I don’t listen to Newstalk ZB for the same reason that I don’t walk barefoot across a lego-strewn lounge floor in the dark.
So says James Elliott on Newsroom. A scathing review of the "I reckons" of Kate, Mike, Heather and Kerre. Such a good example of the depths some parts of the media sink to.
Hosking's record is littered with such as, “This is why Gladys shines. She’s aspirational, she doesn’t panic, New South Wales doesn’t lock down at the drop of a hat or a single case.” Elliot has it as "red-carded by reality."
The red card should go to whomever or whatever created the situation where masses have someone who has repeatedly spoken such drivel and made ludicrous lightweight pronouncements and judgements as some sort of guru.
(How many hats have been dropped in NSW in thne past year?)
newsdork and granny seem to have the same bunch of crappy "I reckon"s on tap.perhaps its time to be honest and stop calling these shills, journalists, and if granny and newsdork were serious about being in the news game, give equal time to other political shills from other parties.
Some of the incoherent, contradictory comments by Mike Hosking and many of his colleagues re COVID-19, Jacinda Ardern and the Government, are occasionally broadcast on RNZ's Mediawatch. It's very interesting to listen to the objective analysis by Mediawatch presenters. See RNZ's website for Mediawatch on 02.04.20 for a typical Hosking commentary, with several programmes since then also highlighting the lack of professionalism and integrity displayed by these broadcasters. Evidently this behaviour stems from their deep-seated resentment of the Government's highly effective COVID-19 management and Jacinda Ardern's popularity. Two Newstalk ZB hosts who state fact, give opinion as opinion, and are therefore worth listening to, are Tim Roxborogh and Marcus Lush.
After an All Black allegedly slapped and punched a woman in the face in a Dunedin bar he sent threatening messages to a third party saying "f… you b…. tell your friend to hide".
The woman’s mother told the Otago Daily Times last night the family was frustrated 27-year-old Highlanders loose forward Shannon Frizell had “walked away with nothing more than a slap on the hand”.
“Her trauma has been disregarded and his full actions have been dismissed,” the mother said.
“The man put fear into my girl and that’s been the worse thing to see.”
The alleged assault left the victim with a split lip and a broken tooth.
For the document to be provided would be "singling Mr Frizell out", Stevens said, "discriminating against him because he is a high-profile member of the community as an All Black".
The application is awaiting determination by a judge.
Despite a potential lack of criminal consequences, Frizell has already been disciplined by New Zealand Rugby.
After a misconduct hearing this week he was stood down for two matches.
The first was served when he missed the Highlanders' clash against the Reds shortly after the incident.
The second enforced absence will be more significant – the All Blacks' first Bledisloe Cup test in Auckland on August 7.
Just another reason not to watch the All Blacks.
Hm, I wonder if we could get violence against women into hte Hate Crime bill? but then if that happened, whom would these boys take their issues out on? Men?
Where would the fucker be if he worked as a low paid labourer and how long would he be 'inside' if he wore a gang patch. Diversion should never be an option for perpetrators of one of the most despicable sorts of offending against the person that the country faces, despite the resourcing expended to change entrenched attitudes.
Thought people would be happy that a Tongan got diversion. Maybe he stops being Tongan because he is an All Black.
This approach is so much better than being sent to jail. We have enough people in jail.
"It is targeted at reparation for the victim and rehabilitation for you. Your rehabilitation conditions might include things like going to an alcohol and drug programme or a violence-prevention course."
the dude bashed a women in the face, breaking a tooth and causing a split in her lip. Her mother stated that 'he put fear in her daughter'.
I am so very pleased that all you care about is that he got diversion as a tongan.
No he got diversion because he is a body that plays rugby, and it is not the first time that a body that plays rugby and wear the all black jersey bashes/assaults/sexually assaults a women and and a two game suspension should teach him? right?
Seriously, the fucker should have been given a prison term. But then so as long as he just bashes a women its ok? right? Cause bashing women is as Kiwi as is the All Black jersey. It goes hand in hand.
As for his ethnicity, the fucker is a women basher. That is all he is.
Maybe they should have sentenced the All Black jersey wearing women beater to pay a few hundred hours of therapy for her.
But nah, diversion and a two weeks suspension.
Fuck the all blacks. Fuck them. All of them.
Just think, if you'd written "Fuck the Tongans. Fuck them. All of them", most people would have pounced, posting how you were crassly mass generalising to the point of wankery.
Good job all the non woman beating rugby meatheads don't know how to use the internet. 😉
I've played a lot of sports and there has been a few violent thugs in all of them. It's not exclusive to rugby and nor is diversion exclusive to rugby players. I've done things other than sports and there has been violent thugs there as well.
Violence is endemic in New Zealand – always has been. Violence is a learned behaviour and in most cases can be unlearned – although it takes a bit of effort. It is a better option than jail.
One of the unattractive things about this site (well a certain cohort of people on this site) is the rabid like behaviour that emerges whenever rugby crops up. There are plenty of people who clearly have an issue with rugby. Whether it is a result bad experiences with rugby, drinking and violence, whether it is a legacy of the Springbok tour or whether you just prefer soccer was our national sport doesn't really matter to me.
The vast majority of rugby players are not violent and are lovely people who happen to like a particular game.
"I am so very pleased that all you care about is that he got diversion as a tongan."
Don't put words in my mouth I didn't say particularly when anyone who has followed my posts over the years would know I'm both anti-war and anti-violence. I'm also anti-imprisoning lots of the population and pro-rehabilitation.
I and other family members have also had a lot of experience as victims of violence.
At age 7 or 8 I came across W H Auden's September 1 1939 poem. This has always stuck with me. Experience tells me it is true in most cases. We need to learn to not do evil.
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
You dog-whistle, double down with a false eqivalence and then come up with tripe like this:
"Violence is endemic in New Zealand – always has been. Violence is a learned behaviour and in most cases can be unlearned – although it takes a bit of effort. It is a better option than jail."
Your words imply that not only is violence common in NZ, its inherent and a slow and steady approach is all that's required, never mind the victims or the shameful statistics,
The case was adjourned for him to complete police diversion, meaning he will likely escape the May 9 incident without conviction.
This man punched a woman in a public place breaking a tooth, splitting her lip and then wrote threatening messages possibly once again on a public form, social media. A conviction with a sentence of anger management and reparation would be the bare minimum.
The comment by the judge indicating lenience because of his All Black position, raises ire from more than Sabine, mainly because we often hear similar justifications from the judiciary during violence or rape trials and many are tired of pointing out the inequity of this view. My partner and his rugby coaching workmate asking why is he still on the team?
The All Black's code of conduct must be as robust as a wet rag, which clearly inspired Sabine's tirade. And there is no indication from NZ Rugby or the All Blacks that even your minimum "bit of effort" is going to be made to address and change his behaviour so that he is not violent. The two game stand down alone is punitive (and pitiful) not rehabilitative.
"One of the unattractive things about this site (well a certain cohort of people on this site) is the rabid like behaviour that emerges whenever rugby crops up. There are plenty of people who clearly have an issue with rugby. "
I am often surprised by the sensitivity and vulnerability of many men when it comes to male on female violence. So far, its been – think of the Tongans, Maaori , Pacific Islanders, the over incarcerated, the lovely non violent rugby players and spectators. In fact, look anywhere but at a young woman's broken face and mental health and the underwhelming response of his employers and the pattern of leniency shown by the judiciary.
Look, another one for Poet's Corner, by Margaret Atwood:
Purely and simply, this is about undeserved privilege that undermines all the work, time and effort that is being invested in trying to reverse the largely misogynistic violence that pervades our society.
You have sunk very low asserting, "The vast majority of rugby players are not violent and are lovely people who happen to like a particular game." This particular case isn't about a docile follower of a sport, race or any of your other notions. It is about the fact that the perpetrator of the violence is not having to face the legal consequences of his actions.
