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Comment: Open mike 14/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:22 pm, April 14th, 2025
As per Key in opining that Trump would be better for the economy. Perhaps Key's idea of what makes "the economy" good is (as a former currency trader) a place with plentiful opportunities for unearned income, where speculators can thrive and countries ...Comment: Open mike 14/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:07 pm, April 14th, 2025
Any panegyric about AI from an obviously stupid person is all about creating acceptance of an environment where AI is not (and will not be) adequately regulated.Comment: Why Write (and Read)?
Written By: AB - Date published: 4:56 pm, April 13th, 2025
Thanks TV. I like Auden a lot more as I get older.Comment: Why Write (and Read)?
Written By: AB - Date published: 5:50 pm, April 12th, 2025
A close-run thing I'd say. But Beckett had the best hair to go with the face, so he wins. But yes, the 'folded' metaphor is odd in that line of Auden's. Perhaps the point is that something that is folded is very physically constructed, and a voice has no ...Comment: Why Write (and Read)?
Written By: AB - Date published: 5:10 pm, April 12th, 2025
All I have is a voice / To undo the folded lie... From September 1, 1939 by WH Auden. It's an old problem.Comment: Open mike 11/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 2:11 pm, April 11th, 2025
Yep. Most likely ideas - or more accurately, any form of expression of ideas- that the Trumpists don't like. For example the idea of an Israeli withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders. This allows you to deport people on student visas on campuses in pro- ...Comment: Open mike 11/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:49 pm, April 11th, 2025
You can't ban ideas - they are in people's heads. You could ban the transmission of ideas through writing or speech, but everyone acknowledges that this can be a dangerous slippery slope. You can, and probably should, ban explicit or even implicit calls to ...Comment: The maniac president blinks, but for a moment…
Written By: AB - Date published: 9:37 am, April 11th, 2025
And if the Australians are of a similar mind to us on this, that is very helpful in terms of a strategic separation from the US and building interoperability with Australia on security. But the fact that Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party might win the May ...Comment: Daily review 09/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:42 pm, April 10th, 2025
I have a problem with the Greens not knowing how to win elections and advance beyond being a niche party. To do that two things are required. First, have a credible and actionable plan for averting climate disaster that does not have average voters ...Comment: Open mike 09/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:25 am, April 9th, 2025
We need ‘sponge cities’ to avoid future flooding disasters We needed to start building sponge cities decades ago. We didn't because it would have been dismissed as red tape, an inefficient allocation of resources and likely to increase construction costs. ...Comment: Open mike 08/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 9:16 am, April 8th, 2025
And when all the available land is planted in trees and the country has failed to bring emissions down because the tree planting plan has justified more delay, resistance and inertia, and that delay was also justified by saying that magic tech solutions ...Comment: Trump Schadenfreude
Written By: AB - Date published: 3:19 pm, April 6th, 2025
Trump's tariff policy "was based on advice from a fictional economist". We already know that the Trump coterie are crooks and liars, so no surprises. But is this much worse than, say, fictional economics from a real economist? Probably it is worse, but ...Comment: Trump Schadenfreude
Written By: AB - Date published: 2:52 pm, April 6th, 2025
I expect roblogic is describing the people s/he experiences as the keenest supporters of our CoC. We would need a survey of the over-50's to correlate CoC support with Trump favourability. Then break that down further by race and gender. It's certainly ...Comment: Open mike 06/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:16 pm, April 6th, 2025
Trump's tariffs are simply a sanction on anyone with the temerity to run a trade surplus with the US. It's not an economic policy at all, it's an assertion of pure power. Plus, it must be a more than remote possibility that it's all a calculated game of ...Comment: Open mike 04/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:17 am, April 4th, 2025
Any adult who uses words like "phenomenal" and "stellar" has lost contact with reality. Like the rest of her government (Luxon especially) she's a salesperson, and the product she is touting is herself for having achieved such an apparently astonishing ...Comment: US imposes 10% tariff on NZ imports
Written By: AB - Date published: 4:14 pm, April 3rd, 2025
The 58% and 73% will be joke numbers invented for the thrill of feeling so powerful that you can be randomly sadistic without any consequences. Also to show the 'beautiful' magnanimity of the US by responding with tariffs of only half that level. Engaging ...Comment: US imposes 10% tariff on NZ imports
Written By: AB - Date published: 2:24 pm, April 3rd, 2025
What will Luxon do? In the short-term send Todd McLay to Washington to pledge fealty to the Trump regime and beg for an exemption - which we won't get and will cause Washington to despise us even more and feel inclined to kick us again over Pharmac or GST. ...Comment: Open mike 03/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:34 pm, April 3rd, 2025
A 25% tariff on imported cars, would mean that there is substantial room for growth in US auto-workers salaries, before the locally-produced product would be out-priced by the imported one. To be sure of that we'd need to know the existing differential ...Comment: Open mike 03/04/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:30 am, April 3rd, 2025
Tarrifs are a consumption tax on all citizens - a regressive tax. Combine that with slashing Federal programmes and you get the fiscal headroom to lower taxes on the richest even further. That was probably the plan all along. If, after an initial period of ...Comment: What Tamatha Paul Really Said
