But in 2002 Ms Pullar suffered life-changing head injuries in a bicycle accident the day before she was due to complete a $22 million project for a client. She will never be able to work again at the high level she did before the accident.
There but for the grace of fate go I. I’m grateful I only suffered permanent injuries to a limb in my accident. Head injuries must be devastating and very hard to adjust to the life change.
Ha, so that ‘ explains’ the multimillion insurance claim.
I was interested that tv3 ran keys mangled comment about an enquiry. I did not understand the words. It is the first time i have heard him so bad. I wonder if it would have been played last term?
I think her injury has genuinely handicapped a potenitally stellar career. I did wonder, given her contacts, why she had continued to have problems with ACC, and then realised that most of her time as a long-term claimant has been under a Labour Government. Labour also set targets for reducing what ACC described as the “tail” of “stock”, and vulnerable groups, such as those with head injuries, repetitive strain injuries, those with modest means and few social advantages etc. were soft targets in the culls.
I suspect Pullar would have managed this situation discretely and to her best advantage (as well as that of her class) if she was less affected by her injury, or if National had been in power throughout the period of incapacity.
It would be good for people to know the cause of Ms Pullar’s injury ie that it was in a biking accident. I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler or any consideration for pedestrians comfort. Everywhere belongs to them, road, footpaths, footpaths in parks, green lawns in parks, berms, any space they can whisk through between walkers.
I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler
What angers me most is that they don’t frickin’ wear helmets! A good example of the sheer selfish nature of some cyclists is the 35 year old man who came whizzing, helmetless, across Carrington Road outside Unitec, and down the street on the footpath, missing me by millimetres as he zoomed past me. I called out “idiot!” and he turned around, poked his tongue, screamed an insult about old ladies clogging up the footpath, ‘flipped me the bird’ as I believe the American expression is, and rode on laughing.
Cycles are not legally allowed on footpaths. Many cyclists have told me that the law says they are allowed to not wear helmets if they ride on the footpath. So I made a point of checking with the police. (Who won’t enforce their own law even if an offender is pointed out to them as they are just too damned lazy).
Cycling on footpaths is illegal.
Riding helmetless is illegal.
There is a cycle path on Carrington Road! There’s a big brass plaque pointing that fact out. It’s still ignored even by the Greenie tarts on bikes (I mean frocks on bikes isn’t it? One of them cycles around here, too proud of her expensive hair-do to wear a helmet.)
Footpaths are for pedestrians, and with the Segar Ave residence for people with cerebral palsy and Rehab + for brain injured people both off Carrington Road, wheel chair users.
In a radio interview with I think a Compensation lawyer about 3 weeks ago, he said that it was quite common for brain injury people to become obsessional about matters especially as it relates to the accident. (Cannot remember where the interview was though it had to be National Radio.)
Nothing when you let the poacher play the part of the gamekeeper also, exactly the same culture that sees top execs pay scream away from average workers at a blistering speed and still get bonuses even when organisations don’t perform.
If Treasury was paid on actual performance that would be interesting.
Still, as always the Shonkey fanboy and lacking in credibility. The swipe at Labour shows what a shill he is…..focus on the issue JA which isn’t the opposition it’s the stench of NACT corruption the extractor fans aren’t coping with anymore.
And even National supporter Fran O’Sullivan, thinks that Mr Key should clear the air and set up an enquiry:
John Key faces a stern test: Does he order a full inquiry into how ACC has managed all the privacy issues in the Bronwyn Pullar affair or sweep it aside in a misguided attempt to avert more reputational damage to his own party?……
If Key wants to preserve the integrity of his own Government, he will opt for the former.
The gloss is or seems to be coming off the teflon from O’Sullivan’s more recent columns, but I remain sceptical in view of her blinkered idolism of the last three years or so. Still, good to see her supporting the call for a full enquiry.
Her support for Collins in this latest column is possibly an attempt to appease her remarks in her column last weekend when (in my honest opinion….) she virtually landed Collins in it re the leaking of Boag’s email:
Any Cabinet minister sitting in “The Crusher’s” shoes – particularly a politician with as strong an instinct for self-preservation as Collins has – would quickly have worked out the impact of Boag’s email was they were also likely to be dragged into the same mud-pool which subsequently swallowed Nick Smith.
The ACC Minister would quickly have reached the conclusion that all Boag’s email did was to compromise her.
Hence she sent it to the ACC .
Collins’ fingerprints will not be directly attached to the copy of the Boag email that was later leaked to the Herald on Sunday.
Lol – Was wondering who would be first to respond…good consistancy points Bloke!
Loving continued use of “climate denier” as some sort of insult..I’m sure DB is very worried what you might think about his credentials. What classifies as “denier” status, so far as you are concerned?
Its kind of like how you dont understand the world of money laundering, and therefore nor do I. I only give an opinion on things which I know about!
Actually I understood what you were saying just fine, the fact you had no idea what you were talking about is quite arrogant . and still provides me entertainment because you keep trying anyway…as does you not answering a question yet again, but let’s just label it all conspiracy theory in case I’m wrong, and my large online ego collapses inward!
It’s possible to have an open mind without your brains falling out…in case you were going to repeat that , yet again!
And it doesn’t take much googling and critical thinking to realise that not only is that book a giant pile of shit, but also that Bellamy has transformed into the classical crackpot scientist, which is what happens when the D-K Effect hits a scientist outside of their field. Particularly as they get older…
Fortunately it’s a fairly rare condition, but thanks the media’s blindspot when it comes to science, crackpots like Bellamy are given plently of unwarranted positive attention.
This is not because conservatives are a bunch of undereducated yahoos. In fact, quite the opposite:
Conservatives with high school degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and graduate degrees all experienced greater distrust in science over time….In addition…conservatives with college degrees decline more quickly than those with only a high school degree []. These results are quite profound, because they imply that conservative discontent with science was not attributable to the uneducated but to rising distrust among educated conservatives.
I suppose the question then becomes: Just where did those delusional conservatives get their degrees?
The government try to tell us that the increased spending is because councils are out of control and wasting money in areas they have no business being in, and that they’re proposing these changes to force councils to get back to core business.
This is a lie.
The National government will try to tell spin it, they’ll say that the problem is that councils are wasting money supporting festivals, public swimming pools, running social programmes, and on providing local art and culture.
How do I know they’ll do this? Because they’ve already started.
Yep, NACT already caught lying in support of the their plan to decrease local democracy.
What should be evidently clear to even the dimmest of bulbs is the following.
There is a concerted effort globally , has been for decades to consolidate nations, via unions, treaties and agreements. Locally we see the efforts being focussed two fold, TPPA which will bind us internationally even further, and the Auckland Super City, which was of course the pilot scheme to be rolled out nationally. One can hear the calls. and see it in action via the attempts to legislate from Wellington.
It is much “simpler” to control small numbers, so once you have consolidated the globe, EU/NAFTA/TPPA etc and removed sovereignty, well it becomes rather open to speculation at that stage. The cities must not be weasled into submission by the criminal government, whose agenda is crystal clear!
It depends on what you think ‘educated’ means. If you’ve ever seen how many creationists there are in first-year biology courses at university, you will know what I mean.
There are plenty of ‘educated’ people who go into university with a closed mind and leave the same way they came in. They give the expected answers in order to pass the exams, but they don’t believe any of it. Their faith takes precedence.
Is there not another woman in the Puller medley – the employee in ACC who released the list to Puller, and is it possible may have had a greater involvement than currently perceived.
It appears from media stories that she may have had unauthorised access to the Puller files, as she apparently had been tracked having some form of access.
There must be a greater inquiry than Privacy Commissioner.
It appears that he thinks that by having an inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner will be enough. The problem is though the can of worms has been opened and they are fast slithering towards other matters far outside the nice little boxes that thinks he has under his control.
A full open independent inquiry needs to be held by individuals that are in no way remotely associated with this government as there are already rumors of cronyism and corruption beginning to surface. Did we not learn any thing about deception from Nicky Hager and the Hollow Men.