Many of those who work in the domestic violence field will tell you from experience that after Diversion, the odds are that he will do it again! If, in your opinion, voluntary counselling was appropriate, why didn't he take up the option before violently assaulting the woman. Awareness was supposed to have been raised and maintained for All Blacks since way back!
Nah what's true is most people who are violent experienced violence when young. With only a few exceptions violence doesn't come out of a vacuum. You also need to be careful about when working at the hard end of domestic violence that you only see the failures of things like diversion and counselling and not the successes.
What you implying is that these things are a waste of time. There is a lot of people who move on successfully after this type of intervention. Others have moved on via religion and so on. Imprisonment is in itself a form of violence – our high rates of imprisonment do not do us any favours.
The lock em up mentality has resulted in more violence to people as the recent enquiry shows. Do you not think we can do better than locking people up?
Reducing imprisonment rates, and particularly for Maori and polynesian, is something this government wants to achieve. This was once a liberal approach. Seems the liberals here are really no different from the fascists.
And yeah he is facing the legal consequences of his actions. Diversion is one of those legal consequences – it is just not the one that you favour.
"Your words imply that not only is violence common in NZ"
Yes it is and always has been. Much of it wasn't illegal either until the 70's.
"a slow and steady approach is all that's required"
Nope never said that was all that was required. But it will take generations to resolve.
"never mind the victims"
Nope never said that.
"shameful statistics"
Make your mind up – is it endemic or not. I'm quite certain it is endemic – regular and common and quite often intergenerational.
@dos
I didn't advocate for incarceration, that's a strawman.
But there you go, cherry pick and remove context and don't answer the difficult question about how systematic patterns partly sanction the trivialisation of harm.
"Nope never said that was all that was required. But it will take generations to resolve. "
Maybe not even then given our glacial progress so far.
""never mind the victims"
Nope never said that."
Don't put quotes if you are paraphrasing, and you are right.
You didn't explicitly say that, and neither did I.
I made an inference from the fact you didn't mention her at all in your original comment, which has been reinforced by that same omission in all your comments in this thread so far.
“Make your mind up – is it endemic or not. I’m quite certain it is endemic – regular and common and quite often intergenerational.”
Of course violence is a problem. Our efforts to address it need to be more effective. Appropriate punishments and rehabilitation would be a start. Sports player or not.
Surely there are rugby players waiting for a chance where the All Blacks Code of Conduct forbade this type of conduct.
aom was the one who raised the question of incarceration. It the issue of incarceration vs diversion that I was originally responding to.
Your inference about never mind the victim is very wrong and actually most commentators haven't mentioned the victim. Nearly all the posts are focused on the offender. Does that mean they don't care about the victim either? I fully understand the harm done to victims – I live with it every day and have done for many years. The young woman involved will need lots of help and support and for many the fear never really goes away.
I've been consistent about alternatives to imprisonment for well over 30 years now.
I also hadn't commented on the rugby union stance either. I understood that is just an interim response. I'm not sure what their final decision will be. I have no problem at all if he never plays for the All Blacks again. Other people lose their jobs for being violent.
So, not commenting on the victim, nor replying to me in your reply to me, nor commenting on the rugby union…
Were you just on this thread to promote rugby, reiterate your 30 year stance against overincarceration, tell us violence is a difficult problem, and just to top it off, expose a small modicum of white fragility in your initial comment? If so, well done.
So, not commenting on the victim, nor replying to me in your reply, nor commenting on the rugby union until just now.
Were you just on this thread to promote rugby, reiterate your 30 year stance against overincarceration, tell us violence is a difficult problem, and just to top it off, expose a small modicum of white fragility in your initial comment? If so, well done.
There's certainly some loaded language in that link of yours; Anker. I wonder just how "EXPOSED" the "disgraceful voting" can be when it has indeed been more than "barely touched {by} mainstream media". For example (from a week back):
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said it was the responsibility of elected officials to ensure that publicly owned resources were used to support organisations that didn’t discriminate.
“This is not a matter of academic debate,” Ms Brown said.
“Efforts … to wind back the hard-fought rights of transgender women have very real impacts on lives of trans and gender diverse members of our community, who face severe mental health challenges as the result of the marginalisation and discrimination they experience on a day-to-day basis.”…
In a letter dated 24 July 2020, the City’s Manager of Social Programs and Services, Kirsten Woodward, wrote to the clinic noting the City’s ethics policy does not support “any activities or entities” that “discriminate… on the basis of race, religion or sex in employment, marketing or advertising practices or contribute to the inhibition of human rights generally”.
The clinic was in contravention of this requirement, Ms Woodward wrote, due to its affiliation with the Women’s Sex Based Rights movement, and because of “certain published materials and events” which “promote an agenda which … has the potential for generating discrimination and negative attitudes towards the transgender members of our community”.
The City asked the FLC to remove the offending materials from its website but the clinic refused…
This decision was approved at a City of Sydney Council meeting on June 21 this year.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City stood with the trans community against “all forms of exclusion”.
“Our grants and properties are in high demand and our residents and rate payers expect they be offered to people and organisations who provide community benefit and that don’t conflict with our values,” she said.
…the City’s letter of 16 June 2021 notifying you that FLC has been rated “C” in accordance with the City’s annual review process, due to a failure to satisfactorily meet the general performance criteria in the Licence over the preceding twelve month period. On Monday 28 June 2021, the recommended rating under the Accommodation Grants Program was endorsed by Council.
We now notify you that in accordance with: 1. clause 2.1(e) of the Licence,
the City is reducing FLC’s subsidy to 0% effective 19 August 2021; and 2. clause 2.1(h) of the Licence,
the City is terminating the Licence. The effective date of termination will be 19 AUGUST 2021.
From the evidence, it seems that it was really the FLC who; despite being given multiple chances since last year, chose to bet on being able to stare down the Sydney mayor (which doesn't say much for the quality of their legal advice). They could have toned down the rhetoric and still be operating. Expecting a city to fund those determined to exclude members of that city from social participation seems misguided.
Still, August 19th is the eviction date. I imagine there will be a bit of MSM coverage around then. Hope that the Sydney-side COVID infection rate has dropped if FLC are planning sit-ins or other protest action.
If you are going to post on this topic, then at least have the courtesy to link to source, and provide the original content rather than someone's curated version of it. We should insist of more intellectual integrity in this important matter.
For those who wish to be better informed on this particular topic:
Here is the website for Feminist Legal Clinic. Look around and see whether their discussion of the impact of radical transactivism on womens rights is beyond the pale, rather than an honest assessment.
Read and be informed about what this news item is really about, and ask yourself this question. If a pro-bono Feminist Legal Clinic cannot make a submission to government regarding proposed law changes that look like they will impact on those that access their services without having their funding or grant criteria impacted on, – where is the space left for this type of gender critical thinking to be expressed?
This is exactly the same as the Chinese Cultural revolution and the Salem witch trials , nuttiness through and through , punishment for "wrong think" and dissenting the new orthodoxy.An orthodoxy built on ignorance,hubristic academia,illogical magical thinking.
It's got to the point where lesbians are being trashed and called transphobic for not fancying transwomen
The pro bono legal service provides critical help to some of the city’s most disadvantaged women, many of whom are victims of abuse, poor, disabled, Indigenous, lesbian, Muslim and from other marginalised groups, who require woman-centred support.
This decision (to revoke the Sydney Feminist Legal Clinic’s grant and terminate its tenancy) is regrettable, and seems odd. Given that trans men (biological females) are on the receiving end of considerable violence, sexism and discrimination, e.g. in health, accommodation and employment, surely it would have been simple enough for the FLC to point to the trans men (females) that they have helped?
Imho it should be possible for feminist-based clinics to at least partially immunise themselves against these woke attacks by making it clear that their services are available to trans men (females). It doesn't matter if the number of trans men who avail themselves of these services is small – it's the principle that counts.
My confusion at this moment is about whether there is any overlap between "women and girls" and 'transgender people', or whether (in the minds of SUFW supporters) one simply can't be considered a woman if one is trans, i.e. trans women certainly aren't women (because they're biological men), and neither are trans men (because, despite being female, they identify as men) – i.e. it's (obviously) possible to be trans or cis and be female/male, but it's impossible to be trans and a woman/man; those terms are reserved for cisgender ('normal') people. Have I got that right?