Written By: AB - Date published: 10:42 am, March 29th, 2025
As an old white dude, I would feel somewhat safer with more cops on the streets, because I'm exactly the sort of person they are likely to protect. But then I don't feel particularly unsafe anyway. If I was equally law-abiding, but young and brown, I would ...Comment: Open mike 27/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:05 pm, March 27th, 2025
Sarkar is often pithily on the mark. Though I'm not sure her observation is a new one. I remember from long ago the observation (from someone I've forgotten) that young women are validated simply by who they are, while young men are validated only by what ...Comment: Winston’s war on wokeness
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:07 am, March 25th, 2025
Any insult a fascist throws at you is a badge of honour.Comment: The Unbearable Weight of Being a Useful Idiot
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:42 am, March 24th, 2025
are you using tankie-ism there to mean the tendency to fall back into authority and control and the main way of achieving political ends? Yes - mostly that. Also to believe that if evil exists, what contends with it must be good - a Manichean dualism. I ...Comment: The Unbearable Weight of Being a Useful Idiot
Written By: AB - Date published: 11:03 am, March 24th, 2025
This is a good post, but with flaws. In particular, the more the author has to qualify and explain the original post, the more the group of people to whom his/her definition literally applies shrinks to something near vanishing point. 'Tankies' may barely ...Comment: Open mike 21/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 7:54 pm, March 21st, 2025
Legitimate 'consequences' for an act of free speech include vigorous disagreement, insults and ridicule, i.e. any act of free speech can be seen as an invitation of free speech in return - which is why equality of speech, and the distribution of the power ...Comment: The Libelle liquidation
Written By: AB - Date published: 1:42 pm, March 20th, 2025
Strictly speaking, I doubt that it's indifference or malice. Not indifference because they passionately hate the school lunch programme rather than being merely indifferent to it; and not malice because they are acting with a rational, strategic awareness ...Comment: Open mike 18/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 12:11 pm, March 18th, 2025
Another striking thing from that graph is just how effective the completely manufactured "winter of discontent" was in 2000, Clark's first full year in office. This was when the NZ's extremely conservative business establishment was given a megaphone by ...Comment: Open mike 17/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 9:25 am, March 17th, 2025
Good wage suppression opportunities in all that. But gifting business with low wages will keep productivity in the basement.Comment: Open mike 16/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 5:39 pm, March 16th, 2025
But his boosterism will be undiminished by the experience.Comment: Open mike 16/03/2025
Written By: AB - Date published: 2:31 pm, March 16th, 2025
a brief pause to do a sanity check on foreign aid funding Is this a new thing on the far right - the idea that you cannot know beforehand what the actual constraints on your actions really are? You have to just do stuff anyway, and then see what happens in ...
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- Albanese’s visit shows Indonesia is still a foreign policy priority
As Anthony Albanese prepares to travel to Jakarta for his first state visit in his second term, the symbolism is clear: Indonesia remains a cornerstone of Australia’s foreign policy. Since taking office, the Albanese government ...6 days ago - Monday 12 May
Opposition to the Government’s attacks on pay equity are gathering steam, with protests around the country and more than 65,000 people already signed on to a petition calling on the Government to reverse the changes. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Cabinet will consider a social media ban on under-16s, despite ...6 days ago - Naked corruption
When National passed its corrupt, Muldoonist fast-track law, they were criticised for accepting donations from fast-track applicants. You'd think that after such criticism, and the consequent effect on the reputation of our state, they might have ceased the practice - but of course not. Instead, they're still taking money from ...6 days ago - Nicola Willis Calls Pay Equity “A Grievance Industry”
Nicola Willis pulled the sympathy and sexism card this morning in an opinion piece for Stuff/The Post.In it, claimed she had been much maligned by, well, everyone, on pay equity, and “mainstream” journalists were guilty of “sexist slurs” and misinformation against her.The offending piece was Andrea Vance’s “The girl-math budget ...6 days ago - Rhys Williams – Arsehole of the Week
It’s time to shine the spotlight on a particularly vile specimen slithering through New Zealand’s political underbelly: Rhys Williams, this week’s Arsehole Award winner. Williams is a NZ First party activist (who didn’t renew his membership), and has carved out a niche as a homophobic, defamatory troll, hiding behind the ...6 days ago - Bookshelf: Australia in a fragmenting and deglobalising world
Elisabeth Braw’s insightful 2024 book, Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World, has proven remarkably prescient in understanding the turbulent global landscape of 2025. While the era of globalisation promised unprecedented interconnectedness and prosperity, ...6 days ago
- Announcing Law & Order
Poets, priests and politiciansHave words to thank for their positionsWords that scream for your submissionAnd no one's jamming their transmissionAnd when their eloquence escapes youTheir logic ties you up and rapes you!Songwriter: Sting. Read more ...7 days ago - A counter to drone swarms: high-power microwave weapons
Military forces must prioritise a counter to drone swarming tactics with which inexpensive, mass-produced drones can overwhelm defences. What is needed is a layered defensive system that includes systems that can neutralise many threats within ...7 days ago
