“Court: We Can’t Rule on NSA Bulk Data Collection Because We Don’t Know Whose Data Was Collected
On Friday, an appeals court overturned a U.S. District Court decision last May that had declared that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records was beyond the authorization of the law. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit kicked the matter back to the lower court for additional deliberation.
The decision did not declare the NSA’s program, which was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, to have been legal or constitutional. Rather, it focused on a technicality: a majority opinion that the plaintiffs in the case could not actually prove that the metadata program swept up their own phone records. Therefore, the plaintiffs, the court declared, did not have standing to sue.
“Today’s ruling is merely a procedural decision,” said Alexander Abdo, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued against the program at the U.S. District Court. “Only one appeals court has weighed in on the merits of the program, and it ruled the government’s collection of Americans’ call records was not only unlawful but ‘unprecedented and unwarranted.’”
I can’t remember that I’ve ever agreed with Patrick Gower before. But on this topic his words and tone are pretty good. What an ridiculous spectacle this bunch of politicians have made of themselves.
When the All Blacks tour to S Africa was cancelled post the anti-tour shambles, I felt for the athletes who had trained so hard, but despised the Rugby Union for their stand and for their 1981 stand. People versus the Organisation.
This politicisation now gets in the way of another crop of athletes. Sad.
Thank you Patrick G and I don’t say that very often. Could you imagine the outrage if “Labour did it too”. Looks like Ritchie’s day job is sucking up to one JK. In the longer term thogh it will hopefully diminish rugby’s following. Tying yourself to a politician probably won’t do the brand any good in the longer term
Katherine did a little spiel this morning on the Politics segment and sounded pretty sceptical about Key’s involvement. Perhaps it is a Matthew says, that this is the style of populist appearances which sit in voters mind. The way of politics now and of the future.
Big Sugar and TPPA
A sweet deal for American sugar farmers is compounding delays in a proposed trade agreement affecting 40% of the world’s economy.
But the trade deal may also weaken protections for the sugar industry dating back to the Great Depression should negotiators heed the calls of Australia and other nations for the US to loosen a quota system that protects domestic suppliers while making the product more expensive for consumers. As they have for decades, sugar lobbyists are fighting to keep it that way by using their clout with lawmakers.
In Washington, that means one thing: money. Sugar accounts for a small fraction of US farm output, but the industry contributes more to congressional campaign coffers than any other commodity producer. Between 2007 and 2014, growers donated $18.5mn, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. “The sugar lobby is one of the strongest in the country,” said James Cassidy, global head of sugar derivatives at Societe Generale in New York.
…..
Nowhere is the industry’s clout felt more than in Florida, base of the nation’s most powerful sugar barons, the Fanjul brothers. Between them, the Fanjuls – Alfonso, Jose, Alexander and Andres – have long-standing ties to at least three US presidential candidates: Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida; Florida Governor Jeb Bush, another Republican; and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.” http://www.gulf-times.com/eco.-bus.%20news/256/details/453092/big-sugar%E2%80%99s-fight-to-keep-us-import-limits-delaying-tpp-deal
TPPA will metastasize the cancer of US corporate donations and the influence of large corporations with the money to chill our ability to make laws in the best interest of our country even if the sugar subsidy is trimmed for US Big Sugar.
It is.
But so is supporting (rather than undercutting) policy. If anything this shows the conflict caused by issues that might have local or regional support, but are a blight on the nation.
Which master would Davis serve should he be leader? Northland could do with the advocacy, but at the expense of everywhere else or even its own long term wellbeing?
A leader is the leader of a team – the leader still needs to be part of that team.
In that case he should explicitly state his opposition and resign his education portfolio.
His job is to advocate for and to explain party policy as determined by the party. If he cannot do his job, he should look for another portfolio.
And that’s assuming that his position on that policy is correct, rather than advocating for a system that’s even worse than the current situation.
FFS, they get multiple times more funding from the state than other schools and they’re still running fundraisers? Where’s all the cash going, if not to the kids?
I’m saying that by going against (according to the article that is) Andrew Littles wishes Kelvin Davis is all but throwing his name into the ring and I think hes got the goods as a leader
I think he is undermining the party, he’s effectively breaking party rules. Little may or may not have been happy with them going, we don’t really know. If Davis does personally support this charter school, how hard is it for him to just stay quiet and not publicly attend a function to avoid a media beatup. Now it looks like there is disunity in caucus.
“I’m saying that by going against (according to the article that is) Andrew Littles wishes Kelvin Davis is all but throwing his name into the ring and I think hes got the goods as a leader”
I don’t see any evidence of that. What I see is Paddy Gower shit stirring and you jumping on board with that. How do you get from Davis attending a fundraiser to him jostling for postition in the enxt LP leadership coup?
I think he is undermining the party, he’s effectively breaking party rules. Little may or may not have been happy with them going, we don’t really know. If Davis does personally support this charter school, how hard is it for him to just stay quiet and not publicly attend a function to avoid a media beatup. Now it looks like there is disunity in caucus.
I don’t know because the only thing I’ve read is Gower’s piece, which let’s face it makes Hosking look like an actual journo.
I’d hazard a guess that Davis is attending because its something to do with his electorate constituency. If you have some more in depth information, I’d be happy to change my mind. cheers.
edit, actually any kind of statement from Davis that he supports charter schools would be good.
To me it looks like Labour’s internal cultural problem which prevents them from presenting as a coherent organisation. Little says he left it up to them, Davis says LIttle didn’t want them to go. At least that’s how the media tell it.
I can’t see a problem with Davis and the other MP going, except that they don’t know how to explain the public what they are doing.