Can transgender people even be feminists – how would that work? Too weird!
If Trans women need legal support and I am sure they do, why didn't the Sydney Council assist them to set up their own legal service?
This shutting down of the legal centre is not about asssisting transwomen get the help they need, which of course is a good idea. Its about shutting down and controlling women.
I am glad the women in this legal clinic stuck to their guns.
This is just around the corner for NZ.
Again where are all the progressive liberal men who have claimed to care about womens rights over the years. With a few exceptions on this site, the silence is deafening.
I rarely come across GCF who believe that transmen aren't women and should be excluded from women's space/services/rights. So I don't think you've got that right there.
As for placating gender rights activists by FLC saying that they provide services to trans men i.e. women, this would be considered highly transphobic (TMAM). And, the implication is that TA aren't W, so doubly transphobic. Everyone is pressured to adopt this belief system and if you don't, your funding will be cut/you will be cancelled irrespective of the good you do.
My confusion at this moment is about whether there is any overlap between "women and girls" and 'transgender people'
If you watch new reporting you will see that many times MSM uses 'transgender' when they actually mean 'transwoman'. Alot of gender vs sex sports coverage does that. I'm not sure if it's because reporters/editors just aren't used to writing about trans/gender/GCF issues yet (it is complex), or if it's that they have simply bought into the GCF vs all trans people bullshit.
OK. Women providing pro-bono services to victims of domestic violence, have to not only continue to do that, they have to virtue signal appropriately that transmen will have access to their services so that they will be listened to in regards to their views on the infringements of Radical Transactivism on their work and their clients.
I've noticed that most (if not all) of the women who are raising legitimate concerns about proposed changes to the law regarding gender identity and self-id, are very careful to express their support of transgender people. They will often preface or conclude comments with an affirmation that their concerns, in no way, are intended to harm the transgender community. They will then take time to read through, often ill written comments and then respond to the points made in them, in an effort to get a good faith discussion going.
However, responses in return, often show the the commentator has not even bothered reading the whole comment, investigated for themselves what has been posted, and been replied to with the same care and effort to have a real discussion. More tellingly, I cannot recall seeing a comment that confirmed the rights of women, before putting the boot in.
"My confusion at this moment is about whether there is any overlap between "women and girls" and 'transgender people', or whether (in the minds of SUFW supporters) one simply can't be considered a woman if one is trans, i.e. trans women certainly aren't women (because they're biological men), and neither are trans men (because, despite being female, they identify as men) – i.e. it's (obviously) possible to be trans or cis and be female/male, but it's impossible to be trans and a woman/man; those terms are reserved for cisgender ('normal') people. Have I got that right?"
Your confusion arrives from your inability to read, and think for yourself. Many commentators here have explained the situation, but you seem to be enjoying playing confused or uncomprehending. More bad faith, but seemingly par for the course in this discussion.
Your confusion arrives from your inability to read, and think for yourself.
Thanks Molly, although I did manage to read your comment – maybe someone will tell me what to think about it.
Fwiw, comments on this site are helping me to form an opinion on “the situation“; I’ve also been guided by recent experiences of some fairly close family members.
Before you go back to sleep, have a read of the submission paper and see whether you are outraged by the transphobia shown in it. I couldn't see it, but then I rely on evidence as well as rather close family members.
Imho it should be possible for transgender activists to at least partially immunise themselves against these attacks by making it clear that their support is also available to women (females) in regards to their rights. It doesn't matter if the number of women whose rights are protected is small (except it really does) – it's the principle that counts.
(Also noted: Your avoidance of any confirmation of the rights of women and children to be protected. You can't say you weren't asked, and so your position on that is clear.)
Thanks again Molly – fwiw I'm not surprised or outraged by transphobia (maybe I should be?) – just trying to understand it.
I’ve two teenage nieces (not sure that's an appropriate term) who now identify strongly as male, and although it has been difficult for me (as someone who can't think for themselves) to be supportive and remember to use adjusted names and gender pronouns, I reckon "the situation" is harder for them.
This is a lovely write by a person who was born female, transitioned to male and is very honest about the process involved. Maybe the feeling strongly male is perfectly ok within a female body. Maybe women should be allowed to feel strongly male. Maybe the dainty fairy princess is not all to that thing that up until now we felt comfortable calling a women.
Thanks for that Sabine – 'butch' might suit the oldest. Whatever their (informed, please 'God') choices, I just want them to be happy.
My worry stems from the fact that not all the people who just wanted me to be happy actually contributed to my happiness, despite their good intentions. I want my nieces (niblings?) to be happy more often than not, and I want to make a positive contribution to their happiness.
Thanks again for the "When we were butches" link; will try to tread carefully.
I think that is all we are asking for, that people thread lightely, that decisions are being made informed, and that above all we can all be what we would like to be and not just some.
Maybe give this article to your nieces for a read. It might help them understand a few issues as well.
Thanks for the advice Sabine – the oldest (nearly 16) is a voracious reader and so may have seen it. She (bugger; 'He') says it's important to understand other points of view.
I do sometimes try to gently dissuade him from adopting what seems to me to be a 'them and us' PoV, but it's at least partly informed by his own experiences so I don't want to push it.
I'm most concerned that one or both of them might 'jump the gun' on hormone treatments (or worse, surgery), and a couple of months ago I did (with the agreement of his mother) email the eldest this link:
Unfortunately it was not well received (apparently an enthusiasm for understanding other points of view of only goes so far), and so I have some bridge mending to do, and probably won't be going down the same path again anytime soon. Ah well, water under the bridge.
Thanks again Sabine, might try those questions, but will have to be careful not to come across as wanting to seed doubts in their 'trans identity' and promote my own preferences – that's already proven counter-productive with the older (well-read) nibling.
Maybe I'll have to accept that I won't get my way – not that it's mine to get in the first place. But maybe I'll gain a better understanding, so yes, will try the inquisitive (just curious/interested) approach, if I can get past their ‘this is who I want to be; you can’t change me‘ hostility!
You are communicating with a woman who in the last 35 years of her 54 year life has not bothered getting a haircut, shaved body parts that didn't need shaving, not worn makeup and been comfortable in wearing clothes that in no way could be described as feminine. I thank god for the gender critical feminists decades past who critiqued gender imposed roles based on biological sex, and fought for the right of self-expression regardless. The benefit of this kind of critique is shared with men fighting against stereotypes.
The conversation is not that transpeople should not be included in a protected rights category. It is partly that given the ability of many to self-id, how do we word legislation that addresses this in such a way that hard fought for women's rights are not imposed upon or dismantled?
When concerns are raised, they should be considered – and solutions found. But the current reaction seems to be to just shut the whole conversation down.
As well as that, there are compelling reasons that I would prefer both biological sex and gender identity to be recorded on a birth certificate. Primarily to recognise that there are instances where biological sex is important in regards to medical treatment and statistics gathering.
There have been studies that have shown that pharmaceutical doses and drugs that have passed trials for safety, have often not been tested with regard to the difference between the sexes, and most often, have harmed women patients who receive them. Transgender people who are undergoing hormonal or other treatment would also be best served with this kind of data inclusion, as their medications might interact with drugs or doses in unexpected ways.
Collection of the pattern of domestic (and other violence) would have clearer statistics for men, women and transgender if both biological sex and gender identity is recorded.
In terms of sports, there are biological and physiological reasons why we had women's sports in the first place. These reasons haven't disappeared just because we wish to support the trans community. I would support the inclusion of another category to both acknowledge those differences and allow the transcommunity to compete as they wish.
"I’ve two teenage nieces (not sure that's an appropriate term) who now identify strongly as male, and although it has been difficult for me (as someone who can't think for themselves) to be supportive and remember to use adjusted names and gender pronouns, I reckon "the situation" is harder for them."
