Trotter hallucinates revolting natives: "It is always dangerous to remind the colonisers of the world they have extinguished. To offer them a glimpse of that world is more perilous still. It proves that the culture they conquered and left for dead can be brought back to life. Ihumatao has smouldered for 156 years. The effect of the mass occupation of the past week has gifted it a sudden inrush of oxygen. Now there are flames amongst the fern."
Why? Not enough racism in the media yet, apparently. "Those flames glitter in the narrowed eyes of the watchers. From the ill-educated and ill-disciplined the responses are already forthcoming. Angry posts on Facebook and Twitter, filled with the raw racism of those for whom the possession of a white skin constitutes their sole claim to superiority. Reading these, it is difficult to decide who they hate the most: Maori, or the Pakeha who support them?" http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/07/ihumatao-watched-by-unfriendly-eyes.html
Best way to fan the flames of hostility is to play the racism card, particularly when it has already been over-played. Yeah, I know it makes no sense, I'm just illuminating the thought processes that drive his florid prose. Can't have a media career unless you beat up controversy…
with the rise of (indistinguishable from the 'real thing') meats and cheeses – the reasons to eat for flavor/texture etc. will be soon long gone..
and those who will still insist on 'the real thing' will just be insisting on a subtext/sauce of wholesale cruelty to animals/destruction of the environment..with their food..
when the issue is boiled down to just that – the 'real thing' will become less and less palatable to many/most..
this is when we will see the sea-change from animal/cruelty-based foods – to the healthier/better for the planet – plant-based foods..
Will we have the decency not to allow the animals we have farmed not to go extinct or will we toss them aside and breed more humans to fill the spaces they leave.
i think there is little chance of that happening – on the other hand there are all the species that are being/have been made extinct – by the farming of animals/growing of soy etc. to feed them…
They'd certainly have to pry the fancy cheese from my cold, dead hands! Take away camembert, blue brie, feta, parmigiano, maasdam etc and only alcohol, sex and chocolate are left.
Periodically some fucking hippie manages to persuade me to try some hyper-expensive dross that is "indistinguishable from the real thing". always bollocks.
The closest they've managed so far is "indistinguishable from a particularly shite and cheap attempt to sell something as the real thing".
If it was indistinguishable, it would drive the "real thing" into a niche market.
It will certainly have to get close to the taste and texture, regardless of how cheap it becomes. At the moment it's a fail on all counts.
My kid turned veggonaut, and the other day I got ripped for nine bucks for three hundred grams of quorn mince. I made a meal and it was effing gross. Ended up binning mine. Thought I couldn't go wrong with a fake sausage. I was wrong. No matter how much sauce I put on my pretend banger it just tasted wrong.
lol so when you say stuff is indistinguishable from the real thing, you mean indistinguishable from your 30y.o. recollection of what the real thing once tasted like.
Recently been eating a lot of self caught, free range rabbit, though, so a good casserole and hearty pie later, the only sour taste left became a bitter afterthought.
nah..i am going on the blind taste-tests done @ fiekd days in hamilton..where tasters couldn't tell the difference – with many preferring the plant-based..
i am going on the burger chains in u.s. being early adopters – and the punters loving them..
i am going on the factories for both the leading brands being unable to keep up with orders..
i am going on the first of those companies to float on u.s. stockmarket – and being heavily over-subscribed..
i am not going on my 30+ yrs memories..
and hey..!..while you weren't watching/paying attention – most breads in supermarkets have gone vegan…
i used to be only able to buy one or two – now i can buy most..
betcha didn't know all that…eh..?
best you put down that slice of bread – and step well back..eh..?
.where tasters couldn't tell the difference – with many preferring the plant-based..
Unless it's 50/50, they could tell the difference.
Bread is a good example of a cost-effective substitute "indistinguishable from the real thing". Margarine vs butter is another. But milk is still milk, and the meat aisles are still meat aisles (except for sausages, which are anything from "meat and random herbs" to "meat but mostly sawdust, and you don't want to know which bits of animals constitute the meat").
but seriously there – p.m…i continue to be surprised by how many people who self-regard as progressive – are so reactionary on this issue…
especially in light of the indeniable health/environment issues from the farming/eating of animals – (need i remind you of the bowel-cancer equation?..that nz has worlds' highest rates of bowel-cancer + world-beating rates of consumption of animal-flesh/bye-products + red-meat/bacon being proven cause of bowel-cancer..
how much more information do you need…..to drive any change in yr dietary practices..?
and of course this reactionary attitude from many progressives has echoes in the abolition of human slavery (in the west)..
many progressives/suffragettes from that era are on the record as being emphatic on the inferiority of the darker races..of being totally reactionary on the question of race..
and so it is now on the question of animal-slavery/eatimg..eh..?
Philip Ure I suspect that the truly ethical position on meat-eating is to eat ourselves, no other animal to be hurt in this process.
As we have been making a living from feeding and growing animals for so long – it is hard to make the change to plant-first-and-only diets. But as you say our bowel cancer is high on the charts in a bad way, less meat is better.
Why not put up a couple of recipes for your favourite flavoured meals on Sunday's How to Get There – but please don't swamp us with your sales pitch – you can get carried away. Antagonism and stress is bad for the digestion of any food, keep it simple and sweet will you.
Oh forget I ever said anything PU. I am sick of people who can't think anything through and just react to life and everything that is said to them with their favourite obsession or interest blocking their vision. I will take no further interest in you or anything you say.
I agree greywarshark. This debate driven by Philip Ure has already happened some years ago when I had only just discovered the benefits of reading TS.
To be honest, I do not look forward to a repeat of that long and turgid debate, in which I seem to remember James making rather a pig of himself by over-indulgence in barbeques.
The coalition has set the terms for the two referenda at the next election, but with a sunset clause. NRT questions the wisdom of the clause. Winston was once real big on citizens-initiated referenda, so I'm surprised he has endorsed the sunset strategy.
Could it be that realpolitik has prevailed over populism in his mind? Those who object to people power usually cite the madness of crowds (just as likely as wisdom). I wonder if he has had a conversion experience.
What a joke – and not funny at all. How long are we going to put up with this bullshit?
Debating oil and gas drilling without mentioning climate change has been labelled as like ''fighting a fire without water'' during a Dunedin hearing into an Austrian company's Otago plans.