For some years I have vehemently opposed Charter Schools on principle as an attack on and an undermining of the State system. Now I am not quite so sure.
I see nothing wrong with individual initiative as a general position, nor am I opposed to allowing some level of experimentation from dedicated individuals. The issue isn’t there. The problem we have with this particular government initiative, is the degree to which they are pandering to providers with agendas that are never going to benefit either students or society. The current government’s flirtation with Charter Schools attracts massive skepticism principally because we know they have a declared interest in laying off as much of the public service to private providers as they can get away with. We also know that with so few teachers in their ranks, they have almost no notion of what can lead to successful educational outcomes. But this does not assert that our educational system is perfectly formed as it is. A constructive plan might include far more stringent analysis before awarding a charter, and far more stringent oversight after the school is opened.
The trick is to incorporate these initiatives as part of a more complex and inclusive State educational system, not allow them to fragment into some patchy, inadequately monitored private provision. It is also essential that the State educational authorities ensure that mainstream schools are not penalized or harmed by this kind of initiative.
In my view, the most promising area for educational improvement is in the enhancement of professional development and information sharing among teachers and schools, but to improve the body of information to be shared, there will have to be some level of diversity of approach. If a government, committed to State Education, were to allow a certain amount of controlled experimentation, hoping to find better ways of achieving generally agreed targets, that might be highly desirable. After all no one is claiming a monopoly on solutions.
I don’t know if Davis acted without the approval of the Labour leadership, but the disapprobation any indiscipline may attract should not be conflated with rejection of an open minded pursuit of best practice.
Regardless of whether there is a possibility (however slim) that something matching the rough description of a “charter school” would be as good as or better than the current system, the fact is that as currently implemented without oversight or regard to cost there is no charter school in NZ that should exist.
They are an already failed experiment that will harm the children the fail.
He needed a hell of a lot help to ‘win’ that electoral seat, and the Natz cheered the loudest when he won.
Nope feel Labour is losing votes due to it’s right wing, neoliberal Nat-lite, undisciplined, antics so for any vote Kelvin Davis gets, it is less 2 for Labour voters who want the Lab-full not Nat-lite.
I can not think of any mainstream voter who wants charter schools or private prisons for that matter.
I know people who want charter schools who don’t vote National. It wouldn’t surprise me if many Māori did, because it enables them to set up schools more suited to their people than the public schools being run by the dominant culture. Which I have some sympathy for.
The potential of Te Reo charter schools is a carrot used to misdirect people while National get on with their agenda of dismantling actual communities.
Don’t know about those specifics, but agree with your general point. I’m not in favour of charter schools for this reason. But I can see why some Māori would be interested, given the failure of the Crown to honour the treaty and the failure of the education system to provide Māori with good or even adequate education in many cases.
The other people I know interested in charter schools are those wanting more alternative education in NZ.
hi weka, i gotta say this aint a good look- kelvin davis and peeni henare attending a charter school fundraiser. i am sure there are other descrete ways of lending your support to your local youth.
this is, like private prisons, a chance to establish a not negotiable position.
no one should profit from anothers incarceration nor their education.
you referred to an internal cultural problem- appearing unified.
i suggest this could be with leadership.
by this i am not having a go at andrew little, i would follow him.
more the strong unified message about what labour stands for.
after reading a few opinion pieces in the last week it seems they are still working that one out. (seemingly not keen on being too ‘left’, as it may scare the horses.)
Both Davis and Peeni Henare discussed their desire to attend (btw both had personal reasons – nothing to do with politics) and Little left it up to them to make their own decision.
New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters was there too. He is against charter schools.
A spokeswoman for Mr Little said he left the decision to go up to the MPs, and their attendance does not reflect any change in Labour’s policy on charter schools.
This is what Kelvin Davis wrote on Maui Street:
“What does the research say about Charter Schools?
Charter Schools have an effect size of 0.20, or the 107th out of the 133 strategies that have some positive effect. Charter Schools are therefore an extremely pointless and expensive strategy.
I would like to hear from Kelvin Davis himself why he attended the fundraiser before I accept any slant & muckraising by the media and make a premature judgement. It is in the media’s and National’s interest to imply that disunity still exists in the Labour Party caucus (recent attacks on Jacinda Adern, plus this) so let’s not get sucked in and amplify the misinformation.
As per usual I’m guessing that one component missing here on the standard is a consideration of te ao Māori. It’s a Māori school right? Any chance that might be why Davis and Peters attended?
Labour need to show some teeth there all right, but not against Kelvin Davies. That’s plain shitstirring by the media and Labour really need to start asserting some control over this behaviour else we’ll see a repeat of the last election.
Seriously, Davies has done nothing wrong there. The school is in his constituency and wishing them well in no way implies support for charter schools. What do you expect from the man, a statement that he wants the school to fail?
DH – I mean’t Labour show some teeth to MSM, if they falsely are reporting Kelvin Davis is pro charter schools and sue them/lay a complaint is that is false.
Nice to see ZERO effort made to be sustainable here on the 2.7 ha new shopping mall in Westgate, Auckland, which I believe the council also provided corporate welfare chipped in for with our rates, and no public transport there either ….
Asked about environmentally friendly aspects, centre manager Jennifer Andrews said rainwater would NOT be collected for recycling but a green wall of plants was planned.
What a joke! It’s 2015, and the only environmentally part is a green wall of plants on 2.7 ha public development.
I would say the only reason a green wall is being used is to hide a massive ugly concrete tilt-slab wall that the developers/council would receive widespread complaints about.
