Whatever happened to ring fencing money saved by reinstating prescription fees to pay for new cancer medicines?
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During the campaign, National promised $280 million over four years to fund the new cancer medicines. When Burr asked Willis why National didn't stick to that, she said, "We intend to keep that commitment".
"In this Budget, we had to find $1.8 billion to rescue the funding of medicines that were left unfunded by the outgoing government," she said. "Pharmac had been given what we call 'cliff funding' so it had been short-funded. So, as of June 1 this year, it would have run out of… money for listed medicines.
There are no old school moderates in the party now. Every statement on the verdict by every relevant Republican has trashed the case, the judge, the entire process. Nobody – absolutely nobody – is saying "respect the verdict".
The few who dared to criticise Trump over the years have gone or are going. It is one man's party, and it lives on another planet.
They couldn't care less about him being a felon. It's a martyr's flag for them.
Hopefully it's Home Detention with an ankle bracelet.
That respects a punishment that reflects the scale of the crime.
That would also be realistic given he really does have a right to free speech as a candidate able to campaign virtually, and jail is pretty impractical for his scale of security that he needs.
The US would not withstand Trump in jail; I think there really would be civil war.
And set the precedent that just because you're a former (and possible future) President, a political candidate, or a rabble rouser with a violent mob at your disposal that you're somehow above the law or get to be treated with kid gloves?
Much like how in New Zealand, we seem to protect the privacy and future prospects of sportspeople and businessmen (mainly of the pakeha variety) who commit sometimes violent and heinous crimes, but happily consign the unforgivably brown or poor to prison for minor offences.
How can the rule of law withstand giving the rich and the powerful access to special treatment while being so manifestly unjust to everyone else?
And set the precedent that just because you're a former (and possible future) President, a political candidate, or a rabble rouser with a violent mob at your disposal that you're somehow above the law or get to be treated with kid gloves?
A president can be impeached for behaviour which probably has nothing to do with his performance as president, as evidenced by Bill Clinton's close call with the Monica Lewinsky affair.
In practice impeachment has proven to be functionally impossible, even when the President in question flat out commits treason.
Most of the US constitutional guardrails were designed in an era before hyperpartisanship and political tribalism, and where the Senate was conceived as a cooler, calmer, more deliberative body.
In this day and age, unless the Democracts somehow manage to win a 3/4 majority in the Senate (which is pretty farfetched) there will be precisely ZERO constitutional checks on a future Trump presidency.
Of course Trump has already been impeached, and in electoral consequences it means nothing today. No bar to the Republicans choosing him again as a candidate, or voters choosing him in Nov.
Any punishment is likely to consist of fines, probation, community service or some combination of those
The Guardian piece is also useful on the likely Appeal process. First to the New York Court of Appeals, and if this Court, upholds the conviction, then to the US supreme Court. But "getting it into the US supreme court would require Trump to convince the justices that there is some federal or constitutional question at stake". I doubt that the current Supreme Court Justices would take much convincing on that point.
In any case, the delay caused by an appeal goes well past the November election.
Meanwhile, m'lady Willis has acknowledged "not everyone will get HUUUGE amounts of money out of the tax relief" [RNZ 9 am news @2 minutes] – I wonder what Willis feels constitutes "huge amounts of money", and just how many Kiwis are in line to benefit hugely from “the tax relief” – not ‘tax cuts’, mind you, but ‘relief’.
Janice, I hope you feel relieved to see your cats relieved from hunger by your relief from taxes. A note of thanks to Ms Willis (the EngLit graduate) could even quote the bard:
"For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold, and I am sick at heart"
Not the brightest, and when challenged on it I bet they don't spin it round by pointing out the need donations because the aren't bought and paid for by big business like the government
This step is long overdue. She won't be the only one in the dock, hopefully.
Top EU official accused at ICC of ‘complicity’ in Gaza genocide
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU commission, has been repeatedly criticized over the months for unconditional support for Israel
News Desk
MAY 27, 2024
The Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI) has submitted a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
A communication submitted by GIPRI on 22 May details “through facts and evidence, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the current president of the European Commission … is complicit in a number of violations of international humanitarian law, amounting to crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, committed by the Israeli armed forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including the Gaza Strip.”
“This communication, endorsed by various human rights groups and prominent academics and experts in international criminal law, calls the [ICC] Prosecutor to initiate investigations on the basis of the information provided against Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen,” the communication adds.
The first of many more hopefully. Leaders of every country supplying arms to Israel need to be referred to the ICC. Especially Sunak, Macron, Scholz, Biden and Blinken.
It doesn't stop Trump running but quite a few states have laws that will keep a convicted felon off the ballot. Ironic to think Jim Crow will keep Trump off the ballot in Florida!!
The challenge that went to Supreme Court was premised on several state's attempts to argue that Trump had committed treason and was therefore constitutionally ineligible to be president.
This is different to the current problem triggered by his conviction: He may fall afoul of any state laws that may bar a convicted felon from running for office.
This case may be a little more difficult for Trump and his team to wriggle out of.
I haven't seen any legal opinion to suggest that might happen though. Happy to be persuaded but the consensus of informed commentators is that there is no way he'll be kept off the ballot, given the appeal process.
The Supreme Court were pretty clear on what a State can do vs what only Congress is allowed to do.
'"We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office," the court's opinion says. "But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Sections 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency."
It was a unanimous ruling and I don't see that they would have any difficulty at all ruling the same way on the Presidential election.
Any State laws about barring a convicted felon for running for office, would only apply to elections within a State – not to Federal elections.
There has even been a US presidential candidate running for office from within a federal prison (Eugene Debs, 1920).
It's unlikely that Trump would be sentenced to actual jail time (only 1 in 10 similar cases are, in the US). And, even if he was, he'll certainly file an appeal, so won't be in prison for the election campaign.
So now that it's fully in the open that Biden has given permission for essentially missile strikes inside Russia using US weapons, it's very hard to stop Putin striking inside Poland or Moldova.
The war needs a decisive intervention the bring the war to a quick conclusion (the best way to reduce loss of life) with the total defeat of Putin – Just as Churchill immediately recognised the need to get the United States into WW2 to defeat Hitler, so Zhelensky needs to get the NATO powers involved to defeat Russia.
Poland has been rearming frantically with 202526 clearly in mind as the date to join the war, while the French are inching towards offering absolute territorial guarantees to Ukraine. The Poles will soon have the best equipped army in Europe, and the Russians would find the French in particular to have an excellent air force.
You're absolutely in la la land. Any approach to what you advocate involves nuclear weapons. I see you invoke Nazis. The closest aproximation to Nazis at the moment is Israel and its US enablers in Gaza. We have the truly macabre situation at the moment of the US speaker of the house demanding sanctions against the ICC because they don't fit the colonial genocidal ambitions of the self appointed world ruler,with the enthusiastic support of Blinken. The medical director of Glia, Tarek Loubani, has stated that he never feared death for himself or his colleagues when working in Ukraine on the Ukraine side but is absolutely always worried in Israel and has lost many colleagues and ambulances in Gaza both killed while working, and abducted to the torture centres in Israel, where amongst other things, they are used as live practice for medical interns doing operations that they have never before done – without anaesthetics!! What was the name of that Nazi doctor again?
" …. abducted to the torture centres in Israel, where amongst other things, they are used as live practice for medical interns doing operations that they have never before done – without anaesthetics!! "
That's pretty strong stuff, Sub. Got to be an unimpeachable link before I give it any credence.
One of the whistleblowers, who worked as a medic at the detention center’s so-called field hospital, described it as a playground for unqualified medical personnel. He even admitted to lacking the appropriate training for the treatment he was asked to administer.
“It is a paradise for interns because it’s like you do whatever you want,” he said.
“I was asked to learn how to do things on the patients, performing minor medical procedures that are totally outside my expertise,” he added.
“Just being there felt like being complicit in abuse.”
This was taken from whistleblower interviews with CNN. The link is in the referenced article if you wish to go there to check
In early April a whistle-blower reported appalling treatment and conditions at Sde Teiman.