Environmental Protection Authority hearings started yesterday relating to OMV's intentions to drill an oil and gas exploration well costing about $80million in the Great South Basin this summer.
It is required by its permit to do so before July 2021.
The hearing was called a ''farce'' by environmentalists, including Oil Free Otago spokesman Adam Currie, as the topic of climate change was barred from being considered.
About 40 protesters gathered outside the building in the late morning holding signs and singing songs.
OMV New Zealand said it respected their democratic right to express points of view, but asked them to do so lawfully.
Hearing consideration was limited to the effects of a small potential discharge of harmful substances from the drill rig's deck drains.
Pathetic. What a rig-up against the planet – there are more possibilities of oil spill than from deck drains. And the fact that climate change is happening but must not be acknowledged though it is a scientific fact – can't be accepted by people who draw on their own preferred facts to make their case for doing business. Let's settle this with a duel you could say instead of having an expensive legal hearing with counsel being paid in mega-dollars. Come outside the two protagonists could say, choose your weapons, and let's see who has the best facts.
On the brightside the consensus forecasts suggest a significant deepening (strictly negative) of the antarctic oscillation and increased probability of significant southerly regimes for the next couple of weeks.
Interesting graphs Poission. I think I saw that the temp will not stay at -4 for long but will likely be below freezing for the 14-day period with this oscillation which will please the ski fields hearts mightily.
I hope they have been able to get their staff okay. They were saying that new measures the Immigration Impairment have introduced meant that what used to be straightforward and timely had extra time-consuming layers. That made it difficult for the special people required to get their paperwork, and their travel etc. arrangements done. They could miss the snow completely the way it worked (not). I think it is so wrong to allow individuals to get on top of a heap that they fashion into a shape of their own design.
This is intersting and good to hear. Good on them. We all can do something – besides writing here, which is useful itself because we need to have discussion and thinking about our country and its problems and what sort of road blocks we need against continuing bad systems and what we need to remove.
OPINION: Your fingerprint is uniquely your own, tied to your identity for your entire life. It is for this very reason that technology is advancing the usefulness of biometric data like fingerprints, making it much harder for people to keep their identity and history private. These technological advances are everywhere – from DNA technology allowing police to solve cold cases to everyday people unlocking their phone with a scan of their face…
Take the recent Australian Fair Work Commission decision involving Queensland sawmill worker Jeremy Lee and his employer, Superior Wood.
Lee refused to give his fingerprints to his employer as part of a new work sign-in system. After a period of some months involving discussions and then warnings, Lee was sacked for his persistent refusals.
Lee wasn’t just thinking about privacy, he declared: “It’s my biometric data. It’s not appropriate for them to have it”.
(Question: Why should an employer have the right to take samples of your body, readings of your functions, skin details? Are we things bought and sold, like animals at a saleyard, teeth, eyes, hooves checked? Isn’t this just the same – an invasion of our individual rights becoming normalised?)
Overseas: https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1892471/rise-face-and-fingerprint-recognition-technology-just-how Face recognition technology to help “tag” friends in photographs, fingerprint recognition to unlock smartphones, and fingerprint door locks are just some of the ways in which biometric data has been used in recent years. In Asia, developments include palm vein authentication technology for payments and mobile terminals, or “biocarts” that take photos and fingerprints of passengers for immigration processing in Japan; fingerprint authentication for ATMs in Vietnam; and facial recognition technology . Is this the end of long passwords and complex authentication systems?
These lasers Hong Kong protesters are pointing at riot police through billowing tear gas, it's like something out of a sci-fi movie. #AntiELABpic.twitter.com/noTllDuc09
HONG KONG — The police officers wrestled with Colin Cheung in an unmarked car. They needed his face.
They grabbed his jaw to force his head in front of his iPhone. They slapped his face. They shouted, “Wake up!” They pried open his eyes. It all failed: Mr. Cheung had disabled his phone’s facial-recognition login with a quick button mash as soon as they grabbed him.
As Hong Kong convulses amid weeks of protests, demonstrators and the police have turned identity into a weapon. The authorities are tracking protest leaders online and seeking their phones. Many protesters now cover their faces, and they fear that the police are using cameras and possibly other tools to single out targets for arrest.
Good to check what's been happening down there imo
A Government appointed watchdog could soon monitor the troubled Westland District Council.
Stuff understands Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta recently wrote to the council's chief executive, Simon Bastion, outlining her intention to put in place a Crown observer.
… The Westland District Council, according to a March briefing to Mahuta, has a history of issues relating to dysfunctional governance and management, inadequate procurement and process, and non compliance with statutory obligations.
I think that the Mayor felt that urgent attention was needed and did the commonsense thing with the stopbank. But then probably that is normal behaviour for that area, a hearty, quick decision-making of we'll fix that -without proper planning which looked at the bigger issues, and long-term needs and what the latest 'best practice' is, if only to decide to ignore it – it not always being reasonable and cost-efficient.
Wonder if maureen pugh wishes to comment? Probably not she was busy sending out a presser to local news outlets yesterday announcing that she had a cake to celebrate 3 yrs in parliament. True story.
Anger over the deportation of New Zealand citizens from Australia is likely to intensify, with Canberra set to introduce even tighter visa requirements.
Lecturing a bunch of Bible-thumping white racists that their immigration policies are shitty has backfired in spectacular fashion, and Kiwis will pay the price.
The poor Ockers aren't a happy bunch right now shaggy, their economy is going off the cliff and that bunch of muppets across the Tasman are steaming ahead. Their dollar has fallen from it's customary level of over NZ$1.20 to only just buying one NZ$ (today's cash rate) And I can't see it changing any time soon.
Good point, Pat. Back in the late 80s we invented lots of dodgy private tertiary institutes so that our young unemployed would become students gaining worthless qualifications, instead of featuring in unemployment stats.
Didn't work, because a few years later they still had no jobs.
Australia gets rid of the actual person – much more efficient.
Don't know if I'd vote New Conservative (unless Jude became leader then obviously I would) but this is better then what Labour have done, its more thought out, fairer and will actually address some of the issues
New Conservative party
New Conservative takes constructive feedback on our policies very seriously. Here is our latest on Firearms:
Lots of stuff to unpack there, even if they weren't a bunch of fucking numpties.