This sort of building will be one of the first to go bankrupt too. Fueled by borrowing large amounts of debt, a large waste of natural resources, with limited transport connections, no water/electricity self-sufficiency. That’s all going to make it very expensive for the tenants to rent a space there and be viable and sets it up for failure. Maybe it shouldn’t be even trying to masquerade that it’s green because it clearly is the opposite.
What these people don’t seem to grasp is that current housing inflation is literally destroying the savings of those who don’t own a house. Renters are getting further & further behind because house deposits and rents are going up more than their wages. How can people ‘save’ when the target keeps moving further away?
The deliberate running down of Salibury school is SHAMEFUL and disgusting.
“Special residential school says its being deliberately starved of students by the Ministry of Education
Salisbury school for girls caters for secondary students with complex needs, including intellectual disabilities, autism, foetal alcohol syndrome, and developmental and behavioural problems.
In 2012, the High Court ruled that the Government’s decision to close the school was unlawful. In May 2013 the education Minister Hekia Parata confirmed the government would keep the school open.”
However since that time the government changed the enrolment system for the special school, meaning potential students can’t enroll directly, but have to be referred by the Ministry’s Intensive Wraparound Service
That has seen the school’s roll plummet, from almost 80 in 2012, to just 9 now as no students are being referred to the school, despite many parents wishing to send their daughters there. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Here is an excerpt from my Letter to John Key dated Feb 2013 showing Parata’s dirty tactics..
“It would appear to me that the Minister of Education has halved the roll and removed the Salisbury School Board of Trustees from the assessment panel for the express purpose of running down the roll. This would mean that the co-ed Halswell Residential School in Christchurch would become the only school providing residential care for intellectually impaired girls.”
I do think that this is an underhand way of removing the option for those parents who wish to send their intellectually impaired daughters to an all-girls school.”
I am outraged at this government’s ability to splash money around when it suits itself (Saudi sheep, Rio Tinto, AllBlack reception, flag) but for children with disabilities needing sheltered care…??
Peter Lyon’s column in the Herald about the Govt being nothing but Spin might be a little bit too far for the newspaper, I hope the poor b…….. isn’t now in line to have his contract terminated. He’s a brave man sticking his head out and actually criticising the present useless lot and I admire him for it. I believe he is a teacher so he has, at least other employment if he does get the chop.
Apparently, the UK Chancellor wrote a piece for ‘The Sun’ where he made the claims. So I held my nose and clicked over to ‘The Sun’. Now, I’m not saying he didn’t write a piece and say what ‘The Guardian’ is claiming. It’s just that I can’t find it. It certainly doesn’t ‘headline’ as it does in ‘The Guardian’.
But, remember The Most Dangerous Woman in Britain headlines about Nicola Sturgeon? And remember the Lib Dems (possibly with collusion from the Tories) running a leak on Sturgeon apparently wanting Cameron to win the UK election and the whole ‘Labour will be in the pocket of the SNP’ nonsense?
The entire fucking UK establishment and the media sycophants (Guardian included) needs a collective lamp-post dangling.
I’ve just finished searching by cut and pasting some of the quotes and…it wasn’t in The Sun as reported by The Guardian but on some site called Sunnation that I’ve never heard of before. Click at your own risk. May cause rapid brain shrinkage.
Their secondary story within the banner (The Guardian) is merely echoing The Sun’s attempt to attach Corbyn to Bin Laden in a negative fashion. (Back in 2011, he was interviewed and said that Bin Laden should have been captured/arrested and tried, not assassinated) Here are both links.
Well, swathes of the press have already branded him a ‘terrorist sympathiser’.
From memory, there was the nonsense radio interview by the BBC in N. Ireland where they badgered him on IRA atrocities and concluded that he wasn’t strident enough in condemning the IRA (ergo – he sympathises). That got twisted and reported widely.
Then there was his past meetings or sharing of platforms with various people that got twisted and widely reported. I can’t remember names, but one guy subsequently peddled holocaust denial nonsense and another lived in Israel and was on their list of ‘guys we don’t like’… but they let him travel out of the country.
Just noticed that The Sun and The Guardian are engaged in a two way game of throw and catch. The Sun is uncritically referencing Guardian anti-Corbyn headlines/stories and The Guardian is uncritically referencing anti-Corbyn Sun headlines/stories.
The strongly establishment-oriented Board of Deputies of British Jews (branded The
UK branch of the Israeli Ministry of Information by one progressive Jewish scholar, given its propensity for uncritically regurgitating Israel’s latest propaganda lines) and its mouthpiece the British Jewish Chronicle have been pushing the anti-Semitic smear for all it’s worth. (the standard treatment for any prominent person who indicates support for Palestinian national rights).
Like many Brits on the Left, Corbyn initially gave his support to the Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) group. Deir Yassin was, of course, the most prominent of a whole series of massacres and mass rapes committed by Zionist paramilitary forces against various Palestinian villages during the 1948 War.
When it was discovered that a handful of dodgy types were involved in the DYR organisation (including Paul Eisen who is both Jewish and a Holocaust denier), there was a mass exodus by people on the Left, some explicitly and publicly repudiating the group, others simply washing their hands of it and moving on. Corbyn was in the latter group.
As one progressive British Jewish organisation has said: “There is something deeply unpleasant and dishonest about your (the Jewish Chronicles) McCarthyite guilt by association technique. Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary record over 32 years has consistently opposed all racism including anti-Semitism.”
Results (or is it the close of voting?) are about 10 days away.
And sorry to be geeky about this, but in contrast to the UK (English) papers, all the major papers in Scotland are leading with the fact that ‘out of the blue’, the government has announced a 500 million refurbishment of the Faslane nuclear facilities.
No stories anywhere (on a quick look) that are smears on Corbyn.