A doctor at the field hospital set up at the Sde Teiman detention center to hold arrested Gazans described conditions that he said could compromise the inmates' health and put the government at risk of violating the law, in a letter sent last week to Israel's defense minister, health minister, and attorney general.
"Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event," the physician said in the letter. He said inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers, and are held constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law.
Thank you, gentlemen. That does seem to confirm it. Hard to imagine even ol' Joe continuing to hold out against those sort of revelations, but there appears to be no limit to some people's intransigence.
And just to add to that, Putin has already stated that the targeting of these weapons requires satellites and personnel from NATO countries. Even when the targeting is loaded by a Ukrainian, it is decided upon and created by NATO personnel. It is unlikely that Russia will take these kinds of hits without responding to the country supplying the targeting. With Storm Shadow missiles, I believe that would be the UK or Germany.
You are the fool if you believe that NATO will settle for anything less than complete subjugation. Somehow, after the Yeltsin years, Russia escaped this fate. They will not return to it. Perhaps then, its time to talk. And remember that its always the west that has some reason why talk is not possible. Which of course, will be your immediate response to what I have written.
So what we’re saying is that Biden’s green light enables Ukraine to attack Russia. Thus Putin retaliates against Poland, or Estonia etc. Then the ball is in NATOs court.
I was responding to Ad's expectation of an attack on Poland as a response.
As Biden's move only applies to Ukraine use of the weapons to attack a Russian build up in the area around Kharkov, I tend to doubt it as Russia is not able to manage a front with Poland while engaged in Ukraine.
Obvs lots going on today, but I’ve been following the obscure deets of the Green Parties in the UK and their ongoing expulsions and implosions over the Cass review, wondering if there will be a NZ edition.
I don't think so, but agree it is something to keep an eye on. The Scottish Greens and the England/Wales Greens are batshit crazy. I think EWG have some good people, but they've dealt with the gender/sex issues badly. Scottish Green leaders just seem bonkers to me.
Otoh, they SG do seem to be in the process of deselecting the TIM candidate who had tweeted "takes three mouths to take in my cock", and "JK Rowling is a man larping as a woman. Pass it on!! Let's shame the torn faced cow."
Interestingly the branch asked for this to happen. This is the advantage of being a GP member, and NZ GC progressives who otherwise support the GP policies should take note.
My concern is with NZG losing Shaw, and the shift to a more activist led party, that it could go down the crazy path. This would be very bad for NZ. I hope that their presence in parliament and the pragmatics of the electorate is enough to keep them from doing that. Last year's dealing with Kerekere and not forefronting queer politics during the election campaign were good signs.
I think it may well go the same way, at about the time that Dame Sue Bagshaw officially dismisses the Cass review as something something transphobia. Perhaps she'll surprise me and accept it. At which point political parties will have to comment. Right now it's at the "it's being reviewed so I can't comment" stage so nobody is saying anything. What will the GP say? Probably something along the lines of "Sue Bagshaw sez it's all OK, the Cass report isn't relevant to NZ because NZ children are a different species to UK children, nothing to see here, all good amirite?"
At which point I'll officially give up.
I hope you're right, but I see no indication that the GP is ready to come back to reality or even discuss the issues, haven't seen any discussion on this issue at all.
Now I've checked out Bagwash and what she's been saying of late, it would seem there is indeed reason to be worried. It's not often I stand on the same side as "Bishop" Tamaki, but he's right on this issue.
I don't think the MPs and office holders generally are ready to come back, but No Debate means that we probably can't know about the ones that dissent. I remain convinced that most GP members would support the excesses of GII once they know what it means.
Change happens by increments and then possibly a bigger shift. Preventing a numpty candidate from standing is significant.
Sorry, Weka, I can't figure out what you're trying to say here. As posted, it seems to suggest that "most GP members" would support the sort of craziness that the EWGP has been captured by.
sorry, typo. That should say wouldn't support. I'll see if I can dig up some figures. The problem is that when GP members tried to address women's sex based rights, they were shut down and shut out.
This Hui Taumata stems from the National Hui for Unity hosted by Kiingi Tūheitia at Turangawaewae Marae, Ngaruawahia earlier this year following the announcement of the new Coalition Government signed between National, Act and NZ First. The Coalition Government announced plans that included policy changes detrimental to Māori. Iwi leaders from around the motu signalled the need to protect all whānau Māori by uniting.
The key message at the Hui-ā-Motu was Kotahitanga – Unite and move forward together.
The Hui Taumata will bring 'Māori Thought Leaders' from around the nation together to further communicate the kaupapa of Kotahitanga. The kaupapa is Kotahitanga. The Hui Taumata platform will allow for 'Thought Leaders' to share thoughts and proposals on how we can successfully move forward with determination and unity.
TPM may well want a Maori parliament, but they might want to reflect on the number of successful postcolonial states.
There aren't that many successful postcolonial states, but the big ones had very strong immigrant presences including: Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and maybe Brazil and Mexico.
No examples in Africa, few in South America. All went down hill fast.
The path to having a successful postcolonial transition is narrow and fraught. None of it happens at speed, and the fastest way to failure is a smashing of public institutions, and making really poor replicas of systems that worked. On that, Apirana Ngata and Winston Peters are right.
South Africa is another example of an unsuccessful transition.
Despite the huge volume of natural resources, virtually guaranteeing a healthy trade balance – the kleptocracy of rule has resulted in the general population being far worse off.
You ignore India and the "19th Century China economic zone". Little immigration though. And both survived earlier/other colonial invaders.
I do not see South Korea as a nation that has institutions as a legacy of being a "colony" and it is not a nation with many migrants.
Malaysia again an indigenous majority, has more Chinese and Indian presence than colonial British.
Thus you are left with UK's 5 Eyes partners and Singapore (was an earlier Moslem and Indian trade centre before being destroyed and revived by the British).
Otherwise Mexico of Spain (is it the oil and NAFTA) and Brazil of Portugal (is it the size of the economy).
I don't think that you could describe the 19th century Chinese Economic zones as colonial states. The one which certainly was, in that area, was Hong Kong (highly successful as a crown colony).
It's difficult to argue that it ever had a post-colonial identity, however, since it was subsumed into PRC in 1997 – and has been systematically suppressed thereafter.
Do you have a view on why virtually every African state has become worse off (in whichever measure you choose to use) following independence?
Our Government set up Te Aorerekura under the Ministry for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence in 2021 to provide a solution that would take time, 25 years at least. The whole point of Te Aorerekura was to shift us away from a crisis-only response. By investing in organisations on the ground so local help can be stronger and be more focused on prevention.
So it requires a long term approach.
Programmes such as E Tū Whānau, It’s Not OK, Bodysafe, Pasefika Proud, Atu-Mai and Mates and Dates have laid the foundation for primary prevention and they are proven to work. These programmes focus on preventing family violence and sexual violence through changing attitudes and behaviours and growing sustainable community leadership. This is about building networks so that people are far less likely to fall between the cracks.
They are an investment in the future of our children to live lives free from physical and sexual violence. I really hope that these family violence prevention programmes are not considered “back-office waste” by Nicola Willis and cut to deliver tax cuts for this Budget.
There are no quick political fixes to stop or solve family violence.
The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, says there is no specific target for family violence in the Prime Minister’s priorities. This is because the Government is putting family violence in the “too hard” basket
So the landlord lifestyle and magazine family values does not trickle down to any wider society ambition from the PM.
They switched support for those disabled during school time to Education (no funding provided). They are looking at moving food in schools away from education. It is how they operate.
This Government has a big call to make this Budget. If they do decide to axe critical funding to Te Aorerekura and in return give a $2.9 billion tax cut to landlords, then they must be held accountable. Ultimately, their failure to act will not only contribute to a rising crime rate, it will also cost lives.
We can however expect their approach to reducing the numbers on health care and state house waiting lists to be adopted to reducing the number of recorded family violence incidents
I find Waititi's views on how his Maori Nation is going to work a little hard to follow. He claims
"I am 20 per cent of this country. I expect nothing less than 20 per cent of the total Budget in this country. That’s what I expect in a kāwanatanga [governance] space.”
Waititi then said Māori should receive the Budget proportion that their population makes up in prisons and Oranga Tamariki."