Still, better without the poetry.
edit: what about tourist hunters?
mandatory minimums, wtf?
Do they want the chchfuck’s live stream uncensored? Why? And that’s not a govt issue, that’s the censor’s office. Like any court suppression issues. Or do they want all the fiveeyes stuff made public too?
I guess Republicans have been right all along, they are the party of Reagan.
The day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States. “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said. “Yeah,” Nixon interjected. Reagan forged ahead with his complaint: “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Nixon gave a huge laugh.
[…]
The past month has brought presidential racism back into the headlines. This October 1971 exchange between current and future presidents is a reminder that other presidents have subscribed to the racist belief that Africans or African Americans are somehow inferior. The most novel aspect of President Donald Trump’s racist gibes isn’t that he said them, but that he said them in public.
The exchange was taped by Nixon, and then later became the responsibility of the Nixon Presidential Library, which I directed from 2007 to 2011. When the National Archives originally released the tape of this conversation, in 2000, the racist portion was apparently withheld to protect Reagan’s privacy. A court order stipulated that the tapes be reviewed chronologically; the chronological review was completed in 2013. Not until 2017 or 2018 did the National Archives begin a general rereview of the earliest Nixon tapes. Reagan’s death, in 2004, eliminated the privacy concerns. Last year, as a researcher, I requested that the conversations involving Ronald Reagan be rereviewed, and two weeks ago, the National Archives released complete versions of the October 1971 conversations involving Reagan online.
If you know anyone with ME/CFS/Tapanui 'Flu that is being put through CBT and graduated exercise PLEASE send them and most importantly their doctor to the link below. There are many inside the DHBs who are wasting health $ abusing clients with these treatments on the basis of this PACE study – It’s not even science 🙁
Wise Words: “To retain its taxpayer-guaranteed revenue, RNZ must also retain its most precious commodity: public respect and support. That can be imperilled by poorly thought out judgements, including assuming that it should set the political climate.” - Pamela Stirling, Editor, NZ Listener.THE LISTENER LONG AGO ceased to be a ...
What can we make of where National’s current leader Simon Bridges and the Party’s reliable water carrier Paula Bennett are taking their campaign to “win back the Treasury benches”? Going by the often petulant tone he has adopted, and the frequent histrionics of the most ardent supporters: going nowhere, and ...
by Daphna Whitmore It is surprising how rarely the authorities take an evolutionary perspective when dealing with health crises, such as the latest coronavirus spread. They talk about viruses mutating but that is a frequent occurrence, and they treat mutation as though it were equivalent to evolution. A mutation is ...
For over a decade, Heathrow airport has been wanting to add a third runway, to increase air traffic. Its been vigorously opposed by people concerned about the environmental impact. And now, its been ruled illegal on climate change grounds:Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal ...
Many readers will probably have read this RNZ article (or heard the related interview), or seen calls for consultation on the Ministry of Education’s suggested changes to the number of subjects – and achievement standards – on offer to year 11 students. I’ve been following (& participating, where I ...
Method In Our Madness? When a liberal-democratic society encounters racism its first impulse is to shut it down – not interrogate it. But, is this wise? Is it reasonable to assume that a phenomenon as powerful, pernicious and persistent as racism is entirely without purpose? Surely, there must be, as Shakespeare puts it: ...
Here is the speech that Maya Forstater gave at the Woman’s Place UK Women’s Liberation 2020 conference at UCL on February 1st In a recent newsletter she wrote: it was an amazing day (and brilliant to meet so many people in real life). I talked about what makes people and ...
NZ First portrays itself as an anti-establishment party, standing up for "the little guy" (always a guy) against Big Auckland Money and its tool-parties. But it turns out that its secret slush fund is funded by the very people it claims to oppose:Stuff can reveal a longer list of donors ...
Peter TalleyI really don’t envy Jacinda Ardern’s position as Prime Minister of New Zealand. She’s probably got the hardest job in the country. Not only does she have to ensure her own MPs are behaving properly, she has to negotiate with Winston Peters and other NZ First MPs who seem ...
Will She, Or Won't She? Jacinda’s white vestments may look impressive on the cover of the international edition of TIME magazine, but every day Labour’s relationship with Winston Peters and NZ First continues, her ability to go on wearing them back home in New Zealand – without exciting derision – diminishes.IT WAS ...
BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...
From 2015 to 2019 the NSA ran a program of mass surveillance of Americans' domestic communications. It was intrusive, totalitarian, and a collosal waste of money:A National Security Agency system that analyzed logs of Americans’ domestic phone calls and text messages cost $100 million from 2015 to 2019, but yielded ...
I must say that it’s at loggerheads with the inclusive and free society we want to create in New Zealand that one of our largest media outlets, MediaWorks, would allow Hannah Tamaki to perform on their show, Dancing With The Stars.Hannah Tamaki and her husband Brian are after all well-known ...
The media is reporting that an Auckland man has been charged with terrorism. Unfortunately, that's all we know, because all details have been suppressed. Who are they? What are they alleged to have done? Its all secret. There may be good reason for some of this (e.g. protection of the ...
Dr David ChagnéNew Zealand is involved in a US$12.8 million USDA grant to improve the quality of blueberry and cranberry. The four-year project, led by North Carolina State University, is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which funds multi-year, multi-institutional collaborative ...
The Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book is now available! The book uses cartoons, humor, and critical thinking to expose how and why some people reject climate science. It's now available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. If you're near the DC area, you're very welcome to ...
by the Council of Disobedient Women When Moana Maniapoto recently lamented that Rachel Stewart was no longer writing for the Herald, political commentator Morgan Godfery was quick to brag on Twitter, like a schoolyard bully, how proud he was of “driving Rachel Stewart from the Herald”. What a contrast Morgan ...
You’re probably aware that the Achievement Standards used to assess senior school students’ learning are being reviewed. Science is one of the ‘pilot’ subjects in this process, where a ‘Subject Expert Group’ has developed 4 draft Science standards¹ (a significant step away from the current 30+, and a response to ...
John MacCormickTo succeed in an unpredictable and changing world, adaptability is the key. Let’s be chameleons. Technology continues to change people’s jobs and work environments. But change so far is not as fast and extensive as some pundits claim. Nor is it as fast and extensive as it needs ...