Dont let us start this leadership nonsense again ,No doubt these headlines are typical Crosby /Textor misinformation. we have a leader and he’s proving to be a good one. The Tories are worried and they will jump on anything that will take away the fact that NZ is in one hell of a mess.,Child poverty, unemployment, health system in chaos the list so long its scary. But not only that ,the fact is that not only are their policies a disaster but they are so incompetent that they are unable to even run them properly. They are a total lose and all we can discuss is LP leadership . I fume in anger and dispair. Wake up Labourites another 3 years of this rabble would be disasterious .Dont be sucked in by Crosby /Textor and Tory scandal mongering.
Lets show some solidarity from us and the unions in supporting Andrew Little who is proving to be the natural succesor to our Helen.
Blair “says he accepts that, together with fellow Labour veterans Neil Kinnock and Gordon Brown, his warnings have fallen on deaf ears and seem to have made people more likely to back Mr Corbyn.”
Ahhh, the penny’s finally dropped, has it ?
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 13.1.1
I have analysed all the different published polling and focus group evidence about Labour’s defeat, most recently the one by the BBC’s Newsnight and the one by Jon Cruddas. They all say the same. Labour lost because it was considered anti-business and too left; because people feared Ed in Downing Street with SNP support; and because he didn’t have a credible deficit reduction plan. They didn’t vote Tory because they thought he was “austerity-lite” but on the contrary because he didn’t seem committed enough to tough economic decisions.
Riiiiiiiiight, so is that why the latest polls suggest Corbyn’s not only blitzing the leadership race among Labour members (likely to win in the first round), but is also the favourite among both Labour voters and the general public as a whole. Meaning: Labour voters, Ukip voters, Lib Dem voters, Green voters, SNP voters, Plaid Cymru voters…
…It’s only among Tory voters that Andy Burnham wins, and even then Corbyn comes a close second.
Labour membership seems to consist of people who can’t or don’t want move past the 1970’s , which is why Corbyn appeals.
Could you explain how Jeremy Corbyn, who is striking the fear of God into the Blairite wing of the Labour Party right now in August 2015, is simultaneously in the 1970s?
To be fair, judging from a quick perusal of your output over the years, I don’t really expect a convincing answer from you. Perhaps a Standardista with a few clues might like to explain it for us.
Jeremy Corbyn shouldn’t be wasting his time stiking fear into the Blairite wing of the Labour Party, he should be striking it into the heart of the Tories. Just like Labour in NZ are too busy wondering who should lead them and what internal politics they should be focused on.
I’ve analysed a whole swathe of UK polls conducted over the last 3 years (including the detailed breakdowns) and I can safely say that Blair’s rendition here of their findings is absolute bollocks.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
If sprinter Zoe Hobbs lines up in the 100m final in Paris this year, her Olympic campaign will have been a success. Even if she doesn’t climb the podium, her presence will be as good as gold. But if Dame Lisa Carrington comes fourth, the country will record it as ...
“Court: We Can’t Rule on NSA Bulk Data Collection Because We Don’t Know Whose Data Was Collected
On Friday, an appeals court overturned a U.S. District Court decision last May that had declared that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records was beyond the authorization of the law. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit kicked the matter back to the lower court for additional deliberation.
The decision did not declare the NSA’s program, which was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, to have been legal or constitutional. Rather, it focused on a technicality: a majority opinion that the plaintiffs in the case could not actually prove that the metadata program swept up their own phone records. Therefore, the plaintiffs, the court declared, did not have standing to sue.
“Today’s ruling is merely a procedural decision,” said Alexander Abdo, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued against the program at the U.S. District Court. “Only one appeals court has weighed in on the merits of the program, and it ruled the government’s collection of Americans’ call records was not only unlawful but ‘unprecedented and unwarranted.’”
Circuit Court Judge Janice Rogers Brown summarized the problem facing the court: “Excessive secrecy limits needed criticism and debate. Effective secrecy ensures the perpetuation of our institutions.”
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/08/28/court-cant-rule-nsa-bulk-collection-dont-know-whose-data-collected/
To ad-lib from Mock the Week. “Rugby, not really that important in the scheme of things – unless you are a insecure kiwi”
Oh wait John Key and Co. at AB selection for world cup. Can it get any-more shallow. Yes it can…
http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/opinion-why-no-criticism-of-key-the-all-blacks-fanboy-2015082711#axzz3kKSijR3b
I can’t remember that I’ve ever agreed with Patrick Gower before. But on this topic his words and tone are pretty good. What an ridiculous spectacle this bunch of politicians have made of themselves.
When the All Blacks tour to S Africa was cancelled post the anti-tour shambles, I felt for the athletes who had trained so hard, but despised the Rugby Union for their stand and for their 1981 stand. People versus the Organisation.
This politicisation now gets in the way of another crop of athletes. Sad.
Thank you Patrick G and I don’t say that very often. Could you imagine the outrage if “Labour did it too”. Looks like Ritchie’s day job is sucking up to one JK. In the longer term thogh it will hopefully diminish rugby’s following. Tying yourself to a politician probably won’t do the brand any good in the longer term
Katherine did a little spiel this morning on the Politics segment and sounded pretty sceptical about Key’s involvement. Perhaps it is a Matthew says, that this is the style of populist appearances which sit in voters mind. The way of politics now and of the future.
like a lot of kiwis i love the game of rugby…. but this smearing of AB history and mana by letting a politician front them is beyond me –
by all means go shake the hand of the prime minister, but to suck up to a tawdry self-publicist and his beehive sycophants….. is thoroughly nauseating
So sorry that the ABs chose to allow this use and abuse of their fame….. this lessens their mana
The NZRB is long overdue for a loss of mana as a result of the way they align themselves to national govt’s.
