We may think that we now live in more enlightened times where the scourge of racism is finally being dealt to and racist behaviour by politicians is no longer considered acceptable.
But recent events suggest to me that racist memes are still being used by the calculating to stir up political support from the bewildered.
Admittedly it is not as bad as previous embodiments of racist activity. People are not regularly being killed or their houses or churches burned, at least by the politicians saying these things. But there are an awful lot of people out there that seem to get fired up by this sort of stimulation …
A classic example of race baiting has occurred recently in Australia. Victoria, which currently has a State Labor government, has an election later on in the year. Clearly the Liberals would love to win back power. So the Turnbull Government has made a big thing about gangs of young Africans causing problems in Melbourne and how Melbournians are afraid to go out at night. Peter Dutton, whose level of odiousness almost matches that of Trump, has front footed the attack. And things have been egged on by Rupert Murdoch owned papers.
Dutton chose to use the right wing playbook. He attacked the Andrews Government for appointing “weak” judges and suggested that the non existing law and order problem was all because of liberals (small l).
There is a problem with some of the judges and magistrates [Premier] Daniel Andrews has appointed and some of the bail decisions that have been made, been criticised even by Daniel Andrews’ own ministers,” Mr Dutton told Adelaide radio yesterday.
“It is not a problem in Adelaide, not in Brisbane, not in Sydney. It’s a problem concentrated in Victoria.”
Victoria is having a debate about gangs. Specifically, it is debating whether it is appropriate to call groups of young people who are predominantly from African backgrounds a “gang” and, so named, what should be done about it.
It’s also having a debate about race, which is being waged in the comment sections of front-page articles on gang violence, and on social media, where comments like “stop immigration until this mess is sorted” populate Victoria police’s official Facebook page.
Both debates are linked to a perceived increase in large-scale violent offences committed by young people of African appearance, most of whom have been linked to Melbourne’s Sudanese migrant community.
Media coverage of the issue, led by the News Corp tabloid the Herald Sun, has dubbed Victoria “a state of fear” and reported that it could undermine the incumbent Labor government’s chances in the November state election.
On Monday the prime minister weighed in, saying at a press conference in Sydney that “growing gang violence and lawlessness in Victoria” was “a failure of the Andrews government”.
However, police say that crime from African “street gangs” is an ongoing, not growing, problem, and also that calling these groups “gangs” might be overstating the issue.
The Murdoch media have been complicit in what has happened and embarrassingly for them were caught out trying to create an incident involving Sudanese youth so they could report it. From the Guardian:
A scuffle described by the media last week as “the latest gang flare-up” involving African teenagers was in fact entirely provoked by the journalists who reported it, according to Victoria police.
The article, published by the Daily Mail on 3 January, was billed as an exclusive and headlined “Police SPAT ON and abused as officers arrest African teenagers outside a shopping centre in Melbourne’s west in broad daylight – in latest gang flare up”.
According to Victoria police, there was no “gang” involved and no “flare-up” until the aggressive behaviour of the Daily Mail photographer provoked a group of teenagers who were innocently socialising at the shopping centre.
Two days after the article was published, the Victoria police executive director of media and corporate communications, Merita Tabain, wrote a confidential email to the editors of Melbourne’s main media outlets expressing concern that aggressive behaviour by journalists might “exacerbate the current tensions”. She gave the incident at the Tarneit Central shopping centre as an example.
Tabain wrote that the incident had been provoked by the photographer’s decision to “move in to take closeup photos of a group of African teenagers socialising”.
Is there an actual problem? Sudanese offending is believed to comprise 1.5% of total offending. Although this is bigger than the actual proportion of the Sudanese community of the total population the overall amount is small.
And socio economic reasons may be the cause for any spike in offending. A disproportionate number of Sudanese youth are unemployed, the Sudanese community has a much younger average age, are generally poorer and suffer from an enhanced lack of engagement in work and school. These factors may explain the enhanced level of Sudanese involvement in reported crime. But the claim of out of control Sudanese youth gangs is, in the words of Victoria Chief of Police Graeme Ashton complete and utter garbage.
So the overwhelming effect I get from the allegations is “Meh”. But this has not stopped the idiots from sparking up.
Can I recommend that you go to the #AfricanGangs hashtag on twitter. The tweets are almost overwhelmingly a celebration of Africans living in Australia who are achieving great things, just like the early settlers of other cultures moving to a foreign nation.
And I can’t help but wonder if the activity is timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the Bourke Street incident where six people were killed after Dimitrious Gargasoulas allegedly intentionally drove into them. Gargasoulas was Australian born of Greek Tongan descent who had been granted bail a few days earlier after an allegation of speeding and failing to stop. From the Wikipedia description he was clearly unwell. But mix in race and a cry for law and order and a claim that the judiciary are soft and time it so it will be topical just before the anniversary of a really sad event. Does Peter Dutton have no depth that he will sink to?
But just when you thought that no politician could sink lower than Dutton Donald Trump describes most of the developing countries as Shithole. Put aside his misogynist views, his lack of understanding, his overt belligerence, his anti environmental crusade, his attack on the poor and support for the rich and the threat he poses to world peace these comments should result in his removal from office. In a properly functioning democracy …
But this is a weakness of the democratic system. Pedalling lies and threatening racial tolerance for political gain should result in automatic failure, every time. That it does not, and that it is seen to be a legitimate political tool by the right means that we have a problem.