- Pay equity shock to have unintended consequences
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, May 12:The gutting of pay equity laws may force hospices to close, pushing extra patients and extra cost into hospitals, the sector says at the start of Hospice Awareness Week. Barnados’ CEO says the law change will hit ...7 days ago - The Death of a Deer
Edit: This stuff is fascinating - and for the record you are definitely OK to disagree with me on any of this in the comments. This community rules, and you’re respectful and great even when disagreeing.With that said — this email just landed in my inbox from a Webworm subscriber ...7 days ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 4, 2025 thru Sat, May 10, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...1 week ago - India-Pakistan crisis: military operations intensify before ceasefire
The past 36 hours on the India-Pakistan front have been tumultuous. Where the confrontation is headed is unclear. Although things seemed to be calming down early on Friday, May 9, intense developments followed. A series ...1 week ago
- NZ First Resorts To Dirty Politics 2.0
1 week ago
- Mother’s Day
My mama saidThat it's good to be fruitfulBut my mama saidDon't take more than a mouthfulAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be naturalAnd my mama saidThat it's good to be factualAlways on the Run, by Lenny Kravitz & Slash.Morena folks, let me begin by acknowledging that Mother’s Day can ...1 week ago - Dunedin Mayor Calls On Government To Help Homeless
Last week, a fire tore through a homeless camp at Dunedin’s Oval, destroying tents and makeshift shelters in a stark reminder of New Zealand’s soul-destroying housing crisis. This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a predictable outcome of the Coalition of Chaos’s reckless policies, which have gutted funding for emergency accommodation ...1 week ago
- Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to May 11
Brooke van Velden says she had proposed the repeal of the Pay Equity Act in a letter to PM Christopher Luxon as soon as she became Workplace Relations and Safety Minister in late 2023. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesBriefly in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to Sunday, May 11:PM Christopher ...1 week ago - Mothers’ Day
In honour of those who have come, those who are, and those who will come to be.Kate SheppardKate Sheppard is famous for leading the successful campaign that made New Zealand the first self-governing nation to grant women the right to vote in 1893. CorrespondenceMarilyn WaringDame Marilyn Joy Waring DNZM is ...1 week ago - Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...1 week ago
- Fact brief – Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is the climate as unpredictable as the weather? Climate predictions are more reliable than weather forecasts because they model long-term trends driven by ...1 week ago
- Watch Ozzy Man Destroy Some White Supremacist
Gather round, you bloody legends, and let’s talk about a true Aussie icon who’s taken a wild detour from his usual topics. Ethan Marrell, better known as Ozzy Man, has been a YouTube juggernaut since 2014, dishing out side-splitting commentary with that larrikin charm and a voice that could make ...1 week ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, May 10
Briefly in Aotearoa’s political economy on Saturday, May 10: Protests have erupted over the Government’s pay equity betrayal this week. Abuse in care survivors are shocked the Government ignored the Royal Commission’s main recommendation.The Government has launched a review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s ‘activism,’ late on a Friday afternoon.Food poverty ...1 week ago - Cold as Ice
I've seen it before; it happens all the timeYou're closing the door, you leave the world behindYou're digging for gold, you're throwing awayA fortune in feelings, but someday you'll payYou know that you are(Cold as ice) As cold as ice to me(Cold as ice)Songwriters: Mick Jones / Lou Gramm.“My suffragette ...1 week ago - Seeking Fiscal Balance
Should we pursue a ‘Golden Rule’ where any public borrowing for consumption is temporary?This columnist is a fiscal conservative who is cautious about government borrowing for public consumption. I was not originally. The Keynesian model I first studied said borrow as much as is necessary to sustain demand. But the ...1 week ago - Taiwan’s polarised politics risks undermining its resilience and security
Taiwan’s opposition parties—including the once-dominant Kuomintang (KMT)—now wield real power in the legislature for the first time since 2012. But their recent actions have cast serious doubt on their commitment to Taiwan’s long-term security and ...1 week ago
- US Defense Secretary cancels Women, Peace and Security programs
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the cancellation of his department’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program. In doing so, he ignored the well-established overlap of insecurity and gender inequality. When announcing ...1 week ago
- PHOTOS: NZ Protests – Again
Kiwis around the country protest: RNZ reports more than 1000 descended on Brooke Van Velden’s officeNote:The government started this pay equity process in April 2024.That’s over a year ago.Cabinet signed it off two months ago.There was no reason for urgency - and never was.The Minister for Woman was left with ...1 week ago - More constitutional vandalism
Since the national government embarked on its racist campaign against Māori, the Waitangi Tribunal has emerged as one of its chief adversaries, putting the impacts of its racist policies formally on the record so they can not be denied. National has responded by sabotaging it, replacing almost the entire membership ...1 week ago
- Nicola Grigg’s Video A Tale Of Two Women
Nicola Grigg1 was given one of the safest blue seats in the country - Selwyn, Christchurch.She holds multiple ministerial portfolios including Trade & Investment, Women, Agriculture, and ACC. Not a bad role.Last year, Grigg said she entered Parliament with Luxon and developed a strong friendship with him.This week she affirmed ...1 week ago
- Are New Zealanders Really Living Beyond Our Means?