Is he also going to propose that Maori will pay 20% of all income taxes? Will he argue that Maori will only accept 20% of all benefit payments?
Remember when National (Brash) threatened to end the Maori seats and then Key included TPM as a support partner alongside ACT and United … and signed UNDRIP?
Note how UNDRIP co-governance was posed as a threat and thus the CofC, well here we are (note JA rejected a separate Maori Parliament upper house).
Is he also going to propose that Maori will pay 20% of all income taxes? Will he argue that Maori will only accept 20% of all benefit payments?
You need to include NZS if you are going to go down that road. As Maori have a younger population then it is more likely they will get a benefit than NZS (even putting life expectancy aside). I am pretty sure that 20% of the total cost would be an increase.
In terms of ethnicity, 62.4% are NZ European, only 5.9% are Māori and 2.6% are Pacific Peoples. 16.5% are other ethnicities and 12.5% were unspecified.
He is actually claiming that 20% of the population are Maori. He doesn't believe your quoted figure of 5.9%. God knows, but isn't telling, where the man gets his numbers from.
So a couple of weeks ago the government made stern pronouncements about kids missing too much school when most of the missing time was excused absences due to sickness. Now my teacher friend has covid because the kids are coming to school sick with it and other schools are being hard hit with kids and teachers sick, …and it's not even term 3 yet.
Now my teacher friend has covid because the kids are coming to school sick with it
Evidence that schools are allowing children who are sick with Covid to attend?
From your linked article (first sentence)
Schools have begun telling students to stay at home as winter illnesses hit.
I know that the family secondary school will not accept attendance from kids who are visibly unwell (they get sequestered in the sickbay and you get a call to come and collect them); and the message is still being strongly pushed by newsletters, etc. that if your child has a respiratory infection, then they need to stay home.
Of course, your teacher friend may have caught Covid from a kid with no visible symptoms … or from someone at the supermarket s/he visited on the weekend.. or even from a friend/family member. [We have two staff down with Covid at work ATM, neither have school children, or any contact with school children]
Do you think there should be mandatory daily testing of school children for asymptomatic Covid every morning before school?
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Another week, another roundup of things that caught our eye on our favourite topics of transport, housing and how to make cities a little bit greater. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor wrote about Kāinga Ora’s role as an urban development agency Tuesday’s guest post by ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s moves this week to take farming out of the ETS and encourage more mining and oil and ...
In 2019, Shane Jones addressed the “50 Shades of Green” protest at Parliament: Now he is part of a government giving those farmers a pass on becoming part of the ETS, as well as threatening to lock in offshore oil exploration and mining for decades. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the ...
Hi,Today’s newsletter is all about how easy it is to get sucked into “rage bait” online, and how easy it is to get played.But first I wanted to share something that elicited the exact opposite of rage in me — something that made me feel incredibly proud, whilst also making ...
Seymour said lower speed limits “drained the joy from life as people were forced to follow rules they knew made no sense.” File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, June 14 were:The National/ACT/NZ First ...
It sounded like the best word to describe yesterday’s talks between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and his heavyweight delegation of Ministers and officials and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and New Zealand Ministers and officials was “frank.” But it was the kind of frankness that friends can indulge in. It ...
Open access notables Wildfire smoke impacts lake ecosystems, Farruggia et al., Global Change Biology:We introduce the concept of the lake smoke-day, or the number of days any given lake is exposed to smoke in any given fire season, and quantify the total lake smoke-day exposure in North America from 2019 ...
Photo by Mathias Elle on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 ...
Don’t put it all at risk. That’s likely to be the take-home message for New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in his meetings with Li Qiang, the Chinese Premier. Li’s visit to Wellington this week is the highest-ranking visit by a Chinese official since 2017. The trip down under – ...
I know the feelingIt is the real thingThe essence of the soulThe perfect momentThat golden momentI know you feel it tooI know the feelingIt is the real thingYou can't refuse the embraceNo?Sometimes we face the things we most dislike. A phobia or fear that must be confronted so it doesn’t ...
Struth, what a week. Having made sure the rural sector won’t have to pay any time soon for its pollution, PM Christopher Luxon yesterday chose Fieldays 2024 to launch a parliamentary inquiry into rural banking services, to see how the banks have been treating farmers faced with high interest rates. ...
In April, 17,656 people left Aotearoa-NZ to live overseas, averaging 588 a day, with just over half of those likely to have gone to Australia. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, June 13 ...
Auckland’s draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024 is open for feedback – and you only have until Monday 17 June to submit. Do it! Join the thousands of Aucklanders who are speaking up for wise strategic investment that will dig us out of traffic and give us easy and ...
Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives in Wellington today for a three-day visit to the country. The visit will take place amid uncertainty about the future of the New Zealand-China relationship. Li hosted a formal welcome and then lunch for then-Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in Beijing a year ago. The pair ...
We are still in France, getting from A to B.Possibly for only another week, though; Switzerland and Germany are looming now. On we pedal, towards Budapest, at about 20 km per hour.What are are mostly doing is inhaling a country, loving its ways and its food. Rolling, talking, quietly thinking. ...
The big problem with the last Labour government was that they were chickenshits who did nothing with the absolute majority we had given them. They governed as if they were scared of their own shadows, afraid of making decisions lest it upset someone - usually someone who would never have ...
This morning I did something I seldom do, I looked at the Twitter newsfeed. Normally I take the approach of something that I’m not sure is an American urban legend, or genuinely something kids do over there. The infamous bag of dog poo on the front porch, set it on ...
We have some news on the upcoming War of the Rohirrim anime. It will apparently be two and a half hours in length, with Peter Jackson as Executive Producer, and Helm’s daughter Hera will be the main character. Also, pictures: The bloke in the middle picture is Freca’s ...
The cows will keep burping and farting and climate change will keep accelerating - but farmers can stop worrying about being included in the ETS. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, June 12 were:The ...
This is a guest post by our friend Darren Davis. It originally appeared on his excellent blog, Adventures in Transitland, which features “musings about public transport and other cool stuff in Aotearoa/ New Zealand and around the globe.” With Te Huia now having funding secure through to 2026, now is ...
In some ways, there may be less than meets the eye to the Government announcement yesterday that the He Waka Eke Noa proposal for farmers to pay for greenhouse gas emissions has been scrapped. The spectre of farmers still having to pay at some point in the future remains. That, ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Since entering office, National has unravelled practically every climate policy, leaving us with no effective way of reducing emissions or meeting our emissions budgets beyond magical thinking around the ETS. And today they've announced another step: removing agriculture entirely. At present, following the complete failure of he waka eka noa, ...
The blue billionaireDistraction no interactionOr movement outside these glazed over eyesThe new great divideFew fight the tide to be glorifiedBut will he be satisfied?Can we accept this without zoom?The elephant in the roomNot much happens in politics on a Monday. Bugger all in fact. Although yesterday Christopher Luxon found he ...
What if New Zealand threw a fossil fuel party, and nobody came? On the weekend, Resources Minister Shane Jones sent out the invitations and strung up the balloons, but will anyone really want to invest big time in resuming oil and gas exploration in our corner of the planet? Yes, ...
This is a guest post by Meredith Dale, senior urban designer and strategist at The Urban Advisory.There’s a saying that goes something like: ‘what you measure is what you value’. An RNZ article last week claimed that Auckland was ‘hurting’ because of a more affordable supply of homes, particularly townhouses ...
A Prime Minister directs his public service to inquire into the actions of the opposition political party which is his harshest critic. Something from Orban's Hungary, or Putin's Russia? No, its happening right here in Aotearoa: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Public Service Commission will launch an ...
This is a repost from a Yale Climate Connections article by SueEllen Campbell published on June 3, 2024. The articles listed can help you tell fact from fiction when it comes to solar and wind energy. Some statements you hear about solar and wind energy are just plain false. ...
Politics were going on all around us yesterday, and we barely noticed, rolling along canal paths, eating baguettes. It wasn’t until my mate got to the headlines last night that we learned there had been a dismayingly strong far right result in the EU elections and Macron had called a ...
