UNRWA is mandated by the UN to serve Palestinian refugees whom are uniquely defined by the UN. Under UNRWA, a Palestinian refugee is defined as any person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and lost both home and livelihood through the 1948 conflict including descendents of fathers. From this we get the 6 million Palestinians that have right of return. These statements by the UN, enshrined in UNWRA are not only their survival safety net but also their last tenuous link to their land. It is their equivalent to our Te Tiriti and it is ultimately the destruction of this that Israel desires.
We and all the settler colonial societies of the West are engaged in supporting the destruction of another indigenous people and agency that safeguards their rights to their land.
Where is China on this. Why do they not fund the UNRWA? They could do it in their sleep. This is a continually unfolding tradgedy and if the UNRWA is lost it will add to the desperation of this genocide
"Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA spokesman, said the UN agency has weeks only before it runs out of money for its crucial aid work to save Palestinian lives in Gaza. More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on October 7.
“My message to the Arab world, particularly to the Gulf, is where are you? Because they’re making billions each day on oil revenues. A tiny fraction of those oil revenues would see UNRWA’s financial problems disappear overnight. This unconscionable gap inflicted by these Western countries would be filled very quickly,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.
“Some of the most desperate people in the Middle East are now facing starvation, they’re facing famine, and the Arab states need to step up to the plate.”"
Absolutely and good to see pressure being applied to all those previously shirking. If the US could manage $300M even with such a strong Israel lobby then it should be an easy thing for the rest of the world to replace.
I don't think the Arab world particularly wants to fund, beyond what they already do, an agency which exists because of Israel's illegal occupation.
UNRWA is a mechanism under which Israel is allowed to continue its supremacist program of ethnocide (and now genocide).
Those countries who created Israel, and support it carrying out its ethnic cleansing manifesto are the ones who are duty bound to most fund UNRWA which is tasked with picking up the pieces of such a flawed apartheid state.
The Arab world would like to see a permanent resolution, a Palestinian state, and fully funding the agency which is a function of the status quo runs counter to that. They’d basically be endorsing and subsidising US and Israeli hegemony.
There are some in the Arab world for whom a permanent solution is the end of the Israeli nation. The people of Gaza elected a government with those aims. Doctrine of Hamas | Wilson Center
There are others in the Arab world who appear to view the Palestinian cause with, at best, indifference, and at times prefer Israel. Here's one example:
"The Palestinian cause is no longer an Arab concern. We fund the Palestinians, and they respond by cursing us and behaving badly. The Arabs and Muslims no longer applaud the Palestinians. We should not be ashamed to establish relations with Israel."
I hope you don't mind if I did a very small amount of research.
In the Wilson Centre article, at the start of the third paragraph I read this and felt I didn't need to go further:
Hamas was founded—in the early days of the first Intifada uprising—amid growing Palestinian fury over the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
And, the Gatestone Institute is an anti-muslim right wing think tank founded by wealthy American, and Israeli supremacist, Nina Rosenwald:
Her family fund has given financial support to two institutions located in settlements on the West Bank: the Beit El yeshiva, which counsels its students to defy government orders to evacuate illegal outposts, and Ariel University. It also donates to the Central Fund of Israel, a New-York-based NGO which reportedly serves as a major vehicle for the transfer of American donations to "hard-core" settlements on the West Bank.
"In the Wilson Centre article, at the start of the third paragraph I read this and felt I didn't need to go further:"
Well you should have, because my comment was about the people of Gaza electing Hamas to government. Forming a terrorist organisation is one thing, electing it as your government is another thing all together. (BTW, the formation of Hamas is debatable. For example, "Hasan and Sayedahmed (2018) cite multiple sources that say that Hamas was founded in the late 1970s as a religious counterweight to the secular Fatah. "History of Hamas – Wikipedia
"is an anti-muslim right wing think tank founded by"
You must have missed the fact that Gatestone was a source for the quote from Ahmad al-Jaralah, the Kuwaiti journalist. It does pay to read on.
In the 1940s, long before Palestinian resistance groups like Hamas picked up arms against the Israeli occupation, a plethora of Jewish militias were bombing and shooting dead British officials and Palestinian Arabs.
The Jewish groups including Haganah to Irgun, and the Stern Gang (Lehi) actively used terrorism against the British mandate over Palestine and to create fear among the Arab citizens.
In Western popular discourse the term terrorism has long been associated with the Middle East, but particularly with the activities of Palestinian Arab groups, which have dominated the news for the past forty years. But sixty years ago, it was the actions of Jewish terrorists in Palestine that grabbed headlines around the world. Although this campaign is not as well-known today, it raises an important question: is the modern Middle East conflict, in which terrorism plays a prominent role, itself a product of a terrorist campaign?
"How strange that this is never mentioned in the Israel-Palestine rhetoric, nor the fact that over half a million Jews had legally immigrated at the invitation of Palestinian mayors of an array of cities, and also joining with that existing massive Jewish population in the Land. These Jews all 100% purchased their homes. They did not steal one centimeter of land, nor houses. This was all before 1948. So why had der Grossmufti von Jerusalem – Hajj “Amin” Al-Husseini – and his terrorist gangs been massacring Jews for three decades prior to that? It certainly wasn’t because of land theft. It sure wasn’t about “freedom fighting.” It was about hatred of the Jewish People."
Arab violence against Jews is often alleged to have begun with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 or as a result of Israel’s capture in 1967 of territories occupied by Jordan. But even before the Mandate for Palestine was assigned to Great Britain by the Allies at the San Remo Conference (April 1920) and endorsed by the League of Nations (July 1922), Palestinian Arabs were carrying out organized attacks against Jewish communities in Palestine. Systematic violence began in early 1920 with murderous assaults by groups of local Arabs against settlements in the north and by Muslim pilgrims against Jerusalem’s Jews. Again in 1921, Arab rioters attacked Jews in Jaffa and its environs.
The Times of Israel article seemed a bit unhinged but that is understandable just days after the Hamas mission. But then I looked at his website, yikes!
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is an American non-profit pro-Israel media-monitoring, research and membership organisation.
Critics of CAMERA claim that it is an ‘extreme Israel advocacy group’, aligned with hawkish rightwing viewpoints; that it pays stipended fellows to write anti-Palestinian articles; and that it employs smear and intimidation tactics, routinely targeting media and journalists critical of Israel and pro-Palestinian activists on campuses.
“Critics of CAMERA” will make all sorts of claims, as have you. And so we can bounce around questioning each others sources, but in the end Israeli’s are murdering Palestinians and Palestinians are murdering Israeli’s. Your views are too entrenched to be helpful.
Unlike the IDF, Hamas (and their supporters?) have little interest in protecting the civilian population of Gaza. That IDF munitions have killed tens of thousands of Gazans in under 4 months becomes less problematic when Gazans are characterised as supporters of terrorism, although there's still the inconvenient truth of 10,000 dead children to consider.
