designed in Australia, and manufactured in China, Turkey and Italy. We have plenty of creative talented people in this country and it is outrageous that these people were overlooked. No doubt it was all about price, but what price do you place on national pride and sovereignty.
Rodd and Gunn sell overpriced crap that falls to bits anyway. As far as I can see, that’s entirely appropriate for overhyped corporate sport. The uniforms are stylistically bad from what I can see as well, although it’s not easy to judge from how they look on anorexic models how they’ll look on athletes.
This reminds me of the Red Sock campaign when the Americas Cup was on. A south island manufacturer offered these socks and sponsorship.
The next America’s Cup campaign they decided to run the same Red Sock promotion, but this time had them made in CHINA. No consideration for the guy who came up with the original idea, or for the company in NZ which could have manufactured them. Bloody disgusting and I hope the outlet running this promotion ended up lots of unsold stock.
Gordon Campbell has a good article up about efficiency and how it’s being used to undermine our society.
It really is a scam. The word “efficiency”is merely the sauna to which the crusty old policies of slashing wages and limiting the role of government are sent, to provide them with an illusion of health. Which is why it can be quite amusing to stop, smell the roses and look back at what has been peddled in the past as the hallmarks of efficiency. A classic example can be found is this celebrated 2005 speech by then-Treasury Secretary John Whitehead, in which he sang loud and long about enhanced efficiency in ways that are now embarrassing, given what has gone down since 2005. Because what seemed like efficiency – to Treasury at least – became a seedbed for criminality.
See? With bailouts for Spain and Italy now all but inevitable, if you leave Germany out of the picture for the moment, you’re left with no-one at all to pay for those bailouts. Not even a complete and immediate move towards a fiscal, banking and political union would do anything to resolve Europe’s financial quagmire if Germany is not present.
In other words: it all comes down to Germany. Berlin is on the hook for everything. The required funding for the EFSF and ESM emergency funds would, with Spain and Italy moving into roles as debtors instead of creditors, have to come from Germany to the tune of what would fast approach 50% or so.
Does anyone think that is realistic? That Germany can make the markets truly, as in for more than a day or so, believe it has that kind of money lying around, and is wiling to gamble it? Or is it perhaps more likely that, if the Germans would even try it, the markets would turn on Berlin the next morning? If you look at bunds right now, there’s no doubt they’re perceived as a safe haven. But what are the chances that perception would last if Merkel agreed to take on the Savior Of All Of Europe part?
Really do wish these indebted nations would just default and get it over with but it seems that the banksters are in control and are taking as much wealth as they can before reality comes calling.
Really do wish these indebted nations would just default and get it over with
Not so easy in this globalised financial network TPTB have locked us all into. But yeah, its all going to fall over sooner or later, and the more we do the routine ‘pretend and extend’ the harder the fall will be in the end.
It won’t be long and the stoic Germans will march on parliament. There are many who are fed up of being ask to carry all of Europe. It all seem to have the same predicament as the situation after the signing of the Versailles contract. If Germany looses its economic footing, things will get very bad.
Crosby Textor have given The NZ Women’s Weekly exclusive access to John Key’s person photo album. Seems to solve his issue of the 1981 tour
They look a bit hinky to me Link 1
In a decision made public today, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that diplomatic assurances against torture did not provide an effective safeguard against ill-treatment in the case of an asylum seeker transferred from Sweden to Egypt by CIA operatives in December 2001. The committee decided that Sweden’s involvement in the US transfer of Mohammed al-Zari to Egypt breached the absolute ban on torture, despite assurances of humane treatment provided by Egyptian authorities prior to the rendition.
Look on the bright side, even before The Olympics have started an ‘African runner’ has claimed asylum, the rest of the World is already here so I’m sure there will be a house and numerous hand outs waiting for this freeloader, isn’t it great to live in a country with no borders and that puts everyone before it’s own people? I was seriously thinking of getting away from it all but it wouldn’t surprise me if I got home and found my house had been turned into a mosque or an Eastern European family had moved in, such is life.
I was thinking of moving to England to start an Eastern European mosque for gay africans. Just post your address and I’ll make sure I do it at your place. I promise to even fold your BNP flags nicely for you.
My house.
Nice area with no ‘Polski skleps’, Mosques or asylum ‘overspill’ (as in most parts of the country are full but they still let the freeloaders in). YET.