Well Fortan . Its hard to believe that these files were sent to an active National supporter by accident is it not? The whole thing stinks of Tory sleaze and money grabbing, Mone and power the cement in the National Party,
Funny…I hold New Zealand citizenship, but when I open my mouth and speak it’s obvious that I wasn’t born and raised here. Maybe nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand I get asked if I’m Canadian.
‘Nope, not Canadian. I’m from California.’
‘Oh, erm…well, look at the time…see ya.’
I’m definitely not a rah-rah ‘Go Team America’ kind of person. I find jingoism repulsive. Yet, the fact that I have US nationality somehow means to many people here that I am whatever stereotype they hold when it comes to Americans.
I think maybe in the future I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah…maple syrup and hockey, you betcha, eh.’ That seems to put the locals at ease.
Look at the bright side, happynz – you get to sift through the idiots faster. 1:1000 is a pretty good hit rate, there are potential social prejudices here that will jump that up to 1:100,000, accent, citizenship, or not. Welcome to NZ.
The Air Force have worked hard to put on this Ohakea show and 50-60,000 expected to pay for attendance. Two people who couldn’t manage to drive safely have managed to stuff that up.
The government will be paying for their injury management, for road management, and the losses caused by this crash to the Air Force. Plus there is the cost financial and in wellbeing and in time to people stuck on the road and others wishing to move through the area on their own business. The motor cyclist has head injuries. If he lives it is likely that he’ll require intensive care for much of his life.
It is very sad and unsatisfactory. I believe that all car drivers should have to carry some personal liability insurance and that hospitals should be able to charge for emergency care, not all of it, but on a set scale so that some of the costs of road accidents can be recovered. Many of them are not accidents at all they are examples of malfunctioning immature carelessness. Keeping idiots off the road would be good. Identifying the most likely to meet this term would not be hard, and the number of accidents would plummet. Cutting alcohol outlets and hours would help too but there isn’t the strength of opinion for this enough to sway the pollies.
Nope. Insurance, maybe. But hospitals charging for admission? Hell no.
It’s hard enough getting people to see their GP. Putting a cost barrier on emergency rooms ill result in delays until the problem is deemed serious enough by the patient to consider professional care, and by that time it might be too late.
“In the UK and US, the financial sector is booming, while the world of normal people seems to be going from bad to worse, unemployment is high, businesses are folding and house foreclosures are still taking place. Wall Street and Main Street might as well be existing on different planets. And this is in large part because banks are still not lending money to the people. In the UK and US, banks have captured all the money from the taxpayers and the cheap money from quantitative easing from central banks. They are using it to shore up, and clean up their balance sheets rather than lend it to the people. The money has been hijacked by the banks, and our governments are doing absolutely nothing about that. In fact, they have been complicit in allowing this to happen.”
Which is true, private mega corporations got a lot richer and more power via the bailouts while the majority of people got poorer and less powerful. But what’s really interesting is the sentences at the end of the article:
If the word “nationalize” sounds un-American, think “publicly-owned and operated for the benefit of the public,” like public libraries, public parks, and public courts. We need to get our dollars out of Wall Street and back on Main Street, and we can do that only by and we can do that only by breaking up our out-of-control private banking monopoly and returning control over money and credit to the people themselves.
Which is what a few of us here have been saying for the last few years. The private banking system is the biggest problem we face and the only way we can bring it under control is to nationalise it.
Since Bradford has so many of the social issues associated with high unemployment, and also the clarity that the proletariat discover when they make an attempt to halt the demise of their communities themselves, I wonder if this isn’t going to be the beginning of a particularly nasty battle for them – even though they have the representation they want.
I don’t know a whole lot about Galloway myself; I was first introduced to his rhetoric when he took on the government over the disappearance of certain funds during the Iraq invasion. If ever there was person qualified to fight the kind of battle that I see blowing Bradford’s way, it would be him, he’s a skilled scraper for sure. But there was also another side, admittedly these are stories from unsympathetic media sources, that was as dodgy as any politician, anywhere. The problem I see coming is that the groups that have tried to assist (we’ll be generous and say “assist”) Bradford’s social issues aren’t all of the left-leaning persuasion, and as Torys believe, if you take their support and don’t then pay it back by accepting their world view, thereby perpetuating your demise, just slower, they withdraw all the support and go on the attack. It’s not a reason to fold, or give up, but it is a concern.
But if we take Galloway and the context of Bradford out of the picture, it is uncanny how the sentiment of the article mirrors our own nation’s issues over the past few months. If we then drop in the same concerns I see happening, it is a warning that just winning an election is only the start of the work. The battle, for real, starts immediately after that – and the opponent isn’t going to be beaten easily. Real change is the only option, none of the tinkering of the last 30 odd years.
It does look like the right wing dominance in media and politics, via the neoliberal narrative, is weakening here and abroad e.g. Murdock’s fall from grace etc.
But I wonder if Sean Plunket has any comments on Galloway’s success in Bradford, or he will show the same avoidance behaviour he demonstrated in 2010:
Among the responses made by Mr Galloway are these:
• “I’m stunned that such a collection of inaccuracies and downright lies, larded by overt bias, can be broadcast in New Zealand.”
• “I’m not virulently anti-American [as claimed by Mr Plunket]… It’s their foreign policy I ‘virulently’ oppose.”
• Mr Plunket’s allegation that Viva Palestina is “all about the fall of the capitalist system” is labelled by Mr Galloway as “piffle, poppycock and utterly preposterous”.
• In response to Mr Plunket’s inference that the last Viva Palestina land convoy was turned away by Egypt, Mr Galloway states: “It successfully crossed into Gaza through Rafah after first a stand-off with Egyptian security forces and then an attack by them. The aid and vehicles were successfully delivered. Only coming out of Gaza was I seized and then deported.”
• “Instead of defaming me behind my back Plunket could have put these wild allegations to my face. I invite him to do that now in a TV interview if he has the stomach for it.”
Galloway has a bit of a Hone Harawira kind of relationship with the MSM, followed by electoral success standing on a left wing platform.
Did a Labour Party MP accidentally rumble the new fish and chip club 2014 in David Shearers office last month?
Did the club consist of Pagani, Shearer, Parker, Nash and a well known right wing strategist?
Did the Labour Party MP complain about the strategist being in Shearer’s office?
What happened to the complaint?
Obviously there is more to come, but this really doesn’t surprise me. Another twist in Labour’s death spiral. The right is happy for Labour to win the next election in its present configuration. With a dearth of suitable candidates to replace Key, NACT has settled on a suitable replacement; David Shearer.
The Bye election result in Bradford West UK is interesting and could well be a warning to our own Labour Party.A far Left candidate has won in a landslide in a “safe Labour seat. Tories whacked and the LibDems totally defeated .This could well be a caution to NZ labour not to move further to the centre or to the Right. If we are to recover those non-voters from the last election we need to start thinking more Left not Right or the Bradford result may well happen here .Take not Labour leaders now.
I agree, pink postman, especially when you look at Bradford alongside the Queensland rout. I think that Labour Parties who agree to be semi-tories so as to get corporate dollars to fight elections are doomed – the pendulum has swing too far.
I suppose you could just have a wee sleep after telling it where you want to end up. My Grandfather had a system like that. He would roll out of the pub, climb up the seat on the gig and say,”Home Neddie.” Then drop off for a little snooze. Chaff didn’t cost much either.
Google have had all kind of trouble with them, it’s been a long programme already. I could see where they might have a use, but it’s really just another way of taking people out the equation.
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the new figures for COVID-19 (as we must now call the novel coronavirus – though I’m not sure the capitalisation is correct) from Hubei province:Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51495484The spike yesterday is a consequence of a using a different way of ...
Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
As I've done for the past few years, I'm curating and presenting The Listening Lounge, the talk programme at Splore. On the morning of Saturday the 22nd at the Living Lounge stage, the korero goes like this.Yes, we're talking about drugs again, not just because I'm professionally interested in drug ...
What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
So the guy who advocated for public burning and beheading feels offended because someone called him a racist!Perhaps Bob Jones hasn't heard of the very old saying; Live by the sword, die by the sword?I mean for someone who often writes opinionated nonsense about Maori; this is a ridiculous case ...