It seems we can’t even get through a week these days without the National Party's leader, Simon Bridges, making some sort of silly announcement about a policy that doesn’t actually exist.Usually concerning Bridges’ gut instinct and the undoing of whatever the Government has recently announced, National’s reactionary opinions and uncosted ...
Oh look! NZ First's secret slush fund was laundering donations from Talley's:One of the country's biggest fishing companies, Talley's, and its managing director donated nearly $27,000 to the New Zealand First Foundation, which has been bankrolling the New Zealand First Party. The foundation received $26,950 from seafood giant Talley's and ...
Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, George ThomsonMinister Jenny Salesa announced the Government’s long-awaited Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill on Sunday 23 February. The Bill contains some important provisions as it works to strike a balance between ensuring regulated products are available to ...
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
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A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
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The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
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In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
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Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
The eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki is getting a new harbour, which will create 1,850 new jobs in the region, in a new round of regional services funding announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones. Ōpōtiki's harbour is currently unusable by most ships, but it will receive ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First Law and Order spokesman Darroch Ball has submitted the ‘Sentencing (Priority of Interests in Sentencing) Amendment Bill’ – a Members Bill which introduces a new overarching ‘priority and weighting provision’ that courts must follow when sentencing ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
It’s my pleasure to be in Sydney today for our annual meeting, Prime Minister. It’s fair to say that since we last met, tragedy and disaster have befallen our two countries. They say that in moments of that nature, the true character of an individual comes to the fore. I ...
Travel restrictions introduced for Iran from today No exemptions for students from China to enter the country Increased health staff presence at international airports The Government has announced a suite of new actions as it steps up its response to the rapidly changing global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Waikato and South Auckland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support for farmers and growers. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on ...
The Crown accounts are in a strong position to weather any economic uncertainty as a result of coronavirus, with the books in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the seven months to January. The operating balance before ...
Supporting New Zealand to make most of digital and data driven technologies will be the focus of a new Digital Council that begins its work today. Minister for Government Digital Services, Kris Faafoi, and Minister of Statistics, James Shaw, have confirmed the group of experts chosen to advise the Government ...
Safety and climate change resilience are behind South Island regional roading projects that are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I’m pleased to ...
Digital and air connectivity in Fiordland are getting a big boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced in January, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities, to be administered by the Provincial Development Unit. “I’m pleased ...
West Coast ports and roads will benefit from an investment of $18.6 million to improve safety and resilience and enable future economic growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced last month allocated $300 million for regional investment opportunities, to be administered ...
Regional roading projects that will improve safety and resilience are being brought forward as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. As part of the NZ Upgrade, $300 million was allocated for regional investment opportunities. “I spend a lot of time in ...
The Eastern Bay of Plenty will finally get the harbour development it has wanted for decades, thanks to a $79.4 million central Government investment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. This game-changing project will revitalise the township of Ōpōtiki and the wider Eastern Bay of Plenty, creating hundreds ...
Regional New Zealand will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare for climate change and help grow our economy. As part of the $12 billion NZ Upgrade Programme announced by the Government last ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Conservation efforts in Coromandel and Hauraki are getting a much needed helping hand thanks to DOC’s Community Conservation Fund, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage in the Kauaeranga Valley today. “Our natural environment is important to New Zealanders, and everyone has a role to play in protecting it. We need ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
Simon Shepherd: He's the Minister with a lot of money. Not only does he oversee the three billion dollar Provincial Growth Fund, Shane Jones is in charge of even more billions in infrastructure spend. But he's also the target of a Greenpeace campaign ...
Ahead of tomorrow's Children's Day, NZEI Te Riu Roa President Liam Rutherford is urging the Government to take action to address the crisis in early childhood education. "We share the Government's aspiration for Aotearoa to be the best place in the ...
By RSF in London During the first week of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s US extradition hearing in London, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) was concerned by the clear lack of evidence from the US for its charges against Assange. RSF also remains concerned about Assange’s wellbeing and inability to participate ...
The National Party will be reminded of its dirty rivers record at their “BlueGreens” conference in Nelson today by local water campaigners who will be holding a peaceful demonstration outside. ...
The On the Rag team assemble to dissect the previous month in news, media and feminism. It’s somehow the end of February so we’re here to look back at the month in Women’s Stuff. Uniform shorts are sending young women into counselling sessions at a a local high school, but why? ...
Firearms in New Zealand: Where to from here? Chris Cahill, NZ Police Association President This time next week, all going well, Parliament will have passed the Arms Legislation Bill as the second tranche of firearms reforms designed to make all New ...
From the tip of Farewell Spit to the very arse end of Stewart Island, there is one delicacy that unites Te Wai Pounamu: the humble green onion chip. But why? Alice Neville embarks on a quest for the true story behind this regional snacking quirk.I have many fond childhood memories ...
A surge of Māori internet memes have appeared on Instagram in the past year tackling topics from land theft to a shared love of fry bread.They’ve been around since the dawn of the internet, but in the last few years memes have become intrinsic to popular culture. They’ve also become ...
Visiting the Audio Foundation and the Michael Lett Gallery, both just off Auckland’s K’ Road, Tulia Thompson finds herself considering the galaxy and what it means to be human. You have to imagine you are viewing these on a stifling hot February afternoon. There is a cacophony of men and machines, ...
"If it wasn’t for the blood stains on his jeans and the road they could pretend it hadn’t happened": a children's birthday in Wellington is the setting for a short story by Rebecca Styles. “Oh, Jesus,” says Tom as he tears off down the driveway. Suzie runs after him — ...
Silver Ferns centurion Casey Kopua stars in the second episode of Pure As, a mini documentary series on the Silver Ferns' personal journeys to World Cup glory. The moment Casey Kopua returned to the Silver Ferns after two years in retirement, she had to seriously ask herself if she'd done the right ...
I had planned to write an unabashed rave review, and then another book landed in my letterbox – and I just couldn’t read those stories in isolation from my own experience, writes Spinoff books editor Catherine Woulfe.I want to write about two books that I’ve just read, and then I ...
Less than half of New Zealand adults have a will. One hundred per cent of New Zealand adults die. Sam Brooks writes on why you need a will.Before you read any further, ask yourself this one question:If I dropped dead right now, reading this piece, would my loved ones know ...