The National-led government has been banging the drum of fiscal restraint again, claiming New Zealanders have been “living beyond our means” in another Luxon hates "wet and whiny New Zealanders" standup that is likely to tank his approval rating even further. Yet, the Coalition of Chaos' actions tell a different ...1 week ago
- Drawing Parallels.
The April 22 attacks by Kashmir Resistance (KR), a (at least tacitly) Pakistani-backed irredentist group in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people were murdered, has some unfortunate parallels with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Although many more Israelis died in the latter (nearly 2000) and the costs ...1 week ago - It’s a wrap: NT Defence Week 2025
Australia’s future security will be decided as much in Darwin as in Canberra. NT Defence Week 2025 made that reality unmistakably clear, showcasing the Northern Territory not as a remote outpost, but as the operational ...1 week ago
- Huge Increase In Part Time Workers Earning Nothing
New Zealand’s part-time workers are caught in a vicious cycle, ground down by a system that punishes ambition and rewards poverty. Work and Income’s draconian deductions regime ensure that every extra dollar earned by part time workers is clawed back, leaving many with nothing to show for their efforts. Add ...1 week ago
- Media Bias Over Erica Stanford’s Security Breaches
The Coalition Of Chaos’ Pay Equity Amendment Bill, rammed through under urgency, has predictably hogged the headlines. But while the mainstream media fixates on this gut-punch to women’s economic justice, Education Minister Erica Stanford’s reckless use of her personal Gmail account for sensitive government business is being swept under the ...1 week ago
- Indonesia is more important than ever: Australia must nurture the relationship
For more than decade, there have been signs that Australia is losing diplomatic access and influence in Indonesia. This is cause for concern, given Indonesia’s size and influence in the Indo-Pacific, and because of the ...1 week ago
- The Hoon around the week to May 9
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news about climate change’s role in spreading birdflu in the United States and elsewhere, research showing marine heatwaves gathering ...1 week ago
- Government hid pay equity plans for months
If the decision to disenfranchise tens of thousands of women and men in many of New Zealand’s most important professions seemed hasty or rushed to you at all, don’t worry — it wasn’t! The government just didn’t think it was important for you to know about it.As far back as ...1 week ago - On The New Pope, And The Israeli Attack On Peter Davis
The election of any Pope tends to be retro-fitted in ways that make the choice seem inevitable. God’s will, no less. If the new Pope had been Italian (“Time for the papacy to return home!”) or a staunch conservative (“Time for a balance to the liberalism of Francis!”) then much ...1 week ago - A calculated policy of deceit
This week the government rammed through legislation under urgency to cancel all outstanding pay equity deals and make them impossible to get in future, balancing their books by stealing $17 billion from New Zealand women. It was an outrageous abuse of the democratic process, and since it passed, we've learned ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #19 2025
Open access notables The post-truth era and how science education keeps ignoring it, Erduran, Science: Conventional educational strategies in combatting post-truth seem to emphasize merits of truth, evidence, and reason. Such focus misses key elements of the post-truth era. It ignores the political dynamics that engulf science as well as ...1 week ago
- Huawei drives and dominates Thailand’s digital ascent
Thailand’s rapid ascent as a 5G leader in Southeast Asia has, in part, been powered by Huawei. While many Western nations excluded Huawei from their 5G rollout over security concerns, Thailand—like several regional neighbours—embraced the ...1 week ago
- Join us at 5pm for this week’s Hoon
1 week ago - The threat spectrum
Planet A China has secured a five-year agreement with Cook Islands to explore seabed minerals. The deal, signed alongside broader economic cooperation agreements, consolidates China’s growing presence in Pacific island countries. It follows recent Chinese ...1 week ago
- Pay Equity Events
The Government using Pay Equity settlements as a way to fund their Budget is a new low. Join in rallies across the motu to speak truth to power. Below is a list of all the event’s we are aware of. If you have any other events you’d like to ...1 week ago
- The Right-Wing’s Unemployment Victory Lap
Will you look at that. The National-led coalition and their media cheerleaders, popping champagne because New Zealand’s unemployment rate (currently languishing at a grim 5.1%) hasn’t quite fully spiralled into the abyss they’ve been digging. Bravo, you absolute legends of mediocrity! The mainstream media, ever the loyal lapdogs, are fawning over ...1 week ago
- How Safe Is Student Job Search?