The government today announced a major support package aimed at reducing homelessness. A thousand new transitional housing places, more support for people to find homes (or not lose them in the first place), all good stuff. The one problem with it is that they're going to start charging people in ...
Courtroom Drama: There is no off-switch in a courtroom. Neither is it possible to turn the page in disgust. Ill-formed and ill-defended opinions will be exposed ruthlessly and unapologetically. As Shakespeare put it: “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Sometimes the ...
As of today, the novel coronavirus spreading in China is called COVID-19. Why does it matter? Around the office, we’ve had several conversations over the past few weeks about how 2019-nCoV needed its own name. First, it was getting annoying calling it by the above designation, and ‘novel coronavirus’ doesn’t ...
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Arms (Firearms Prohibition Orders) Amendment Bill (No 2) (Brett Hudson)Its basicly more "tough on crime" nonsense (its already illegal for unlicensed people to own guns) designed to wedge NZ First against its arsehole base. ...
In 2015 the world agreed to the Paris Agreement to fight climate change. Each country would offer a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) "that it intends to achieve", and "pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving [it]". And every five years, they'd improve on it, ratcheting up ambition until ...
In theory, the emissions trading scheme should reduce emissions. Making polluters pay for permits to pollute lets them save money by reducing pollution, giving them a financial incentive to do the right thing. But right from the start the ETS was broken with a system of free allocation, so polluters ...
Irish voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections, and perhaps delivered a political revolution. Since independence, Irish politics has been dominated by two parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Basicly patronage networks with indistinguishable policies, their cleavage isn't ideology, but who killed whose father or grandfather in ...
Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this ...
Lately there has been a great deal of misinformation regarding the origins and purpose of Skeptical Science. As John Cook wrote nearly a decade ago, Skeptical Science is primarily a website that debunks climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Despite the ever-worsening impacts from climate change, with record after record being broken in ...
Under Attack: By sacking not only RNZ Concert’s presenters, but also its producers and librarians, and reducing the station to an automated purveyor of classical music in-between parliamentary broadcasts, RNZ’s CEO, Paul Thompson, wasn’t simply announcing an operational shake-up, he was declaring war on one of the most important guardians of ...
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Australian smoke plume sets recordsThe recent wildfires in Australia sent one of ...
The Global Protest to #FightInequality was powerful – thankyou and what next? Dear allies, We started the decade with a huge protest to #FightInequality that was heard around the world, including the 1% at Davos. Watch and share the highlights on facebook and twitter. A huge thank you. Together we ...
The Ministry of Health have announced a package that might ensure NZ will never experience another measles epidemic. While at the time of writing the details are still limited it appears that the important limitations in our current programme have been acknowledged and the intent is to address them. Great ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly summarise our assessment of the highly uncertain new coronavirus threat. Given its potential to become a severe and prolonged global pandemic, a precautionary response now means activating all components of our pandemic plan, with a particular focus on ‘keep ...
When Labour was running for election, Jacinda Ardern famously said that climate change was "my generation's nuclear free moment". The implication was that her government would take the problem seriously, and act swiftly to reduce emissions. The reality:New Zealand will emit a million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2020 ...
James Renwick is Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University of Wellington. He studied at Canterbury and the University of Washington and has worked on diverse aspects of climate science, including global atmospheric circulation and Antarctic sea ice. In December 2019 he was appointed to the New Zealand Climate Change ...
by Philip Ferguson Exit polls are showing a three-way virtual tie between the main parties in the south of Ireland. Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all on just over 22%. FG on 22.4, SF on 22.3, FF on 22.2. Exit polls indicate that over 30% of 18-24 ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 2, 2020 through Sat, Feb 8, 2020 Editor's Pick New Report Details How Fossil Fuel Industry's Climate Destruction Also Exacerbates Human Rights Abuses"Even in the face of the ...
In a previous post I described briefly when and how the Starlink satellite chains – recent launches by Space-X in a scheme to bring 5G internet connectivity to the whole globe – could be seen from New Zealand with the naked eye. Here I provide an update and predictions for ...
Keeping The Faith: This Government’s broad, new, heavily moderated, progressive faith does not require a prime minister with the powers of a medieval pope. Jacinda’s regime has no need of subterranean torture chambers to ensure compliance. A gift for diplomacy and the ability to inspire her fellow human-beings is all ...
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...
Tonight’s news suggests the coronavirus outbreak may have originated from pangolins. Details are very sketchy, almost nothing at all beyond a claim of high similarity. My impression is this claim comes from a press release by South China Agricultural University. Initial discussion online suggests this is a more likely candidate ...
by Susanne Kemp The Fire and Emergency service (FENZ) has recently asked firefighters in Auckland Areas 3, 4 and 5 to take on an additional duty that has rather ominous implications. Namely, to collect names and addresses of everyone on the premises of fires they attend. The firefighters’ union, the ...
Part of the story of the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was the willingness of mainstream right-wing parties to work with them to keep out the left. Because of this, one of the fundamental rules of postwar German politics has been "do not work with Nazis". As a result, ...
There has long been a truism in public broadcasting: don't mess with Concert FM. The theory was that although the station has been in a long-term audience decline, and that audience is steadily ageing out, it has powerful establishment support – and any threat to it would provoke a fury.As ...
This is a re-post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The heat absorbed in Earth’s oceans reached a new record in 2019, found a recent study published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Despite the fact that this has been the case for almost every year over the past decade, this information ...
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics.Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...
by Don Franks Under a government claiming empathy with the fine arts, Radio New Zealand ( RNZ) is poised to cut back its classical music station, RNZ Concert. The plan is replacing it on FM radio with music “for a younger audience” as part of a new multimedia music brand. ...
More Thwaites This past week we heard disturbing news about Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier. Helping to fill in the longer term history of Thwaites' behavior and especially helpful in interpreting results of the recent drilling project and what it may say about the future of this unstable mass of ice is Revealing the ...
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit:Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ...
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...
A few years ago, a company lowballed a contract to dispose of toxic waste from the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. So, they dumped it in a disused paper mill in Mataura, then went into liquidation - effectively dumping the problem on local councils. The waste is dangerous - it releases ...
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...
Over on The Good Society, Max Rashbrooke suggests that its time to start directly taxing wealth:A wealth tax would be levied on net wealth – that is, the value of people’s assets once their debts have been subtracted. Such a tax would be highly redistributive. Levied at 1% on wealth ...
The quarterly labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has dropped to 4%. There are now 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when Labour took office. Its not the performance we had under Clark (when unemployment was ~3.3%), but its still a reasonable improvement over prevailing conditions under National. ...
Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson, Louise Delany, Prof Richard Edwards, Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanThe current national measles epidemic in New Zealand is amongst the largest we have experienced in the last 40 years. It can be linked to the problems created by long-term erosion and fragmentation of national public health ...
I’m about to start teaching science communication to tertiary students, which is equally hilarious and terrifying to me. (Hi to my students who have Googled me and found this post.) I loved English at high school, but we spent most of our time reading The Outsiders, discussing the differences between metaphors and ...
Space-X has started launching its Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit with a plan to use some tens of thousands of these to deliver 5G wifi to the whole globe. Chains of these satellites can be seen in the evening or before-dawn skies, through the sunlight they scatter. Here I provide ...
New Zealand was the first country to decriminalise prostitution and it was promoted as a progressive move. Yet survivors of the sex trade say that pimps and johns are emboldened operating within the law, and that the women are treated more like a piece of property to be used and ...
An obscene 12 percent pay jump for already overpaid CEOs last year reveals a willful ignorance from much of corporate New Zealand to the on-going harm inequality is causing the very society they live in, said Peter Malcolm, spokesperson for the income equality project Closing the Gap. In its annual ...
One thing I remember about the interview I did with Rex Halliday for Planet magazine in 1992 was a couple of times being on the verge of tears.Rex was reflecting on the community effort that went into the second Hero party at the old Princes Wharf building – and the ...
Something you don't see: Malawi's constitutional court has annulled fraudulent elections and ordered new ones:Judges in Malawi have annulled last year’s elections and called for a new ballot within 150 days. In a landmark judgment that experts hailed as a step forward for democracy, the country’s constitutional court found that ...