Given the situation that teenage girls are facing today – as partly referenced by the Christchurch High School survey, and the constant pounding of judgement that many are exposed to on social media, I think that I would have a strong likelihood to be joining them, if I was that age today. Luckily, I've been able to live a life of non-conformation while still being comfortable as a female. As someone currently undergoing a suppression of hormone treatment for medical reasons, I would hate to think of young healthy bodies undergoing such treatment, given the fact that long term studies on their use on pre-pubescent bodies have not been undertaken.
I commend you for your support of your relatives, and just ask that you consider how legislation can be best written so that they – and the trans community they are a part of – can be served without imposition on the rights of women and children.
I commend you for your support of your relatives, and just ask that you consider how legislation can be best written so that they – and the trans community they are a part of – can be served without imposition on the rights of women and children.
Regarding "…without imposition on the rights of women and children", I can understand concerns about 'the thin end of the wedge' and erosion of rights. Many men, and women, had similar concerns and reservations about women's suffrage and other emancipation movements.
I see the "trans community" as consisting of women, men and (possibly) children. I would prefer that 'trans identity' was not a barrier to being a generally accepted and respected element of the wider community, but acknowledge that some find the concept of 'trans identity' difficult to handle (I know I do), so acceptance and respect will take time. I hope we all get there eventually, especially if one or both of my niblings chooses trans.
However, you reference to 'the thin end of the wedge' makes amorphous the very specific and concrete concerns that have been raised. It would be great if you could comment on possible resolutions for those.
"I would prefer that 'trans identity' was not a barrier to being a generally accepted and respected element of the wider community, but acknowledge that some find the concept of 'trans identity' difficult to cope with"
I really don't think I have that acceptance issue, and because I don't, I expect the adults in the trans community to be capable of having a conversation so we can collectively come up with resolutions for the very real impact current proposals may have to women and girls (and in some cases the well-being of members of their own community).
I really don't think I have that acceptance issue…
I envy you and wish I could say the same. Sadly, on those rare occasions when I'm around (obviously) trans adults, I just feel ill at ease and often find myself wishing either I or they weren't there.
Of course I do my best to conceal those feelings, but do need to work on my transphobia, and I suppose the transgender leanings of two of my niblings might help me with that. But still can't shake the idea that it would be best for everyone if things went back to the way they were – i.e. normal.
The amount of debate on NZ social and other media over “the situation” suggests to me that those prompting a “No Debate stance” have perhaps been only partially successful. And thank goodness "The No debate stance" isn't inhibiting our discussion, but it's certainly evident in the older nibling at the moment – like walking on eggshells. Sad to say I was actually kinda grateful for some of the distancing imposed by last year's lockdowns.
Anyone who sees a reasonable amount of US reality based made tv will have heard the comment "thank you for your service" when someone in the armed forces is being spoken to. When it becomes known they served in the armed forces the comment "thank you for your service" is often made. There are justified times for war, times when national security must be maintained and important peace keeping work around the globe. People serving in those theatres do put their lives on the line and many suffer the effects. They probably deserve thanks for that.
This is contrasted to wars decided by some ass hole for dubious reasons which forsake human life for some dubious gain, sometimes personal ass hole gain. The types of war where politicians have to tell lies and cover the truth in an attempt to justify it. The 2 Iraq wars for example, supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, supporting the Contras in Nicaragua etc. Vietnam where the assholes didn't have their sons dying but some poor working class sod who got drafted and shipped over.
I do not think however I have ever heard someone on US television talking to a Nurse or a Firefighter or a paramedic and immediately upon hearing their occupation states "thank you for your service". Thank you for being their at the scene of an accident keeping us alive, thank you for nursing me back to health and allowing me to live a good life, thank you for risking life and limb to put out that chemical fire or high rise fire". That absence speaks volumes to me. What a shame.
whats even more hypocrital in this is how badly ex-servicepeople are treated in the states. in this day of a volunteer services, the majority of american servicepeople come from poor and disadvantaged(i.e. either black city dwellers or poor white trash from the sticks) ,and after service, many of them are tipped back into the community with a raging oxyco-don habit, and very little backup…so ,basically its, "thank you for your service, take your drug habit and phuck off".
Women prefer Labour/Greens. ACT highest ever poll for them. Opportunity Party has 3%.
Expect government to poll better as Olympic results and Rugby tests boost voter feelings of wellbeing, and Covid results continue to back up the government's strategy.
Roy Morgan put the Māori party in as an opposition party as that is where they sit at the moment. I'd say you were right about where they'd prefer to be, but as a party not so much based on Left-Right politics, even though most Māori would be on the left of that spectrum, they would take the opportunity as did Winston and NZF to be in government with either.
Labour is ten points ahead of National and the Greens have limited options. I'd say ACT will fancy their chances as a party of the Right and supplant National there leaving National to foot it out with Labour, NZF, Opportunity and all for the centre. MMP certainly has changed our politics, as Bob Jones recently wrote. He's predicting/hoping for a change of government though not a National supporter himself.
But the economy is doing well, Covid is at bay, and some meaningful changes are afoot. The fat lady has not yet sung as we are in mid- second act, with the chorus in full voice behind the principals and the villains skulking in whatever shadows the curtains will afford them……….
Curious about what was in the confidential contract? Obviously not the NZ contract but this is what we can expect according to Information security expert Ehden Biber
– the contract was one sided (predictable)
– the contract states that it superceeds the laws of the country
Then this gem (quotes are from the commentary of the contract, not what was actually written), unlimited liability for the country:
“Pfizer is making sure the country will pay for everything: ‘Costs and expenses, including… fees and disbursements of counsel, incurred by the Indemnitee(s) in connection with any Indemnified Claim shall be reimbursed on a quarterly basis by Purchaser’ ”
“The Purchaser waives any right for immunity, it give up any law that might cap the obligation to pay damages to Pfizer. Comment: The court in New York has the capacity to hold international assets of a country if the country failed the contract.”
Site is Catholic based, but seems reputable. Note there is a petition asking that the vaccine not be made mandatory, this is because it uses aborted fetal cells in the development, hence a faith based issue.
I shy away a little from faith-based anything, but fortunately Lifesite isn't the only news outlet covering these contracts Pfizer has bullied developing nations into signing.
A simple google search "Dominican republic Pfizer contract" produces a Holy Grail of articles exposing Pfizer's bully boy tactics and unreasonable and unethical demands when it comes to their 'negotiations' with poorer countries.
…during vaccine negotiations with Latin American governments Pfizer had asked for indemnity that went far beyond the demands of the other vaccine manufacturers.
Most governments are offering indemnity – protection against legal liability – to the vaccine manufacturers supplying their doses. This means that a citizen who suffers an adverse effect after being vaccinated can file a claim against the manufacturer, but, if successful, the government would pay the compensation.
However, Pfizer wanted additional protections, meaning that the company would not have to pay up itself if held liable for rare adverse effects or its own acts of negligence, fraud or malice: the government would pay its costs instead.
Pfizer also asked Brazil and Argentina to put up sovereign assets, which might include embassy buildings or military bases, as collateral against the cost of future legal cases.
It is unbelievable that there are adults wandering around thinking that somehow these pharmaceutical manufacturers are producing these Warp Speed (Trump..the gift that keeps on giving ) vaccines out of the goodness of their hearts and should therefore be immune to scrutiny and perhaps criticism.
And for those who insist that we only refer to safe and reliable MSM news sites, everyone's favourite daily published this, just the other day.
Strong sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and other medicines helped Pfizer nearly double its second-quarter revenue and boost its profit an impressive 59 per cent, beating Wall Street expectations and leading the drug giant to sharply hike its 2021 sales and profit forecasts.
Amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, the Covid-19 vaccine became Pfizer's top seller, bringing in nearly half its revenue — US$7.84 billion (NZ$11.27b) from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germany's BioNTech.
Pfizer now anticipates revenue from the two-dose vaccine this year to reach US$33.5b for the 2.1 billion doses it's contracted to provide by year-end. That doesn't include a contract struck last week to provide an additional 200 million doses to the US.