Yesterday New Zealand confirmed the first known case of Covid-19 in the country. As the virus approaches global pandemic status, what progress is being made in developing a vaccine? Siouxsie Wiles explains where we’re at, and how the vaccines work.The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is under way, ...
By RNZ News Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed today that a suspected case of Covid-19 coronavirus has tested positive in New Zealand. Ardern said the person was in their 60s, and was a citizen of New Zealand who had recently travelled from Iran via Bali. The person had previously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Happy February 29! It doesn’t come round very often, so make sure you enjoy it. But why do we have these extra days? Well, if we didn’t, the seasons would gradually move around the ...
New Zealand Pompe Network Allyson Lock, MNZM An open letter to New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern “Know us by our deeds”. This was the headline next to your picture on the cover of Time Magazine, for all the world to see. I saw it. I’m ...
Analysis: The government faces economic strife and uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread, four men charged in National's donations case plead not guilty, and more revelations about NZ First's "slush fund". ...
New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 has just been confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.What’s the latest?Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand’s first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. New Zealand is the 48th country to have a confirmed case of the virus. What do we know about the patient?The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University Review: Leviathan, directed by Yaron Lifschitz. Circa in collaboration with Co:3 Australia, MAXIMA Circus and CircusWA for Perth Festival. As the audience takes their seats, two feet poke out from beneath the curtain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Bailey, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland If you’re hot and sticky even before your daily commute, you might ask why you sweat so much. Sweating is usually the body’s way of stopping you overheating. But for some people, sweating becomes ...
At a tense press conference in Sydney, the New Zealand prime minister has just issued a stark challenge to Australia over its treatment of NZ citizens. Here’s what she said. We appreciate that many Kiwis have taken up the opportunity to live and work in Australia – many more than has ...
New Zealand has widened, not narrowed, its coronavirus travel ban despite universities pleading for an exemption for international students The Government has extended its coronavirus-related travel restrictions to include Iran, while resisting calls from universities to provide an exemption for international students from China. Health officials will also monitor an ...
The Serious Fraud Office has today received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Phil Goff’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
The series, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. As all right thinking people know, there are a mere 204 days until the general election. To get in the mood, we’re launching a new series of live events. And not ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $20)What are you even up to, Auckland.2 Eleanor ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson insists NZ is in a strong position to weather the fallout from coronavirus, even though Australia has declared it a pandemic. He underlines the Crown accounts are buoyant, the fundamentals of the economy are strong and careful management has seen the economy continue to grow in ...
On the heels of the arrival of The Outsider on NEON, Jean Sergent explores how screen adaptations of Stephen King’s work are able to take on a life of their own. Stephen King, the 72 year old horror author from Portland, has a better work ethic than you or I and ...
Iwi are too reliant on investments in property and primary industries, restricting returns for their members, according to a new report. The annual Iwi Investment Report by consulting firm TDB Advisory, showed the country's eight largest iwi with a collective $9 billion worth of assets, had weak growth in the ...
Announcing a package of regional capital projects worth about $190 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones mentioned climate change. He said Regional New Zealand “will be a hive of activity in the coming months as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme delivers on its promise to modernise our infrastructure, prepare ...
The people of India have been holding mass protests all over India ever since the anti Muslim and anti working class Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted into law on 12 December 2019. The state has made many attempts to suppress the rising ...
New Zealand consumer confidence remains high, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index. The index was down just one point on last month to 122. "Consumers are feeling pretty happy with their lot at the moment - the lifting housing market is making homeowners feel richer, job opportunities are ...
Jacinda Ardern has described difficult conversations with Australia as being "gnarly'' - but says the trans-Tasman relationship is strong enough to get through them. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Transparency International warns need for political funding reform is urgent Gordon Campbell: On where the ...
Continued strong demand for chicken, burgers and tacos has resulted in another strong year for Restaurant Brands. The fast food operator's net profit for the year ended December fell nearly 16 percent to $30.1m, but that was for a 44-week period, versus the year earlier's 52-week period. That company changed ...
The New Zealand share market opened lower on Friday, following a sixth day of world market losses as investors respond to the economic threat of coronavirus. The NZX benchmark top 50 index opened down 1.5 percent, after last night's 0.9 percent fall. The benchmark top 50 Index has fallen more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maggie Tonkin, Senior Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, University of Adelaide Review: Dance Nation, directed by Imara Savage. State Theatre Company South Australia and Belvoir for the Adelaide Festival Dance is at the heart of playwright Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, from the ...
The Government’s response to new revelations that one of the country’s biggest fishing companies, Talley’s, and its managing director has donated tens of thousands of undisclosed dollars to the New Zealand First Foundation is unacceptable. “The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan talks with Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher about the week in politics, including the implementation of an emergency plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the major parties’ policies on climate change, national security ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University On Churchill Island, southeast of Melbourne, small cone-shaped, shallow holes (digs) puncture the grass. They’re widespread, and reveal moist soil below ...
The University of Auckland's Tim Dare examines what SkyCity's 'de-platforming' of controversial speaker Peter Singer might mean for free speech In work first appearing in the late 1970s, Princeton Philosophy Professor Peter Singer argued that in a limited range of circumstances parents ought to be able to ask doctors to end ...
By Stefan Armbruster of SBS News in Brisbane Thousands of New Zealanders who are denied disability support are hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take the issue up with her counterpart Scott Morrison when they meet today. Despite paying taxes and the NDIS levy, New Zealanders who have come ...
The Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and her Australian counterpart have met in Sydney and formally agreed to share ideas on how to better support each country's indegineous people ...
Apparently you have a vacancy on your programme after Kanoa Lloyd decided she didn’t “need to see a homophobic Pasodoble or a xenophobic Cha Cha.” Now, we have to admit we don’t know what a Pasodoble is. But we do know xenophobia when we see ...
Public services are increasingly migrating to the internet, but as the government prioritises digital interaction many of the people who need those services the most are left behind, according to a new report. Pita, an elderly gentleman, received a letter from the IRD that claimed he hadn’t paid his tax obligations ...
By Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has dismissed comments by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that “politics” is behind the filing of a proposed concurrent resolution calling on regulators to temporarily allow television giant ABS-CBN to operate as Congress deliberates on its ...
The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral from NZ Police in relation to Lianne Dalziel’s election expenses. The SFO will be assessing the matter and has no further comment at this time. ...