Respect Existence, Or Expect Resistance? There may well have been 50,000 pairs of feet “Marching For Nature” down Auckland’s Queen Street on Saturday afternoon, but the figure that impresses the Coalition Government is the 1,450,000 pairs of Auckland feet that were somewhere else.IN THE ERA OF DRONES and Artificial Intelligence, ...
Selwyn Manning and I discuss varieties of post colonial blowback and the implications its has for the rise of the Global South. Counties discussed include Palestine/Israel, France/New Caledonia, England/India, apartheid/post-apartheid South Africa and post-colonial New Zealand. It is a bit … Continue reading → ...
Victims of family violence could fall through the gaps in New Zealand, as Police stop responding to some call outs and the Government chooses to prioritise other things. ...
The lack of bids at today’s ETS auction is a sad indictment on this Government's staggering indifference to the climate crisis and their lack of a plan. ...
“I am deeply disappointed in the National Party's budget. Their broken promises and cuts to essential services, including health, education, and support for vulnerable groups, will have long-lasting negative impacts” – Raymor, Auckland ...
Today marks the beginning of Schools Pride Week in New Zealand, an important calendar event largely run by rainbow rangitahi to advocate for safer, more inclusive school environments. ...
The Government’s announcement of a roadshow consultation on work health and safety is a smokescreen for its plan to throw out regulations which keep workers safe. ...
The Government has reportedly scrapped a policy that would have gone far to fix gender and ethnic pay gaps and instead is implementing a watered-down voluntary system. ...
The Government knew its changes to the school lunch programme would risk achievement, attendance, nutrition and wellbeing of New Zealand children, as well as having wider impacts on reducing child poverty, and made the changes anyway, new documents show. ...
Two months have passed since the National Government said it was a question of ”when, not if” New Zealand would recognise Palestine, in response to Labour’s call. ...
Today the coalition government has announced that a select committee inquiry into banking competition will be led by the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.New Zealand First campaigned to take on foreign owned banks, and we committed to that in our coalition agreement by ensuring the inquiry has a broad ...
The National Government is doing everything it can to delay taking action on climate as it announces that years of work on agricultural emissions will start from scratch. ...
Tens of thousands of people showed up to have their voices heard and march against National’s unpopular Fast Track Approvals Bill in Auckland over the weekend. ...
The Government deciding to lift the oil and gas ban in the middle of a climate crisis is a severe step backwards that will have serious consequences for our future. ...
This week the Justice Select Committee has heard numerous submissions on the removal of Māori Wards. “I am feeling invigorated by the powerful oral submissions that I have heard throughout the week.” Said Local Government spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “People from all facets of life: whānau Māori, whānau Pākehā, rangatahi, kaumātua, ...
Today’s March for Nature sends a clear message that our country is deeply against the Fast Track Approvals Bill proceeding because the cost to the environment would be unacceptable. ...
The recent attacks on Te Pāti Māori and its MP’s are part of a continuing narrative of attack on all matters Māori. If we could respond to baseless inuendo we would. If there is any evidence then show us so we have a reason to engage in a conversation. The ...
The Government’s move to pour billions into potholes whilst remaining inactive on climate change does nothing to solve our transport system's core problems. ...
“The Government needs to provide leadership for New Zealand’s mental health sector, which appears to have lost out in the Budget despite the promises Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey made on the campaign trail,” said Labour mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s announcement that would see some workers’ entitlement to sick leave reduce flies in the face of yet another promise National made during the election campaign. ...
Cutting a third of the staff at Ministry for the Environment will undermine years of work to clean up our fresh water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and leave us unprepared for a changing climate. ...
School attendance data released today shows an increase in the number of students regularly attending school to 61.7 per cent in term one. This compares to 59.5 per cent in term one last year and 53.6 per cent in term four. “It is encouraging to see more children getting to ...
The Government has announced a record 41 per cent increase in indicative funding for public transport services and operations, and confirmed the rollout of the National Ticketing Solution (NTS) that will enable contactless debit and credit card payments starting this year in Auckland, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This Government is ...
GDP figures for the March quarter reinforce the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows GDP has risen 0.2 per cent for the quarter to March. “While today’s data is technically in ...
Women’s representation on public sector boards and committees has reached 50 per cent or above for the fourth consecutive year, with women holding 53.9 per cent of public sector board roles, Acting Minister for Women Louise Upston says. “This is a fantastic achievement, but the work is not done. To ...
The Coalition Government is supporting Māori to boost development and the Māori economy through investment in projects that benefit the regions, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “As the Regional Development Minister, I am focused on supporting Māori to succeed. The Provincial Growth Fund ...
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced that the review into better managing the risks of earthquake-prone buildings has commenced. “The terms of reference published today demonstrate the Government’s commitment to ensuring we get the balance right between public safety and costs to building owners,” Mr Penk says. “The Government ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has just finished a successful three-day visit to Japan, where he strengthened political relationships and boosted business links. Mr Luxon’s visit culminated in a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio followed by a state dinner. “It was important for me to meet Prime Minister Kishida in person ...
Significant business deals have been closed during the visit of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to Japan this week, including in the areas of space, renewable energy and investment. “Commercial deals like this demonstrate that we don’t just export high-quality agricultural products to Japan, but also our world-class technology, expertise, and ...
Minasan, konnichiwa, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today and thank you to our friends at the Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies and NEC for making this event possible today. It gives me great pleasure to be here today, speaking with ...
The National Infrastructure Pipeline, which provides a national view of current or planned infrastructure projects, from roads, to water infrastructure, to schools, and more, has climbed above $120 billion, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says. “Our Government is investing a record amount in modern infrastructure that Kiwis can rely on as ...
The Government is modernising the Public Works Act to make it easier to build infrastructure, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk announced today. An independent panel will undertake an eight-week review of the Act and advise on common sense changes to enable large scale public works to be built faster and ...
New Zealand will enhance its defence contributions to monitoring violations of sanctions against North Korea, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. The enhancement will see the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) increase its contributions to North Korea sanctions monitoring, operating out of Japan. “This increase reflects the importance New Zealand ...
Good afternoon everyone. It’s great to be with you all today before we wrap up Day One of the annual Safeguard National Health and Safety Conference. Thank you to the organisers and sponsors of this conference, for the chance to talk to you about the upcoming health and safety consultation. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone for the Ōtaki to north of Levin Road of National Significance (RoNS), following the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) signing interim alliance agreements with two design and construction teams who will develop and ultimately build the new expressway.“The Government’s priority for transport ...
The Department of Internal Affairs [Department] is making a significant upgrade to their Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System, which blocks access to websites known to host child sexual abuse material, says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “The Department will incorporate the up-to-date lists of websites hosting child sexual ...
A vaccine to prevent an infectious disease that costs New Zealand cattle farmers more than $190 million each year could radically improve the health of our cows and boost on-farm productivity, Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard says. The Ministry for Primary Industries is backing a project that aims to develop ...
The Government has today announced that it is making it easier for people to build granny flats, Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop say. “Making it easier to build granny flats will make it more affordable for families to live the way that suits them ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Auckland King’s Counsel Gregory Peter Blanchard as a High Court Judge. Justice Blanchard attended the University of Auckland from 1991 to 1995, graduating with an LLB (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (English). He was a solicitor with the firm that is now Dentons ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says new data released today shows encouraging growth in the health workforce, with a continued increase in the numbers of doctors, nurses and midwives joining Health New Zealand. “Frontline healthcare workers are the beating heart of the healthcare system. Increasing and retaining our health workforce ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has today announced a comprehensive programme to reform New Zealand's outdated and complicated firearms laws. “The Arms Act has been in place for over 40 years. It has been amended several times – in a piecemeal, and sometimes rushed way. This has resulted in outdated ...
The coalition Government is delivering record levels of targeted investment in specialist schools so children with additional needs can thrive. As part of Budget 24, $89 million has been ringfenced to redevelop specialist facilities and increase satellite classrooms for students with high needs. This includes: $63 million in depreciation funding ...
A substantial consultation on work health and safety will begin today with a roadshow across the regions over the coming months, says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. This the first step to deliver on the commitment to reforming health and safety law and regulations, set out in ...