Big Sugar and TPPA
A sweet deal for American sugar farmers is compounding delays in a proposed trade agreement affecting 40% of the world’s economy.
But the trade deal may also weaken protections for the sugar industry dating back to the Great Depression should negotiators heed the calls of Australia and other nations for the US to loosen a quota system that protects domestic suppliers while making the product more expensive for consumers. As they have for decades, sugar lobbyists are fighting to keep it that way by using their clout with lawmakers.
In Washington, that means one thing: money. Sugar accounts for a small fraction of US farm output, but the industry contributes more to congressional campaign coffers than any other commodity producer. Between 2007 and 2014, growers donated $18.5mn, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. “The sugar lobby is one of the strongest in the country,” said James Cassidy, global head of sugar derivatives at Societe Generale in New York.
…..
Nowhere is the industry’s clout felt more than in Florida, base of the nation’s most powerful sugar barons, the Fanjul brothers. Between them, the Fanjuls – Alfonso, Jose, Alexander and Andres – have long-standing ties to at least three US presidential candidates: Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida; Florida Governor Jeb Bush, another Republican; and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.”
http://www.gulf-times.com/eco.-bus.%20news/256/details/453092/big-sugar%E2%80%99s-fight-to-keep-us-import-limits-delaying-tpp-deal
TPPA will metastasize the cancer of US corporate donations and the influence of large corporations with the money to chill our ability to make laws in the best interest of our country even if the sugar subsidy is trimmed for US Big Sugar.
I’ve been saying for awhile now that we need to ban lobbying and this is just more proof of that. Democracy is not one dollar one vote.
After all the talk of Jacinda Ardern and her leadership aspirations I think this is a beter indicator of who wants what:
https://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/kelvin-davis-defies-labour-policy-in-charter-school-support-2015083017
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/regional-realities/#comment-1064787 ]
Just noticed that too.
Labour MP Kelvin Davis has rebelled against Andrew Little by giving his support to a charter school – a policy Labour strongly opposes.
The Kelvin Davis debacle has already cost Labour a lot of votes – and been a huge boost to the Natz – now this – karma –
I disagree, I feel Davis can attract more votes from the Nats so hopefully he’ll get a promotion next time theres a reshuffle…deputy maybe?
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/regional-realities/#comment-1064787 ]
Following that logic Davis should probably join the National Party.
The guy has shown he can win an electorate seat, he speaks well and is scoring hits in the house or is that not important in a leader?
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/regional-realities/#comment-1064787 ]
It is.
But so is supporting (rather than undercutting) policy. If anything this shows the conflict caused by issues that might have local or regional support, but are a blight on the nation.
Which master would Davis serve should he be leader? Northland could do with the advocacy, but at the expense of everywhere else or even its own long term wellbeing?
A leader is the leader of a team – the leader still needs to be part of that team.
Maybe he feels the policy is wrong and worse, due to his background, detrimental so hes making a stand for what he believes in?
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/regional-realities/#comment-1064787 ]
In that case he should explicitly state his opposition and resign his education portfolio.
His job is to advocate for and to explain party policy as determined by the party. If he cannot do his job, he should look for another portfolio.
And that’s assuming that his position on that policy is correct, rather than advocating for a system that’s even worse than the current situation.
FFS, they get multiple times more funding from the state than other schools and they’re still running fundraisers? Where’s all the cash going, if not to the kids?
Read the link. Davis isn’t undermining the party and Undecided is misrepresenting the situation almost as badly as Gower.
I’m saying that by going against (according to the article that is) Andrew Littles wishes Kelvin Davis is all but throwing his name into the ring and I think hes got the goods as a leader
[lprent: See http://thestandard.org.nz/regional-realities/#comment-1064787 ]
I think he is undermining the party, he’s effectively breaking party rules. Little may or may not have been happy with them going, we don’t really know. If Davis does personally support this charter school, how hard is it for him to just stay quiet and not publicly attend a function to avoid a media beatup. Now it looks like there is disunity in caucus.
“I’m saying that by going against (according to the article that is) Andrew Littles wishes Kelvin Davis is all but throwing his name into the ring and I think hes got the goods as a leader”
I don’t see any evidence of that. What I see is Paddy Gower shit stirring and you jumping on board with that. How do you get from Davis attending a fundraiser to him jostling for postition in the enxt LP leadership coup?
I think he is undermining the party, he’s effectively breaking party rules. Little may or may not have been happy with them going, we don’t really know. If Davis does personally support this charter school, how hard is it for him to just stay quiet and not publicly attend a function to avoid a media beatup. Now it looks like there is disunity in caucus.
I don’t know because the only thing I’ve read is Gower’s piece, which let’s face it makes Hosking look like an actual journo.
I’d hazard a guess that Davis is attending because its something to do with his electorate constituency. If you have some more in depth information, I’d be happy to change my mind. cheers.
edit, actually any kind of statement from Davis that he supports charter schools would be good.
dropping $250 on a seat seems a mixed signal to me
how so McFlock?
“Davis isn’t undermining the party” Correct – he is undermining the leader – “That was despite leader Andrew Little asking them not to”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11505590
perhaps an early leadership challenge!!! 🙂
subtle 😉
To me it looks like Labour’s internal cultural problem which prevents them from presenting as a coherent organisation. Little says he left it up to them, Davis says LIttle didn’t want them to go. At least that’s how the media tell it.
I can’t see a problem with Davis and the other MP going, except that they don’t know how to explain the public what they are doing.
How so?
He’s paying for students of a school that shouldn’t exist to travel overseas to visit other schools that follow the same failed model.
When he should be campaigning for the removal of these schools.