I see the torch is in Westminster now, that bunch of traitors deserve the Guy Fawkes treatment.
Ahem mods, are the openly racist droolings of this fool acceptable now?
Strange to put such ramblings in a 3 week old post. For my part, I’m inclined to keep an eye on him(?) rather than just ban, insofar as such comments serve to highlight the banal stupidity of racism and so serve a perverse purpose. Of course, another moderator may disagree 😉 [B]
So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry? Common sense, more like.
Tell you what NZ is roughly the same size as UK but with a fraction of our population, let’s dump 4 Million low wage or benefit dependent migrants who take a lot more than they contribute on you, throw in countless asylum seekers who of course need taxpayer funded hand outs not to mention state housing, bow down to muzzie terrorists (taxpayer funded of course) who you can’t deport, yuman rites and all that, hand out Millions to countries that openly despise you, outsource millions of jobs, decimate heavy industry, attack workers rights and promote alien cultures at the expense of your own.
All of this while having no control of your borders.
You might want ot give a cite for those astonishing numbers there.
A full half of the UKs population is low wage or benefit dependent migrants?
Reckon you should look more at your bankers and pollies of the source of your problems, that at the people those tossers to tell you to look at. Ya big mugg.
“So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry?”
Not necessarily, but the heat it seems to generate in you is a bit of a pointer.
I was more referring to the bigoted shit you wrote before about how a nice area is one with no mosques or polacks though.
(I’d have thought that was obvious from the order of the comments)
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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—The below response (cut and paste from pre written material), via Nikki Kaye…
“There is currently no conclusive evidence that depleted uranium poses a significant threat to health or the environment. In 2005, the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee considered a petition to ban depleted uranium, and concluded that there was no consensus in the international scientific community as to the effect of depleted uranium on human health, but that New Zealand should continue to monitor the international research on the health consequences of its use. For this reason, the Government supports continued monitoring and research into the effects of depleted uranium, but will not take further action without clear scientific evidence.
Whenever New Zealand Defence Force personnel are deployed in theatres of operations where depleted uranium munitions may have been used, more stringent health monitoring has been untaken on those personnel. To date, there have been no adverse health effects identified in NZDF personnel. Most reports also conclude that any health and environmental risks associated with depleted uranium can be controlled with simple counter-measures by national authorities such as monitoring, clean-up operations where depleted uranium has been used, and further research.
New Zealand is closely following studies by international agencies on the potential health impacts of depleted uranium, and The Government will continue to monitor international developments, reports and studies on depleted uranium and potential health risks. New Zealand also supports a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed last year encouraging Member States to facilitate and Monitor studies and research on depleted uranium by relevant international organisations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
The IAEA has participated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in several international appraisals of depleted uranium, with the objective of these assessments being to draw conclusions regarding the toxic and radiological safety of depleted uranium, and to make recommendations to mitigate the hazards of the population and the environment.
In general, the results of these assessments indicated that the existence of depleted uranium residues dispersed in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the population of the affected regions. The IAEA estimated that annual radiation doses from depleted uranium would be very low and of little radiological concern, with cases of prolonged skin contact with depleted uranium or fragments being the only possible exposure pathway leading to significant risks. Provided access to where these fragments exist remain restricted, the likelihood that members of the public come into such contact is low.
An IAEA assessment came to the same conclusion in Southern Iraq in 2010, and provided recommendations for safe management of fragments of depleted uranium.
I hope you find this information useful, thank you again for your email.”
fucking incredible
i double dare Nikki Kaye to type three little words* into any image search engine and then try to spout that bullshit ever again
* depleted uranium iraq
The response came back within 24 hours of the original email, which suggests that there is someone/something monitoring her inbox, and spewing back this garbage, as I would be surprised if it were NK, even though I have had responses which I can tell are actually from her previously.
Either way whether cut and pasted by her hand, or by someone else, it is her endorsement of the vote she cast againse the bill, and then this attempt to vindicate her choice.
NK is the chair of the education and science select committe, so the email signature states…
This is truly staggering that we are into such dangerous territory now, with the blatant bowing to those who control NATO, which we have recently signed up for…
I will post my response to her on open mike tomorrow, and ecourage people to get onto any and all NACT members, and those who voted this bill down, and in no uncertain words let them know that this is beyond reproach!