Note: the name of the student in this story has been changed, indicated by an asterisk.Webworm is a reader-supported publication. If you appreciate the journalism I do here, consider becoming subscriber.Hi,Logging into Student Job Search (SJS) is a right of passage for any conscientious university student in New Zealand who’s ...1 week ago - Fat Bottom Girls
Are you gonna take me home tonight?Oh, down beside that red firelightAre you gonna let it all hang out?Fat bottomed girlsYou make the rockin' world go 'roundSongwriter: Brian May.Bottom. What does that word make you think of? For the last few years, it’s been part of a familiar phrase our ...1 week ago - Sri Lanka holds its own amid economic uncertainty
In recent months, Colombo has faced two sharp blows from its Western partners. First was the surprise cut to USAID funding, amounting to approximately US$53 million. Then came a 44 percent tariff on apparel exports ...1 week ago
- Carers, teachers & nurses lose up to $17b, to fund $14b of tax cuts
The planned $14 billion of tax cuts going mostly to landlords and high earners will effectively be paid for by wage cuts for the poorest workers, almost all of whom are women. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāBriefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Thursday, May ...1 week ago - A British carrier group is coming to the Pacific—with doubts looming over it
Operation Highmast got underway in late April, as the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and supporting warships embarked on an eight-month deployment, also known as Carrier Strike Group 25, to the Pacific and ...2 weeks ago
- World’s cargo ships to pay more for dirty fuel under new rules
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Alandmark policy crafted in April by members of the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization, or IMO, will tax international shippers based on the carbon content of their fuels. The draft policy is due to be finalized in late 2025. The agreement ...2 weeks ago
- Pay equity passing is an attack on the working class
2 weeks ago - It’s Time — To Fight
2 weeks ago - India and Pakistan must manage escalation after Pahalgam attack
India has launched a retaliatory strike against the Pakistan-based groups responsible for a terrorist attack in Indian Kashmir two weeks ago. The Indian government released a press statement announcing that the armed forces had launched ...2 weeks ago
- Mapping a decade’s worth of hybrid threats targeting Australia
Hybrid threats, enabled by digital technologies and fuelled by geostrategic competition, are reshaping international security and global norms. Most often, states (commonly working through non-state proxies) are exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities and engaging in economic coercion, ...2 weeks ago
- Government of the 0.3%
A couple of months ago, the government held a public "consultation" on their proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. People responded en masse, and made it crystal clear what they thought of it: The Ministry received approximately 23,000 submissions and worked with a specialist consultancy to quantitatively assess support and opposition ...2 weeks ago
- Trump’s Tariff Tantrum Has Backfired
Donald Trump's tariff tirade, sold as a patriotic push to “Make America Great Again,” is backfiring spectacularly, driving iconic US manufacturers like Boeing and John Deere to pack their bags and head for the exits. Far from reviving the heartland, Trump’s trade war is gutting it, and the numbers paint ...2 weeks ago
- Unions launch petition to protect pay equity
Major Aotearoa unions have launched a new petition calling on the Government to reverse their proposed amendments to the Equal Pay Act and restore existing pay equity claims. Unions behind the petition are home to tens of thousands of working people who’ve experienced the life-changing impact of pay equity – ...2 weeks ago
- Still 34,000 unemployed under National
The March labour market statistics are out, showing unemployment unchanged at 5.1%. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. While better than expected, there's been a shift from full-time to part-time work, and total weekly paid hours has dropped - meaning people are working ...2 weeks ago
- Without logistics, northern defence is going nowhere
Australia must develop a national logistics plan to support combat operations in its primary theatre. Defence’s primary strategic guidance, the National Defence Strategy, has chapters on people, innovation, acquisition and partnerships. It does not talk ...2 weeks ago
- Luxon Isn’t Focused On The Cost Of Living Crisis
When the National Party came to power in 2023, they promised to have a laser-like focus on New Zealand’s cost of living crisis. Their pledge was seductive: tax cuts, streamlined spending, and relief for the “squeezed middle.” Yet, two years into their coalition with ACT and NZ First (the coalition ...2 weeks ago
- Disagree where we must: little room for military diplomacy with China
Australia’s military relationship with China is now defined by strategic competition and opposing objectives. The days of friendly port visits, personnel exchanges and survival exercises are over. As tensions grow, even dialogue with China’s military ...2 weeks ago
- Moment to Arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of nightTake these broken wings and learn to flyAll your lifeYou were only waiting for this moment to ariseSong by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.Brooke cancels fair pay.It’s deja vu on top of deja vu with these guys. Just when you think they might take ...2 weeks ago - Gordon Campbell On Surviving Trump’s Trip To La La Land
The film industry was probably naive to think it would be spared from Donald Trump’s war on globalisation. If you believe Trump, every dollar being spent on foreign film crews, FX houses and film locations, every dime being spent by “runaway” film productions on foreign accomodation and food, is money ...2 weeks ago
- Where’s your evidence, Brooke? Where’s your evidence?
Asked to comment on the passing of Bob Jones last week, our Prime Minister said he’s a living legend. Such is the B-bursary brain power of our leader. A dead guy is a living legend.No surprise then that all he grasped from Brooke van Velden's robot talk about vandalising pay ...2 weeks ago - The Coalition’s Pay Equity Betrayal
The Coalition of Chaos' latest incredibly short-sighted move sees them funnelling around a billion dollars from throwing pay equity claims into the bin into some new helicopters, supposedly for defence or emergency services. Fine, modern equipment is necessary, but at what cost?Pay equity claims, painstakingly initiated to address systemic wage ...2 weeks ago
- The Government Aren’t Paying For Our Defence Spend. Workers Are.
Saving money? The best budgeters recommend cutting the biggest expenses first. I have several facts to present. The earnings gap between management and workers, and particularly between CEOs and workers, has been diverging dramatically since the 80s.The public sector (nearly) matches the pay rate of the private sector for managerial ...2 weeks ago - The Government Aren’t Paying For Our Defence Spend. Workers Are.