Forestry Minister Todd McClay, today announced the start of the Government’s plan to restore certainty and confidence in the forestry and wood processing sector. “This government will drive investment to unlock the industry’s economic potential for growth,” Mr McClay says. “Forestry’s success is critical to rebuilding New Zealand’s economy, boosting ...
Annual service charges in the forestry Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will be cancelled for 2023/24, Forestry Minister Todd McClay says. “The sector has told me the costs imposed on forestry owners by the previous government were excessive and unreasonable and I agree,” Mr McClay says. “They have said that there ...
Introduction Thank you for having me here today and welcome to Wellington, the home of the Hurricanes, the next Super Rugby champions. Infrastructure – the challenge This government has inherited a series of big challenges in infrastructure. I don’t need to tell an audience as smart as this one that ...
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard welcomed outcomes to boost agricultural and food trade between New Zealand and China. A number of documents were signed today at Government House that will improve the business environment between New Zealand and China, and help reduce barriers, including on infant formula ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay, and China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, today announced the official launch of Negotiations on Services Trade between the two countries. “The Government is focused on opening doors for services exporters to grow the New Zealand’s economy,” Mr McClay says. As part of the 2022 New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement Upgrade ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Government House in Wellington today. “I was pleased to welcome Premier Li to Wellington for his first official visit, which marks 10 years since New Zealand and China established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” Mr Luxon says. “The Premier and ...
The coalition Government is taking action to reduce the gender pay gap in New Zealand through the development of a voluntary calculation tool. “Gender pay gaps have impacted women for decades, which is why we need to continue to drive change in New Zealand,” Acting Minister for Women Louise Upston ...
The coalition Government is boosting funding for Rural Support Trusts to provide more help to farmers and growers under pressure, Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson announced today. “A strong and thriving agricultural sector is crucial to the New Zealand economy and one of the ways to support it is to ...
Spending on contractors and consultants continues to fall and the size of the Public Service workforce has started to decrease after years of growth, according to the latest data released today by the Public Service Commission. Workforce data for the quarter from 31 December 23 to 31 March 24 shows ...
Thank you to the Law Association for inviting me to speak this morning. As a former president under its previous name — the Auckland District Law Society — I take particular satisfaction in seeing this organisation, and its members, in such good heart. As Attorney-General, I am grateful for these ...
New Zealand is committed to working closely with Timor-Leste to support its prosperity and resilience, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “This year is the 25th anniversary of New Zealand sending peacekeepers to Timor-Leste, who contributed to the country’s stabilisation and ultimately its independence,” Mr Peters says. “A quarter ...
Promoting robust competition in the banking sector is vital to rebuilding the economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “New Zealanders deserve a banking sector that is as competitive as possible. Banking services play an important role in our communities and in the economy. Kiwis rely on access to lending when ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have today announced a regulatory sector review on the approval process for new agricultural and horticultural products. “Red tape stops farmers and growers from getting access to products that have been approved by other OECD countries. ...
The Coalition Government will reverse Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions by 1 July 2025 through a new Land Transport Rule released for public consultation today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. The draft speed limit rule will deliver on the National-ACT coalition commitment to reverse the previous government’s blanket speed limit ...
Minister Paul Goldsmith is making major leadership changes within both his Arts and Media portfolios. “I am delighted to announce Carmel Walsh will be officially stepping into the role of Chair of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, having been acting Chair since April,” Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Carmel is ...
Food and fibre export revenue is tipped to reach $54.6 billion this year and hit a record $66.6b in 2028 as the Government focuses on getting better access to markets and cutting red tape, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones say. “This achievement is testament ...
A new export exemption proposal for food businesses demonstrates the coalition Government’s commitment to reducing regulatory barriers for industry and increasing the value of New Zealand exports, which gets safe New Zealand food to more markets, says Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The coalition Government has listened to the concerns ...
New Zealand and Philippines are continuing to elevate our relationship, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The leaders of New Zealand and Philippines agreed in April 2024 to lift our relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership by 2026,” Mr Peters says. “Our visit to Manila this week has been an excellent ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Kirkland, Professor of Geochronology, Curtin University Lukas Gojda / Shutterstock Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. The oldest rocks ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra No one doubts Peter Dutton has a huge task to sell his radical nuclear plan, with many experts throwing buckets of cold water over it. But on Thursday the opposition leader received some welcome backing. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jordana Hunter, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute The Victorian Auditor-General has just released an audit of Victoria’s A$1.2 billion tutoring program designed to help struggling students post-COVID. The report found the program “did not significantly improve students’ learning compared to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Khomyn, Lecturer, University of Adelaide Jonathan Borba/Pexels The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has just seen the listing of its first bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund – “ETF” for short. Issued by investment management firm VanEck, the new investment product is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alana Lentin, Professor in Cultural and Social Analysis, Western Sydney University Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre Company Anchuli Felicia King’s new one-performer piece, American Signs, written for the talented Catherine Văn-Davies, thrusts us into the world of a campus hire at “The Firm”, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research Scholar, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, Australian National University Among the many sayings attributed to Winston Churchill is, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This sentiment seems appropriate as Israel potentially appears ...
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) have voiced concerns about Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora restricting the employment of graduate nurses into their workforce due to budget constraints. ...
The NZCTU is slamming a decision by the Government in Budget 2024 to cut a programme which ensured that disabled workers are paid the minimum wage. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University Martin Lisner/Shutterstock It is very difficult to take Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear announcement seriously. His proposal for seven nuclear power stations is, at present, legally impossible, technically improbable, economically ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Mobility, Public Safety & Disaster Risk, UNSW Sydney Each year, millions of Muslims from across the world embark on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The mass migration is unparalleled in scale, and pilgrims ...
The Committee has recommended that the Bill be passed with minor amendments. The bill will create 12 new high protection areas, 5 new seafloor protection areas and 2 extensions to existing marine reserves. ...
“The Green Party campaigned on protecting 30 percent of our oceans. We will continue to fight for our marine environment so it can be enjoyed across future generations,” says Marama Davidson. ...
We asked public organisations for an update on their response to the recommendations in our 2022 report Improving value through better Crown entity monitoring. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra After beating a first-term South Australian Liberal government in 2022, Labor premier Peter Malinauskas has gone on to be a reform advocate on issues including social media and politcal donations. His government is looking ...
The economy keeps limping along, and people keep getting poorer. GDP per capita has fallen yet again, and it's now been in freefall for well over a year. ...
Alex Casey and Tara Ward look back at the best and brightest New Zealanders to appear in the greatest reality franchise of all time. It’s the hugely addictive reality show with a little bit of everything. “It’s got the high octane Hell’s Kitchen action in the chef’s galley, the nouveau ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Galloway, Professor of Law and Social Justice, Australian Catholic University Commonwealth Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has announced that the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) would review the Native Title Act to “rectify any inefficacy, inequality or unfairness”. The purpose of the ...
COMMENTARY:By Nick Rockel in Tāmaki Makaurau This morning I did something I seldom do, I looked at the Twitter newsfeed. Normally I take the approach of something that I’m not sure is an American urban legend, or genuinely something kids do over there. The infamous bag of dog poo ...
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has issued the government a "letter of demand" for complicity with Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. ...
You might say the best way not to be an arsehole is to avoid leaving any notes on cars, but if you must, here’s the etiquette. A fun fact that never fails to make me laugh is that something like 90% of drivers believe they’re in the top 5% of ...
Criminal justice advocacy group JustSpeak and human rights movement Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand are raising alarm bells about the social justice issues highlighted in this year’s data. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist All parties, including West Papuan pro-independence fighters who took Phillip Mehrtens hostage, want the New Zealand pilot released but freeing him is “complicated”. In February 2023, Mehrtens, a husband and father from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian airline, Susi Air, when he landed his ...
The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. Gabi Lardies explains.‘We have a very good chance of making this a one-term government,” said Labour leader Chris Hipkins at his party’s ...
FIRST Union members at St John have voted to take further strike action that commences today, with the aim of seeking public support for a fully functioning ambulance service before industrial action intensifies to the point of withdrawing labour. ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk New Caledonia’s security forces have arrested eight people believed to be involved in the organisation of pro-independence-related riots that broke out in the French Pacific territory last month. The eight include leaders of the so-called Field Action Coordinating Cell (CCAT), a ...