For some years I have vehemently opposed Charter Schools on principle as an attack on and an undermining of the State system. Now I am not quite so sure.
I see nothing wrong with individual initiative as a general position, nor am I opposed to allowing some level of experimentation from dedicated individuals. The issue isn’t there. The problem we have with this particular government initiative, is the degree to which they are pandering to providers with agendas that are never going to benefit either students or society. The current government’s flirtation with Charter Schools attracts massive skepticism principally because we know they have a declared interest in laying off as much of the public service to private providers as they can get away with. We also know that with so few teachers in their ranks, they have almost no notion of what can lead to successful educational outcomes. But this does not assert that our educational system is perfectly formed as it is. A constructive plan might include far more stringent analysis before awarding a charter, and far more stringent oversight after the school is opened.
The trick is to incorporate these initiatives as part of a more complex and inclusive State educational system, not allow them to fragment into some patchy, inadequately monitored private provision. It is also essential that the State educational authorities ensure that mainstream schools are not penalized or harmed by this kind of initiative.
In my view, the most promising area for educational improvement is in the enhancement of professional development and information sharing among teachers and schools, but to improve the body of information to be shared, there will have to be some level of diversity of approach. If a government, committed to State Education, were to allow a certain amount of controlled experimentation, hoping to find better ways of achieving generally agreed targets, that might be highly desirable. After all no one is claiming a monopoly on solutions.
I don’t know if Davis acted without the approval of the Labour leadership, but the disapprobation any indiscipline may attract should not be conflated with rejection of an open minded pursuit of best practice.
Regardless of whether there is a possibility (however slim) that something matching the rough description of a “charter school” would be as good as or better than the current system, the fact is that as currently implemented without oversight or regard to cost there is no charter school in NZ that should exist.
They are an already failed experiment that will harm the children the fail.
He needed a hell of a lot help to ‘win’ that electoral seat, and the Natz cheered the loudest when he won.
Nope feel Labour is losing votes due to it’s right wing, neoliberal Nat-lite, undisciplined, antics so for any vote Kelvin Davis gets, it is less 2 for Labour voters who want the Lab-full not Nat-lite.
I can not think of any mainstream voter who wants charter schools or private prisons for that matter.
I know people who want charter schools who don’t vote National. It wouldn’t surprise me if many Māori did, because it enables them to set up schools more suited to their people than the public schools being run by the dominant culture. Which I have some sympathy for.
Then why did MoE cut funding to Ngā Kākano o te Kaihanga Kura?
The potential of Te Reo charter schools is a carrot used to misdirect people while National get on with their agenda of dismantling actual communities.
edit: and defunding Te Reo teaching programs
Don’t know about those specifics, but agree with your general point. I’m not in favour of charter schools for this reason. But I can see why some Māori would be interested, given the failure of the Crown to honour the treaty and the failure of the education system to provide Māori with good or even adequate education in many cases.
The other people I know interested in charter schools are those wanting more alternative education in NZ.
hi weka, i gotta say this aint a good look- kelvin davis and peeni henare attending a charter school fundraiser. i am sure there are other descrete ways of lending your support to your local youth.
this is, like private prisons, a chance to establish a not negotiable position.
no one should profit from anothers incarceration nor their education.
you referred to an internal cultural problem- appearing unified.
i suggest this could be with leadership.
by this i am not having a go at andrew little, i would follow him.
more the strong unified message about what labour stands for.
after reading a few opinion pieces in the last week it seems they are still working that one out. (seemingly not keen on being too ‘left’, as it may scare the horses.)
save NZ @ 4.1
Gower bullshit.
Both Davis and Peeni Henare discussed their desire to attend (btw both had personal reasons – nothing to do with politics) and Little left it up to them to make their own decision.
That’s quite outrageous reporting. Merely attending a charter school function can in no way be considered support for charter schools.
Labour MPs attend parliament. Using TV3 logic we can conclude that Labour therefore supports a National Government.
If it is not true then sue them, keep MSM honest. Labour need to show some teeth, does Kelvin support charter schools or does he not?
This is what Kelvin Davis wrote on Maui Street:
“What does the research say about Charter Schools?
Charter Schools have an effect size of 0.20, or the 107th out of the 133 strategies that have some positive effect. Charter Schools are therefore an extremely pointless and expensive strategy.
There are still 40 strategies that are deemed pointless, but, are still more effective than Charter Schools.”
http://mauistreet.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/kelvin-davis-on-improving-education.html?spref=bl
I would like to hear from Kelvin Davis himself why he attended the fundraiser before I accept any slant & muckraising by the media and make a premature judgement. It is in the media’s and National’s interest to imply that disunity still exists in the Labour Party caucus (recent attacks on Jacinda Adern, plus this) so let’s not get sucked in and amplify the misinformation.
Thanks for that.
As per usual I’m guessing that one component missing here on the standard is a consideration of te ao Māori. It’s a Māori school right? Any chance that might be why Davis and Peters attended?
That would be my bet. And it is in their overlapping seat. You go along to encourage kids as well as to encourage their parents and family.
+ 100% agree with you, lprent
Labour need to show some teeth there all right, but not against Kelvin Davies. That’s plain shitstirring by the media and Labour really need to start asserting some control over this behaviour else we’ll see a repeat of the last election.
Seriously, Davies has done nothing wrong there. The school is in his constituency and wishing them well in no way implies support for charter schools. What do you expect from the man, a statement that he wants the school to fail?
DH – I mean’t Labour show some teeth to MSM, if they falsely are reporting Kelvin Davis is pro charter schools and sue them/lay a complaint is that is false.
I quite agree, Gower is just being a little shit as usual.