Appalling! Idiot woman…
Kevin, Freedom and others who have fallen under the spell of the anti-depleted uranium jihad and have not taken the time to do actual scientific research as opposed to a YouTube or Google look up where everyone just repeats the same lies that first were presented in about 1992 – some are sincere lovers of peace, but others are just con artists who seek to profit from the lies or are professional propagandists. Sadly, I expect that MP Phil Twyford has had his compassionate side mislead by these people as well.
The Phil Twyford Private Member’s bill is full of false and misleading information. There has been an active worldwide campaign against depleted uranium since Saddam Hussein’s regime decided to kill two birds with one stone. They did not like the fact that their vaunted Soviet built tanks could be killed by US/UK tanks at long range with a single shot of a depleted uranium kinetic energy penetrator round from the main gun of the M1 Abrams Tank or the UK’s Challenger Tank. They also did not want to be subject to the UN Sanctions that ended the Gulf War. As a result, all birth defects and cancers were blamed on that horrid radioactive weapon, depleted uranium. How many readers of this have ingested some DU today? All of you! Why, because DU is naturally occuring Uranium-238, and every being on this planet ingests, drinks in or breathes in a fraction of a microgram of U-238 every day of their life. Uranium is a toxic chemical if you take in too much of it and the first sign of a toxic dose is kidney failure, something that surprisingly has seldom been alleged by any of the people who claim to have been made ill by claimed depleted uranium contamination. The toxic radioactive dose of U-238 is unlimited according the IAEA’s Dangerous Quanitities of Radioactive Material (D-values) page 11
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/EPR_D_web.pdf
If anyone would like to write to me, I will gladly correspond with you about my independent research (paid by no one) over the past seven plus years. I even tried to make MP Twyford aware of grave errors in his Bill when he first presented it in 2010 but his comments during the first reading on June 27th and his comments about the Maaori Party since then have led me to believe that he cares little about facts and just wants to believe that he is making a better world. You can write me at owner at the Yahoo group that is linked to this comment. There are a number of public links at this Yahoo group to actual scientific reports by the IAEA and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and others.
PS – Kevin, there is overwhelming evidence that depleted uranium has not been used in Afghanistan and I would be glad to discuss that with you.
John Armstrong in today’s Herald. The man must write speeches for the Nats.
Some interesting points though. “There is no indication Labour has woken up to the fact that some of the targets – such as boosting child immunisation rates, lifting the numbers getting trade qualifications and tackling youth crime – amount to an invasion of its traditional domains.”
JA is part of the NACT spin machine as is O’sullivan/Roughan etc not much intelligence or rigour just CT authored rhetoric presented as if it’s objective comment.
It’s a large reason they got back in as the sheeple take this crap as wise opinion rather than paid for advertorial pieces from the 4th estate dinosaurs.
The Armstrong piece demonstrates National’s way of doing things.
1. Announce big and important targets (so it looks as if you care and are doing important things)
2. “?”
3. Success (or er.. Profit) – see “Underpants Gnomes” for reference.
No interim goals or benchmarks – nothing to measure progress against, and no responsibility. They will claim the incidental wins as their own and ignore the failures that they perpetrated.
Hmmm… speaking of underpants gnomes – I need some coffee.
More insider information on national here.
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/John_Key
That’s given us a chuckle for the morning!
LOL = well worth a read on a cold Sat morning – especially after stupidly reading Armstrong and Roughan on the Herald site.
Mind you, I was surprised at Fran O’Sullivan’s column today – calling for an independent enquiry into the police conduct of the raid on Dotcom.
And some more interesting reading…..From the Nation: NAFTA on steroids. The Americans are also worried about the Trans Pacific Partnership. Here’s an article about the damaging effects the TPP will bring to democracy, from an American perspective. I couldn’t agree with their applause for New Zealand though. Even the Nats accept, after much persuading, that loosening Pharmac’s role would be bad for them, not to mention us as people. The article seems to allude to our govt being principled.
http://www.thenation.com/article/168627/nafta-steroids#
TVNZ 7 winds up today.