New Zealand air traffic controller trainees who previously spent up to 18 months training without being treated or paid as employees will now be considered employees ...
Close to a million artefacts found in post-quake Christchurch are now available to be viewed by the public. Alex Casey speaks to the founder of Museum of Archeology Ōtautahi.Charles Henry Cox would’ve got away with it, if it hadn’t been for those damn meddling archeologists. The talented grifter proudly ...
The director and actor shares what it means to commit to the work.Anapela Polataivao ONZM is an award-winning director and actor. She is a recipient of the Arts Foundation New Generation Award (2014), the Contemporary Pacific Art Award (2019), and Best Director at the Auckland Theatre Awards (2016). Her ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Byrne, Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the UK general election outside 10 Downing Street in the pouring rain last month, the ignominy of the moment was compounded ...
I’m a vegan who adores vegetables and he’s a big meat-eater totally suspicious of them. Help me! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzKia ora Hera,I need my partner to eat some vegetables and I don’t know how.I have a lovely partner: he’s caring, supportive and meets me where ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology algre/Shutterstock Just last year, data suggested plug-in hybrid cars were on the way out in Australia. But they’re back. New data shows plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids combined have overtaken ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn Schofield, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Environment and Sustainability), The University of Melbourne ESA Communications companies such as Starlink plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into orbit around Earth over the next decade or so. The growing swarm ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ganna Pogrebna, Executive Director, AI and Cyber Futures Institute, Charles Sturt University Shutterstock In the ever-evolving online gaming landscape, one seemingly simple online game has captivated players. The free-to-play clicker Banana has amassed more than 850,000 concurrent players on the gaming ...
Data this morning will reveal whether or not the country has pulled out of recession, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Have ...
There is no suggestion the contents of Seymour’s messages were inappropriate, but some of his former correspondents say the interactions shouldn’t have happened The post Seymour fronts up on Snapchats with school kids appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Never fear! The rogue Māori is here! To be honest I’m pretty fūcken peeved at having to join the chorus, late, of witless Pākehā who have thoughts on Paul Moon’s book Ans Westra: A Life In Photography. Steve Braunias is all right, we are friends, but I wasn’t happy about ...
A housing minister willing to publicly discuss house price falls is encouraging, but true affordability is likely to remain a long way off, writes Max Rashbrooke. House prices must always rise. For as long as I can recall, this has been one of the core assumptions of Kiwi politics. It ...
Lange and Muldoon clash, two days after the election. Our live updates editor is on the case. In a ranking of the most dramatic, unhinged days in New Zealand politics, July 16, 1984 would be right up there. David Lange would later call the day “perhaps the most extraordinary of ...
Opinion: According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, a record 117.3 million peoples were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023 due to conflict, violence, or climate-related disasters. This is nearly equivalent to the populations of the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia combined. Alarmingly, the number of forcibly displaced peoples ...
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Whatever happened to ring fencing money saved by reinstating prescription fees to pay for new cancer medicines?
/
During the campaign, National promised $280 million over four years to fund the new cancer medicines. When Burr asked Willis why National didn't stick to that, she said, "We intend to keep that commitment".
"In this Budget, we had to find $1.8 billion to rescue the funding of medicines that were left unfunded by the outgoing government," she said. "Pharmac had been given what we call 'cliff funding' so it had been short-funded. So, as of June 1 this year, it would have run out of… money for listed medicines.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/budget-2024-finance-minister-nicola-willis-defends-national-u-turn-on-funding-new-cancer-drugs.html
luxon
Huh
Name one
Not responding at all does count as "comprehensive" – it is internally consistent, wide-ranging and final.
Though "terminal" might be a better word than "final".
Trump guilty all counts!!!!
Looking forward to the sentencing report and the sentence itself.
MSNBC News – Breaking News and News Today | Latest News
At least one guardrail of civic order has worked.
How many of his supporters will revolt?
Does this preclude him standing for president?
No he can still stand as a convicted felon!!!
Chance of it tearing the Republican party apart? Cant see the old school moderates going along with having a convicted felon as their nominee.
It will be interesting.
There are no old school moderates in the party now. Every statement on the verdict by every relevant Republican has trashed the case, the judge, the entire process. Nobody – absolutely nobody – is saying "respect the verdict".
The few who dared to criticise Trump over the years have gone or are going. It is one man's party, and it lives on another planet.
They couldn't care less about him being a felon. It's a martyr's flag for them.
He is claiming to be a "political prisoner". I imagine many "old school moderates" will believe him.
Hopefully it's Home Detention with an ankle bracelet.
That respects a punishment that reflects the scale of the crime.
That would also be realistic given he really does have a right to free speech as a candidate able to campaign virtually, and jail is pretty impractical for his scale of security that he needs.
The US would not withstand Trump in jail; I think there really would be civil war.
And set the precedent that just because you're a former (and possible future) President, a political candidate, or a rabble rouser with a violent mob at your disposal that you're somehow above the law or get to be treated with kid gloves?
Much like how in New Zealand, we seem to protect the privacy and future prospects of sportspeople and businessmen (mainly of the pakeha variety) who commit sometimes violent and heinous crimes, but happily consign the unforgivably brown or poor to prison for minor offences.
How can the rule of law withstand giving the rich and the powerful access to special treatment while being so manifestly unjust to everyone else?
Not it's proportionate to the crime.
Which is basically admin for a very small amount, lying, and covering it up.
I mean sure it would be great if Trump just burned in hell, but with no constitutional bar to his candidacy, Home D is Guilty, Punished, Served.
And set the precedent that just because you're a former (and possible future) President, a political candidate, or a rabble rouser with a violent mob at your disposal that you're somehow above the law or get to be treated with kid gloves?
A president can be impeached for behaviour which probably has nothing to do with his performance as president, as evidenced by Bill Clinton's close call with the Monica Lewinsky affair.
In practice impeachment has proven to be functionally impossible, even when the President in question flat out commits treason.
Most of the US constitutional guardrails were designed in an era before hyperpartisanship and political tribalism, and where the Senate was conceived as a cooler, calmer, more deliberative body.
In this day and age, unless the Democracts somehow manage to win a 3/4 majority in the Senate (which is pretty farfetched) there will be precisely ZERO constitutional checks on a future Trump presidency.
Of course Trump has already been impeached, and in electoral consequences it means nothing today. No bar to the Republicans choosing him again as a candidate, or voters choosing him in Nov.
Second impeachment of Donald Trump – Wikipedia
Impeachment has gone from being seen as a shocking, historic, career-ending move to just another "meh".
This explainer from the Guardian seems to agree:
The Guardian piece is also useful on the likely Appeal process. First to the New York Court of Appeals, and if this Court, upholds the conviction, then to the US supreme Court. But "getting it into the US supreme court would require Trump to convince the justices that there is some federal or constitutional question at stake". I doubt that the current Supreme Court Justices would take much convincing on that point.
In any case, the delay caused by an appeal goes well past the November election.
Yes, that's the key point. It's wishful thinking to hope/expect that he now won't be able to run and become President. He can, regardless.
The only barrier is the voters in swing states, and their election officials.
Ankle bracelet followed by a win followed by a Presidential pardon. And trials for Judges and Prosecutors etc. Rule of Law? Nah.
Given that he's already announced an appeal – any imposed penalty will be suspended until the appeal is heard.
"Fake news"![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png)
Meanwhile, m'lady Willis has acknowledged "not everyone will get HUUUGE amounts of money out of the tax relief" [RNZ 9 am news @2 minutes] – I wonder what Willis feels constitutes "huge amounts of money", and just how many Kiwis are in line to benefit hugely from “the tax relief” – not ‘tax cuts’, mind you, but ‘relief’.
On superannuation alone couple gets
$8.62 a fortnight
WOW
Don't spend it all at once 😀
It's not even a half a block of cheese tax cut.
I have told my cats there will be an extra tin of cat food with my $2.15 from Mrs Willis. They are very pleased.
About 29 cents of that $2.15 will go back to the Govt. with the GST component on the purchase …. so Mrs Willis will be please too!