Employers are encouraged to sign up for Road Safety Week 2020 (4-10 May), and join hundreds of communities, schools and organisations running activities to raise awareness of road safety issues. Brake, the road safety charity, which coordinates the event, ...
A poem by US National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson.i woke up and the day caught me in its mouth like a strand of yarni am usefulthe motivation for a scarf, maybe some stitch started to be finishedi will make up someone’sheat i will be a fireso intricate it can be worn i ...
The euthanasia debate took an unusual turn this week when Vision NZ, the political party associated with the Destiny Church, made an unexpected policy announcement. It appeared that Vision NZ supported voluntary euthanasia, but just for one person, co-host of TV3’s The Project, Kanoa Lloyd. The now former campaign manager ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the findings of an inquiry into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury. The inquiry, led by Ms Jenn Bestwick, was launched by the Commission at the request of the Treasury ...
A scathing report into the accidental release of sensitive Budget 2019 information by the Treasury has found poor procurement processes and governance failures by senior leadership were to blame for security flaws in its website not being identified earlier The inquiry into the accidental release of Budget 2019 information prior ...
The Port of Tauranga's first half result is flat, despite a drop in cargo handled through the country's biggest port. The port company's net profit dropped 1.4 percent to $48.3 million in the six months to December, but was otherwise flat after accounting for a tax adjustment of $0.6m. Revenue ...
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Open mike 31/07/2019 
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Trotter hallucinates revolting natives: "It is always dangerous to remind the colonisers of the world they have extinguished. To offer them a glimpse of that world is more perilous still. It proves that the culture they conquered and left for dead can be brought back to life. Ihumatao has smouldered for 156 years. The effect of the mass occupation of the past week has gifted it a sudden inrush of oxygen. Now there are flames amongst the fern."
Why? Not enough racism in the media yet, apparently. "Those flames glitter in the narrowed eyes of the watchers. From the ill-educated and ill-disciplined the responses are already forthcoming. Angry posts on Facebook and Twitter, filled with the raw racism of those for whom the possession of a white skin constitutes their sole claim to superiority. Reading these, it is difficult to decide who they hate the most: Maori, or the Pakeha who support them?" http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/07/ihumatao-watched-by-unfriendly-eyes.html
Best way to fan the flames of hostility is to play the racism card, particularly when it has already been over-played. Yeah, I know it makes no sense, I'm just illuminating the thought processes that drive his florid prose. Can't have a media career unless you beat up controversy…
one for the flesh-eaters to chew over…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/30/dairy-scary-public-farming-calves-pens-alternatives
with the rise of (indistinguishable from the 'real thing') meats and cheeses – the reasons to eat for flavor/texture etc. will be soon long gone..
and those who will still insist on 'the real thing' will just be insisting on a subtext/sauce of wholesale cruelty to animals/destruction of the environment..with their food..
when the issue is boiled down to just that – the 'real thing' will become less and less palatable to many/most..
this is when we will see the sea-change from animal/cruelty-based foods – to the healthier/better for the planet – plant-based foods..
Will we have the decency not to allow the animals we have farmed not to go extinct or will we toss them aside and breed more humans to fill the spaces they leave.
i think there is little chance of that happening – on the other hand there are all the species that are being/have been made extinct – by the farming of animals/growing of soy etc. to feed them…
Phew, good job we're not getting our milk from Britain, eh?
heh..!..that's all you've got there..?..p.m..?
and will they be tearing the (animal)-flesh from yer dead/cold hands…..heh..!
They'd certainly have to pry the fancy cheese from my cold, dead hands! Take away camembert, blue brie, feta, parmigiano, maasdam etc and only alcohol, sex and chocolate are left.
you clearly need to go to a vegan-cheese tasting – p.m – 'cos (as i noted) there are now plant-based versions indistinguishable from the real thing..
so you can still have yr camambert/blue-brie etc..tastes/textures you so love..
without the soupcon of animal-suffering/environmental damage..?..eh..?
what's wrong with that picture..?
Periodically some fucking hippie manages to persuade me to try some hyper-expensive dross that is "indistinguishable from the real thing". always bollocks.
The closest they've managed so far is "indistinguishable from a particularly shite and cheap attempt to sell something as the real thing".
If it was indistinguishable, it would drive the "real thing" into a niche market.
We were told these frankemeats were going to replace the good stuff four or five years ago. It just didn't happen.
As soon as they're broadly equivalent in price and quality, they'll start taking over.
Until then, phil's fooling only himself.
It will certainly have to get close to the taste and texture, regardless of how cheap it becomes. At the moment it's a fail on all counts.
My kid turned veggonaut, and the other day I got ripped for nine bucks for three hundred grams of quorn mince. I made a meal and it was effing gross. Ended up binning mine. Thought I couldn't go wrong with a fake sausage. I was wrong. No matter how much sauce I put on my pretend banger it just tasted wrong.
poor bugger.
i agree that the first attempts were pretty vile – i don't eat them – but the next generation is something different..
but once again – i won't be eating them – i haven't eaten animal flesh for over 30 yrs..
it is not a taste/texture sensation i want..
too much like the real thing – for my tastes..
they are like methadone for flesh-eaters/addicts..
they'll help ya..!
lol so when you say stuff is indistinguishable from the real thing, you mean indistinguishable from your 30y.o. recollection of what the real thing once tasted like.
Explains a lot.
Funny how vegans so often come across as delusional.
Must be a lack of protein.
I reckon lol
Recently been eating a lot of self caught, free range rabbit, though, so a good casserole and hearty pie later, the only sour taste left became a bitter afterthought.
nah..i am going on the blind taste-tests done @ fiekd days in hamilton..where tasters couldn't tell the difference – with many preferring the plant-based..
i am going on the burger chains in u.s. being early adopters – and the punters loving them..
i am going on the factories for both the leading brands being unable to keep up with orders..
i am going on the first of those companies to float on u.s. stockmarket – and being heavily over-subscribed..
i am not going on my 30+ yrs memories..
and hey..!..while you weren't watching/paying attention – most breads in supermarkets have gone vegan…
i used to be only able to buy one or two – now i can buy most..
betcha didn't know all that…eh..?
best you put down that slice of bread – and step well back..eh..?
Unless it's 50/50, they could tell the difference.