Our Scibloggers have been providing updates on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. This page will be updated as more posts are published. 3 February 2020 Coronavirus ‘infodemic’ The WHO has called the coronavirus outbreak an ‘infodemic’, with information spreading rapidly – and sometimes incorrectly – online. Sarah-Jane O’ConnorLately, in Science 2 ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First spokesperson for Labour and Industrial Relations Unemployment and wage growth numbers released by Stats NZ today demonstrate a labour market in good shape with unemployment falling to 4.0%, the underutilisation rate falling to an 11 year low, and wage growth at a 10-year high ...
Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence New Zealand First Spokesperson for Defence Ron Mark, welcomes the official opening of Te Rau Aroha, a new museum at Waitangi Treaty Grounds as part of our Coalition Agreement. “It is a great honour to be part of an effective Government ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterGood morning,Let us start with important acknowledgements.First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service of our country.Second, special guest Robert ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will look to build on its relationship with the United Kingdom and recommit to the European Union, after the country officially left the continental union recently. The Minister said New Zealand already cooperates closely with Britain on defence and security issues and has ...
Today, our Government announced the biggest infrastructure investment in a generation.We’re investing $12 billion to upgrade and build rail, roads, schools and hospitals across the country – modernising our infrastructure, preparing for climate change and helping to future-proof our economy.Find out everything you need to know about the ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
Southland residents hit by flooding caused by heavy rainfall can now access help finding temporary accommodation with the Government activating the Temporary Accommodation Service, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare announced today. “The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help ...
“Is that it?” That’s Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ much-hyped economic speech today. “Simon Bridges just gave the most over-hyped and under-delivered speech that I can remember during my time in politics,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s not surprising. Simon Bridges literally said on the radio this morning ...
A trial deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter in Christchurch will test whether the aircraft would make a significant difference to crime prevention and community safety. “The Bell 429 helicopter will be based in Christchurch for five weeks, from 17 February to 20 March,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The ...
The Government has kept up the pace of its work to promote New Zealand’s trade interests and diversify our export markets, with visits to Fiji and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. Building momentum to bring the PACER Plus trade and development agreement ...
The Coalition Government’s investment in a strong border and disrupting transnational organised crime produced record results for stopping drugs in 2019, says Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. The illegal drugs were seized at the New Zealand border by Customs, and overseas by Customs’ international border partners before the drugs could ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off construction of a separated cycleway alongside Tamaki Drive. A two-way separated cycleway will be built along the northern side of Tamaki Drive, between the Quay Street Cycleway extension and Ngapipi Road. There will be a separate walking path alongside. Phil Twyford said giving ...
Owner-occupiers of unit and apartments living in earthquake-prone buildings will have certainty about the financial support they’ll be eligible for with the release of criteria for an upcoming assistance scheme, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. The Residential Earthquake-Prone Building Financial Assistance Scheme will help unit owners facing ...
Temporary restrictions on travel from China will remain in place as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The restrictions which prevent foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through, mainland China from entering New Zealand have been extended for a further 8 days. This position ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today that Tairāwhiti rangatahi will benefit from an investment made by the Government’s He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) scheme. The funding will go to the Tautua Village, Kauneke programme and the Matapuna Supported Employment Programme which will fund 120 rangatahi over two years. “Both programmes work ...
All parents and caregivers need to ensure that their children go to school unless they are sick, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said today. “The school attendance results for 2019 show, across the board, a drop in the number of students going to school regularly,” the Minister says. “Apart from ...
A Deed of Settlement agreeing redress for historical Treaty claims has been signed by the Crown and Moriori at Kōpinga Marae on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Moriori have a tradition of peace that extends back over 600 years. This settlement ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today with Māori King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII officially opened the country’s newest road, the $384 million Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. The 15km four-lane highway with side and central safety barriers takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly town, across lowlands and streams ...
The rapid uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal, Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal ...
Kaupapa Māori will underpin the Government’s new plan to deal with homelessness announced by the Prime Minister in Auckland this morning. “Māori are massively overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, so, to achieve different outcomes for Māori, we have to do things very differently,” says the Minister of Māori Development ...
1000 new transitional housing places delivered by end of year to reduce demand for emergency motel accommodation. Introduce 25% of income payment, after 7 days, for those in emergency motel accommodation to bring in line with other forms of accommodation support. Over $70m extra to programmes that prevents those at ...
Clear requirements for ensuring customers are treated fairly by banks, insurers and other financial service providers are included in new financial conduct legislation that passed its first reading today. “The recent reviews, by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, into the conduct of banks and ...
Applications are now open for the fifth round of the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant Robertson announced today. “I am delighted to open this year’s fund which has some $7 million available to support performing arts venues, galleries, museums and whare ...
The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta today congratulated Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu on her appointment as the next President of the Law Commission. “Amokura Kawharu will be a standout in her new role, leading in an innovative and forward looking approach to the law reform process. She will ...
Auckland University legal academic Amokura Kawharu has been appointed as the next President of the Law Commission, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Associate Professor Kawharu will take up her new appointment on 11 May 2020. “I would like to congratulate Associate Professor Kawharu on her appointment,” Andrew ...
A programme for employers to help them engage effectively with younger employees was launched today by Minister of Employment, Willie Jackson. The Youth Ready Employer Programme contains a range of on-line templates that employers can easily access to help with employing and retaining young people in their businesses. The programme ...
Budget 2020 will be delivered on Thursday 14 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “This year’s Budget will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also preparing the economy for the future. “Those challenges and opportunities cannot be resolved in one budget, ...
I move, That this House place on record its appreciation and thanks for the devoted and distinguished service to New Zealand by the late Rt Hon Michael Kenneth Moore, member of the Order of New Zealand, a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an Honorary Member of the ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has today classified the drought conditions in Northland as an adverse event for the primary sector, unlocking $80,000 in Government support. “This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support ...
The Minister of Police says an operation to smash a trans national drug smuggling ring today will make a significant impact on the methamphetamine trade fuelling harm in our communities. Police have announced 10 arrests and the seizure of up to five million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs after an ...
The Government’s books are in a strong position to withstand global headwinds, with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the six months to December. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above ...
Race courses can improve safety with this year’s second round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. Minister for Racing Winston Peters has announced the second funding round of 2019/20 is open with $347,875 available for distribution. “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of ...
The Government is committing $300,000 to fund research to update behavioural information to make sure HIV and STI prevention services are targeted appropriately in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson made the announcement at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland. “There is much talk about ...
The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has announced work will begin on a business case to assess the viability of forming a new public media entity. “The Government must ensure New Zealanders have a strong independent public media service for decades to come, which means ensuring public ...
Minister of Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare announced today that the Government will contribute $100,000 to the Southland regional Mayoral Relief Fund, to support communities impacted by the recent flooding in Southland. Mr Henare says this week’s flooding has caused significant disruption to communities in the lower South Island. ...
Heritage buildings throughout New Zealand will benefit from the $1.1 million in Heritage EQUIP funding grants announced today. “These grants for seismic strengthening projects help private building owners get the advice they need to start building work or to get the work completed,” Grant Robertson says. “Timaru’s Grosvenor Hotel has ...
A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according ...
Te Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) allocated $21 million to connect rural towns ...
The West Coast has had a funding injection of over $1.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika today. The PGF projects announced are: $800,000 to Development West Coast for a Grey District Regional Digital Hub ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has declared an adverse event for the Southland and Otago regions, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “Widespread flooding has resulted in severe disruption, with many people evacuated from their homes and many farms being affected by flood waters. It’s putting pressure on our farmers, ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a funeral service for former Labour Prime Minister the Rt Hon Mike Moore, ONZ, AO. A public service will be held on Friday 14 February at 2pm at Dilworth School senior campus, 2 Erin Street, Epsom, Auckland. “The service will be a celebration of ...
Today’s news of low unemployment, rising wages and record numbers of Maori in work shows the economy is in good shape and that the Government is delivering better outcomes across New Zealand. “The Coalition Government has overseen a strong economy. Our investments in infrastructure, our focus on lifting wages of ...
Opening of Waitangi Museum Te Rau Aroha 9.30am, 5 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Good morning, Let us start with important acknowledgements. First, this special day, in remembrance of the 28th Maori Battalion, is also to honour all those men and women who have risked their lives in the service ...