…. so really only getting $1.86 in "tax relief"
.. and that is not counting the tax on the profit made by the Supermarket …
Janice, I hope you feel relieved to see your cats relieved from hunger by your relief from taxes. A note of thanks to Ms Willis (the EngLit graduate) could even quote the bard:
"For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold, and I am sick at heart"
What Labour should be doing.
Instead they sent out an email asking to send some tax cuts to fund their campaign.
No, no, no! Go get Malcom Tucker because ^*€>*€*$€%#++£•€’
They need catchy simple messaging and any that has been has been undercut.
Any commenter here has it:
‘The don’t spend it all at once’ budget
‘The home brand cat food’ budget
These are easy headlines. Easy to understand analysis. An uncomplicated position. The tax cuts don’t cover the cost rises. Labour, Labour, Labour…
Instead they sent out an email asking to send some tax cuts to fund their campaign.
Fucking losers. I've never heard anything so stupid since their year of consultation followed by their year of policy bullshit.
Not the brightest, and when challenged on it I bet they don't spin it round by pointing out the need donations because the aren't bought and paid for by big business like the government
Can't wait to see him in his orange teletubby suit.Shame he won't be sharing a cell with Michael Cohen.
Based on the continual slimming of Trump during his trial he's on the anti-fat jab. Makes him look older, for sure, as wrinkles emerge.
This step is long overdue. She won't be the only one in the dock, hopefully.
The first of many more hopefully. Leaders of every country supplying arms to Israel need to be referred to the ICC. Especially Sunak, Macron, Scholz, Biden and Blinken.
It doesn't stop Trump running but quite a few states have laws that will keep a convicted felon off the ballot. Ironic to think Jim Crow will keep Trump off the ballot in Florida!!
How quickly do you think those states will fall over themselves to change the law and allow him to both stand, and vote?
Trump will be on the ballot in every state. His Supreme Court has already ensured this.
Technically, no.
The challenge that went to Supreme Court was premised on several state's attempts to argue that Trump had committed treason and was therefore constitutionally ineligible to be president.
This is different to the current problem triggered by his conviction: He may fall afoul of any state laws that may bar a convicted felon from running for office.
This case may be a little more difficult for Trump and his team to wriggle out of.
I haven't seen any legal opinion to suggest that might happen though. Happy to be persuaded but the consensus of informed commentators is that there is no way he'll be kept off the ballot, given the appeal process.
The Supreme Court were pretty clear on what a State can do vs what only Congress is allowed to do.
'"We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office," the court's opinion says. "But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Sections 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency."
It was a unanimous ruling and I don't see that they would have any difficulty at all ruling the same way on the Presidential election.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68280062
You're right – that does seem pretty conclusive
Any State laws about barring a convicted felon for running for office, would only apply to elections within a State – not to Federal elections.
There has even been a US presidential candidate running for office from within a federal prison (Eugene Debs, 1920).
It's unlikely that Trump would be sentenced to actual jail time (only 1 in 10 similar cases are, in the US). And, even if he was, he'll certainly file an appeal, so won't be in prison for the election campaign.
So now that it's fully in the open that Biden has given permission for essentially missile strikes inside Russia using US weapons, it's very hard to stop Putin striking inside Poland or Moldova.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/30/politics/biden-ukraine-limited-strikes-russia/index.html
Not saying it's wrong or right – who the hell am I to armchair morality from this side of the world.
But very hard to see this turning back from escalation.
And very dark for the whole world.
The war needs a decisive intervention the bring the war to a quick conclusion (the best way to reduce loss of life) with the total defeat of Putin – Just as Churchill immediately recognised the need to get the United States into WW2 to defeat Hitler, so Zhelensky needs to get the NATO powers involved to defeat Russia.
Poland has been rearming frantically with 202526 clearly in mind as the date to join the war, while the French are inching towards offering absolute territorial guarantees to Ukraine. The Poles will soon have the best equipped army in Europe, and the Russians would find the French in particular to have an excellent air force.
You're absolutely in la la land. Any approach to what you advocate involves nuclear weapons. I see you invoke Nazis. The closest aproximation to Nazis at the moment is Israel and its US enablers in Gaza. We have the truly macabre situation at the moment of the US speaker of the house demanding sanctions against the ICC because they don't fit the colonial genocidal ambitions of the self appointed world ruler,with the enthusiastic support of Blinken. The medical director of Glia, Tarek Loubani, has stated that he never feared death for himself or his colleagues when working in Ukraine on the Ukraine side but is absolutely always worried in Israel and has lost many colleagues and ambulances in Gaza both killed while working, and abducted to the torture centres in Israel, where amongst other things, they are used as live practice for medical interns doing operations that they have never before done – without anaesthetics!! What was the name of that Nazi doctor again?
" …. abducted to the torture centres in Israel, where amongst other things, they are used as live practice for medical interns doing operations that they have never before done – without anaesthetics!! "
That's pretty strong stuff, Sub. Got to be an unimpeachable link before I give it any credence.
Medical experimentation:
This was taken from whistleblower interviews with CNN. The link is in the referenced article if you wish to go there to check
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/inside-one-israeli-death-and-torture-camp
In early April a whistle-blower reported appalling treatment and conditions at Sde Teiman.
A doctor at the field hospital set up at the Sde Teiman detention center to hold arrested Gazans described conditions that he said could compromise the inmates' health and put the government at risk of violating the law, in a letter sent last week to Israel's defense minister, health minister, and attorney general.
"Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event," the physician said in the letter. He said inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers, and are held constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law.
https://archive.li/CMqSm (haaretz)
Thank you, gentlemen. That does seem to confirm it. Hard to imagine even ol' Joe continuing to hold out against those sort of revelations, but there appears to be no limit to some people's intransigence.
And just to add to that, Putin has already stated that the targeting of these weapons requires satellites and personnel from NATO countries. Even when the targeting is loaded by a Ukrainian, it is decided upon and created by NATO personnel. It is unlikely that Russia will take these kinds of hits without responding to the country supplying the targeting. With Storm Shadow missiles, I believe that would be the UK or Germany.
Escalation against a NATO country is being invited.
Only a fool makes the same mistake twice is the message.
And given its been limited to the Kharkiv front, all Putin has to do is withdraw forces from that area, learn the wisdom of restraint.
You are the fool if you believe that NATO will settle for anything less than complete subjugation. Somehow, after the Yeltsin years, Russia escaped this fate. They will not return to it. Perhaps then, its time to talk. And remember that its always the west that has some reason why talk is not possible. Which of course, will be your immediate response to what I have written.
The West and those (others) of it being so predictable, to those who know better … .
NATO merely wants a return to the internationally agreed borders.
Ukraine and its allies are planning to talk in Geneva. Probably about feasibility of such an objective.
An attack on Poland would require Russia to fight for Kaliningrad, that would involve Lithuania (+), Finland, Sweden and Germany.
Any professional left in the military would tell Putin they would lose – too committed in Ukraine.
So what we’re saying is that Biden’s green light enables Ukraine to attack Russia. Thus Putin retaliates against Poland, or Estonia etc. Then the ball is in NATOs court.
I was responding to Ad's expectation of an attack on Poland as a response.
As Biden's move only applies to Ukraine use of the weapons to attack a Russian build up in the area around Kharkov, I tend to doubt it as Russia is not able to manage a front with Poland while engaged in Ukraine.
All true. But Putin doesn’t always respond logically.
Obvs lots going on today, but I’ve been following the obscure deets of the Green Parties in the UK and their ongoing expulsions and implosions over the Cass review, wondering if there will be a NZ edition.
https://archive.ph/bsANK
I don't think so, but agree it is something to keep an eye on. The Scottish Greens and the England/Wales Greens are batshit crazy. I think EWG have some good people, but they've dealt with the gender/sex issues badly. Scottish Green leaders just seem bonkers to me.
Otoh, they SG do seem to be in the process of deselecting the TIM candidate who had tweeted "takes three mouths to take in my cock", and "JK Rowling is a man larping as a woman. Pass it on!! Let's shame the torn faced cow."