Beat up over nothing.
Or the other head line form TV3
“Labour MP refuses to support local school”
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t….
Wait maybe you labour people could embrace socialism then – because you been buggered the last three elections for sounding like national light.
heh..
true about the headlines, at any rate
The Wigged One says “China” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrfE9I8_hs&feature=youtu.be please someone do a mash up of John Key et al saying “Labour did it too”
Nice to see ZERO effort made to be sustainable here on the 2.7 ha new shopping mall in Westgate, Auckland, which I believe the council also provided corporate welfare chipped in for with our rates, and no public transport there either ….
Asked about environmentally friendly aspects, centre manager Jennifer Andrews said rainwater would NOT be collected for recycling but a green wall of plants was planned.
What a joke! It’s 2015, and the only environmentally part is a green wall of plants on 2.7 ha public development.
I would say the only reason a green wall is being used is to hide a massive ugly concrete tilt-slab wall that the developers/council would receive widespread complaints about.
This sort of building will be one of the first to go bankrupt too. Fueled by borrowing large amounts of debt, a large waste of natural resources, with limited transport connections, no water/electricity self-sufficiency. That’s all going to make it very expensive for the tenants to rent a space there and be viable and sets it up for failure. Maybe it shouldn’t be even trying to masquerade that it’s green because it clearly is the opposite.
This shows how out of touch many people are;
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/71560214/calls-for-kiwis-stuck-in-rent-trap-to-be-given-incentives-to-save
What these people don’t seem to grasp is that current housing inflation is literally destroying the savings of those who don’t own a house. Renters are getting further & further behind because house deposits and rents are going up more than their wages. How can people ‘save’ when the target keeps moving further away?
spending and debt=GOOD,saving =BAD….as per sustaining the Fed paradigm.
The deliberate running down of Salibury school is SHAMEFUL and disgusting.
“Special residential school says its being deliberately starved of students by the Ministry of Education
Salisbury school for girls caters for secondary students with complex needs, including intellectual disabilities, autism, foetal alcohol syndrome, and developmental and behavioural problems.
In 2012, the High Court ruled that the Government’s decision to close the school was unlawful. In May 2013 the education Minister Hekia Parata confirmed the government would keep the school open.”
However since that time the government changed the enrolment system for the special school, meaning potential students can’t enroll directly, but have to be referred by the Ministry’s Intensive Wraparound Service
That has seen the school’s roll plummet, from almost 80 in 2012, to just 9 now as no students are being referred to the school, despite many parents wishing to send their daughters there.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Here is an excerpt from my Letter to John Key dated Feb 2013 showing Parata’s dirty tactics..
“It would appear to me that the Minister of Education has halved the roll and removed the Salisbury School Board of Trustees from the assessment panel for the express purpose of running down the roll. This would mean that the co-ed Halswell Residential School in Christchurch would become the only school providing residential care for intellectually impaired girls.”
I do think that this is an underhand way of removing the option for those parents who wish to send their intellectually impaired daughters to an all-girls school.”
I am outraged at this government’s ability to splash money around when it suits itself (Saudi sheep, Rio Tinto, AllBlack reception, flag) but for children with disabilities needing sheltered care…??
@Tautoku
Outrageous. +1
@Tautoko Mango Mata….this school had the effrontery to challenge the Government.
They are getting the typical response. (e.g. The gumminit’s response to the Family Carers Case.)
This current administration are capable of truly malevolent actions.
Evil sods.
Peter Lyon’s column in the Herald about the Govt being nothing but Spin might be a little bit too far for the newspaper, I hope the poor b…….. isn’t now in line to have his contract terminated. He’s a brave man sticking his head out and actually criticising the present useless lot and I admire him for it. I believe he is a teacher so he has, at least other employment if he does get the chop.
So at the time of making this comment, The Guardian is running a banner headline Jeremy Corbyn poses national security threat, says George Osborne
Apparently, the UK Chancellor wrote a piece for ‘The Sun’ where he made the claims. So I held my nose and clicked over to ‘The Sun’. Now, I’m not saying he didn’t write a piece and say what ‘The Guardian’ is claiming. It’s just that I can’t find it. It certainly doesn’t ‘headline’ as it does in ‘The Guardian’.
But, remember The Most Dangerous Woman in Britain headlines about Nicola Sturgeon? And remember the Lib Dems (possibly with collusion from the Tories) running a leak on Sturgeon apparently wanting Cameron to win the UK election and the whole ‘Labour will be in the pocket of the SNP’ nonsense?
The entire fucking UK establishment and the media sycophants (Guardian included) needs a collective lamp-post dangling.
Geeesus the elite ruling class is putting on a bit of a panic pulse, ain’t they.
I’ve just finished searching by cut and pasting some of the quotes and…it wasn’t in The Sun as reported by The Guardian but on some site called Sunnation that I’ve never heard of before. Click at your own risk. May cause rapid brain shrinkage.
http://www.sunnation.co.uk/
Their secondary story within the banner (The Guardian) is merely echoing The Sun’s attempt to attach Corbyn to Bin Laden in a negative fashion. (Back in 2011, he was interviewed and said that Bin Laden should have been captured/arrested and tried, not assassinated) Here are both links.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/6614682/Jeremy-Corbyn-calls-Osama-Bin-Ladens-death-a-tragedy.html
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/31/jeremy-corbyn-said-osama-bin-laden-should-have-been-tried-not-killed
Crikey, the Chancellor doesn’t mince his words.
The Guardian piece is from the Press Association. Does that mean it’s an informal government press release? There’s a longer version of it here http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/national/jeremy-corbyn-led-labour-would-pose-national-security-threat-warns-osborne-1-6931239 And if you google any of the quoted bits it shows how it’s being replicated across the internets.