Saving money? The best budgeters recommend cutting the biggest expenses first. I have several facts to present. The earnings gap between management and workers, and particularly between CEOs and workers, has been diverging dramatically since the 80s.The public sector (nearly) matches the pay rate of the private sector for managerial ...2 weeks ago
- China needs Taiwanese ports to take the island. Mines are the key to protecting them
If China ever makes good on decades of implicit threats to invade Taiwan, most of its ground force will have to land at ports. Relatively little of it can come over beaches, because they ‘lack ...2 weeks ago
- China needs Taiwanese ports to take the island. Mines are the key to protecting them
If China ever makes good on decades of implicit threats to invade Taiwan, most of its ground force will have to land at ports. Relatively little of it can come over beaches, because they ‘lack ...2 weeks ago
- Dropped
All charges against the Restore Passenger Rail protestors have finally been dropped. Good. But they should never have been laid in the first place, and it shouldn't have taken a jury telling the police to go fuck themselves (or the threat of them doing so again) for the state to ...2 weeks ago
- Cameron Slater’s Selective Outrage Over Benjamin Doyle
Cameron Slater, the once-feared Whale Oil blogger now pathetic bedroom hack, is back at it again, flogging a dead horse while the rest of the right-wing propaganda circus has packed up and left town. His latest fixation? Green MP Benjamin Doyle, whose private social media account sparked a brief, baseless ...2 weeks ago
- National supports sexism
That's the only possible conclusion we can draw from their decision to legislatively terminate all pay equity claims, and make future claims much harder to win: Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden announced the moves to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued to support a claim, ...2 weeks ago
- Vocational training can play a greater role in national security
Australia’s national security strategy has evolved significantly in recent years, expanding beyond military and intelligence domains to address cyber threats, critical infrastructure protection and emergency response. But despite its contribution to these areas, the vocational ...2 weeks ago
- Tuesday 6 May
New analysis found the clean slate law has no relevant impact on the likelihood of eligible individuals finding work. The New Zealand film sector is keeping calm and carrying on in the wake of new tariff threats on film and TV production made in non-US countries. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister “has ...2 weeks ago
- Bernard’s Chorus & Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Tuesday, May 6
Willis and Luxon began the year trumpeting their plan to “go for growth”, but when the Government doesn’t invest, the private sector doesn’t either. Photo: Getty ImagesBriefly, in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Tuesday, May 6: Growth in our housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on of an economy is stalling and ...2 weeks ago
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- Iwi Rights Under Attack in Government Treaty Clause Purge
Te Pāti Māori warns that the Government’s Treaty Clause Review represents the most severe erosion of iwi rights in modern legal history. “Luxon's Government is doing what the Treaty Principles Bill failed to do. They are removing every legal reference to Te Tiriti across health, housing, conservation, and child wellbeing ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Cuts to beds for seniors at Dunedin Hospital
After failing to be upfront about cuts to intensive care beds, it’s now becoming clear that other downgrades to Dunedin Hospital are being concealed by the Minister of Health. ...2 weeks ago - Release: Labour backs workers while Govt cuts jobs and protections
This May Day Labour is standing with workers to defend decent jobs and fair pay. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Still no ferries as first of old fleet retire
Two old and ageing ferries are going to have to work double time because of this Government’s failure to get a ferry deal. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens mark May Day with Green Jobs Guarantee
The Green Party has marked May Day with a pre-budget announcement in Tokoroa, detailing the party’s plan for a Green Jobs Guarantee. ...2 weeks ago - Te Pāti Māori: Keep the Window Open- UCOL Must Stay
Te Pāti Māori stands firmly against any moves to downsize or close UCOL Whanganui. With over 30% of students identifying as Māori, the campus is a vital lifeline for education, upskilling, and community transformation in Te Tai Hauāuru. “Matapihi ki te Ao is more than a name, it’s a promise. ...2 weeks ago
- Twice the Impact, Half the Budget: Budget 25 Must Invest in Whakaata Māori
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025. The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP ...3 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori: Denying the Right to Vote is a Breach of Te Tiriti and Human Rights
The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Closure of North Shore Women’s Centre a huge loss
Today’s confirmed closure of the North Shore Women’s Centre after losing government funding is a huge loss for women in Auckland. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Simeon Brown hid Dunedin Hospital downgrade
Simeon Brown needs to come clean to the people of Dunedin about why he hid plans to downgrade their new hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Govt cuts will cost jobs, health, and homes
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...3 weeks ago
- Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...3 weeks ago
- Right-Wing Government Strips Māori Health Safeguards and Pretends Colonisation Never Happened
Right‑wing ministers are waging a campaign to erase Māori health equity by tearing out its very foundations. ACT’s Todd Stephenson dismisses Treaty‑based nursing standards as “off‑track distractions” and insists nurses only need “skill and a kind heart,” despite clear evidence that cultural competence saves lives. Health Minister Simeon Brown’s funding cuts, hiring ...3 weeks ago
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- Waitangi Tribunal calls on Govt to halt Regulatory Standards Bill