History will be the judge of which 'side' behaved most monsterously.
Know their names
Palestinian children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
The Gaza Strip is a graveyard for thousands of children, the United Nations has said. Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed at least 10,000 children, according to Palestinian officials. That is one Palestinian child killed every 15 minutes, or about one out of every 100 children in the Gaza Strip.
It’s a time for choosing [23 Oct 2023] The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza requires each of us to make a choice.
Which leads me, finally, to the choice the mostly unrepentant keyboard cavalry who are happily saddling up once more – in derivative columns and hyperbolic appearances on TV – made to side with their home team’s, by now, familiar mantra: Kill first, think later.
Unlike the IDF, Hamas (and their supporters?) have little interest in protecting the civilian population of Gaza.
It’s even worse than that. Hamas put civilians in harms way by design.
That IDF munitions have killed tens of thousands of Gazans in under 4 months becomes less problematic when Gazans are characterised as supporters of terrorism,
Who knows – meantime, why not work with the names we do know?
“An atrocities-filled rampage” vs colateral damage of 10,000 dead children, and counting.
Ignore their attempts at reputation laundering and ongoing tease about some kind of rapprochement with Israel (on their terms and only if daddy US gives them a big enough bribe), the oil states in the Middle East are not nice people pursuing not nice foreign policy objectives.
They're either dour religious fanatics (Saudi) playing a long game against other dour religious fanatics (Iran), or cynical dictators/absolute monarchs that rely on American military aid for security on one hand, and ongoing western/UN involvement in the region as a rallying cry to keep a lid on domestic discontent.
Participating in the UN relief effort would lead to these states either a) being seen as western stooges or b) actually helping relieve a situation that is so much to their advantage.
Better to stay outside the tent and throw money at the occasional hospital or university to look generous and keep the Palestinians onside. All while the Israelis blunder around committing war crimes and bleeding support in the West.
The Balfour Declaration recognised the obvious rights of those in Palestine, most not Jews – while the UK wanted to facilitate a Jewish homeland and enable migration, they did not deny there was a local population that was Arab with their own rights.
For mine whatever one thinks of the UN decision in 1947 to have two states (given the Arabs, neither local nor regional, consented to a separate Jewish state), there was first a UK (who received the League of Nations Palestine mandate) and then subsequent UN acceptance of the rights of the Arab population.
Thus it is reasonable to see it as their Treaty guarantee, despite a Jewish homeland for settlement state. The UN sees it in that light with it being their responsibility rather than that of the UK.
Thus the UNRWA was established after the 1948 war and the departure of and denial of return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
As per the refugees and the UNRWA role, one can quibble about how many of the 6 million or so are now "refugees".
2 million have citizenship in Jordan, etc as a group like UN Watch would note
Whatever the number now, one can then note that one of Israel's prime goals includes ending UNRWA and have the other Arab states follow the example of Jordan.
Which raises the question are those nations cutting funding to UNRWA proposing taking in the Palestinian refugees and if not what are they going to do next?
What is going on now is akin to the settler majority re-writing the principles of the Treaty (one assimilated people etc) and telling Maori to go live in Oz, if they do not like it.
“Mr Robinson was one of five hopefuls for the Rodney selection in 2011, eventually won by Mark Mitchell, who went on to become MP.
Dirty Politics, based on emails stolen from Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater, appears to show Mr Slater collaborating with political strategist Simon Lusk to push for Mr Mitchell.
Emails between Mr Slater and Mr Lusk appear to show they wanted him to win, and discussed payments from him; Mr Mitchell has emphatically denied ever paying either of them.”
After destroying Robinson's reputation, Cameron Slater and co. then went on to destroy the reputations of the other candidates. And soon there was only their preferred candidate left. But out intrepid new Police minister didn’t know about any of it. 🙄
So that is the level of propriety (or the lack of it) now considered acceptable for a police minister.
Well done Anne to remind us of the calibre of some of these Govt. Ministers. “I know nothink…” yeah right…
Mrs “give it back double” Collins did not come out of “Dirty politics” well either and she is…wait, what… Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, and Minister for Space!
Well, there is always the hope that some filthy rich adventurer will take her on a ride into space from whence they disappear… never to be heard of again. 😉
Yes TM, and Anne, bloody amazing. I often wonder what it is that protects her? From Key's wrath, a failed leadership, and now with a fist in the judiciary pie, and he side kick Minister of Police. Guess the Fraud Squad will get big cuts???
I was quite chuffed that the tweet had 19,000 impressions, 1,120 engagements and 475 likes and 118, mostly favourable comments.
However, my tweet seemed to disturb the equilibrium of your columnist who called my tweet: “hair-raising”, “jaw-dropping”, “excitable”, full of “egregious errors”, and making “loud alarums” (I had to look up the dictionary for that one) and “inflammatory claims”. Chris quotes one of the two joint statements released by the US on 11 January that names the 6 nations that were physically involved in the military attacks on the Houthis and Yemen but ignores the “on behalf of statement” of the same date (referred to above) that names NZ as a willing coalition partner.
There is a saying on twitter that a tweet doesn’t age well. However, it seems that mine did. On 22 January 2024 following the first cabinet meeting of the year, the PM, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence in a somewhat bizarre post cabinet standup confirmed that not only was NZ part of the coalition at war with the Houthis, but also that NZ would now be “deploying a Defence Force team of six “highly trained” people to the Middle East to help provide maritime security in the Red Sea”.
In my view if NZ is part of a military coalition and has made a deployment to this coalition, then NZ is at war as my tweet stated. Interestingly respected Otago University academic Robert Patman, 36th Parallel director, Paul Buchanan, and a number of others have come to similar conclusions or at least expressed similar concerns.
To war, or not to war, that is the question. The answer is that it depends where you look. If you look at the govt, you see a stance of helping the warriors without actually being one. A helping stance is useful due to plausible moral justification for doing what's right in any situation – even a marginal influence may steer the thing so as to produce a suitable outcome. The trick is not to define the thing.
In terms of physics, making something definite collapses the wave function. In situations where flow of the whole is the key operational context to use, you adapt using a fluid stance to guide your tactics & strategy. Tacit works better than explicit.
Reid & Trotter are feeling different parts of the elephant, to jump the metaphor shark, and complicity in warfare is happening without the govt being at war in actuality. Note there's only 6 helpers being sent: the govt sadly missed out on the prospect of magical influence by not including a seventh helper…
Might be time for Mr Trotter to turn off the MacBook for a while, when you get down to the level of criticising a working class stalwart such as Robert Reid it is obvious he is not just erratic and vacillating, but joined the ranks of right opportunists. Sad, knew Chris well during his union days with the Distribution Workers Federation and others, but he has clearly been unhappy for a while and if he has thrown his lot in with reactionaries best he admit it rather than playing all sides as he has done for years with his columns.