The government has agreed to help crayfish exporters to minimise the impact of trade disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China. Between 150 and 180 tonnes of live rock lobster are currently held in New Zealand in pots and tanks, at sea and on land, after export orders were ...
The $11 million tourism package announced after today’s Cabinet is a positive response. Auckland Business Chamber head Michael Barnett said possibly more important in the Prime Minister’s announcement was that further support was possible, as ...
By Joenner Paulo L. Enriquez and Ma. Alena O. Castillo in Manila Thomasian Jesuit priests Fr Albert Alejo and Fr Flaviano Villanueva have posted P10,000 (NZ$310) bail each after a judge issued a warrant of arrest in connection with their sedition case. “Nag-piyansa na kami Fr Flavie at sumama ...
Labour and NZ First are delaying a painful call on either lifting or cutting the annual residency visa limit, while the Greens want the limits removed completely. ...
Tame Impala’s new album The Slow Rush dropped over the weekend to universal acclaim. Jordan Hamel talked to the band’s frontman, Kevin Parker, about the five year gap between albums, and where the band fits into riock music in 2020.Kevin Parker’s musical baby Tame Impala steadily rose to indie prominence in the ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First is facing the boot at this year’s election, especially as it’s now embroiled in an unfolding donations scandal, which comes on top of low poll ratings. But what effect will the scandal have on NZ First’s government coalition colleagues? And is Labour and the Greens’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Jones, Climate Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology After the intensely dry conditions of 2019, January and February have brought much-needed rain. Dams in many cities and towns were replenished and some farmers may be able to grow a crop for the ...
New Zealand’s trusted service for ageing well, Age Concern New Zealand, is receiving a New Year boost after inking an agreement with Perpetual Guardian to have the nation’s largest and most dominant trustee services company as the platinum sponsor of Age ...
The boundaries of free speech were at issue in two recent court cases, one in Britain, the other in New Zealand. In the British case, a judge ruled that the police response to an ex-officer’s tweets (allegedly transphobic) was a “disproportionate interference” with his right to freedom of expression. The ...
The Tauranga-based power company Trustpower has cut its earnings expectations by as much as 14 percent because of lower power prices and pressure on margins. ...
It’s not worth putting much credence in Simon Bridges’s complaints about the current Government’s piling on hikes in petrol taxes until he commits to reversing them, says the Taxpayers’ Union . Spokesman Louis Houlbrooke said, “It’s not ...
Researchers say councils need to be doing much more to ensure homes and buildings aren't wiped out when a mega-tsunami eventually strikes the east coast of the North Island. ...
Water utilities right across the country face major challenges to upgrade and maintain their underground three waters network. Water New Zealand’s Technical Manager, Noel Roberts says Wellington’s waste water woes are not unique to the capital city. ...
With more than a thousand locations in 250 cities worldwide, UK company Stasher is allowing travellers to store their luggage while offering local businesses a way to earn extra cash. Having recently launched in New Zealand, co-founder and CEO Jacob Wedderburn-Day explains how the business works. How did Stasher start and ...
National's deputy leader Paula Bennett says if Winston Peters had any involvement in covert photographs of journalists meeting a source, he is not fit to be deputy prime minister. ...
ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa is co-sponsoring a National Day of Action – Our Bodies, Our Choices, with Fem Force, Victoria University Feminists Organisation, NCW, and HELP. “Now is the time for people who care about women and pregnant people ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentPolitical donations Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): The donations mess reveals a vacuum in our political system. Who will fill it? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Robinson, Lecturer, Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University When people think about Australian Rules Football injuries, they tend to think about head injuries and the long-term effects of concussion. Or they might think of the potentially lengthy recoveries after hamstring, shoulder ...
Simon Bridges reckons those on the average wage shouldn’t be hit by a 33-cents-in-the-dollar tax. And they’re not. Not even close. Alex Braae explains. It takes an incredible political talent to announce that you disagree with a policy setting, and have that critique be so powerful that it retroactively becomes government ...
Sam Brooks heads along to Meatstock 2020, and finds himself questioning the symbiotic relationship between meat-eating and machismo.As I entered Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds for the first day of Meatstock 2020, a girl was exiting. Trucker cap on, eyes hidden behind aviators, manicured fingers wrapped around a can, itself wrapped in ...
Today’s launch of the Ngati Porou treaty settlement documentary is significant for the iwi and for all New Zealanders as we further our understanding of the journey to Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlements, Bernadette Cavanagh CE Manatū Taonga Ministry ...
Why don’t Western democratic governments typically regulate the porn industry, internet service providers (ISPs) or other internet services who make pornographic content accessible to children? And how is a change in the idea of what it means ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Ministry of Health to demand back the $319,000 of taxpayers spent on a flawed study suggesting a weekly lotto ticket is as harmful as an amputated leg and that occasional gambling is comparable to having a heart ...
Across the prime minister’s Monday morning broadcast interviews, there was one overwhelming theme: the behaviour of NZ First and Winston Peters, who happens also to be the deputy prime minister.With turmoil engulfing government coalition partner NZ First and deputy PM Winston Peters, the logical next person to ask for a ...
By Michael Norris in Wellington After a week-long controversy, New Zealand’s public broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) has withdrawn a proposal to axe its classical music station RNZ Concert. But despite the sudden backtrack, RNZ Concert isn’t safe yet. Whatever the final outcome of RNZ’s rethink, it is clear ...
“The Government’s current dispute with councils regarding the Urban Development Bill is the result of Phil Twyford’s failure to cut red tape on a broader basis,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “In Opposition, ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the New Zealand First Foundation - which faces investigation from the SFO - has nothing to do with her or Winston Peters' role in her Cabinet. ...
The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been speaking with her Australian counterpart about options to evacuate New Zealanders stuck on a cruise ship, quarantined in Japan. ...
Government seeks power to seize reins over electricity industry; and property investors to blame for NZ's high house prices, not lack of supply, researcher says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bénédicte Cenki-Tok, Associate professor at Montpellier University, EU H2020 MSCA visiting researcher, University of Sydney As the world shifts away from fossil fuels, we will need to produce enormous numbers of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries. Demand for the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Salisbury, Research Associate, School of Political Science & International Studies, The University of Queensland With cries of “Quexit!” still echoing faintly in our ears, Queenslanders head towards a state election in October. For many, interest lies in whether federal Labor’s poor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susanne Becken, Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Director, Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University If you’re a traveller who cares about reducing your carbon footprint, are some airlines better to fly with than others? Several of the world’s major airlines have announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Every year, the Australian Taxation Office releases a report that includes the highest earning occupations in Australia. These are mostly in the medical, legal and financial sectors. This information is commonly used ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Despite two years of housing market cooling in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia stayed near the top of the global unaffordability league in 2019. And with prices ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Diane Kraal, Senior Lecturer, Business Law and Taxation Dept, Monash Business School, Monash University So worried is the government about the meagre income it is getting from gas during the middle of Australia’s biggest gas export boom that it asked an independent ...
NZ's effective policy of tempting guest workers here with the chance of permanent residency and then quietly withdrawing that chance has become a damaging economic addiction that is mean and fraudulent, Bernard Hickey argues. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bridges gives signal of tax cuts, police under pressure over family violence problem, and condemnation rains down over Peters scandal.Expect plenty of news today about National’s economic manifesto to take into the next election. From Simon Bridges’ appearance on Q+A yesterday (welcome back ...
A "surreptitious" conspiracy to introduce special NZ gold kiwifruit plants into China could cost a Chinese-born local grower $15m for breaches of intellectual property laws. ...
Maia Wilson is being tipped as the next Maria Folau in the Silver Ferns shooting circle, but she wants to stamp her own unique footprint on netball history. ...
Dental decay is NZ's most common chronic disease, yet it is not covered by the health system. Cat McLennan explains why we should introduce free dental care for adults. ...
Winston Peters was once the one who could plausibly rail against the self-interest of the establishment. Today that seems laughable, So where are the real critics offering reform, asks Danyl Mclauchlan. Politics is messy. It’s chaotic; most things happen for complex combinations of reasons and these are not always obvious, ...