Interestingly the branch asked for this to happen. This is the advantage of being a GP member, and NZ GC progressives who otherwise support the GP policies should take note.
https://archive.is/rQcV4
https://x.com/cunning_chops/status/1793721271823528132
Not very bright, that one.
My concern is with NZG losing Shaw, and the shift to a more activist led party, that it could go down the crazy path. This would be very bad for NZ. I hope that their presence in parliament and the pragmatics of the electorate is enough to keep them from doing that. Last year's dealing with Kerekere and not forefronting queer politics during the election campaign were good signs.
I think it may well go the same way, at about the time that Dame Sue Bagshaw officially dismisses the Cass review as something something transphobia. Perhaps she'll surprise me and accept it. At which point political parties will have to comment. Right now it's at the "it's being reviewed so I can't comment" stage so nobody is saying anything. What will the GP say? Probably something along the lines of "Sue Bagshaw sez it's all OK, the Cass report isn't relevant to NZ because NZ children are a different species to UK children, nothing to see here, all good amirite?"
At which point I'll officially give up.
I hope you're right, but I see no indication that the GP is ready to come back to reality or even discuss the issues, haven't seen any discussion on this issue at all.
Now I've checked out Bagwash and what she's been saying of late, it would seem there is indeed reason to be worried. It's not often I stand on the same side as "Bishop" Tamaki, but he's right on this issue.
what we really need is the GC progressives to have more voice and presence, then you can stand with us instead of Tamaki.
I don't think the MPs and office holders generally are ready to come back, but No Debate means that we probably can't know about the ones that dissent. I remain convinced that most GP members would support the excesses of GII once they know what it means.
Change happens by increments and then possibly a bigger shift. Preventing a numpty candidate from standing is significant.
Sorry, Weka, I can't figure out what you're trying to say here. As posted, it seems to suggest that "most GP members" would support the sort of craziness that the EWGP has been captured by.
sorry, typo. That should say wouldn't support. I'll see if I can dig up some figures. The problem is that when GP members tried to address women's sex based rights, they were shut down and shut out.
Livestream of hui Taumata today.
https://app.sli.do/event/h1mGU3vULLTAFRJjhz4N9F/live/polls
Much, much more interesting and joyful and exciting than John Key's manfest some years back.
what's the hui about?
https://www.huitaumata.co.nz/
cheers. Have just been reading this,
"Towards a Māori Nation"
https://www.huitaumata.co.nz/_files/ugd/a0663d_d18fefd36192409a839d98eeb10b4171.pdf
Looks very interesting.
TPM may well want a Maori parliament, but they might want to reflect on the number of successful postcolonial states.
There aren't that many successful postcolonial states, but the big ones had very strong immigrant presences including: Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and maybe Brazil and Mexico.
No examples in Africa, few in South America. All went down hill fast.
The path to having a successful postcolonial transition is narrow and fraught. None of it happens at speed, and the fastest way to failure is a smashing of public institutions, and making really poor replicas of systems that worked. On that, Apirana Ngata and Winston Peters are right.
South Africa is another example of an unsuccessful transition.
Despite the huge volume of natural resources, virtually guaranteeing a healthy trade balance – the kleptocracy of rule has resulted in the general population being far worse off.
https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/stemming-the-tide-of-kleptocracy-bold-solutions-alone-not-enough/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_South_Africa
You ignore India and the "19th Century China economic zone". Little immigration though. And both survived earlier/other colonial invaders.
I do not see South Korea as a nation that has institutions as a legacy of being a "colony" and it is not a nation with many migrants.
Malaysia again an indigenous majority, has more Chinese and Indian presence than colonial British.
Thus you are left with UK's 5 Eyes partners and Singapore (was an earlier Moslem and Indian trade centre before being destroyed and revived by the British).
Otherwise Mexico of Spain (is it the oil and NAFTA) and Brazil of Portugal (is it the size of the economy).
I don't think that you could describe the 19th century Chinese Economic zones as colonial states. The one which certainly was, in that area, was Hong Kong (highly successful as a crown colony).
It's difficult to argue that it ever had a post-colonial identity, however, since it was subsumed into PRC in 1997 – and has been systematically suppressed thereafter.
Do you have a view on why virtually every African state has become worse off (in whichever measure you choose to use) following independence?
Labour spokesperson
So it requires a long term approach.
So the landlord lifestyle and magazine family values does not trickle down to any wider society ambition from the PM.
They switched support for those disabled during school time to Education (no funding provided). They are looking at moving food in schools away from education. It is how they operate.
https://archive.li/jZAu4#selection-1995.60-1999.48
The response on Kiwiblog today is instructive.
We can however expect their approach to reducing the numbers on health care and state house waiting lists to be adopted to reducing the number of recorded family violence incidents
I find Waititi's views on how his Maori Nation is going to work a little hard to follow. He claims
"I am 20 per cent of this country. I expect nothing less than 20 per cent of the total Budget in this country. That’s what I expect in a kāwanatanga [governance] space.”
Waititi then said Māori should receive the Budget proportion that their population makes up in prisons and Oranga Tamariki."
Is he also going to propose that Maori will pay 20% of all income taxes? Will he argue that Maori will only accept 20% of all benefit payments?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/te-pati-maori-protests-new-parliament-mooted-declaration-of-independence-issued/GSOV3QHFX5EQ3NS6SYFIOCMO74/
Heard of strike action to obtain a result?
Remember when National (Brash) threatened to end the Maori seats and then Key included TPM as a support partner alongside ACT and United … and signed UNDRIP?
Note how UNDRIP co-governance was posed as a threat and thus the CofC, well here we are (note JA rejected a separate Maori Parliament upper house).
Is he also going to propose that Maori will pay 20% of all income taxes? Will he argue that Maori will only accept 20% of all benefit payments?
You need to include NZS if you are going to go down that road. As Maori have a younger population then it is more likely they will get a benefit than NZS (even putting life expectancy aside). I am pretty sure that 20% of the total cost would be an increase.
In terms of ethnicity, 62.4% are NZ European, only 5.9% are Māori and 2.6% are Pacific Peoples. 16.5% are other ethnicities and 12.5% were unspecified.
He is actually claiming that 20% of the population are Maori. He doesn't believe your quoted figure of 5.9%. God knows, but isn't telling, where the man gets his numbers from.
That is the percentage of Maori on NZS.
What is NZS?
Really after a quote about benefits you can't work out what NZS is?
Yesterday's census results where 20% identify as Maori
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/census-2023-results-new-zealands-population-growing-diversifying-and-ageing/SANRG5UMGFDP7C4I3XRUSCBHKQ/
Maybe ince waititi is getting 20% of the vote he could argue that but most Maori don't seem to vote tpm
Crown recognition of a Maori parliament could not occur until 50% (or more – as per constitutional changes mandate) of Maori agreed.
So a couple of weeks ago the government made stern pronouncements about kids missing too much school when most of the missing time was excused absences due to sickness. Now my teacher friend has covid because the kids are coming to school sick with it and other schools are being hard hit with kids and teachers sick, …and it's not even term 3 yet.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/wellbeing/350292066/children-being-hospitalised-nasty-rsv-schools-hit-winter-looms
This will screw up the governments statistics on absences when whole classes get rostered home – way to shoot themselves in the foot.
Evidence that schools are allowing children who are sick with Covid to attend?
From your linked article (first sentence)
I know that the family secondary school will not accept attendance from kids who are visibly unwell (they get sequestered in the sickbay and you get a call to come and collect them); and the message is still being strongly pushed by newsletters, etc. that if your child has a respiratory infection, then they need to stay home.
Of course, your teacher friend may have caught Covid from a kid with no visible symptoms … or from someone at the supermarket s/he visited on the weekend.. or even from a friend/family member. [We have two staff down with Covid at work ATM, neither have school children, or any contact with school children]
Do you think there should be mandatory daily testing of school children for asymptomatic Covid every morning before school?
Just "mandate" trippple jabs for them to attend at all? RSV/Flu/Covid 19
Won't stop spread or stop them contracting but will "reduce the severity" !!!
After all – “Safe and Effective”
A text book case in vulture capitalism.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/518324/new-zealand-rugby-players-association-to-forge-ahead-with-separate-body
Zuma's revenge.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjll8nr6962o