Years back in the ’80s CT got opprobrium from many unionists when he started writing for the National Business Review which was a big deal back in pre digital times. “Positive engagement” the apologists said, but people’s class position runs deep and not too many jump the fence, ironically Robert Reid did, as he was very briefly, a young Nat! but against CMT (Compulsory Military Training) which he and others campaigned successfully against.
Robert has been a Marxist internationalist for many decades, known around Asia Pacific in particular in such circles. From car industry struggles to TUF to building unions in the Pacific, running First Union, on the WEAG review, he has done more than most NZ online pundits could imagine.
This country had no hardware to smash into one of the poorest countries on the planet along with the heroic poms and yanks–but–we are fully complicit thanks to 5 Eyes connections. Our involvement will help target people to be killed–sounds like participation in armed conflict to me. US Imperialism always wants cover, the “willing” and it is shameful indeed that this Govt. has given it to them during one of the worst examples of vindictive genocide since the WWII Warsaw Ghetto.
I think he's corrupt and has corrupted himself. There's a clear abandonment of left values as described by SPC just below @3.1.2.1.2.2. I believe you were also shocked at his call to arms against Maori the other day.
He's corrupted because this slide to the privileged, authoritarian right has coincided with a move to platforms such as, er, The Platform and various astroturfing outfits like New Zealand Centre for Political Research as described below by Reality @7.
What do they say? You are the company you keep.
I also know you are interested in this as it pertains to your idea that left/right boundaries are becoming less relevant as people find themselves at odds with the political values of the people they normally identify with. This can be true in for single issues maybe (I was against Seymour’s legalised murder legislation but a lot of lefties voted for it), but when the weight of ideals you hold has shifted so far to the right then you’re in trouble.
I could be wrong here because I don't keep up to date with the machinations of the MSM sites as such, but it does seem to me he is no longer among the 'go to' journalists and commentators – at least not in the way he used to be. That would have damaged his ego no end, and could be the reason he's turned to the right wing platforms you mentioned. It gives him the opportunity to remain relevant in the competitive world of political and social commentary.
His opposition to a CGT, because those of his demographic (older people who owned their home) did not support it, is class based – just not left wing or working class.
His narrative that Maori are a threat to democracy makes him part of the Brash/Seymour ilk, the Maori/Treaty etc as a block on global market supremacy over the nation state political society and economy to be removed.
It's a counter-point to transforming what is left of government into a funder of external delivery providers and ending any expectation of government having any role in making society better for the majority. Why, because the many of the next generation might not be property owners in their own land (and that was once seen as the basis for participation in democratic government decision-making) and so they are supposed to settle for worker class wage to pay "occupation" rent until they are too old to work.
His blindness to that and the influence of his peer group 1950's boomer assimilation era New Zealander with property ownership makes him useless to the 21st C left (he'd probably stand on his own grave declaring no estate tax).
If anyone can read the tealeaves of Biden's silence on the response to 3 US soldiers dead and 50 wounded from the missile attack, for a response "at a time of their choosing", resisting all those FoxNews and Republican chickenhawk revenge fantasies for launching attacks directly on Iran, well 'warmongering' isn't the term that springs to mind.
It was only yesterday that the US, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were outlining an interim post-Gaza fighting peace deal. So the US should expect further terrorist provocation like rocket attacks to derail that.
What is on the table from Saudi Arabia and Egypt is a pathway toward a Palestinian state in return for Saudi recognition of Israel. In turn this is the most efficient way to block Iran growing its proxy base.
Biden appears to be holding his nerve better than leaders in Lebanon, Israel, Iran. We need neither peacenik non-interventionists nor warmongers. We need results from hard bargaining.
Hard bargaining from Biden?? Not even a hiccup in the supply of weapons to rain down on Gaza as far as I can see. Only continual reinforcement of US support for Israel and by implication, its active genocide in Gaza. It would be far simpler to make a case for active encouragement than for any kind of "hard bargaining"
I agree that Biden is not using the military supply leveraging that he could. But let's never suggest this is a US problem. The US has no interests to defend in Gaza, socially, economically or militarily.
Biden will never order a "boots on the ground" peace-enforcing role for US troops – ever. So his instruments are diplomacy and missiles in combination.
The more each front opens up, the less possible specific country peace deals become possible. At least not until Netanyahu gets real domestic pressure himself, or Saudi Arabia offers something very, very sweet to him.
You need to read Trotter's "No Right Turn" book again. He documents the key moments that actively conspired against the left from the entire previous century. He did that better than Jesson or anyone else.
However the left evolves in this Parliamentary term, it's probably only Trotter that can show the left how we got here.
I never read it – I never found his writing in his political review journal to be particularly impressive altho some of his essays in recent years have been positive contributions and insightful. Never saw him even attempt to explain why & how the NLP performed so poorly and he's had 30 years or so to get that job done.
Similarly for Jesson although always worth reading and did a good job in his mirror-glass book which I did buy! Tony Simpson was better than both, discerning relevant power dynamics in our historical contexts & an excellent storyteller too.
Simpson was a socialist romantic; fine for the Sugarbag Years and not much chop after WW2.
With Easton's The Economic History of New Zealand that came out late 2022, the gap we have is someone to write The Millennial Political Economy of New Zealand .
Slavish adherence to British precedence, yet the neolib hegemony teeters on this slippery demographic slope:
According to a report published in July by the rightwing thinktank the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), younger Britons have taken a decidedly leftwing turn. Nearly 80% blame capitalism for the housing crisis, while 75% believe the climate emergency is “specifically a capitalist problem” and 72% back sweeping nationalisation. All in all, 67% want to live under a socialist economic system. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/20/eat-the-rich-why-millennials-and-generation-z-have-turned-their-backs-on-capitalism
Likely the Tory govt has consolidated the effect in the 2.5 years since that was published. Cue Starmer, headed in on a landslide apparently.
Most people still see him in that category though. I agree that testimony of personal values doesn't feature much in his style. Who do you rate as a leftist opinionator?
He is an atheist but says he is becoming "more Jewish".
If he feels that fickle finger of god tapping on his shoulder, could be the tidal pull of normalcy.
Cohen criticised Ecuador for granting political asylum to Julian Assange and called Ecuador a "petro-socialist authoritarian state". He has also been critical of the CANZUK agreement, calling it "an Anglo-Saxon Narnia".
As if that were a negative thing! Not clever at all. However Maduro's petrosocialist authoritarianism is an enduring style, so he got that right.
I know its not my normal email but I can't seem to post under my proper one?
[lprent: That is because you have a permanent ban for your previous behaviour. Basically being a dim-witted fatuous troll who won’t listen to moderators telling you repeatably to lift your standard of commenting carries consequences. We don’t mind debate here. But it has to actually carry some information, if only about your opinions and the reasons behind them. Just being a brainless parrot trying to be funny doesn’t reach the standard. Try the ever diminishing X or something even more brainless.