A pity really, with its older forgotten sibling, TVNZ6, was an anchor for a new improved digital TV era. But its fate was more or less sealed on election night 2008. If you want to get anything that is remotely public service, you have to fork out for Sky, which IMO is crap for what you pay for. You dont have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.
Oh well, at least I have torrents.
“You don’t have to worry about missing anything because it would be on again in a few days/weeks/months.”
Years. I am seeing repeats of the repeats of the repeats I saw repeated 3 to 4 years ago.
And I agree it is crap and I have told sky as soon as I can download good stuff via the infernalnet they can shove it right up where the sun doesn’t shine.
Like everybody else I got a letter advising me what a WUNDERFUL JOB they were doing and how I can now look at about 50 million channels (complete with adverts every 5 minutes) of the Olympics.(Couldn’t give a toss about the Olympics), and how fortunate as a sky subscriber I already have HD and don’t need to do anything else when all television goes digital in NZ.
Because of this utopia that Sky is supplying my fee has to go up by about 6%. for the same crap I have seen for years.
This is why Channel 7 has been killed off. It was a threat to Keys fat cat mate’s future advertising revenue,
The left sweeps to power in France, gaining control of all branches of government for the first time, well ever, and that is the first thing they do?
Gay Marriage!
Trotter is right, the left today seems to be more worried about racial minorities and gay marriage than public ownership, the welfare state, workers rights and poverty.
I have no problem with that. Sure it’s a minor issue compared to some others but it is also easy to do and shows that the new government will be doing and not just saying which has been the problem of left governments for the last few decades. Now the real test comes, now they need to enact legislation to start to undo the damage that neo-liberalism has done.
As a right winger I have no problem with gay marriage, in fact I’d say it should be a non-event. Supporting marriage and (hopefully) fidelity should be looked as something good for society as a whole, I’d have thought.
You mean the French government is only capable of passing a single law at any one time? They only have one ministry/department operating at any one time and all the rest go on holiday?
Or … oh noes, their first *announcement* of policy was something that hetero white middle-class Waitakere Myths couldn’t benefit from? Gosh, how terrible.
How can they benefit? It’s in furking France for gods sake!!!
I’m sure France has its equivalent “waaaa, the nasty gays and wimminz are takin’ our jobs!” leftwing whingers.
Not like people ‘fought’ to have the state and church removed as ‘licensing’ authorities over relationships. But hey. Nothing like a bit of ‘progressive’ conservatism to galvanise folks.
Agreed! (I’m delighted too, that someone here other than me said it first! 🙂 )
This is the new plan.
http://www.make-everything-ok.com/
The housing crisis in Christchurch really shouldn’t be allowed to happen. But I believe that the government is allowing this to happen to enrich private landlords, who are the only ones who will benefit from a housing crisis.
The changes to state housing underlines this. Throwing thousands of vulnerable tenants out of state housing and off waiting lists, will only add to a large pool of people in the private rental market chasing a scare number of homes, and thus lead to rents being pushed up, for even grotty dives.
creating another housing bubble something the right always try to blame on the left.
the only people who benefit are the banks and the don’t tax me capital gaingsters
Maori are lodging a claim on water, and the left shoudnt really support this. Water is a public ownership owned by everyone, not a private asset owned by the few.
even John key says no-one owns water,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10783913
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/2038498866-Water-ownership-a-no-brainer—Key
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6655601/Water-ownership-hearing-threatens-asset-sales
etc
for how much longer he says that ???
Until he can sell it.
And, yeah, water is owned by the whole community and not just one small sector of it. Go that route and we will see massive deprivation for the sector that doesn’t own it.
160 odd years ago, Maori may have stated they owned the water that was laying around on what they refer to as their land.
The water came from rainclouds they do not have any claim to.
The water that arrives today may have come from clouds that travelled from Antartica airspace so I am at a loss to understand Maori logic that is their water.
Rob
Easy “Just follow the money”.
Fartrain the money ended up in Anglo Saxon hands mainly.
Now in courts that has been proven and Maori have been generous to us by accepting
between 1 and 3% seettlements.
Fartrain I smell the politics of envy from you and your cohorts and it stinks.
You must be joking! NZlaenders have paid BILLIONS in the last few years out of their meager pay packets and have forgone proper healthcare, increase on minimum wages, pensions etc. It seem you are one of those who only will be happy when the pakehas are in rags and begging on street corners.
feigning Weka the settlements haven’t past $2billion and are closer to $1 billion.
envy.