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
So says James Elliott on Newsroom. A scathing review of the "I reckons" of Kate, Mike, Heather and Kerre. Such a good example of the depths some parts of the media sink to.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/yesterdaze-a-gold-in-synchronised-snarking?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=75a505d85a-Week+In+Review+24.7.21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-75a505d85a-95522477
Hosking's record is littered with such as, “This is why Gladys shines. She’s aspirational, she doesn’t panic, New South Wales doesn’t lock down at the drop of a hat or a single case.” Elliot has it as "red-carded by reality."
The red card should go to whomever or whatever created the situation where masses have someone who has repeatedly spoken such drivel and made ludicrous lightweight pronouncements and judgements as some sort of guru.
(How many hats have been dropped in NSW in thne past year?)
The Hosk doesn't particularly like Cindy.
newsdork and granny seem to have the same bunch of crappy "I reckon"s on tap.perhaps its time to be honest and stop calling these shills, journalists, and if granny and newsdork were serious about being in the news game, give equal time to other political shills from other parties.
Some of the incoherent, contradictory comments by Mike Hosking and many of his colleagues re COVID-19, Jacinda Ardern and the Government, are occasionally broadcast on RNZ's Mediawatch. It's very interesting to listen to the objective analysis by Mediawatch presenters. See RNZ's website for Mediawatch on 02.04.20 for a typical Hosking commentary, with several programmes since then also highlighting the lack of professionalism and integrity displayed by these broadcasters. Evidently this behaviour stems from their deep-seated resentment of the Government's highly effective COVID-19 management and Jacinda Ardern's popularity. Two Newstalk ZB hosts who state fact, give opinion as opinion, and are therefore worth listening to, are Tim Roxborogh and Marcus Lush.
seriously anything is allowed right? boys will be boys? right? Oh and he is an All Black, so that is par for the course, right?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/tell-your-friend-to-hide-all-black-shannon-frizells-message-after-alleged-assault/BBZGR4Y5Z6QUJBUF67T63GUIKQ/
Just another reason not to watch the All Blacks.
Hm, I wonder if we could get violence against women into hte Hate Crime bill? but then if that happened, whom would these boys take their issues out on? Men?
Thanks for highlighting this Sabine.
Where would the fucker be if he worked as a low paid labourer and how long would he be 'inside' if he wore a gang patch. Diversion should never be an option for perpetrators of one of the most despicable sorts of offending against the person that the country faces, despite the resourcing expended to change entrenched attitudes.
Thought people would be happy that a Tongan got diversion. Maybe he stops being Tongan because he is an All Black.
This approach is so much better than being sent to jail. We have enough people in jail.
"It is targeted at reparation for the victim and rehabilitation for you. Your rehabilitation conditions might include things like going to an alcohol and drug programme or a violence-prevention course."
"Thought people would be happy that a Tongan got diversion "
Did you? Why?
Because usually the complaining is about Maori and PI being imprisoned while Europeans are let off more lightly but you knew that.
the dude bashed a women in the face, breaking a tooth and causing a split in her lip. Her mother stated that 'he put fear in her daughter'.
I am so very pleased that all you care about is that he got diversion as a tongan.
No he got diversion because he is a body that plays rugby, and it is not the first time that a body that plays rugby and wear the all black jersey bashes/assaults/sexually assaults a women and and a two game suspension should teach him? right?
Seriously, the fucker should have been given a prison term. But then so as long as he just bashes a women its ok? right? Cause bashing women is as Kiwi as is the All Black jersey. It goes hand in hand.
As for his ethnicity, the fucker is a women basher. That is all he is.
Maybe they should have sentenced the All Black jersey wearing women beater to pay a few hundred hours of therapy for her.
But nah, diversion and a two weeks suspension.
Fuck the all blacks. Fuck them. All of them.
Just think, if you'd written "Fuck the Tongans. Fuck them. All of them", most people would have pounced, posting how you were crassly mass generalising to the point of wankery.
Good job all the non woman beating rugby meatheads don't know how to use the internet. 😉
I've played a lot of sports and there has been a few violent thugs in all of them. It's not exclusive to rugby and nor is diversion exclusive to rugby players. I've done things other than sports and there has been violent thugs there as well.
Violence is endemic in New Zealand – always has been. Violence is a learned behaviour and in most cases can be unlearned – although it takes a bit of effort. It is a better option than jail.
One of the unattractive things about this site (well a certain cohort of people on this site) is the rabid like behaviour that emerges whenever rugby crops up. There are plenty of people who clearly have an issue with rugby. Whether it is a result bad experiences with rugby, drinking and violence, whether it is a legacy of the Springbok tour or whether you just prefer soccer was our national sport doesn't really matter to me.
The vast majority of rugby players are not violent and are lovely people who happen to like a particular game.
"I am so very pleased that all you care about is that he got diversion as a tongan."
Don't put words in my mouth I didn't say particularly when anyone who has followed my posts over the years would know I'm both anti-war and anti-violence. I'm also anti-imprisoning lots of the population and pro-rehabilitation.
I and other family members have also had a lot of experience as victims of violence.
At age 7 or 8 I came across W H Auden's September 1 1939 poem. This has always stuck with me. Experience tells me it is true in most cases. We need to learn to not do evil.
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
You dog-whistle, double down with a false eqivalence and then come up with tripe like this:
"Violence is endemic in New Zealand – always has been. Violence is a learned behaviour and in most cases can be unlearned – although it takes a bit of effort. It is a better option than jail."
Your words imply that not only is violence common in NZ, its inherent and a slow and steady approach is all that's required, never mind the victims or the shameful statistics,
This man punched a woman in a public place breaking a tooth, splitting her lip and then wrote threatening messages possibly once again on a public form, social media. A conviction with a sentence of anger management and reparation would be the bare minimum.
The comment by the judge indicating lenience because of his All Black position, raises ire from more than Sabine, mainly because we often hear similar justifications from the judiciary during violence or rape trials and many are tired of pointing out the inequity of this view. My partner and his rugby coaching workmate asking why is he still on the team?
The All Black's code of conduct must be as robust as a wet rag, which clearly inspired Sabine's tirade. And there is no indication from NZ Rugby or the All Blacks that even your minimum "bit of effort" is going to be made to address and change his behaviour so that he is not violent. The two game stand down alone is punitive (and pitiful) not rehabilitative.
"One of the unattractive things about this site (well a certain cohort of people on this site) is the rabid like behaviour that emerges whenever rugby crops up. There are plenty of people who clearly have an issue with rugby. "
I am often surprised by the sensitivity and vulnerability of many men when it comes to male on female violence. So far, its been – think of the Tongans, Maaori , Pacific Islanders, the over incarcerated, the lovely non violent rugby players and spectators. In fact, look anywhere but at a young woman's broken face and mental health and the underwhelming response of his employers and the pattern of leniency shown by the judiciary.
Look, another one for Poet's Corner, by Margaret Atwood:
What a load of fuckwittery DoS.
Purely and simply, this is about undeserved privilege that undermines all the work, time and effort that is being invested in trying to reverse the largely misogynistic violence that pervades our society.
You have sunk very low asserting, "The vast majority of rugby players are not violent and are lovely people who happen to like a particular game." This particular case isn't about a docile follower of a sport, race or any of your other notions. It is about the fact that the perpetrator of the violence is not having to face the legal consequences of his actions.
Many of those who work in the domestic violence field will tell you from experience that after Diversion, the odds are that he will do it again! If, in your opinion, voluntary counselling was appropriate, why didn't he take up the option before violently assaulting the woman. Awareness was supposed to have been raised and maintained for All Blacks since way back!
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
Experience tells me it is true in most cases.
You're wrong. And Auden was wrong. Most survivors of childhood abuse do not go on to commit the same evils.
Most members of groups subjected to violence (such as women) do not commit similar on others.
Some do. But by no means are they in the majority.
Face it. Some folks are just violent arseholes with an overweening sense of their own importance.