A permanent ban means that we don’t allow your comments on this site because you waste the time of our moderators and add nothing to debate.
Eventually I get around to releasing bans even permanent ones. It happens about once every 3-5 years when I think that the size of the banned list is starting to slow the site. Also I have enough faith that eventually even brainless trolls grow up and join humanity.
Johnr – because LPrent owns the standard he considers it gives him absolute license to be abusive and small minded and be a bully to people on here, which is totally against the rules here.
however, none of the mods pull him up against it no matter how much they tell other commentators not to bully or use diminishing words against others.
I don’t particularly pay any attention to what Lynn says because he’s just a grumpy old fuck that thinks because the standard is “his site” he can go ahead and abuse others with impunity.
but between him, advantage, and weka, the standard has become far less enjoyable as a forum for a free exchange of ideas with differences of opinions being thrashed out openly using education, exploration, and elimination.
it’s a crying shame really. From the valuable asset it was in 2008 when a free exchange of ideas was allowed whereas on red alert it was shut down, to weka’s indiscriminate bans on everybody interesting because they didn’t link to stuff/nzh, the standard has become a place of groupthink where only happy ideas can be raised.
wrong – there is plenty of diverse opinion around here. bans are generally handed out after a pattern of repeated antisocial behaviour – some things cause discussion to break down
of course it aint perfect because there are humans involved
'groupthink'; 'grumpy' – well yeah it's a left-wing forum facing a right wing government that is hell-bent on demolishing the social fabric and inciting racial divisions
some examples would be nice… there was some strife during Covid when one (ex)-moderator went anti-vax and got frustrated with everyone constantly rebutting his ‘facts’ so he’s not around much anymore…
Nancy Pelosi being a deranged vicious thug calling Palestine supporters paid Russian agents and demanding the Fbi investigate the Guardian article for reference.
Ever since the democrats lost 2016 the media and public have allowed with no push back for the democrats to blame everything they don't like on Russia.
If you disagree with the democrats you're guilty of treason and the boot of the state should crush your neck according to the democrats.
68% of Americans want a cease fire, including 50% of 2020 democrats (30% are unsure) the whole country and democratic party according to establishment dems are Russian agents.
Pelosi, Biden, Schumer and all these paid corporate war mongering geriatrics are so out of touch they forget they have to actually win elections to stay in power and when they lose it it's not their fault it's china's, it's Russias, it's nazis, anyone but their own unelectable selves.
The 2024 usa election is a grudge match between mask off war mongering, corporate senile geriatric hard right wing authoritarians who like gays and girl bosses
VS mask off xenophobic authoritarian isolationists who don't believe in the constitution.
As someone who spends a lot of time in the states, the latter is far more popular, even among gays, Latinos and African Americans in New York city.
Pelosi, Biden, Schiff, Schumer et all are lunatics.
Its all about money, which which quite normal in USA.
Zionist and other hard line Israeli supporters still have considerable clout in US banking and finance so the Democrats are not likely to give anything but the most lukewarm support to their Palestinian enemies and risk their donations coming to a halt.
Roy Morgan polling reports that a December 2023 political poll shows the NACTZ coalition down 6.5 points from the last poll compared to the Labour-Greens-Te Pati Maori bloc. All three of the triumvirate are down in support.
A relevant quote from the film "Spaceballs".
"I hope it's going to be a long ceremony because it's going to be a short honeymoon…"
How true.
Well, well, well. In today's Post was an insert printed and distributed by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research "The Treaty of Waitangi an Explanation Te Tiriti O Waitangi" by the Hon Sir Apirana Ngata. On looking up the website of this outfit, listed as writing regular articles are Karl du Fresne, Owen Jennings, Chris Trotter, Muriel Newman, Roger Douglas, Michael Bassett.
Seems like the start of a political campaign to influence the public over David Seymour's intentions re the Treaty. Obviously some heavy hitters hard at work behind the scenes.
NZCPR are full-blown climate change and indigenous rights deniers, one of the most malfeasant institutions in the country. For Stuff to take their ad money (and for Newstalk ZB to give founder Muriel Newman a premium platform) is a catastrophic moral failure
Notice how he carefully avoided blaming a junior staffer:
The Herald requested a statement from Hipkins and Labour’s Māori caucus. A Labour spokeswoman only provided a statement from Māori caucus co-chair Willie Jackson, who said the inclusion of the Tate GIF was “clearly an error” and was removed as soon as it was recognised.
Is this adroit or what!!? Just when everyone has been conditioned to expect Labour to always copy National, they don't! I have to give Willie 8/10 for such expertise.
Labour has admitted to an error in using a GIF of divisive influencer Andrew Tate – a man charged with rape and human trafficking – to endorse a post on one of the party’s Instagram accounts. The post, a reel, was put up on the Labour Māori caucus’ account last week. It featured a screenshot of a 1News article about Labour leader Chris Hipkins’ comments at Rātana.
It was complemented with a GIF, an animated image, of Tate accompanied by the word “Correct!”.
Great minds think alike!! Yet inexplicably Labour's pr machine has failed to use this conventional explanation. They just lack the common touch.
Do you really have to ask? Surely you can imagine the desperation within Labour if he were to play the pied piper & lead the Labour Maori off to join the Maori Party.
Not that he's likely to do so currently whilst they present as radicals. Labour's mishandling of co-governance masked good intent: rectifying the official shambles. So Willie will remain within, to respect Labour's marginal grasp on authenticity. You can see the ole good cop analogy for their role in Labour (TMP bad).
On the Police numbers saga, it feels like Mitchell went to Willis and asked for the money required to fund 500 new cops in two years and/or be exempt from the 6.5-7.5% public service cuts…and Willis said no.
So Mark gets up in parliament and lays this bare as if to say, 'I wanted two years but she wouldn't let me'. Now Egg-head has had to flop flop, Mitchell forced to correct, and the cops will come in two, despite the cuts everyone else has to make.
Canny from Mitchell, looks like he called Willis' bluff and got his way:
Sex is not defined by chromosomes, nor by anatomy, nor by psychology or sociology, nor by personal inclination, nor by “assignment at birth”, but by gamete size. It happens to be embryologically DETERMINED by chromosomes in mammals and (in the opposite direction) birds, by temperature in some reptiles, by social factors in some fish. But it is universally DEFINED by the binary distinction between sperms and eggs.
You may argue about “gender” if you wish (biologists have better things to do) but sex is a true binary, one of rather few in biology.
There's a lot of underhanded shit going on – David Seymour spearheading most of it – and people like Josh Drummond are doing important work exposing it.
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The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
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NewsroomBy Dr Lisa Darragh, Dr Raewyn Eden and Dr David Pomeroy
UNRWA is mandated by the UN to serve Palestinian refugees whom are uniquely defined by the UN. Under UNRWA, a Palestinian refugee is defined as any person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and lost both home and livelihood through the 1948 conflict including descendents of fathers. From this we get the 6 million Palestinians that have right of return. These statements by the UN, enshrined in UNWRA are not only their survival safety net but also their last tenuous link to their land. It is their equivalent to our Te Tiriti and it is ultimately the destruction of this that Israel desires.