When are the results back?
Next step will be to declare Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser and to put him under house arrest.
Well, swathes of the press have already branded him a ‘terrorist sympathiser’.
From memory, there was the nonsense radio interview by the BBC in N. Ireland where they badgered him on IRA atrocities and concluded that he wasn’t strident enough in condemning the IRA (ergo – he sympathises). That got twisted and reported widely.
Then there was his past meetings or sharing of platforms with various people that got twisted and widely reported. I can’t remember names, but one guy subsequently peddled holocaust denial nonsense and another lived in Israel and was on their list of ‘guys we don’t like’… but they let him travel out of the country.
Just noticed that The Sun and The Guardian are engaged in a two way game of throw and catch. The Sun is uncritically referencing Guardian anti-Corbyn headlines/stories and The Guardian is uncritically referencing anti-Corbyn Sun headlines/stories.
I’m thinking that has to be a first.
The strongly establishment-oriented Board of Deputies of British Jews (branded The
UK branch of the Israeli Ministry of Information by one progressive Jewish scholar, given its propensity for uncritically regurgitating Israel’s latest propaganda lines) and its mouthpiece the British Jewish Chronicle have been pushing the anti-Semitic smear for all it’s worth. (the standard treatment for any prominent person who indicates support for Palestinian national rights).
Like many Brits on the Left, Corbyn initially gave his support to the Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) group. Deir Yassin was, of course, the most prominent of a whole series of massacres and mass rapes committed by Zionist paramilitary forces against various Palestinian villages during the 1948 War.
When it was discovered that a handful of dodgy types were involved in the DYR organisation (including Paul Eisen who is both Jewish and a Holocaust denier), there was a mass exodus by people on the Left, some explicitly and publicly repudiating the group, others simply washing their hands of it and moving on. Corbyn was in the latter group.
As one progressive British Jewish organisation has said: “There is something deeply unpleasant and dishonest about your (the Jewish Chronicles) McCarthyite guilt by association technique. Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary record over 32 years has consistently opposed all racism including anti-Semitism.”
If he flies into NZ they can just put him under warrantless surveillance and then cancel his passport.
Results (or is it the close of voting?) are about 10 days away.
And sorry to be geeky about this, but in contrast to the UK (English) papers, all the major papers in Scotland are leading with the fact that ‘out of the blue’, the government has announced a 500 million refurbishment of the Faslane nuclear facilities.
No stories anywhere (on a quick look) that are smears on Corbyn.
funny that
Dont let us start this leadership nonsense again ,No doubt these headlines are typical Crosby /Textor misinformation. we have a leader and he’s proving to be a good one. The Tories are worried and they will jump on anything that will take away the fact that NZ is in one hell of a mess.,Child poverty, unemployment, health system in chaos the list so long its scary. But not only that ,the fact is that not only are their policies a disaster but they are so incompetent that they are unable to even run them properly. They are a total lose and all we can discuss is LP leadership . I fume in anger and dispair. Wake up Labourites another 3 years of this rabble would be disasterious .Dont be sucked in by Crosby /Textor and Tory scandal mongering.
Lets show some solidarity from us and the unions in supporting Andrew Little who is proving to be the natural succesor to our Helen.
What started you on this, Pink P ? What headlines, and where ?
The Jacinda Ardern business maybe.
Ah ! yes – i’m a bit slow on the uptake sometimes. “That makes sense, Anne.
Corby mania unabated:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34100741
Blair “says he accepts that, together with fellow Labour veterans Neil Kinnock and Gordon Brown, his warnings have fallen on deaf ears and seem to have made people more likely to back Mr Corbyn.”
Ahhh, the penny’s finally dropped, has it ?
Actually, this is the actual thing:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/29/tony-blair-labour-leadership-jeremy-corbyn
Labour membership seems to consist of people who can’t or don’t want move past the 1970’s , which is why Corbyn appeals.
The problem is that the other 99% of people who normally vote labour can’t relate to the man or what he’s pushing.
The down side of the membership having too much say.
Riiiiiiiiight, so is that why the latest polls suggest Corbyn’s not only blitzing the leadership race among Labour members (likely to win in the first round), but is also the favourite among both Labour voters and the general public as a whole. Meaning: Labour voters, Ukip voters, Lib Dem voters, Green voters, SNP voters, Plaid Cymru voters…
…It’s only among Tory voters that Andy Burnham wins, and even then Corbyn comes a close second.
And is that why polls suggest many of his policies are strongly supported by voters ? … http://thestandard.org.nz/hard-left-corbyn-receives-public-backing-from-41-economists/#comment-1062265
You’re out of touch with the mood of the British electorate, my little Tory provocateur.
Labour membership seems to consist of people who can’t or don’t want move past the 1970’s , which is why Corbyn appeals.
Could you explain how Jeremy Corbyn, who is striking the fear of God into the Blairite wing of the Labour Party right now in August 2015, is simultaneously in the 1970s?
To be fair, judging from a quick perusal of your output over the years, I don’t really expect a convincing answer from you. Perhaps a Standardista with a few clues might like to explain it for us.
Jeremy Corbyn shouldn’t be wasting his time stiking fear into the Blairite wing of the Labour Party, he should be striking it into the heart of the Tories. Just like Labour in NZ are too busy wondering who should lead them and what internal politics they should be focused on.
(Reply to Gormy’s 6pm comment)
Tragically, that’s yet another Blair lie.
I’ve analysed a whole swathe of UK polls conducted over the last 3 years (including the detailed breakdowns) and I can safely say that Blair’s rendition here of their findings is absolute bollocks.