Nah what's true is most people who are violent experienced violence when young. With only a few exceptions violence doesn't come out of a vacuum. You also need to be careful about when working at the hard end of domestic violence that you only see the failures of things like diversion and counselling and not the successes.
What you implying is that these things are a waste of time. There is a lot of people who move on successfully after this type of intervention. Others have moved on via religion and so on. Imprisonment is in itself a form of violence – our high rates of imprisonment do not do us any favours.
The lock em up mentality has resulted in more violence to people as the recent enquiry shows. Do you not think we can do better than locking people up?
Reducing imprisonment rates, and particularly for Maori and polynesian, is something this government wants to achieve. This was once a liberal approach. Seems the liberals here are really no different from the fascists.
And yeah he is facing the legal consequences of his actions. Diversion is one of those legal consequences – it is just not the one that you favour.
"Your words imply that not only is violence common in NZ"
Yes it is and always has been. Much of it wasn't illegal either until the 70's.
"a slow and steady approach is all that's required"
Nope never said that was all that was required. But it will take generations to resolve.
"never mind the victims"
Nope never said that.
"shameful statistics"
Make your mind up – is it endemic or not. I'm quite certain it is endemic – regular and common and quite often intergenerational.
@dos
I didn't advocate for incarceration, that's a strawman.
But there you go, cherry pick and remove context and don't answer the difficult question about how systematic patterns partly sanction the trivialisation of harm.
"Nope never said that was all that was required. But it will take generations to resolve. "
Maybe not even then given our glacial progress so far.
""never mind the victims"
Nope never said that."
Don't put quotes if you are paraphrasing, and you are right.
You didn't explicitly say that, and neither did I.
I made an inference from the fact you didn't mention her at all in your original comment, which has been reinforced by that same omission in all your comments in this thread so far.
“Make your mind up – is it endemic or not. I’m quite certain it is endemic – regular and common and quite often intergenerational.”
Of course violence is a problem. Our efforts to address it need to be more effective. Appropriate punishments and rehabilitation would be a start. Sports player or not.
Surely there are rugby players waiting for a chance where the All Blacks Code of Conduct forbade this type of conduct.
Are you saying the pool is that small?
You hadn't even commented when I first commented.
aom was the one who raised the question of incarceration. It the issue of incarceration vs diversion that I was originally responding to.
Your inference about never mind the victim is very wrong and actually most commentators haven't mentioned the victim. Nearly all the posts are focused on the offender. Does that mean they don't care about the victim either? I fully understand the harm done to victims – I live with it every day and have done for many years. The young woman involved will need lots of help and support and for many the fear never really goes away.
I've been consistent about alternatives to imprisonment for well over 30 years now.
I also hadn't commented on the rugby union stance either. I understood that is just an interim response. I'm not sure what their final decision will be. I have no problem at all if he never plays for the All Blacks again. Other people lose their jobs for being violent.
So, not commenting on the victim, nor replying to me in your reply to me, nor commenting on the rugby union…
Were you just on this thread to promote rugby, reiterate your 30 year stance against overincarceration, tell us violence is a difficult problem, and just to top it off, expose a small modicum of white fragility in your initial comment? If so, well done.
So, not commenting on the victim, nor replying to me in your reply, nor commenting on the rugby union until just now.
Were you just on this thread to promote rugby, reiterate your 30 year stance against overincarceration, tell us violence is a difficult problem, and just to top it off, expose a small modicum of white fragility in your initial comment? If so, well done.
https://spectator.com.au/2021/07/city-of-sydney-evicts-legal-service-for-vulnerable-women-and-girls/
a must read for people on this site who think the Trans ideology will have no impact on women and their rights to assert that biology matters.
shame on the Sydney Council
There's certainly some loaded language in that link of yours; Anker. I wonder just how "EXPOSED" the "disgraceful voting" can be when it has indeed been more than "barely touched {by} mainstream media". For example (from a week back):
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/feminist-legal-clinic-evicted-for-posting-anti-trans-website-links-20210723-p58cfu.html
https://feministlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Letter-to-Feminist-Legal-Clinic-re-30.6-Notice-of-Discontinuation-of-Subsidy-and-Termination-6-July-2021.pdf
From the evidence, it seems that it was really the FLC who; despite being given multiple chances since last year, chose to bet on being able to stare down the Sydney mayor (which doesn't say much for the quality of their legal advice). They could have toned down the rhetoric and still be operating. Expecting a city to fund those determined to exclude members of that city from social participation seems misguided.
Still, August 19th is the eviction date. I imagine there will be a bit of MSM coverage around then. Hope that the Sydney-side COVID infection rate has dropped if FLC are planning sit-ins or other protest action.
If you are going to post on this topic, then at least have the courtesy to link to source, and provide the original content rather than someone's curated version of it. We should insist of more intellectual integrity in this important matter.
For those who wish to be better informed on this particular topic:
Here is the website for Feminist Legal Clinic. Look around and see whether their discussion of the impact of radical transactivism on womens rights is beyond the pale, rather than an honest assessment.
Here is their response letter to the Sydney Council, (rather than a pointless link to the eviction letter as evidence of process, rather than validation of eviction.)
And here the link to the original 'offending' paper which was a submission made to government on proposed law changes: Impacts of Transactivism on the Human Rights of Women and Girls
Read and be informed about what this news item is really about, and ask yourself this question. If a pro-bono Feminist Legal Clinic cannot make a submission to government regarding proposed law changes that look like they will impact on those that access their services without having their funding or grant criteria impacted on, – where is the space left for this type of gender critical thinking to be expressed?
Apologies. You have posted to the Feminist Legal Clinic, My error.
I think the original paper is important to the issue, though.
Really Anker, this is horrifying .
This is exactly the same as the Chinese Cultural revolution and the Salem witch trials , nuttiness through and through , punishment for "wrong think" and dissenting the new orthodoxy.An orthodoxy built on ignorance,hubristic academia,illogical magical thinking.
It's got to the point where lesbians are being trashed and called transphobic for not fancying transwomen
https://news.trust.org/item/20190412100802-6md1q/
I can't help feeling some of these transwomen activists still have a goodly portion of male thinking going on in their supposedly woman brains
This decision (to revoke the Sydney Feminist Legal Clinic’s grant and terminate its tenancy) is regrettable, and seems odd. Given that trans men (biological females) are on the receiving end of considerable violence, sexism and discrimination, e.g. in health, accommodation and employment, surely it would have been simple enough for the FLC to point to the trans men (females) that they have helped?
Imho it should be possible for feminist-based clinics to at least partially immunise themselves against these woke attacks by making it clear that their services are available to trans men (females). It doesn't matter if the number of trans men who avail themselves of these services is small – it's the principle that counts.
My confusion at this moment is about whether there is any overlap between "women and girls" and 'transgender people', or whether (in the minds of SUFW supporters) one simply can't be considered a woman if one is trans, i.e. trans women certainly aren't women (because they're biological men), and neither are trans men (because, despite being female, they identify as men) – i.e. it's (obviously) possible to be trans or cis and be female/male, but it's impossible to be trans and a woman/man; those terms are reserved for cisgender ('normal') people. Have I got that right?
Can transgender people even be feminists – how would that work? Too weird!
this is not about Transmen.
This is about Transwomen wanting access to spaces that are female body centric.
And this is lawful, i might add.
Essentially men just shut down a clinic for women under the pretense of 'transwomens rights'.
100% Sabine.
If Trans women need legal support and I am sure they do, why didn't the Sydney Council assist them to set up their own legal service?
This shutting down of the legal centre is not about asssisting transwomen get the help they need, which of course is a good idea. Its about shutting down and controlling women.
I am glad the women in this legal clinic stuck to their guns.
This is just around the corner for NZ.
Again where are all the progressive liberal men who have claimed to care about womens rights over the years. With a few exceptions on this site, the silence is deafening.
I rarely come across GCF who believe that transmen aren't women and should be excluded from women's space/services/rights. So I don't think you've got that right there.