We and all the settler colonial societies of the West are engaged in supporting the destruction of another indigenous people and agency that safeguards their rights to their land.
Where is China on this. Why do they not fund the UNRWA? They could do it in their sleep. This is a continually unfolding tradgedy and if the UNRWA is lost it will add to the desperation of this genocide
Not only China.
"Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA spokesman, said the UN agency has weeks only before it runs out of money for its crucial aid work to save Palestinian lives in Gaza. More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on October 7.
“My message to the Arab world, particularly to the Gulf, is where are you? Because they’re making billions each day on oil revenues. A tiny fraction of those oil revenues would see UNRWA’s financial problems disappear overnight. This unconscionable gap inflicted by these Western countries would be filled very quickly,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.
“Some of the most desperate people in the Middle East are now facing starvation, they’re facing famine, and the Arab states need to step up to the plate.”"
Which countries have cut funding to UNRWA, and why? | News | Al Jazeera
Absolutely and good to see pressure being applied to all those previously shirking. If the US could manage $300M even with such a strong Israel lobby then it should be an easy thing for the rest of the world to replace.
Perhaps take it out of the UN mandate? I mean between raping children in the Congo (UN peacekeepers in Congo hold record for rape, sex abuse | AP News) and bringing Cholera to Haiti (UN admits for first time that peacekeepers brought cholera to Haiti | Global health | The Guardian), maybe there are other agencies /NGO's that have more credibility?
The UN is a deeply flawed institution by design. And yeah, it fails to live up to a bunch of it's aspirations.
That said, even a deeply flawed multilateral institution dedicated to peace and the rule of international law is better than nothing.
Of course. The work has to be done, but is the UN, and UNRWA specifically, the best vehicle for that now, or is it damaged beyond repair?
I don't think the Arab world particularly wants to fund, beyond what they already do, an agency which exists because of Israel's illegal occupation.
UNRWA is a mechanism under which Israel is allowed to continue its supremacist program of ethnocide (and now genocide).
Those countries who created Israel, and support it carrying out its ethnic cleansing manifesto are the ones who are duty bound to most fund UNRWA which is tasked with picking up the pieces of such a flawed apartheid state.
The Arab world would like to see a permanent resolution, a Palestinian state, and fully funding the agency which is a function of the status quo runs counter to that. They’d basically be endorsing and subsidising US and Israeli hegemony.
There are some in the Arab world for whom a permanent solution is the end of the Israeli nation. The people of Gaza elected a government with those aims. Doctrine of Hamas | Wilson Center
There are others in the Arab world who appear to view the Palestinian cause with, at best, indifference, and at times prefer Israel. Here's one example:
"The Palestinian cause is no longer an Arab concern. We fund the Palestinians, and they respond by cursing us and behaving badly. The Arabs and Muslims no longer applaud the Palestinians. We should not be ashamed to establish relations with Israel."
Ahmad al-Jaralah (quoted at Why Arabs Hate Palestinians :: Gatestone Institute
I see no solution to this conflict while the hatred and barbarism continues on both sides.
I hope you don't mind if I did a very small amount of research.
In the Wilson Centre article, at the start of the third paragraph I read this and felt I didn't need to go further:
And, the Gatestone Institute is an anti-muslim right wing think tank founded by wealthy American, and Israeli supremacist, Nina Rosenwald:
"In the Wilson Centre article, at the start of the third paragraph I read this and felt I didn't need to go further:"
Well you should have, because my comment was about the people of Gaza electing Hamas to government. Forming a terrorist organisation is one thing, electing it as your government is another thing all together. (BTW, the formation of Hamas is debatable. For example, "Hasan and Sayedahmed (2018) cite multiple sources that say that Hamas was founded in the late 1970s as a religious counterweight to the secular Fatah. " History of Hamas – Wikipedia
"is an anti-muslim right wing think tank founded by"
You must have missed the fact that Gatestone was a source for the quote from Ahmad al-Jaralah, the Kuwaiti journalist. It does pay to read on.
Since you are apparently keen on a good read:
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/a-lookback-at-the-zionist-terrorism-that-led-to-israels-creation-15767166
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/10538/11136
And, just three generations ago, does this sound familiar?
It's never been one sided.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936%E2%80%931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine
Exactly.
"How strange that this is never mentioned in the Israel-Palestine rhetoric, nor the fact that over half a million Jews had legally immigrated at the invitation of Palestinian mayors of an array of cities, and also joining with that existing massive Jewish population in the Land. These Jews all 100% purchased their homes. They did not steal one centimeter of land, nor houses. This was all before 1948. So why had der Grossmufti von Jerusalem – Hajj “Amin” Al-Husseini – and his terrorist gangs been massacring Jews for three decades prior to that? It certainly wasn’t because of land theft. It sure wasn’t about “freedom fighting.” It was about hatred of the Jewish People."
Palestinian pogroms before 1948 prove that attacking Jews was never about Israel | Micah Ben David Naziri | The Blogs (timesofisrael.com)
Arab violence against Jews is often alleged to have begun with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 or as a result of Israel’s capture in 1967 of territories occupied by Jordan. But even before the Mandate for Palestine was assigned to Great Britain by the Allies at the San Remo Conference (April 1920) and endorsed by the League of Nations (July 1922), Palestinian Arabs were carrying out organized attacks against Jewish communities in Palestine. Systematic violence began in early 1920 with murderous assaults by groups of local Arabs against settlements in the north and by Muslim pilgrims against Jerusalem’s Jews. Again in 1921, Arab rioters attacked Jews in Jaffa and its environs.
Anti-Jewish Violence in Pre-State Palestine/1929 Massacres | CAMERA
You see muttonbird, this is never simple.
The Times of Israel article seemed a bit unhinged but that is understandable just days after the Hamas mission. But then I looked at his website, yikes!
Just so everyone knows, CAMERA is:
“Critics of CAMERA” will make all sorts of claims, as have you. And so we can bounce around questioning each others sources, but in the end Israeli’s are murdering Palestinians and Palestinians are murdering Israeli’s. Your views are too entrenched to be helpful.
Only one people are occupying the other.
Either a majority of Gazan voters were/are supporters of a terrorist organisation, or they were/are desperate (god know why) – possibly both.
https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/israel-and-the-occupied-palestinian-territory/
Unlike the IDF, Hamas (and their supporters?) have little interest in protecting the civilian population of Gaza. That IDF munitions have killed tens of thousands of Gazans in under 4 months becomes less problematic when Gazans are characterised as supporters of terrorism, although there's still the inconvenient truth of 10,000 dead children to consider.