Act leader David Seymour has taken another swing at the Waitangi Tribunal, as the body calls on the Government to stop progressing its ‘good lawmaking’ bill and properly consult with Māori.In response to a report from an urgent inquiry into whether Act’s Regulatory Standards Bill breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ...2 days ago - Public Submissions Are Now Being Called For The Valuers Bill And Amendment Paper 286
This bill would not make any substantial policy changes to the Act. It would make minor changes to the Act to correct inconsistencies and omissions. It is intended to rewrite the law using plain language and modern drafting style. ...2 days ago - Ngāti Kahungunu Appalled By Pulling Of Te Reo Signage
Ngāti Kahungunu demands the immediate reinstatement of bilingual signage and a full rewrite of Waka Kotahi’s rulebook so that this never happens again. ...2 days ago
- Some young trans people take sex hormones so their bodies better align with their gender. What are t...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cristyn Davies, Senior Research Fellow in the Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney romain-jorge/Shutterstock Triggered by hormonal changes in the brain and body, puberty marks a physical transformation. Oestrogen and testosterone – often ...2 days ago - Greenpeace Slams Acceptance Of Seabed Miner’s Application
Experts say that seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight would damage rich ecosystems and threaten precious marine life such as the pygmy blue whale, Māui and Hector’s dolphins and kororā. ...2 days ago
- Saudi Arabia has big AI ambitions. They could come at the cost of human rights
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niusha Shafiabady, Associate Professor in Computational Intelligence, Australian Catholic University This week, on his tour of the Middle East, United States President Donald Trump unveiled a suite of new deals with Saudi Arabia. Trump claimed the deals were worth more than ...2 days ago
- Why Anthony Albanese’s presence at Pope Leo’s inauguration is shrewd politics
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese steps into St Peter’s Square for the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, the optics will be far more than pious courtesy. For a day, the ...2 days ago
- The space race is being reshaped by geopolitics, offering opportunities for countries such as New Ze...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Zámborský, Senior Lecturer, Management & International Business, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau NASA/Getty Imges The space economy is being reshaped — not just by innovation, but by geopolitics. What was once dominated by state space agencies, and more recently ...2 days ago
- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 16, 2025
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on May 16, 2025. Waste-to-energy in Australia: how it works, where new incinerators could go, and how they stack upSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Abbas, Associate Dean (Research), University of Sydney Martin Mecnarowski, Shutterstock. ...2 days ago
- How the grand old dame of the US Navy navigated NZ’s nuke-free policy
Analysis: Here’s one for the ship spotters. One of the biggest American warships ever to visit New Zealand sailed into Wellington on Friday morning.There are brass bands. There are flags and bunting. The 19,600 ton (17,800 tonne) USS Blue Ridge is the flagship of America’s Seventh Fleet and, at the age of ...2 days ago
- Welcome back to the chaos and comedy of Homebound 3.0
Tara Ward watches the return of New Zealand’s funniest romantic comedy. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In a week where good news has felt scarce on the ground, it was with unexpected joy that I found myself sitting on my couch ...2 days ago - The Friday Poem: ‘Twin Earth’ by Mitch Marks
A new poem by Mitch Marks. Twin Earth It’s a dark time for those who watch the moon So kiss me until the sensor lights turn on And there’s not a single lunatic left Drunken cartoon birds circle your crown! Cartoon hearts burst wetly from your eyes! [It’s a scene ...2 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending May 16
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. AUCKLAND 1 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) An absolute ...2 days ago
- Unethical for Wellington council to sign more Golden Mile contracts, Andrew Little says
The Labour Party's candidate for Wellington mayor said he'd be disappointed to see the council march ahead with the plan. ...2 days ago - Human Rights Commissioner Says The Cost Of Limiting Gender Rights Under Legislation
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism & Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) on May 17 is a global day to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of LGBTQIA+people. This year's theme is ‘The power of communities’. ...2 days ago
- Waste-to-energy in Australia: how it works, where new incinerators could go, and how they stack up
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Abbas, Associate Dean (Research), University of Sydney Martin Mecnarowski, Shutterstock. Every year, Australia buries millions of tonnes of waste in landfills. But these sites are filling fast, recycling has its own limitations, and most waste export is banned. So councils ...2 days ago
- Government to run full national interest test on World Health Pandemic Treaty
Peters said it was important to ensure the treaty negotiated by the World Health Assembly wouldn't interfere with New Zealand making its own decisions. ...2 days ago
- The sun will come out tomorrow: remembering the life and music of Charles Strouse
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mara Davis Johnson, Lecturer in Creative and Performing Arts, University of Wollongong The Broadway community is today mourning the passing of Charles Strouse at the age of 96, the legendary composer behind hits like Bye Bye Birdie (1960), Applause (1970) and Annie ...2 days ago
- Our reviews from week two of the NZ International Comedy Festival
Boners, mums and bad audience behaviour filled our nights in week two of the biggest comedy event of the year. Brynley Stent – Bonetown Bonetown. A safe place to share your bones. Brynley Stent as our game show host, comically skulking around the stage in her Maleficent horns and a ...2 days ago
- No chance to say goodbye – defeated MPs will rue not giving valedictory speeches
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Nethery, Associate professor of politics and policy, Deakin University Former Greens leader Adam Bandt’s 15-year career in federal parliament came to an end in a nondescript park in Melbourne, far from the seat of power in Canberra. He was there to ...2 days ago