As for placating gender rights activists by FLC saying that they provide services to trans men i.e. women, this would be considered highly transphobic (TMAM). And, the implication is that TA aren't W, so doubly transphobic. Everyone is pressured to adopt this belief system and if you don't, your funding will be cut/you will be cancelled irrespective of the good you do.
If you watch new reporting you will see that many times MSM uses 'transgender' when they actually mean 'transwoman'. Alot of gender vs sex sports coverage does that. I'm not sure if it's because reporters/editors just aren't used to writing about trans/gender/GCF issues yet (it is complex), or if it's that they have simply bought into the GCF vs all trans people bullshit.
OK. Women providing pro-bono services to victims of domestic violence, have to not only continue to do that, they have to virtue signal appropriately that transmen will have access to their services so that they will be listened to in regards to their views on the infringements of Radical Transactivism on their work and their clients.
I've noticed that most (if not all) of the women who are raising legitimate concerns about proposed changes to the law regarding gender identity and self-id, are very careful to express their support of transgender people. They will often preface or conclude comments with an affirmation that their concerns, in no way, are intended to harm the transgender community. They will then take time to read through, often ill written comments and then respond to the points made in them, in an effort to get a good faith discussion going.
However, responses in return, often show the the commentator has not even bothered reading the whole comment, investigated for themselves what has been posted, and been replied to with the same care and effort to have a real discussion. More tellingly, I cannot recall seeing a comment that confirmed the rights of women, before putting the boot in.
"My confusion at this moment is about whether there is any overlap between "women and girls" and 'transgender people', or whether (in the minds of SUFW supporters) one simply can't be considered a woman if one is trans, i.e. trans women certainly aren't women (because they're biological men), and neither are trans men (because, despite being female, they identify as men) – i.e. it's (obviously) possible to be trans or cis and be female/male, but it's impossible to be trans and a woman/man; those terms are reserved for cisgender ('normal') people. Have I got that right?"
Your confusion arrives from your inability to read, and think for yourself. Many commentators here have explained the situation, but you seem to be enjoying playing confused or uncomprehending. More bad faith, but seemingly par for the course in this discussion.
Thanks Molly, although I did manage to read your comment – maybe someone will tell me what to think about it.
Fwiw, comments on this site are helping me to form an opinion on “the situation“; I’ve also been guided by recent experiences of some fairly close family members.
Before you go back to sleep, have a read of the submission paper and see whether you are outraged by the transphobia shown in it. I couldn't see it, but then I rely on evidence as well as rather close family members.
Imho it should be possible for transgender activists to at least partially immunise themselves against these attacks by making it clear that their support is also available to women (females) in regards to their rights. It doesn't matter if the number of women whose rights are protected is small (except it really does) – it's the principle that counts.
(Also noted: Your avoidance of any confirmation of the rights of women and children to be protected. You can't say you weren't asked, and so your position on that is clear.)
Thanks again Molly – fwiw I'm not surprised or outraged by transphobia (maybe I should be?) – just trying to understand it.
I’ve two teenage nieces (not sure that's an appropriate term) who now identify strongly as male, and although it has been difficult for me (as someone who can't think for themselves) to be supportive and remember to use adjusted names and gender pronouns, I reckon "the situation" is harder for them.
This is a lovely write by a person who was born female, transitioned to male and is very honest about the process involved. Maybe the feeling strongly male is perfectly ok within a female body. Maybe women should be allowed to feel strongly male. Maybe the dainty fairy princess is not all to that thing that up until now we felt comfortable calling a women.
https://www.gdalliancecanada.com/post/when-we-were-butch
Not everything is 'transphobia', but a lot of the 'transphobia' yellers are positively anti 'female body centred spaces'.
Thanks for that Sabine – 'butch' might suit the oldest. Whatever their (informed, please 'God') choices, I just want them to be happy.
My worry stems from the fact that not all the people who just wanted me to be happy actually contributed to my happiness, despite their good intentions. I want my nieces (niblings?) to be happy more often than not, and I want to make a positive contribution to their happiness.
Thanks again for the "When we were butches" link; will try to tread carefully.
I think that is all we are asking for, that people thread lightely, that decisions are being made informed, and that above all we can all be what we would like to be and not just some.
Maybe give this article to your nieces for a read. It might help them understand a few issues as well.
Thanks for the advice Sabine – the oldest (nearly 16) is a voracious reader and so may have seen it. She (bugger; 'He') says it's important to understand other points of view.
I do sometimes try to gently dissuade him from adopting what seems to me to be a 'them and us' PoV, but it's at least partly informed by his own experiences so I don't want to push it.
I'm most concerned that one or both of them might 'jump the gun' on hormone treatments (or worse, surgery), and a couple of months ago I did (with the agreement of his mother) email the eldest this link:
Ellie and Nele: From she to he – and back to she again
Unfortunately it was not well received (apparently an enthusiasm for understanding other points of view of only goes so far), and so I have some bridge mending to do, and probably won't be going down the same path again anytime soon. Ah well, water under the bridge.
Ask them why they feel that they can't feel 'manly' as a women or in a female body?
Ask them what they believe will be different? Not in a judgy tone or such, but rather with interest.
Also read this womens twitter account. Better even watch her pinned tweet. She is funny, well spoken etc.
https://twitter.com/imwatson91?lang=en
Thanks again Sabine, might try those questions, but will have to be careful not to come across as wanting to seed doubts in their 'trans identity' and promote my own preferences – that's already proven counter-productive with the older (well-read) nibling.
Maybe I'll have to accept that I won't get my way – not that it's mine to get in the first place. But maybe I'll gain a better understanding, so yes, will try the inquisitive (just curious/interested) approach, if I can get past their ‘this is who I want to be; you can’t change me‘ hostility!
You are communicating with a woman who in the last 35 years of her 54 year life has not bothered getting a haircut, shaved body parts that didn't need shaving, not worn makeup and been comfortable in wearing clothes that in no way could be described as feminine. I thank god for the gender critical feminists decades past who critiqued gender imposed roles based on biological sex, and fought for the right of self-expression regardless. The benefit of this kind of critique is shared with men fighting against stereotypes.
The conversation is not that transpeople should not be included in a protected rights category. It is partly that given the ability of many to self-id, how do we word legislation that addresses this in such a way that hard fought for women's rights are not imposed upon or dismantled?
When concerns are raised, they should be considered – and solutions found. But the current reaction seems to be to just shut the whole conversation down.
As well as that, there are compelling reasons that I would prefer both biological sex and gender identity to be recorded on a birth certificate. Primarily to recognise that there are instances where biological sex is important in regards to medical treatment and statistics gathering.
There have been studies that have shown that pharmaceutical doses and drugs that have passed trials for safety, have often not been tested with regard to the difference between the sexes, and most often, have harmed women patients who receive them. Transgender people who are undergoing hormonal or other treatment would also be best served with this kind of data inclusion, as their medications might interact with drugs or doses in unexpected ways.
Collection of the pattern of domestic (and other violence) would have clearer statistics for men, women and transgender if both biological sex and gender identity is recorded.
In terms of sports, there are biological and physiological reasons why we had women's sports in the first place. These reasons haven't disappeared just because we wish to support the trans community. I would support the inclusion of another category to both acknowledge those differences and allow the transcommunity to compete as they wish.
"I’ve two teenage nieces (not sure that's an appropriate term) who now identify strongly as male, and although it has been difficult for me (as someone who can't think for themselves) to be supportive and remember to use adjusted names and gender pronouns, I reckon "the situation" is harder for them."
Given the situation that teenage girls are facing today – as partly referenced by the Christchurch High School survey, and the constant pounding of judgement that many are exposed to on social media, I think that I would have a strong likelihood to be joining them, if I was that age today. Luckily, I've been able to live a life of non-conformation while still being comfortable as a female. As someone currently undergoing a suppression of hormone treatment for medical reasons, I would hate to think of young healthy bodies undergoing such treatment, given the fact that long term studies on their use on pre-pubescent bodies have not been undertaken.