History will be the judge of which 'side' behaved most monsterously.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war#Death_toll
Unlike the IDF, Hamas (and their supporters?) have little interest in protecting the civilian population of Gaza.
It’s even worse than that. Hamas put civilians in harms way by design.
That IDF munitions have killed tens of thousands of Gazans in under 4 months becomes less problematic when Gazans are characterised as supporters of terrorism,
Not really. They had one election and then, well “Hamas generally governs in an authoritarian manner, actively suppressing criticism of its rule.” https://freedomhouse.org/country/gaza-strip/freedom-world/2023
Finally:
https://apnews.com/article/sexual-assault-hamas-oct-7-attack-rape-bb06b950bb6794affb8d468cd283bc51
Will we ever know their names?
Who knows – meantime, why not work with the names we do know?
“An atrocities-filled rampage” vs colateral damage of 10,000 dead children, and counting.
The great tragedy is we don’t know their names either.
Agreed! Absolutely shocking that the rich oil nations are not funding unrwa or stepping into fill the gap.
But why would they, though?
Ignore their attempts at reputation laundering and ongoing tease about some kind of rapprochement with Israel (on their terms and only if daddy US gives them a big enough bribe), the oil states in the Middle East are not nice people pursuing not nice foreign policy objectives.
They're either dour religious fanatics (Saudi) playing a long game against other dour religious fanatics (Iran), or cynical dictators/absolute monarchs that rely on American military aid for security on one hand, and ongoing western/UN involvement in the region as a rallying cry to keep a lid on domestic discontent.
Participating in the UN relief effort would lead to these states either a) being seen as western stooges or b) actually helping relieve a situation that is so much to their advantage.
Better to stay outside the tent and throw money at the occasional hospital or university to look generous and keep the Palestinians onside. All while the Israelis blunder around committing war crimes and bleeding support in the West.
Realpolitik is a bitch.
The Balfour Declaration recognised the obvious rights of those in Palestine, most not Jews – while the UK wanted to facilitate a Jewish homeland and enable migration, they did not deny there was a local population that was Arab with their own rights.
For mine whatever one thinks of the UN decision in 1947 to have two states (given the Arabs, neither local nor regional, consented to a separate Jewish state), there was first a UK (who received the League of Nations Palestine mandate) and then subsequent UN acceptance of the rights of the Arab population.
Thus it is reasonable to see it as their Treaty guarantee, despite a Jewish homeland for settlement state. The UN sees it in that light with it being their responsibility rather than that of the UK.
Thus the UNRWA was established after the 1948 war and the departure of and denial of return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
As per the refugees and the UNRWA role, one can quibble about how many of the 6 million or so are now "refugees".
2 million have citizenship in Jordan, etc as a group like UN Watch would note
https://unwatch.org/item-7/claim/claim-5-palestinian-refugees-have-a-right-of-return/
Whatever the number now, one can then note that one of Israel's prime goals includes ending UNRWA and have the other Arab states follow the example of Jordan.
Which raises the question are those nations cutting funding to UNRWA proposing taking in the Palestinian refugees and if not what are they going to do next?
What is going on now is akin to the settler majority re-writing the principles of the Treaty (one assimilated people etc) and telling Maori to go live in Oz, if they do not like it.
A really balanced and thought provoking post, SPC.
Another day, another "clarification". This time it's Mark Mitchell.
PM says Police Minister Mark Mitchell was wrong on coalition commitment backdown – NZ Herald
The government's best weeks were Christmas/New Year, when politics was on holiday. The public happily ignored them.
But now Parliament is back and political questions are back, and the simple task of saying "our policy is A not B" is too challenging for them.
From that link: “Discussions occurred between the coalition parties’ chiefs of staff overnight and reaffirmed the original deadline.”
So they had to have “discussions” to clarify what they already wrote down in the coalition document!
Always good to be reminded of how Mitchell entered parliament in the first place:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/disclosures-disgust-defeated-candidate/L2WCON5XJLS6VL4VYKBP7SHV44/
After destroying Robinson's reputation, Cameron Slater and co. then went on to destroy the reputations of the other candidates. And soon there was only their preferred candidate left. But out intrepid new Police minister didn’t know about any of it. 🙄
So that is the level of propriety (or the lack of it) now considered acceptable for a police minister.
Well done Anne to remind us of the calibre of some of these Govt. Ministers. “I know nothink…” yeah right…
Mrs “give it back double” Collins did not come out of “Dirty politics” well either and she is…wait, what… Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, and Minister for Space!
Well, there is always the hope that some filthy rich adventurer will take her on a ride into space from whence they disappear… never to be heard of again. 😉
Lol, Elon might have a flight for her…watch out for the eyebrows…
It is hard to believe she is in office again, casually knifing people (politically) with gay abandon…
Yes TM, and Anne, bloody amazing. I often wonder what it is that protects her? From Key's wrath, a failed leadership, and now with a fist in the judiciary pie, and he side kick Minister of Police. Guess the Fraud Squad will get big cuts???
[deleted]
[You must respond to your Mod note (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-01-2024/#comment-1985677) before commenting – Incognito]
Mod note
A public spat between prominent leftists is always interesting, huh? https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/01/31/mediawatch-robert-reid-launches-devastating-strike-against-chris-trotter/
To war, or not to war, that is the question. The answer is that it depends where you look. If you look at the govt, you see a stance of helping the warriors without actually being one. A helping stance is useful due to plausible moral justification for doing what's right in any situation – even a marginal influence may steer the thing so as to produce a suitable outcome. The trick is not to define the thing.
In terms of physics, making something definite collapses the wave function. In situations where flow of the whole is the key operational context to use, you adapt using a fluid stance to guide your tactics & strategy. Tacit works better than explicit.
Reid & Trotter are feeling different parts of the elephant, to jump the metaphor shark, and complicity in warfare is happening without the govt being at war in actuality. Note there's only 6 helpers being sent: the govt sadly missed out on the prospect of magical influence by not including a seventh helper…
Trotter is not a leftist.
Might be time for Mr Trotter to turn off the MacBook for a while, when you get down to the level of criticising a working class stalwart such as Robert Reid it is obvious he is not just erratic and vacillating, but joined the ranks of right opportunists. Sad, knew Chris well during his union days with the Distribution Workers Federation and others, but he has clearly been unhappy for a while and if he has thrown his lot in with reactionaries best he admit it rather than playing all sides as he has done for years with his columns.
Years back in the ’80s CT got opprobrium from many unionists when he started writing for the National Business Review which was a big deal back in pre digital times. “Positive engagement” the apologists said, but people’s class position runs deep and not too many jump the fence, ironically Robert Reid did, as he was very briefly, a young Nat! but against CMT (Compulsory Military Training) which he and others campaigned successfully against.
Robert has been a Marxist internationalist for many decades, known around Asia Pacific in particular in such circles. From car industry struggles to TUF to building unions in the Pacific, running First Union, on the WEAG review, he has done more than most NZ online pundits could imagine.