Some Maori tribes have turned their 1to3% settlements into very large portfolios
jealous
Stop being an ignoranting idiot and get your facts right before you
promote your redneck racist attitudes.
Estimate of the “Maori economy” = $36.9B of value.
http://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/in-print/our-publications/fact-sheets/the-maori-economy/download/tpk-maorieconomy-2012.pdf
Feigning Weka, wrong name – Foreign Waka, as in we are all foreign (just a degree on seperation in years) and came on a Waka.
http://www.nzcpr.com/guest275.htm excerpt from NZ Centre of Political Research:
..total redress agreed to and mostly paid to February 1 this year is $2.455-billion. The Treaty Negotiations Vote in last year’s Budget contains a multi-year appropriation of $1.4-billion for the five-year period 2011 to 2015. Since we listed a total of $2.079-billion last July, if that $1.4-billion Budget appropriation were added to our last year’s total, expected redress would reach $3.479-billion.
Interestingly the same number pops up in this report:
http://www.getfrank.co.nz/editorial/nz-politics/treaty-transparency-settlements-1989-2012
Envy? Jealous? Of what? I think that the majority of Maoris know very well that the money comes from working people who struggle all the same. The claim however is directed to the crown, or the Queen, so to speak. This seems to pass you by and my assertion is that you have a mighty handout mentality.
Maori were promised the same rights as British citizens but were these rights were under mined
By shonkey traders taking full advantage of Maori illiteracy .
Maori have a Different value system than Tory Anglo Saxons.
It depends on the substance of the Maori claim. People everywhere should have access to clean water as a basic human right. It should be a public utility not a source of monopoly power for a wealthy elite.
But it’s ok if that wealthy elite is Maori.
Maori have access to schools? Yes? Illiteracy is an issue of neglect within the family, so don’t roll this on to someone else. By what my experience is, Maori do have the same rights. In fact, there are many more benefits available to Maori than to any other race. This seem to be based on a legislated “affirmative action” model stemming from the Treaty, albeit equality was a key word.
As to the use of water – we all need to drink water in order to survive. And this should be freely accessible.
However, it is also clear that the drawing of ground water for irrigation has to have strict monitoring if not levies imposed as any depletion will lower the water table and salinate the ground water. This would make it unusable – forever. I doubt that the value system is very different on that point.
NB – Anglo-Saxons are Germans, and calling white gentile people Anglo-Saxons, is another dill-brained American* habit. It’s as absurd as saying ‘caucasian’ instead of Pakeha, as the police and media do now.
http://raaw.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/caucasian/
and
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2011/01/stop-using-the-word-caucasian-to-mean-white/
* Do try to limit your Americanisms. “Different than” is an Americanism New Zealanders (including Don Brash) use, as they hear it on TV., but even some Americans admit it’s actually wrong…
Maori 160 odd years ago had concepts of land and land ‘ownership’ distinctly different than European concepts then, or Pakeha concepts how. Until you understand what those differences are, and how Maori treaty rights have been undermined because of those differences (amongst other things) then you are ignorant and you have no basis on which to express an opinion.
Instead of indulging in Maori bashing, why not educate yourself? You might be surprised at how interesting and useful Maori views about land are.
Such as how Taniwha’s know to appear at the most convenient time?
I think you are confusing Taniwha with Trolls OneTrack.
The Greens want to commodofy water because Russel Norman believes in a curious version of market theory that says putting a price on water will magically clean up our waterways.
I would much prefer it to be put under Maori guardianship/ownership/protection to prevent that sort of nonsense in the future..
Would this be similar to the Maori guardianship/ownership/protection of our fisheries, using poorly paid foreign fisher labour in appalling and dangerous working conditions?
Oh really? I’d say they would sell to the Chinese in a heartbeat, then lease back for the 3x the sale price on the condition they couldnt complain
Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovernitu terms the Americans have in the TPP.
The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
“Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?”
I think the immigration minister.
I have noticed that Collins has not repeated her mistake (covering up incompetence as she did with the CEO and Chairman of ACC) with Judge Winklemann’s ruling re Dotcom. Collins knows she has to tread carefully because Dotcom has the cash when it comes to litigation.