I commend you for your support of your relatives, and just ask that you consider how legislation can be best written so that they – and the trans community they are a part of – can be served without imposition on the rights of women and children.
Regarding "…without imposition on the rights of women and children", I can understand concerns about 'the thin end of the wedge' and erosion of rights. Many men, and women, had similar concerns and reservations about women's suffrage and other emancipation movements.
I see the "trans community" as consisting of women, men and (possibly) children. I would prefer that 'trans identity' was not a barrier to being a generally accepted and respected element of the wider community, but acknowledge that some find the concept of 'trans identity' difficult to handle (I know I do), so acceptance and respect will take time. I hope we all get there eventually, especially if one or both of my niblings chooses trans.
Thanks, Drowsy for your response,
However, you reference to 'the thin end of the wedge' makes amorphous the very specific and concrete concerns that have been raised. It would be great if you could comment on possible resolutions for those.
"I would prefer that 'trans identity' was not a barrier to being a generally accepted and respected element of the wider community, but acknowledge that some find the concept of 'trans identity' difficult to cope with"
I really don't think I have that acceptance issue, and because I don't, I expect the adults in the trans community to be capable of having a conversation so we can collectively come up with resolutions for the very real impact current proposals may have to women and girls (and in some cases the well-being of members of their own community).
The No Debate stance makes this very difficult.
I envy you and wish I could say the same. Sadly, on those rare occasions when I'm around (obviously) trans adults, I just feel ill at ease and often find myself wishing either I or they weren't there.
Of course I do my best to conceal those feelings, but do need to work on my transphobia, and I suppose the transgender leanings of two of my niblings might help me with that. But still can't shake the idea that it would be best for everyone if things went back to the way they were – i.e. normal.
The amount of debate on NZ social and other media over “the situation” suggests to me that those prompting a “No Debate stance” have perhaps been only partially successful. And thank goodness "The No debate stance" isn't inhibiting our discussion, but it's certainly evident in the older nibling at the moment – like walking on eggshells. Sad to say I was actually kinda grateful for some of the distancing imposed by last year's lockdowns.
@ Drowsy. Just finished watching the link Sabine posted (45 min).
When you have time, you may find it of value. All the best, apologies for the slipping into snark earlier.
How much of the Japan covid spike is a result of the Olympics?
Anyone who sees a reasonable amount of US reality based made tv will have heard the comment "thank you for your service" when someone in the armed forces is being spoken to. When it becomes known they served in the armed forces the comment "thank you for your service" is often made. There are justified times for war, times when national security must be maintained and important peace keeping work around the globe. People serving in those theatres do put their lives on the line and many suffer the effects. They probably deserve thanks for that.
This is contrasted to wars decided by some ass hole for dubious reasons which forsake human life for some dubious gain, sometimes personal ass hole gain. The types of war where politicians have to tell lies and cover the truth in an attempt to justify it. The 2 Iraq wars for example, supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, supporting the Contras in Nicaragua etc. Vietnam where the assholes didn't have their sons dying but some poor working class sod who got drafted and shipped over.
I do not think however I have ever heard someone on US television talking to a Nurse or a Firefighter or a paramedic and immediately upon hearing their occupation states "thank you for your service". Thank you for being their at the scene of an accident keeping us alive, thank you for nursing me back to health and allowing me to live a good life, thank you for risking life and limb to put out that chemical fire or high rise fire". That absence speaks volumes to me. What a shame.
whats even more hypocrital in this is how badly ex-servicepeople are treated in the states. in this day of a volunteer services, the majority of american servicepeople come from poor and disadvantaged(i.e. either black city dwellers or poor white trash from the sticks) ,and after service, many of them are tipped back into the community with a raging oxyco-don habit, and very little backup…so ,basically its, "thank you for your service, take your drug habit and phuck off".
Roy Morgan?
Read it. Your comments are?
National 29% ACT 13% Māori 2%
Labour 39% Greens 10%
49% plays 44%.
Women prefer Labour/Greens. ACT highest ever poll for them. Opportunity Party has 3%.
Expect government to poll better as Olympic results and Rugby tests boost voter feelings of wellbeing, and Covid results continue to back up the government's strategy.
That's a fucking scary poll , imagine if act drag a collins lead national party over the line, !!!
They'll privatise ev6they can and finish off what douglas and ruthless ruth started
Maori will never again go with the colonist-loving Right (you heard it first here 🙂
Roy Morgan put the Māori party in as an opposition party as that is where they sit at the moment. I'd say you were right about where they'd prefer to be, but as a party not so much based on Left-Right politics, even though most Māori would be on the left of that spectrum, they would take the opportunity as did Winston and NZF to be in government with either.
Labour is ten points ahead of National and the Greens have limited options. I'd say ACT will fancy their chances as a party of the Right and supplant National there leaving National to foot it out with Labour, NZF, Opportunity and all for the centre. MMP certainly has changed our politics, as Bob Jones recently wrote. He's predicting/hoping for a change of government though not a National supporter himself.
But the economy is doing well, Covid is at bay, and some meaningful changes are afoot. The fat lady has not yet sung as we are in mid- second act, with the chorus in full voice behind the principals and the villains skulking in whatever shadows the curtains will afford them……….
Curious about what was in the confidential contract? Obviously not the NZ contract but this is what we can expect according to Information security expert Ehden Biber
– the contract was one sided (predictable)
– the contract states that it superceeds the laws of the country
Then this gem (quotes are from the commentary of the contract, not what was actually written), unlimited liability for the country:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/information-security-expert-reveals-pfizer-covid-jab-contracts-theres-good-reason-pfizer-fought-to-hide-the-details
Site is Catholic based, but seems reputable. Note there is a petition asking that the vaccine not be made mandatory, this is because it uses aborted fetal cells in the development, hence a faith based issue.
You have come up with supposed "reputable" sites before which were easily debunked. I suspect this is another one.
Oh look… first thing I see at top of link:
You really are a gullible sort KsaysHi.
I shy away a little from faith-based anything, but fortunately Lifesite isn't the only news outlet covering these contracts Pfizer has bullied developing nations into signing.
A simple google search "Dominican republic Pfizer contract" produces a Holy Grail of articles exposing Pfizer's bully boy tactics and unreasonable and unethical demands when it comes to their 'negotiations' with poorer countries.
Plucking one of many, a Business Insurance site, you follow the links to the TBIJ article "Vaccine contract forces a government to pay…"
…during vaccine negotiations with Latin American governments Pfizer had asked for indemnity that went far beyond the demands of the other vaccine manufacturers.
Most governments are offering indemnity – protection against legal liability – to the vaccine manufacturers supplying their doses. This means that a citizen who suffers an adverse effect after being vaccinated can file a claim against the manufacturer, but, if successful, the government would pay the compensation.
However, Pfizer wanted additional protections, meaning that the company would not have to pay up itself if held liable for rare adverse effects or its own acts of negligence, fraud or malice: the government would pay its costs instead.
Pfizer also asked Brazil and Argentina to put up sovereign assets, which might include embassy buildings or military bases, as collateral against the cost of future legal cases.
It is unbelievable that there are adults wandering around thinking that somehow these pharmaceutical manufacturers are producing these Warp Speed (Trump..the gift that keeps on giving ) vaccines out of the goodness of their hearts and should therefore be immune to scrutiny and perhaps criticism.
And for those who insist that we only refer to safe and reliable MSM news sites, everyone's favourite daily published this, just the other day.
Strong sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and other medicines helped Pfizer nearly double its second-quarter revenue and boost its profit an impressive 59 per cent, beating Wall Street expectations and leading the drug giant to sharply hike its 2021 sales and profit forecasts.
Amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, the Covid-19 vaccine became Pfizer's top seller, bringing in nearly half its revenue — US$7.84 billion (NZ$11.27b) from direct sales and revenue split with its partner, Germany's BioNTech.
Pfizer now anticipates revenue from the two-dose vaccine this year to reach US$33.5b for the 2.1 billion doses it's contracted to provide by year-end. That doesn't include a contract struck last week to provide an additional 200 million doses to the US.