This country had no hardware to smash into one of the poorest countries on the planet along with the heroic poms and yanks–but–we are fully complicit thanks to 5 Eyes connections. Our involvement will help target people to be killed–sounds like participation in armed conflict to me. US Imperialism always wants cover, the “willing” and it is shameful indeed that this Govt. has given it to them during one of the worst examples of vindictive genocide since the WWII Warsaw Ghetto.
Compared to what?
The right look for partnerships, the left look for traitors.
Compared to Robert Reid, for one.
If the left look for traitors, it looks like they found one in Chris Trotter.
Muttonbird.
Trotter is the most-read and most-popular left columnist New Zealand has.
This is not a moment to encourage the left to fall out with each other.
Stop describing Chris Trotter as left. Just stop it, he's not.
what is he then?
A self appointed critic.
plenty of those that are lw 😉
I think he's corrupt and has corrupted himself. There's a clear abandonment of left values as described by SPC just below @3.1.2.1.2.2. I believe you were also shocked at his call to arms against Maori the other day.
He's corrupted because this slide to the privileged, authoritarian right has coincided with a move to platforms such as, er, The Platform and various astroturfing outfits like New Zealand Centre for Political Research as described below by Reality @7.
What do they say? You are the company you keep.
I also know you are interested in this as it pertains to your idea that left/right boundaries are becoming less relevant as people find themselves at odds with the political values of the people they normally identify with. This can be true in for single issues maybe (I was against Seymour’s legalised murder legislation but a lot of lefties voted for it), but when the weight of ideals you hold has shifted so far to the right then you’re in trouble.
I could be wrong here because I don't keep up to date with the machinations of the MSM sites as such, but it does seem to me he is no longer among the 'go to' journalists and commentators – at least not in the way he used to be. That would have damaged his ego no end, and could be the reason he's turned to the right wing platforms you mentioned. It gives him the opportunity to remain relevant in the competitive world of political and social commentary.
His opposition to a CGT, because those of his demographic (older people who owned their home) did not support it, is class based – just not left wing or working class.
His narrative that Maori are a threat to democracy makes him part of the Brash/Seymour ilk, the Maori/Treaty etc as a block on global market supremacy over the nation state political society and economy to be removed.
It's a counter-point to transforming what is left of government into a funder of external delivery providers and ending any expectation of government having any role in making society better for the majority. Why, because the many of the next generation might not be property owners in their own land (and that was once seen as the basis for participation in democratic government decision-making) and so they are supposed to settle for worker class wage to pay "occupation" rent until they are too old to work.
His blindness to that and the influence of his peer group 1950's boomer assimilation era New Zealander with property ownership makes him useless to the 21st C left (he'd probably stand on his own grave declaring no estate tax).
💯% SPC … Trotter's "class" analysis only applies to people like himself; he's turned into a grumpy old reactionary
Muttonbird.
We will get the results of the Australia-New Zealand Defence+Foreign Affairs summit by Monday.
It likely takes us a long way into commitment deeper than 6 intelligence staff.
What do you mean “we” Ad man?
Sounds like a 5 Eyes obligation to me–further linking this country to more totally unnecessary warmongering via AUKUS.
Warmongering? Please.
If anyone can read the tealeaves of Biden's silence on the response to 3 US soldiers dead and 50 wounded from the missile attack, for a response "at a time of their choosing", resisting all those FoxNews and Republican chickenhawk revenge fantasies for launching attacks directly on Iran, well 'warmongering' isn't the term that springs to mind.
It was only yesterday that the US, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were outlining an interim post-Gaza fighting peace deal. So the US should expect further terrorist provocation like rocket attacks to derail that.
What is on the table from Saudi Arabia and Egypt is a pathway toward a Palestinian state in return for Saudi recognition of Israel. In turn this is the most efficient way to block Iran growing its proxy base.
Biden appears to be holding his nerve better than leaders in Lebanon, Israel, Iran. We need neither peacenik non-interventionists nor warmongers. We need results from hard bargaining.
Hard bargaining from Biden?? Not even a hiccup in the supply of weapons to rain down on Gaza as far as I can see. Only continual reinforcement of US support for Israel and by implication, its active genocide in Gaza. It would be far simpler to make a case for active encouragement than for any kind of "hard bargaining"
I agree that Biden is not using the military supply leveraging that he could. But let's never suggest this is a US problem. The US has no interests to defend in Gaza, socially, economically or militarily.
Biden will never order a "boots on the ground" peace-enforcing role for US troops – ever. So his instruments are diplomacy and missiles in combination.
The more each front opens up, the less possible specific country peace deals become possible. At least not until Netanyahu gets real domestic pressure himself, or Saudi Arabia offers something very, very sweet to him.
You need to read Trotter's "No Right Turn" book again. He documents the key moments that actively conspired against the left from the entire previous century. He did that better than Jesson or anyone else.
However the left evolves in this Parliamentary term, it's probably only Trotter that can show the left how we got here.
I never read it – I never found his writing in his political review journal to be particularly impressive altho some of his essays in recent years have been positive contributions and insightful. Never saw him even attempt to explain why & how the NLP performed so poorly and he's had 30 years or so to get that job done.
Similarly for Jesson although always worth reading and did a good job in his mirror-glass book which I did buy! Tony Simpson was better than both, discerning relevant power dynamics in our historical contexts & an excellent storyteller too.
Simpson was a socialist romantic; fine for the Sugarbag Years and not much chop after WW2.
With Easton's The Economic History of New Zealand that came out late 2022, the gap we have is someone to write The Millennial Political Economy of New Zealand .
Slavish adherence to British precedence, yet the neolib hegemony teeters on this slippery demographic slope:
Likely the Tory govt has consolidated the effect in the 2.5 years since that was published. Cue Starmer, headed in on a landslide apparently.
C'mon Dennis – since when has Chris Trotter been remotely leftist. I gave up on Bowalley Road (and the Daily Blog also) a few years ago now.
Most people still see him in that category though. I agree that testimony of personal values doesn't feature much in his style. Who do you rate as a leftist opinionator?
Some years back I bought & read What's Left: https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Left-How-Lost-its/dp/0007229704
It was actually worthwhile. A younger generational view too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cohen
If he feels that fickle finger of god tapping on his shoulder, could be the tidal pull of normalcy.
As if that were a negative thing! Not clever at all. However Maduro's petrosocialist authoritarianism is an enduring style, so he got that right.
I don't read Trotter much, but he is old school left (centre left if you like).
I know its not my normal email but I can't seem to post under my proper one?
[lprent: That is because you have a permanent ban for your previous behaviour. Basically being a dim-witted fatuous troll who won’t listen to moderators telling you repeatably to lift your standard of commenting carries consequences. We don’t mind debate here. But it has to actually carry some information, if only about your opinions and the reasons behind them. Just being a brainless parrot trying to be funny doesn’t reach the standard. Try the ever diminishing X or something even more brainless.