Bread is a good example of a cost-effective substitute "indistinguishable from the real thing". Margarine vs butter is another. But milk is still milk, and the meat aisles are still meat aisles (except for sausages, which are anything from "meat and random herbs" to "meat but mostly sawdust, and you don't want to know which bits of animals constitute the meat").
If 'fermented curd' were gone, then such gems as the Cheese Shop skit from Monty Python would have no meaning.
heh..!
but seriously there – p.m…i continue to be surprised by how many people who self-regard as progressive – are so reactionary on this issue…
especially in light of the indeniable health/environment issues from the farming/eating of animals – (need i remind you of the bowel-cancer equation?..that nz has worlds' highest rates of bowel-cancer + world-beating rates of consumption of animal-flesh/bye-products + red-meat/bacon being proven cause of bowel-cancer..
how much more information do you need…..to drive any change in yr dietary practices..?
and of course this reactionary attitude from many progressives has echoes in the abolition of human slavery (in the west)..
many progressives/suffragettes from that era are on the record as being emphatic on the inferiority of the darker races..of being totally reactionary on the question of race..
and so it is now on the question of animal-slavery/eatimg..eh..?
Philip Ure I suspect that the truly ethical position on meat-eating is to eat ourselves, no other animal to be hurt in this process.
As we have been making a living from feeding and growing animals for so long – it is hard to make the change to plant-first-and-only diets. But as you say our bowel cancer is high on the charts in a bad way, less meat is better.
Why not put up a couple of recipes for your favourite flavoured meals on Sunday's How to Get There – but please don't swamp us with your sales pitch – you can get carried away. Antagonism and stress is bad for the digestion of any food, keep it simple and sweet will you.
how have i been in the slightest way 'antagonistic'..?
(perhaps you are discomfited by these uncomfortable truths..?..'tis different..eh..?..)
and 'swamping you with a sales pitch'..?
really..?
i am arguing a fundamental moral/environmental-issue of our times..hardly a 'sales-pitch'…
and one that doesn't get a huge hearing in this forum..eh..?
so..hardly 'swamped'…
and you are presenting the same economic arguments that were presented to defend the continuation of human slavery..
ie: 'we've been doing it for so long..'..'we make a living from it'..
those arguments didn't stand then..and don't stand here/now..
Oh forget I ever said anything PU. I am sick of people who can't think anything through and just react to life and everything that is said to them with their favourite obsession or interest blocking their vision. I will take no further interest in you or anything you say.
I agree greywarshark. This debate driven by Philip Ure has already happened some years ago when I had only just discovered the benefits of reading TS.
To be honest, I do not look forward to a repeat of that long and turgid debate, in which I seem to remember James making rather a pig of himself by over-indulgence in barbeques.
Yes we seemed to get down in the mosh pit when we want to keep on the stage demonstrating what great debaters we are.
you will always lose this particular debate – 'cos no matter how much the bluster..
the plant-based foods/arguments have science and history on their side..
animal-extraction industries are sunset industries…
well yes – i have been making these arguments for some 20 yrs..unsure how that invalidates them..
and the truth/facts of the matter are just that..indisputable..
and isn't it all going rather well..?
especially compared with 20 yrs ago.
you can't go anywhere these days – without falling over a vegan..
Don't get me started, Phil! Already blathered on about it at length yesterday and again today on threads about National's cancer announcement.
Interesting technical point here from NRT: http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-referendum-bill.html
The coalition has set the terms for the two referenda at the next election, but with a sunset clause. NRT questions the wisdom of the clause. Winston was once real big on citizens-initiated referenda, so I'm surprised he has endorsed the sunset strategy.
Could it be that realpolitik has prevailed over populism in his mind? Those who object to people power usually cite the madness of crowds (just as likely as wisdom). I wonder if he has had a conversion experience.
What a joke – and not funny at all. How long are we going to put up with this bullshit?
Pathetic. What a rig-up against the planet – there are more possibilities of oil spill than from deck drains. And the fact that climate change is happening but must not be acknowledged though it is a scientific fact – can't be accepted by people who draw on their own preferred facts to make their case for doing business. Let's settle this with a duel you could say instead of having an expensive legal hearing with counsel being paid in mega-dollars. Come outside the two protagonists could say, choose your weapons, and let's see who has the best facts.
On the brightside the consensus forecasts suggest a significant deepening (strictly negative) of the antarctic oscillation and increased probability of significant southerly regimes for the next couple of weeks.
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/daily_ao_index/aao/new.aao_index_ensm.html
Interesting graphs Poission. I think I saw that the temp will not stay at -4 for long but will likely be below freezing for the 14-day period with this oscillation which will please the ski fields hearts mightily.
I hope they have been able to get their staff okay. They were saying that new measures the Immigration Impairment have introduced meant that what used to be straightforward and timely had extra time-consuming layers. That made it difficult for the special people required to get their paperwork, and their travel etc. arrangements done. They could miss the snow completely the way it worked (not). I think it is so wrong to allow individuals to get on top of a heap that they fashion into a shape of their own design.
This is intersting and good to hear. Good on them. We all can do something – besides writing here, which is useful itself because we need to have discussion and thinking about our country and its problems and what sort of road blocks we need against continuing bad systems and what we need to remove.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018706229/raglan-s-waste-free-goal
This was a new direction that will help in managing down plastic use.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018706549/are-bio-plastics-the-answer
Intelligent regulation and standard setting assisting the building trade.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018706547/calls-for-national-register-for-building-materials
News this morning. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/114611592/biometric-data-can-be-a-useful-tool-for-employers-but-what-about-your-privacy by Employment Lawyer Peter Cullen 31/7/2019
OPINION: Your fingerprint is uniquely your own, tied to your identity for your entire life. It is for this very reason that technology is advancing the usefulness of biometric data like fingerprints, making it much harder for people to keep their identity and history private.
These technological advances are everywhere – from DNA technology allowing police to solve cold cases to everyday people unlocking their phone with a scan of their face…
Take the recent Australian Fair Work Commission decision involving Queensland sawmill worker Jeremy Lee and his employer, Superior Wood.
Lee refused to give his fingerprints to his employer as part of a new work sign-in system. After a period of some months involving discussions and then warnings, Lee was sacked for his persistent refusals.