The conversation around how we prepare for coronavirus here needs to be guided by a sense of our common humanity, write Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew Moore, Ayesha Verrall of the University of Otago’s Department of Public Health.Borders have been closed, arrivals from Wuhan are in quarantine, and New Zealanders ...
Pretty much everything has a breaking point. The only questions are where, when and how. Might it be coming soon with climate change policy? This week there was disarray in the Australian Liberal and National party coalition over the costs of climate change policy. This was one of the issues ...
Ex-tropical cyclone Uesi is due to reach the west of the South Island this afternoon, bringing further pain to flood-hit Southland. Here’s what you need to know.Ex-tropical, you say. What on earth does that mean? A tropical cyclone, which is a low-pressure system that forms over warm waters in the tropics, ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has confirmed anti-poverty campaigner Ricardo Menendez March as their candidate for Maungakiekie in this general election. Ricardo Menendez March has been working as the Coordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty, ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, a bunch of us have a hoon on Burger King’s new chip butty.The United Kingdom’s contributions to world cuisine, like its contributions to the world in general (Morris dancing, Piers Morgan, colonialism etc), are ...
Emily Writes reviews the now infamous orgasm episode of the even more infamous Netflix show The Goop Lab.It was four days after the fourth person asked me to review the orgasm episode of Netflix’s The Goop Lab that I finally sat down to watch it.I don’t like Gwyneth Paltrow but ...
Beige and on-trend? Not for this poet. Paula Harris gives some real-life, applicable decor advice.Last night I was procrastinating and avoiding working on some poem revisions, because being a poet means that when you have other things to do, you write a poem, and when you have a poem to ...
Have we reached peak smartphone? Henry Burrell reviews the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, an engineering marvel which all but highlights how few ways there are to improve phones in 2020.In the age of smartphones, notifications and constant communication, you might wish for a simpler time when the old flip phone ...
By Hans Nicholas Jong in Jakarta Experts have warned that a slate of sweeping deregulation planned by the Indonesian government could prove disastrous for the environment and create even more conflicts over land and resources. The administration of President Joko Widodo is preparing to submit to Parliament two bills ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.Does money buy policy in New Zealand politics and government? Based on the ongoing political finance scandal involving New Zealand First, which comes hot on the heels of the Serious Fraud Office charging four people in relation to donations to the National Party, New Zealanders have every ...
It’s an unprecedented level of excitement in the US for a New Zealand novel. It’s also very sudden. The hype for The Absolute Book, published by Victoria University Press in September last year, took off with a hiss and a roar after Dan Kois’s ...
Taxpayers were called on to cough up $87,994 million in the 2019 Budget, accounting for much of the $120,984m which the Treasury estimated would be collected in government revenue this financial year. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said: So, today in this first Wellbeing Budget, we are ...
The State Housing Action Network (SHAN) is deeply disappointed that the Government’s recently announced Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan fails to provide for increases in the state housing stock which are essential for addressing the homelessness crisis. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Norris, Associate Professor, Programme Director (Composition), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington After a week-long controversy, New Zealand’s public broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) has withdrawn a proposal to axe its classical music station RNZ Concert. But despite the ...
Serena Bentley writes on an illuminating survey in Auckland and Christchurch of the work of a daring modernist artist deserving of wider attention.Cigarette in hand, Dame Louise Henderson stares straight down the barrel of the camera. Her gaze is magnetic. So begins this exhibition, a partnership between Christchurch and Auckland ...
A secretive group excavating a cave near Huntly believe it’s filled with a race of pre-Polynesian giants’ skeletons, but iwi and archaeologists have serious concerns, reports RNZ’s Susan Strongman.Archaeologists say a group of people tunnelling into the side of a country road in search of a race of pre-Polynesian giants’ ...
Open mike 31/03/2012 
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...6 hours ago
Prof Philippa Howden-Chapman Housing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...7 hours ago
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...8 hours ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...18 hours ago
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...3 days ago
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre. (Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...3 days ago
by Philip Ferguson Last month B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported: “In 2019, Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians, including 28 minors. Of the casualties, 104 were killed in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and three within ...5 days ago
...1 week ago
Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian has penned a column which chastises the left wing of the Labour party for daring to retain principles and ideals, qualities - it seems - that should be jettisoned in pursuit of power.Never mind that Freedland was an ardent Remainer, that is to say, one ...1 week ago
We are confronted with the spectre of Simon Bridges making clear he cannot, will not, trust Winston Peters – the oft-cited “King Maker” in New Zealand politics. Supporters are lauding it as a master stroke, naturally, because in their eyes, it prevents him being the tail that wags the dog. ...2 weeks ago
Inaccuracies are very common in scientific paper abstracts. Image credit: Science in the Abstract: Don’t Judge a Study by its Cover I have come to accept anti-fluoride campaigners will never stop cherry-picking research and findings ... 2 weeks ago
“The scene is set, the players met…”. And what players they are in this farce of an Election coming up in the United States this year. There is a multi-faceted anger in the broader situation the world finds itself in, in which the false promises of so-called “moderates” find themselves ...2 weeks ago
Unhappy with the demonisation of Iran in Western media, I was fortunate to have the Australian Institute of International Affairs invite me to write an alternative analysis for their on-line journal Australian Outlook. I did, and they serialised it into two parts. The essays are short, so I did not ...2 weeks ago
New Zealand was the first country to decriminalise prostitution and it was promoted as a progressive move. Yet survivors of the sex trade say that pimps and johns are emboldened operating within the law, and that the women are treated more like a piece of property to be used and ...2 weeks ago
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...10 hours ago
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...3 days ago
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...6 hours ago
Grant Robertson is challenging Simon Bridges to say which services a National government would scrap, in order to deliver tax cuts. ...3 hours ago
The $11 million tourism package announced after today’s Cabinet is a positive response. Auckland Business Chamber head Michael Barnett said possibly more important in the Prime Minister’s announcement was that further support was possible, as ...4 hours ago
By Joenner Paulo L. Enriquez and Ma. Alena O. Castillo in Manila Thomasian Jesuit priests Fr Albert Alejo and Fr Flaviano Villanueva have posted P10,000 (NZ$310) bail each after a judge issued a warrant of arrest in connection with their sedition case. “Nag-piyansa na kami Fr Flavie at sumama ...4 hours ago
Labour and NZ First are delaying a painful call on either lifting or cutting the annual residency visa limit, while the Greens want the limits removed completely. ...4 hours ago
Tame Impala’s new album The Slow Rush dropped over the weekend to universal acclaim. Jordan Hamel talked to the band’s frontman, Kevin Parker, about the five year gap between albums, and where the band fits into riock music in 2020.Kevin Parker’s musical baby Tame Impala steadily rose to indie prominence in the ...5 hours ago
Seaweed harvested or farmed off the coast of Stewart Island by a Kiwi company could prove the key to decreasing methane emissions from livestock. ...5 hours ago
The SFO prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves not one but two $100,000 donations - in June 2017 and June 2018. ...5 hours ago
RNZ's ploy was the equivalent of strapping Concert FM to a car’s front bumper and gunning the engine, and it seems to have worked. ...7 hours ago
The boundaries of free speech were at issue in two recent court cases, one in Britain, the other in New Zealand. In the British case, a judge ruled that the police response to an ex-officer’s tweets (allegedly transphobic) was a “disproportionate interference” with his right to freedom of expression. The ...7 hours ago
Airbnb is putting forward its own blueprint to regulate holiday rentals in New Zealand. ...8 hours ago
The Tauranga-based power company Trustpower has cut its earnings expectations by as much as 14 percent because of lower power prices and pressure on margins. ...8 hours ago
Researchers say councils need to be doing much more to ensure homes and buildings aren't wiped out when a mega-tsunami eventually strikes the east coast of the North Island. ...8 hours ago
The National Party will campaign on a tax cut package, but the leader Simon Bridges is not yet revealing any of the details. ...10 hours ago
A new tenant has been found to occupy the top two floors of what will be New Zealand's tallest commercial building. ...13 hours ago
The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been speaking with her Australian counterpart about options to evacuate New Zealanders stuck on a cruise ship, quarantined in Japan. ...15 hours ago
National leader Simon Bridges will today outline the party's economic goals and who will benefit most from the party's proposed tax cuts. ...15 hours ago
Government seeks power to seize reins over electricity industry; and property investors to blame for NZ's high house prices, not lack of supply, researcher says. ...15 hours ago
NZ's effective policy of tempting guest workers here with the chance of permanent residency and then quietly withdrawing that chance has become a damaging economic addiction that is mean and fraudulent, Bernard Hickey argues. ...16 hours ago
A "surreptitious" conspiracy to introduce special NZ gold kiwifruit plants into China could cost a Chinese-born local grower $15m for breaches of intellectual property laws. ...17 hours ago
Mary Macpherson looks at the way photographer MItchell Bright has documented the post-earthquake rebuild of Selwyn in Canterbury. ...18 hours ago
A Conservation Department manager decided it wouldn’t submit on a water consent next to a scientific reserve ...18 hours ago
Maia Wilson is being tipped as the next Maria Folau in the Silver Ferns shooting circle, but she wants to stamp her own unique footprint on netball history. ...18 hours ago
Dental decay is NZ's most common chronic disease, yet it is not covered by the health system. Cat McLennan explains why we should introduce free dental care for adults. ...18 hours ago
Efforts by the Chinese government to contain the coronavirus have an unlikely casualty: our tourist visa processing systems ...18 hours ago
New Zealand has a massive e-waste problem, pushed along by rampant consumerism. ...18 hours ago
Pretty much everything has a breaking point. The only questions are where, when and how. Might it be coming soon with climate change policy? This week there was disarray in the Australian Liberal and National party coalition over the costs of climate change policy. This was one of the issues ...1 day ago
It’s an unprecedented level of excitement in the US for a New Zealand novel. It’s also very sudden. The hype for The Absolute Book, published by Victoria University Press in September last year, took off with a hiss and a roar after Dan Kois’s ...2 days ago
Taxpayers were called on to cough up $87,994 million in the 2019 Budget, accounting for much of the $120,984m which the Treasury estimated would be collected in government revenue this financial year. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said: So, today in this first Wellbeing Budget, we are ...2 days ago
so what was the actual accident Puller meet with in 2002 that all the fuss is over and what events of note, if any surround it ?