A permanent ban means that we don’t allow your comments on this site because you waste the time of our moderators and add nothing to debate.
Eventually I get around to releasing bans even permanent ones. It happens about once every 3-5 years when I think that the size of the banned list is starting to slow the site. Also I have enough faith that eventually even brainless trolls grow up and join humanity.
I have added this ‘e-mail’ to your ban record. ]
Rosemary, your ban mod note is here,
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06-01-2024/#comment-1983574
When you come back, I'm open to having a conversation about what the problem is. But the upshot is wasting moderator time, we just can't sustain it.
Good God Lprent. I thought personal abuse was verboten. We live and learn
Johnr – because LPrent owns the standard he considers it gives him absolute license to be abusive and small minded and be a bully to people on here, which is totally against the rules here.
however, none of the mods pull him up against it no matter how much they tell other commentators not to bully or use diminishing words against others.
I don’t particularly pay any attention to what Lynn says because he’s just a grumpy old fuck that thinks because the standard is “his site” he can go ahead and abuse others with impunity.
but between him, advantage, and weka, the standard has become far less enjoyable as a forum for a free exchange of ideas with differences of opinions being thrashed out openly using education, exploration, and elimination.
it’s a crying shame really. From the valuable asset it was in 2008 when a free exchange of ideas was allowed whereas on red alert it was shut down, to weka’s indiscriminate bans on everybody interesting because they didn’t link to stuff/nzh, the standard has become a place of groupthink where only happy ideas can be raised.
wrong – there is plenty of diverse opinion around here. bans are generally handed out after a pattern of repeated antisocial behaviour – some things cause discussion to break down
of course it aint perfect because there are humans involved
'groupthink'; 'grumpy' – well yeah it's a left-wing forum facing a right wing government that is hell-bent on demolishing the social fabric and inciting racial divisions
some examples would be nice… there was some strife during Covid when one (ex)-moderator went anti-vax and got frustrated with everyone constantly rebutting his ‘facts’ so he’s not around much anymore…
Nancy Pelosi being a deranged vicious thug calling Palestine supporters paid Russian agents and demanding the Fbi investigate the Guardian article for reference.
Ever since the democrats lost 2016 the media and public have allowed with no push back for the democrats to blame everything they don't like on Russia.
If you disagree with the democrats you're guilty of treason and the boot of the state should crush your neck according to the democrats.
68% of Americans want a cease fire, including 50% of 2020 democrats (30% are unsure) the whole country and democratic party according to establishment dems are Russian agents.
Pelosi, Biden, Schumer and all these paid corporate war mongering geriatrics are so out of touch they forget they have to actually win elections to stay in power and when they lose it it's not their fault it's china's, it's Russias, it's nazis, anyone but their own unelectable selves.
The 2024 usa election is a grudge match between mask off war mongering, corporate senile geriatric hard right wing authoritarians who like gays and girl bosses
VS mask off xenophobic authoritarian isolationists who don't believe in the constitution.
As someone who spends a lot of time in the states, the latter is far more popular, even among gays, Latinos and African Americans in New York city.
Pelosi, Biden, Schiff, Schumer et all are lunatics.
[deleted]
[You must respond to your Mod note (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-01-2024/#comment-1985677) before commenting – Incognito]
Mod note
Its all about money, which which quite normal in USA.
Zionist and other hard line Israeli supporters still have considerable clout in US banking and finance so the Democrats are not likely to give anything but the most lukewarm support to their Palestinian enemies and risk their donations coming to a halt.
Roy Morgan polling reports that a December 2023 political poll shows the NACTZ coalition down 6.5 points from the last poll compared to the Labour-Greens-Te Pati Maori bloc. All three of the triumvirate are down in support.
A relevant quote from the film "Spaceballs".
"I hope it's going to be a long ceremony because it's going to be a short honeymoon…"
How true.
Is there any explanation over why it's taken so long to be released? It's virtually a month out of date, by now.
No explanation given.
Perhaps it is due to the Christmas/New Year break.
Well, well, well. In today's Post was an insert printed and distributed by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research "The Treaty of Waitangi an Explanation Te Tiriti O Waitangi" by the Hon Sir Apirana Ngata. On looking up the website of this outfit, listed as writing regular articles are Karl du Fresne, Owen Jennings, Chris Trotter, Muriel Newman, Roger Douglas, Michael Bassett.
Seems like the start of a political campaign to influence the public over David Seymour's intentions re the Treaty. Obviously some heavy hitters hard at work behind the scenes.
A glimpse behind the mask.
@joshuadrummond.cynics.guide:
@dejanajuk.bsky.social:
Moana Maniapoto wrote an excellent analysis back in 2016
Māori bashers and the morality of the media who empower them | E-Tangata
Labour was promoting this macho dude online but Willie calls it an error:
Notice how he carefully avoided blaming a junior staffer:
Is this adroit or what!!? Just when everyone has been conditioned to expect Labour to always copy National, they don't! I have to give Willie 8/10 for such expertise.
Great minds think alike!! Yet inexplicably Labour's pr machine has failed to use this conventional explanation. They just lack the common touch.
"he carefully avoided blaming a junior staffer"
I thought that Willie was a junior staffer these days. Does he really have any influence on the Caucus?
Do you really have to ask? Surely you can imagine the desperation within Labour if he were to play the pied piper & lead the Labour Maori off to join the Maori Party.
Not that he's likely to do so currently whilst they present as radicals. Labour's mishandling of co-governance masked good intent: rectifying the official shambles. So Willie will remain within, to respect Labour's marginal grasp on authenticity. You can see the ole good cop analogy for their role in Labour (TMP bad).
On the Police numbers saga, it feels like Mitchell went to Willis and asked for the money required to fund 500 new cops in two years and/or be exempt from the 6.5-7.5% public service cuts…and Willis said no.
So Mark gets up in parliament and lays this bare as if to say, 'I wanted two years but she wouldn't let me'. Now Egg-head has had to flop flop, Mitchell forced to correct, and the cops will come in two, despite the cuts everyone else has to make.
Canny from Mitchell, looks like he called Willis' bluff and got his way:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/01/mark-mitchell-formally-corrects-record-in-parliament-over-police-numbers-mistake.html
If I were a journalist (and I should be), I’d be asking these questions.
Speak Up For Women's briefings to incoming ministers.
https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/bims
Very nice but I think SUFW overestimates the intellect of your average National MP – need to dumb down those briefings 😛
Richard Dawkins on the subject of biological sex:
A much-needed new blog exploring the machinations of right wing networks operating in Aotearoa
astroturfing.nz — also on bluesky
There's a lot of underhanded shit going on – David Seymour spearheading most of it – and people like Josh Drummond are doing important work exposing it.
Thanks roblogic will follow this, good to have info on back channel dirty stuff corralled in an easy to find spot.