When it comes to Collins fixing ACC I feel that she will not walk the talk. An inquiry is required and then RECOMMENDATIONS from claimants/their legal advisor and non ACC health professionals could be implemented.
What did Collins do to implement Bazley’s recommendations into police culture?
There was an independent report criticising the police dragging their heels and all I heard from Collins was tut tut, they need to be hurried along.
Which politician would have pushed the Police to behave so over-the-top with Mr Dotcom?
Groser is 100% Pure on the American approach to Trade. He will concede to the intrusive anti-sovereignty terms the Americans have in the TPP.
The little man should not be in-charge of Trade any more than he should be in charge of Climate Change. He is a 100% Pure Liability.
I listened to the tail end of the debate in parliament on Wednesday evening where Richard Prosser of NZFirst gave a quick fire but detailed resume of the dangers of depleted uranium from his experience having being involved in the missile business.
It is to New Zealand’s detriment that the debate on this bill did not make waves in the media because the implications of cross shipping yellowcake uranium through New Zealand from Australia is fraught with potential dangers that New Zealand is underprepared to deal with in the event of an accident or worse terrorist activity.
Second to that is the exposure New Zealand Military are exposed to in Afghanistan and Iraq where depleted uranium has been deployed in an armour piercing capability thereby exposing all in close proximity to possible toxic dust.
Depleted uranium is considered in the same light as Agent Orange of the Vietnam era with the same insidious genetic damage and prevalence of cancers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5876622/Radioactive-uranium-passing-through-NZ-ports
Large amount of yellowcake uranium is being shipped in and out of NZ ports since 1996. This material is regarded as useful for manufacturing of weapons.
Health effects to prolonged exposure include chromosome aberrations, cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bronchial, bone, connective tissue, kidney and liver.
Sure Ben Vidgeon referenced this among other things in the 2 state secrets books he wrote many years ago!
People reading the Christchurch Press re the CTV rescue 22/3 Feb this morning?? Truly tragic for trapped survivors.
In the account of a husband in cell phone and physical (voice/tapping) contact with his trapped wife, he feels he locates her exact position. The news doesn’t, apparently, galvanise rescuers.
He is removed from the site and, hours later, his wife and others die. The article asks why efforts were not made to cut a hole through the concrete slab trapping her, as well as why her location was not protected from approaching fire.
Lessons, responsibility, compensation… Post Pike River etc, let’s hope.
Thanks to whoever mentioned this documentary by John Pilger… The War on Democracy I have only been watching it in small pieces, so many crimes against democracy and the Venezuelan people are documented.
Pilger may be the last real journalist left in the world…
We could do with a few more like Pilger. Hitchens became the darling of the lifestyle left because he was a militant atheist, not because he stood against abuses of power. If I had my time over again, I’d like to be a journalist like Pilger. Being a theoretical physicist doesn’t bring the opportunity to change much that matters.
I found it in my local VideoEzy a few months back, which is amazing! I look for documentaries, but it’s one of the very few they have.
It’s so awesome, that I actually cried!
I heard one referred to, bizarrely, on the BBC news today as ‘an unmanned plane’. I suppose that’s a new eupehmism… it made me feel sick!
I see where the uniforms for the NZ Olympic team have been designed and manufactured overseas. The contract was awarded to the NZ arm of Rodd and Gunn and conditions of awarding this contract should have been that it must be designed and manufactured in this country. Instead it was designed in Australia, and manufactured in China, Turkey and Italy. We have plenty of creative talented people in this country and it is outrageous that these people were overlooked. No doubt it was all about price, but what price do you place on national pride and sovereignty.
Under the free-market gods? None.
Rodd and Gunn sell overpriced crap that falls to bits anyway. As far as I can see, that’s entirely appropriate for overhyped corporate sport. The uniforms are stylistically bad from what I can see as well, although it’s not easy to judge from how they look on anorexic models how they’ll look on athletes.
This reminds me of the Red Sock campaign when the Americas Cup was on. A south island manufacturer offered these socks and sponsorship.
The next America’s Cup campaign they decided to run the same Red Sock promotion, but this time had them made in CHINA. No consideration for the guy who came up with the original idea, or for the company in NZ which could have manufactured them. Bloody disgusting and I hope the outlet running this promotion ended up lots of unsold stock.