Brain injuries from a cycling accident. Do we need to know more?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6616118/The-friend-and-activist-linked-to-Smiths-demise
There but for the grace of fate go I. I’m grateful I only suffered permanent injuries to a limb in my accident. Head injuries must be devastating and very hard to adjust to the life change.
Ha, so that ‘ explains’ the multimillion insurance claim.
I was interested that tv3 ran keys mangled comment about an enquiry. I did not understand the words. It is the first time i have heard him so bad. I wonder if it would have been played last term?
I think her injury has genuinely handicapped a potenitally stellar career. I did wonder, given her contacts, why she had continued to have problems with ACC, and then realised that most of her time as a long-term claimant has been under a Labour Government. Labour also set targets for reducing what ACC described as the “tail” of “stock”, and vulnerable groups, such as those with head injuries, repetitive strain injuries, those with modest means and few social advantages etc. were soft targets in the culls.
I suspect Pullar would have managed this situation discretely and to her best advantage (as well as that of her class) if she was less affected by her injury, or if National had been in power throughout the period of incapacity.
It would be good for people to know the cause of Ms Pullar’s injury ie that it was in a biking accident. I get annoyed at the constant drone from greenies about everyone getting out cars and biking because its so good for the planet. Yes. But for the individual, it can be very unsafe and some on bikes don’t seem to have the cautionary control of a toddler or any consideration for pedestrians comfort. Everywhere belongs to them, road, footpaths, footpaths in parks, green lawns in parks, berms, any space they can whisk through between walkers.
What angers me most is that they don’t frickin’ wear helmets! A good example of the sheer selfish nature of some cyclists is the 35 year old man who came whizzing, helmetless, across Carrington Road outside Unitec, and down the street on the footpath, missing me by millimetres as he zoomed past me. I called out “idiot!” and he turned around, poked his tongue, screamed an insult about old ladies clogging up the footpath, ‘flipped me the bird’ as I believe the American expression is, and rode on laughing.
Cycles are not legally allowed on footpaths. Many cyclists have told me that the law says they are allowed to not wear helmets if they ride on the footpath. So I made a point of checking with the police. (Who won’t enforce their own law even if an offender is pointed out to them as they are just too damned lazy).
Cycling on footpaths is illegal.
Riding helmetless is illegal.
There is a cycle path on Carrington Road! There’s a big brass plaque pointing that fact out. It’s still ignored even by the Greenie tarts on bikes (I mean frocks on bikes isn’t it? One of them cycles around here, too proud of her expensive hair-do to wear a helmet.)
Footpaths are for pedestrians, and with the Segar Ave residence for people with cerebral palsy and Rehab + for brain injured people both off Carrington Road, wheel chair users.
In a radio interview with I think a Compensation lawyer about 3 weeks ago, he said that it was quite common for brain injury people to become obsessional about matters especially as it relates to the accident. (Cannot remember where the interview was though it had to be National Radio.)
So what is going to be done to stop this sort of thing then…
Nothing when you let the poacher play the part of the gamekeeper also, exactly the same culture that sees top execs pay scream away from average workers at a blistering speed and still get bonuses even when organisations don’t perform.
If Treasury was paid on actual performance that would be interesting.
Bitter, tired and punch drunk. John Armstrong is pretty caustic on National’s meltdown.
Even the simpering Armstrong can’t spin his way out of such recent events, though he still manages to take a swipe at Labour in the last couple of paras
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10795672
Still, as always the Shonkey fanboy and lacking in credibility. The swipe at Labour shows what a shill he is…..focus on the issue JA which isn’t the opposition it’s the stench of NACT corruption the extractor fans aren’t coping with anymore.
And even National supporter Fran O’Sullivan, thinks that Mr Key should clear the air and set up an enquiry:
I think the only approval that Fran gives is to Judith Collins.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10795673
The gloss is or seems to be coming off the teflon from O’Sullivan’s more recent columns, but I remain sceptical in view of her blinkered idolism of the last three years or so. Still, good to see her supporting the call for a full enquiry.
Her support for Collins in this latest column is possibly an attempt to appease her remarks in her column last weekend when (in my honest opinion….) she virtually landed Collins in it re the leaking of Boag’s email:
David Bellamy….Interesting!
The botanist and climate denier? He has been hiding his archaeological expertise under a bushel perhaps.
Lol – Was wondering who would be first to respond…good consistancy points Bloke!
Loving continued use of “climate denier” as some sort of insult..I’m sure DB is very worried what you might think about his credentials. What classifies as “denier” status, so far as you are concerned?
Its kind of like how you dont understand the world of money laundering, and therefore nor do I. I only give an opinion on things which I know about!
“some sort of insult”
No. A simple statement of fact.
Muzza, you failed to understand my point about money laundering, as though I really care what a conspiracy theorist thinks.
Actually I understood what you were saying just fine, the fact you had no idea what you were talking about is quite arrogant . and still provides me entertainment because you keep trying anyway…as does you not answering a question yet again, but let’s just label it all conspiracy theory in case I’m wrong, and my large online ego collapses inward!
It’s possible to have an open mind without your brains falling out…in case you were going to repeat that , yet again!
Be fair, his credentials as an archaeologist are at least as credible as Noel Hilliam’s 😉
hilliam is a graverobber so the bar is pretty low.
http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/dargy-dags.html
/facepalm
http://archaeologyaotearoa.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-cameron.html
And it doesn’t take much googling and critical thinking to realise that not only is that book a giant pile of shit, but also that Bellamy has transformed into the classical crackpot scientist, which is what happens when the D-K Effect hits a scientist outside of their field. Particularly as they get older…
Fortunately it’s a fairly rare condition, but thanks the media’s blindspot when it comes to science, crackpots like Bellamy are given plently of unwarranted positive attention.
Laila Harre’s appointment to the Green Party’s growing staff further strengthens the party’s position as the dominant opposition party. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/laila-harre-joins-greens.html
Chart of the Day: Conservatives Don’t Trust Science
I suppose the question then becomes: Just where did those delusional conservatives get their degrees?