- Budget 2025: Nicola Willis announces half-billion-dollar boost for film industry
The funding will be in the form of rebates. ...2 days ago
- New local ‘Gossip Girl whodunnit’ takes aim at image based abuse
Alex Casey talks to Jess Todd and Liv McClymont, the creative team behind scandalous new social media series The Sender. On one of the final rounds of script feedback, millennial filmmakers Jess Todd and Liv McClymont received a crucial last minute note from their group of Gen Z advisors. “They ...2 days ago
- When the Facts Change: Let the Budget battles commence
Labour leader Chris Hipkins joins Bernard Hickey to discuss the coalition government’s approach to spending, the importance of infrastructure investment and how a future Labour government might do things differently. Fresh off a pre-Budget speech that took aim at the recent changes to pay equity, Labour Party leader Chris ...2 days ago
- How accurate are my medical records? You might be surprised how often errors creep in
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sheree Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Health Services Management, University of Tasmania DC Studio/Shutterstock Medical records of hundreds of patients at a Sydney hospital’s cancer genetics service have been reviewed following irregularities related to care by a single specialist. According to St ...3 days ago
- So your primary school child has a ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’. Should you be worried?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cher McGillivray, Assistant Professor in Psychology, Bond University Karhut/Shutterstock If you have a child in primary school you may not be expecting to help them manage romantic relationships. Surely this is an issue for the high school years? While ...3 days ago
- Viral ‘Hongdae boy’ videos expose the fringe group of South Korean men trying to sleep with fore...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Elfving-Hwang, Associate Professor (Korean Society and Culture), Dean International (Korea), Curtin University Shutterstock If you’re on TikTok, you may have come across “Hongdae boys” or “Hongdae guys” recently. In a social media context, the term refers to a group of ...3 days ago
- New Zealand Government Seeks To Ban Social Media For Under-16s
Luxon and other politicians and media pundits have spent the past fortnight professing concern for the mental health and safety of young people. ...3 days ago
- The cost of being: A home-brewing academic and dad with a ‘healthy nest egg’ invested
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 38-year-old academic shares his approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Male. Age: 38. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: University academic. Salary/income/assets: $115k salary, ...3 days ago
- School support staff protest outside Erica Stanford’s Auckland office for more pay
It comes amidst recent pay equity changes. ...3 days ago
- A trial is testing ways to enforce Australia’s under-16s social media ban. But the tech is flawed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexia Maddox, Senior Lecturer in Pedagogy and Education Futures, La Trobe University De Visu/Shutterstock Australia’s move to ban under-16s from social media is receiving widespread praise. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore and Japan, are also now reportedly considering ...3 days ago
- Banning young people from social media sounds like a silver bullet. Global evidence suggests otherwi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jasleen Chhabra, Research Fellow, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne Monkey Business / Shutterstock Around 98% of Australian 15-year-olds use social media. Platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram are where young people connect with friends and online ...3 days ago
- This election, young people held the most political power. Here’s how they voted
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders University This election, a lot of focus was directed at young voters. With Millennials and Gen Z now making up a larger share of the electorate than Baby Boomers, this was deserved. But for all the ...3 days ago
- The House: Wake-up call to MPs over building relationships after Treaty settlements
Public organisations are treating Treaty commitments like transactions, not relationships, the Auditor-General says. ...3 days ago
- Social services react to damning report into Oranga Tamariki
The Auditor-General said not knowing the impact cuts would have on children and their families was "unacceptable". ...3 days ago
- Government unveils $190m social investment fund with focus on early intervention
Nicola Willis is betting on a ‘top of the cliff’ model of social services, backed by data and led by former a former police commissioner, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Social investment funding prioritises early support ...3 days ago
- A surplus of defence riches, but lack of skill and experience
Analysis - The minister of defence, space and spy issues has at least $9 billion of new money to spend, but is also grappling with a defence force that is demonstrably not ready to spend it, writes Phil Pennington. ...3 days ago
- Judith Collins defiant over survey involvement: ‘The Greens are frankly bonkers’
The Public Service Minister claims questions she removed about religion, te reo Māori and rainbow identities infringed on people's privacy. ...3 days ago
- From pain to podium: Kiwi teen lifters make history
Before she stepped onto the platform in Lima, Peru, Olivia Selemaia felt the weight of past failure pressing down on her. Warming up to take that same world stage, Mollie King felt her back ‘pop’ while hoisting 85kg of iron.It could easily have derailed both teenage Kiwi weightlifters.Instead, they pushed ...3 days ago
- Huge and true: Madeleine Chapman to step down as editor of The Spinoff
The search for a new leader begins. Is it you? Later this year, after four extremely fulfilling and busy years in the role, I will be stepping down as editor of The Spinoff. I’ll be taking a break and then returning for a little while longer to work on some ...3 days ago
- The dream pub is real, and it is in Wellington
More than just a place to drink, The Ram on Cuba Street does everything a pub is meant to and so much more. Table Service is a column about food and hospitality in Wellington, by Nick Iles. In 1946, George Orwell published an essay called The Moon Under Water. In ...3 days ago
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