Gordon Campbell has a good article up about efficiency and how it’s being used to undermine our society.
Angela Merkel is Playing You For Fools
Really do wish these indebted nations would just default and get it over with but it seems that the banksters are in control and are taking as much wealth as they can before reality comes calling.
Not so easy in this globalised financial network TPTB have locked us all into. But yeah, its all going to fall over sooner or later, and the more we do the routine ‘pretend and extend’ the harder the fall will be in the end.
It won’t be long and the stoic Germans will march on parliament. There are many who are fed up of being ask to carry all of Europe. It all seem to have the same predicament as the situation after the signing of the Versailles contract. If Germany looses its economic footing, things will get very bad.
RWNJ commentators let their feelings show.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/28/CBC-Walks-Out-On-The-Vote
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2900923/posts
http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=30947
http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=30827
Crosby Textor have given The NZ Women’s Weekly exclusive access to John Key’s person photo album. Seems to solve his issue of the 1981 tour
They look a bit hinky to me
Link 1
Plus other things he was up to…..
Link 2
Link 3
Sure thats not Kris Fa’foi? I thought he had some past memory lapses?
A man for all people!
Ever wonder why Assange doesn’t trust the Swedish authorities not to ship him straight to the USA (or worse)?
http://www.hrw.org/news/2006/11/09/sweden-violated-torture-ban-cia-rendition
Look on the bright side, even before The Olympics have started an ‘African runner’ has claimed asylum, the rest of the World is already here so I’m sure there will be a house and numerous hand outs waiting for this freeloader, isn’t it great to live in a country with no borders and that puts everyone before it’s own people? I was seriously thinking of getting away from it all but it wouldn’t surprise me if I got home and found my house had been turned into a mosque or an Eastern European family had moved in, such is life.
I was thinking of moving to England to start an Eastern European mosque for gay africans. Just post your address and I’ll make sure I do it at your place. I promise to even fold your BNP flags nicely for you.
Sure it’s:
My house.
Nice area with no ‘Polski skleps’, Mosques or asylum ‘overspill’ (as in most parts of the country are full but they still let the freeloaders in). YET.
I see the torch is in Westminster now, that bunch of traitors deserve the Guy Fawkes treatment.
Stalin.
Ahem mods, are the openly racist droolings of this fool acceptable now?
Strange to put such ramblings in a 3 week old post. For my part, I’m inclined to keep an eye on him(?) rather than just ban, insofar as such comments serve to highlight the banal stupidity of racism and so serve a perverse purpose. Of course, another moderator may disagree 😉 [B]
Ah, gotcha, you believe in freedom of speech but only if you agree with what is being said.
Freedom of speech =/= freedom to bizarrely troll other people’s blogs with no moderation.
You have a problem with what I said there, DS? Am I not allowed to voice my opinion on your horrible bigotry?
O NOEZ MY FREEDOMZ IZ BEING OPPRESSED ON!!!
So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry? Common sense, more like.
Tell you what NZ is roughly the same size as UK but with a fraction of our population, let’s dump 4 Million low wage or benefit dependent migrants who take a lot more than they contribute on you, throw in countless asylum seekers who of course need taxpayer funded hand outs not to mention state housing, bow down to muzzie terrorists (taxpayer funded of course) who you can’t deport, yuman rites and all that, hand out Millions to countries that openly despise you, outsource millions of jobs, decimate heavy industry, attack workers rights and promote alien cultures at the expense of your own.
All of this while having no control of your borders.
You might want ot give a cite for those astonishing numbers there.
A full half of the UKs population is low wage or benefit dependent migrants?
Reckon you should look more at your bankers and pollies of the source of your problems, that at the people those tossers to tell you to look at. Ya big mugg.
He’s probably just trying to introduce himself nicely because Key has headhunted him as our next Human Rights Commissioner.
“So not supporting uncontrolled immigration, believing the EU is rotten to the core, expecting migrants to respect their host nation and suggesting asylum seekers/refugees go to the first safe country rather than travelling half way across the world to an already overcrowded country constitue bigotry?”
Not necessarily, but the heat it seems to generate in you is a bit of a pointer.
I was more referring to the bigoted shit you wrote before about how a nice area is one with no mosques or polacks though.
(I’d have thought that was obvious from the order of the comments)