And locally we have National’s plan to gut councils.
Yep, NACT already caught lying in support of the their plan to decrease local democracy.
What should be evidently clear to even the dimmest of bulbs is the following.
There is a concerted effort globally , has been for decades to consolidate nations, via unions, treaties and agreements. Locally we see the efforts being focussed two fold, TPPA which will bind us internationally even further, and the Auckland Super City, which was of course the pilot scheme to be rolled out nationally. One can hear the calls. and see it in action via the attempts to legislate from Wellington.
It is much “simpler” to control small numbers, so once you have consolidated the globe, EU/NAFTA/TPPA etc and removed sovereignty, well it becomes rather open to speculation at that stage. The cities must not be weasled into submission by the criminal government, whose agenda is crystal clear!
It depends on what you think ‘educated’ means. If you’ve ever seen how many creationists there are in first-year biology courses at university, you will know what I mean.
There are plenty of ‘educated’ people who go into university with a closed mind and leave the same way they came in. They give the expected answers in order to pass the exams, but they don’t believe any of it. Their faith takes precedence.
Is there not another woman in the Puller medley – the employee in ACC who released the list to Puller, and is it possible may have had a greater involvement than currently perceived.
It appears from media stories that she may have had unauthorised access to the Puller files, as she apparently had been tracked having some form of access.
There must be a greater inquiry than Privacy Commissioner.
Key gives his reasons for not having a fuller enquiry. at 4.55 into recording,
http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/pm-fronts-acc-saga-video-4808883
It appears that he thinks that by having an inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner will be enough. The problem is though the can of worms has been opened and they are fast slithering towards other matters far outside the nice little boxes that thinks he has under his control.
A full open independent inquiry needs to be held by individuals that are in no way remotely associated with this government as there are already rumors of cronyism and corruption beginning to surface. Did we not learn any thing about deception from Nicky Hager and the Hollow Men.
Well Fortan . Its hard to believe that these files were sent to an active National supporter by accident is it not? The whole thing stinks of Tory sleaze and money grabbing, Mone and power the cement in the National Party,
Funny…I hold New Zealand citizenship, but when I open my mouth and speak it’s obvious that I wasn’t born and raised here. Maybe nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand I get asked if I’m Canadian.
‘Nope, not Canadian. I’m from California.’
‘Oh, erm…well, look at the time…see ya.’
I’m definitely not a rah-rah ‘Go Team America’ kind of person. I find jingoism repulsive. Yet, the fact that I have US nationality somehow means to many people here that I am whatever stereotype they hold when it comes to Americans.
I think maybe in the future I’ll say, ‘Oh yeah…maple syrup and hockey, you betcha, eh.’ That seems to put the locals at ease.
Look at the bright side, happynz – you get to sift through the idiots faster. 1:1000 is a pretty good hit rate, there are potential social prejudices here that will jump that up to 1:100,000, accent, citizenship, or not. Welcome to NZ.
The Air Force have worked hard to put on this Ohakea show and 50-60,000 expected to pay for attendance. Two people who couldn’t manage to drive safely have managed to stuff that up.
The government will be paying for their injury management, for road management, and the losses caused by this crash to the Air Force. Plus there is the cost financial and in wellbeing and in time to people stuck on the road and others wishing to move through the area on their own business. The motor cyclist has head injuries. If he lives it is likely that he’ll require intensive care for much of his life.
It is very sad and unsatisfactory. I believe that all car drivers should have to carry some personal liability insurance and that hospitals should be able to charge for emergency care, not all of it, but on a set scale so that some of the costs of road accidents can be recovered. Many of them are not accidents at all they are examples of malfunctioning immature carelessness. Keeping idiots off the road would be good. Identifying the most likely to meet this term would not be hard, and the number of accidents would plummet. Cutting alcohol outlets and hours would help too but there isn’t the strength of opinion for this enough to sway the pollies.
Nope. Insurance, maybe. But hospitals charging for admission? Hell no.
It’s hard enough getting people to see their GP. Putting a cost barrier on emergency rooms ill result in delays until the problem is deemed serious enough by the patient to consider professional care, and by that time it might be too late.
The Secrets of China’s Economy: The Government Owns the Banks rather than the Reverse
Which is true, private mega corporations got a lot richer and more power via the bailouts while the majority of people got poorer and less powerful. But what’s really interesting is the sentences at the end of the article:
Which is what a few of us here have been saying for the last few years. The private banking system is the biggest problem we face and the only way we can bring it under control is to nationalise it.
British Labour Party gets clobbered by Galloway victory
http://leninology.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/galloway-wins.html
Since Bradford has so many of the social issues associated with high unemployment, and also the clarity that the proletariat discover when they make an attempt to halt the demise of their communities themselves, I wonder if this isn’t going to be the beginning of a particularly nasty battle for them – even though they have the representation they want.
I don’t know a whole lot about Galloway myself; I was first introduced to his rhetoric when he took on the government over the disappearance of certain funds during the Iraq invasion. If ever there was person qualified to fight the kind of battle that I see blowing Bradford’s way, it would be him, he’s a skilled scraper for sure. But there was also another side, admittedly these are stories from unsympathetic media sources, that was as dodgy as any politician, anywhere. The problem I see coming is that the groups that have tried to assist (we’ll be generous and say “assist”) Bradford’s social issues aren’t all of the left-leaning persuasion, and as Torys believe, if you take their support and don’t then pay it back by accepting their world view, thereby perpetuating your demise, just slower, they withdraw all the support and go on the attack. It’s not a reason to fold, or give up, but it is a concern.
But if we take Galloway and the context of Bradford out of the picture, it is uncanny how the sentiment of the article mirrors our own nation’s issues over the past few months. If we then drop in the same concerns I see happening, it is a warning that just winning an election is only the start of the work. The battle, for real, starts immediately after that – and the opponent isn’t going to be beaten easily. Real change is the only option, none of the tinkering of the last 30 odd years.
It does look like the right wing dominance in media and politics, via the neoliberal narrative, is weakening here and abroad e.g. Murdock’s fall from grace etc.
But I wonder if Sean Plunket has any comments on Galloway’s success in Bradford, or he will show the same avoidance behaviour he demonstrated in 2010:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1008/S00314/galloway-disputes-claims-on-the-nation.htm
Galloway has a bit of a Hone Harawira kind of relationship with the MSM, followed by electoral success standing on a left wing platform.
Of relevance here is the latest from TUMEKE blog:
Did a Labour Party MP accidentally rumble the new fish and chip club 2014 in David Shearers office last month?
Did the club consist of Pagani, Shearer, Parker, Nash and a well known right wing strategist?
Did the Labour Party MP complain about the strategist being in Shearer’s office?
What happened to the complaint?
Obviously there is more to come, but this really doesn’t surprise me. Another twist in Labour’s death spiral. The right is happy for Labour to win the next election in its present configuration. With a dearth of suitable candidates to replace Key, NACT has settled on a suitable replacement; David Shearer.
The Bye election result in Bradford West UK is interesting and could well be a warning to our own Labour Party.A far Left candidate has won in a landslide in a “safe Labour seat. Tories whacked and the LibDems totally defeated .This could well be a caution to NZ labour not to move further to the centre or to the Right. If we are to recover those non-voters from the last election we need to start thinking more Left not Right or the Bradford result may well happen here .Take not Labour leaders now.
I agree, pink postman, especially when you look at Bradford alongside the Queensland rout. I think that Labour Parties who agree to be semi-tories so as to get corporate dollars to fight elections are doomed – the pendulum has swing too far.
Self-drive car. Although, I suspect that it won’t get a lot of use due to the increasing cost of fuel as Peak Oil bites.
I suppose you could just have a wee sleep after telling it where you want to end up. My Grandfather had a system like that. He would roll out of the pub, climb up the seat on the gig and say,”Home Neddie.” Then drop off for a little snooze. Chaff didn’t cost much either.
🙂 Funny …
Google have had all kind of trouble with them, it’s been a long programme already. I could see where they might have a use, but it’s really just another way of taking people out the equation.