Lee wasn’t just thinking about privacy, he declared: “It’s my biometric data. It’s not appropriate for them to have it”.
(Question: Why should an employer have the right to take samples of your body, readings of your functions, skin details? Are we things bought and sold, like animals at a saleyard, teeth, eyes, hooves checked? Isn’t this just the same – an invasion of our individual rights becoming normalised?)
Overseas: https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1892471/rise-face-and-fingerprint-recognition-technology-just-how
Face recognition technology to help “tag” friends in photographs, fingerprint recognition to unlock smartphones, and fingerprint door locks are just some of the ways in which biometric data has been used in recent years. In Asia, developments include palm vein authentication technology for payments and mobile terminals, or “biocarts” that take photos and fingerprints of passengers for immigration processing in Japan; fingerprint authentication for ATMs in Vietnam; and facial recognition technology
. Is this the end of long passwords and complex authentication systems?
Overseas – Australia: https://www.biometricupdate.com/201907/australian-intelligence-community-seeks-new-biometric-access-control-system Australia National Intelligence Community (NIC) has issued a tender for a new common access card system, preferably featuring biometric identity verification, to control access to buildings of all 10 of the country’s security and intelligence agencies, which make up the group, reports
Interestingly enough the placement of a persons ears are up there with fingerprints for identifying people.
https://www.wired.com/2010/11/ears-biometric-identification/
A method to the madness?
HONG KONG — The police officers wrestled with Colin Cheung in an unmarked car. They needed his face.
They grabbed his jaw to force his head in front of his iPhone. They slapped his face. They shouted, “Wake up!” They pried open his eyes. It all failed: Mr. Cheung had disabled his phone’s facial-recognition login with a quick button mash as soon as they grabbed him.
As Hong Kong convulses amid weeks of protests, demonstrators and the police have turned identity into a weapon. The authorities are tracking protest leaders online and seeking their phones. Many protesters now cover their faces, and they fear that the police are using cameras and possibly other tools to single out targets for arrest.
http://archive.li/uQZx3
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/technology/hong-kong-protests-facial-recognition-surveillance.html
Good to check what's been happening down there imo
I think that the Mayor felt that urgent attention was needed and did the commonsense thing with the stopbank. But then probably that is normal behaviour for that area, a hearty, quick decision-making of we'll fix that -without proper planning which looked at the bigger issues, and long-term needs and what the latest 'best practice' is, if only to decide to ignore it – it not always being reasonable and cost-efficient.
Now that's excellent news.
Wonder if maureen pugh wishes to comment? Probably not she was busy sending out a presser to local news outlets yesterday announcing that she had a cake to celebrate 3 yrs in parliament. True story.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/395585/australia-looks-to-further-tighten-visa-requirements
Anger over the deportation of New Zealand citizens from Australia is likely to intensify, with Canberra set to introduce even tighter visa requirements.
Nice work, Jacinda. Heckuva job.
Did she call Peda Duddin a fuckknuckle again shggy?
Lecturing a bunch of Bible-thumping white racists that their immigration policies are shitty has backfired in spectacular fashion, and Kiwis will pay the price.
The poor Ockers aren't a happy bunch right now shaggy, their economy is going off the cliff and that bunch of muppets across the Tasman are steaming ahead. Their dollar has fallen from it's customary level of over NZ$1.20 to only just buying one NZ$ (today's cash rate) And I can't see it changing any time soon.
What does this have to do with either country's economy?
it allows them to export their unemployment stats
Good point, Pat. Back in the late 80s we invented lots of dodgy private tertiary institutes so that our young unemployed would become students gaining worthless qualifications, instead of featuring in unemployment stats.
Didn't work, because a few years later they still had no jobs.
Australia gets rid of the actual person – much more efficient.
What better system have you got shag?
Don't know if I'd vote New Conservative (unless Jude became leader then obviously I would) but this is better then what Labour have done, its more thought out, fairer and will actually address some of the issues
New Conservative party
New Conservative takes constructive feedback on our policies very seriously. Here is our latest on Firearms:
FIREARMS POLICY
[Deleted and replaced with one simple link; https://www.newconservative.org.nz/firearms-policy ]
Lots of stuff to unpack there, even if they weren't a bunch of fucking numpties.
Still, better without the poetry.
edit: what about tourist hunters?
mandatory minimums, wtf?
Do they want the chchfuck’s live stream uncensored? Why? And that’s not a govt issue, that’s the censor’s office. Like any court suppression issues. Or do they want all the fiveeyes stuff made public too?
Seriously, what are they on?
I guess Republicans have been right all along, they are the party of Reagan.
The day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States. “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said. “Yeah,” Nixon interjected. Reagan forged ahead with his complaint: “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Nixon gave a huge laugh.
[…]
The past month has brought presidential racism back into the headlines. This October 1971 exchange between current and future presidents is a reminder that other presidents have subscribed to the racist belief that Africans or African Americans are somehow inferior. The most novel aspect of President Donald Trump’s racist gibes isn’t that he said them, but that he said them in public.
The exchange was taped by Nixon, and then later became the responsibility of the Nixon Presidential Library, which I directed from 2007 to 2011. When the National Archives originally released the tape of this conversation, in 2000, the racist portion was apparently withheld to protect Reagan’s privacy. A court order stipulated that the tapes be reviewed chronologically; the chronological review was completed in 2013. Not until 2017 or 2018 did the National Archives begin a general rereview of the earliest Nixon tapes. Reagan’s death, in 2004, eliminated the privacy concerns. Last year, as a researcher, I requested that the conversations involving Ronald Reagan be rereviewed, and two weeks ago, the National Archives released complete versions of the October 1971 conversations involving Reagan online.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/ronald-reagans-racist-conversation-richard-nixon/595102/
Well, they do now admit that Reagan had dementia. Does Trump by any chance have anything in common with Reagan?
If you know anyone with ME/CFS/Tapanui 'Flu that is being put through CBT and graduated exercise PLEASE send them and most importantly their doctor to the link below. There are many inside the DHBs who are wasting health $ abusing clients with these treatments on the basis of this PACE study – It’s not even science 🙁
Weird shit happening at our Universities:
AUT scraps Tiananmen Square event
Female activist knocked to the ground as Hong Kong/China tensions spill over at University of Auckland
Beijing supporters plan anti-Hong Kong protest at Auckland Uni