These contemptible human beings (they are not worthy of being called people) are being emboldened all around the world by this “shithole”, Donald Trump.
Decades ago my late Dad used to say… when America starts to go downhill, they’ll take the rest of us down with them. And that is exactly what is happening.
My daughter had a knife held to her throat and was threatened with death while a Sudanese 16 year old youth groped her in Central Melbourne during daylight work hours, while she was carrying our her job. i have NO SYMPATHY for these assholes. The aggression against the Sudanese is because of their fucked up religious views of women amongst other things. An no those views are not to be tolerated in a modern society.They do not give a rats arse about western values. And no Australia and NZ do not need these fucking people . Now out will come all the dearly deluded members of NZ’s oh so tolerant left telling me what a racist I am. I am an atheist and an old fashioned working class feminist . Fuck these people we don’t need em!
The Sudenese in Australia are generally young, sometimes with parents but very few grandparents. It’s not surprising that their crime rate is high because the young are more likely to be in trouble with the law. On top of that, many are refugees that have had horrific experiences in country to country war and in civil war that has left them troubled.
Accepting what you say at face value do you accept Shona there are assholes in all cultures and to concentrate on the ethnic background of an attacker distorts the picture? After all Australians are the largest group of people involve in Australian crime followed by kiwis …
The problem is one of what your expectations of migrants are once they arrive.
Until the 1970s migrants mostly arrived by ship and had little to no expectation of return to or regular contact with their native countries and cultures. Since the advent of cheap passengers flights and the internet, immigrants can form self-imposed ghettos of permanent first-generation migrants, Somali or Sudanese or whatever who never integrate and indeed, are told by white-guilt liberals they have every right to continue living just like they did in their shithole wasteland Sudan in nice, verdant Sandringham, or whatever.
When you have a self-imposed ghetto full of people whose antediluvian religious views (and I don’t give a shit if they are ultra-orthodox Jews who won’t pay tax or slut-shaming Amish who beat their children or misogynistic Muslims from Sudan) are in direct conflict with the values and social mores of their host society you are going to get serious problems. Nation states are historically meant to be heavily racially homogeneous groups with a shared culture and even a cursory glance at history shows what a terrible job they do at being multi-racial and multi-cultural (Just ask an Austro-Hungarian, or a Yugoslav, or a Transylvanian or a Czech or a Hutu…).
We spend a large amount of time condemning colonialism for creating unstable African nations containing religious and ethnic groups who hate each other, yet somehow we think it is bad to say to migrants from countries with polar opposite cultural and social views they must conform to and assimilate our values or be deported/barred from ever coming here. It is an exercise in liberal schizophrenia that is tearing societies apart, not making new migrants welcome.
Shona, that was a shocking thing to happen to your daughter. You have a right to be angry and bitter. In your shoes, I would want them cut up into bits and fed to the pigs. But I don’t think mickysavage was referring to such human animals. His concern – and mine – is related to institutionalised racism for political gain as practiced by Donald Trump… and being copied elsewhere in the world.The last time that happened in the 1930s and 1940s millions lost their loves.
If the post is about the overall behaviour of certain people, one or a few anecdotes indicate that they have some people in their group who will commit good, or bad things, violence, fraud etc. But the individual anecdote has a place at the side of the main analysis, not taken as a central point, otherwise there is no overview and no tentative judgment can be made.
A cousin of mine was raped at knife point in the South of USA by a couple of whites.
Am I now meant to think that all white Americans are like that due to their race, nationality, religion? I mean look at the fundamentalist, racist, sexists, class hating people in the USA. (And that includes so many in power.)
And my son was stabbed fourteen times by a NZ born white crohn’s disease sufferer who was unemployed and is now in jail. I’m unaware of any religious or misogynist views held by this asshole but obviously he’s from a group that is also not needed in this country (using your logic).
Agreed it is why i don’t consider myself part of the modern left anymore and if the standard are going to start bleating on like the rest then i will cut them out of my news cycle.
Because as always diversity hits the working class the hardest and its not just the “white” working class complaining. Local aborigines say the Sudanese young are behaving like ingrates turning their community into the same kind of place they fled from yet no one seems to even care what they have to say.
My daughter is regularly harassed, and even ‘touched up’ whilst heading home to her apartment off Cuba St. Usually by bar patrons-supposedly drinking in a sophisticated kind of way….’cos ya know-they really can handle their piss.
They’re predominantly white males-and usually fugly specimens at that.
Just as well that because of surf lifesaving and rowing, she is capable of totally flooring most of them.
“Flooring people” is harder than it sounds, and without training she might break her hand.
Far better to develop some innate abilities through practice and diligence, like any other sport. There are great Wing Chun and Taijiquan teachers in Wellington. Not some “self-defense” class, either: seek out a master.
I have no time for Peter Dutton and his ilk, but New Zealand citizens put in the same situation should support their own communities and support the Police. There’s a few towns in New Zealand that for example are dominated by crime and it’s really hard to organize against them. That would be whether they were immigrants or not.
Ad, the story you linked to is for members only. What was it about?
I do have a bit of a problem with your suggestion that people should involve themselves in direct action to support each other and the police. While in some circumstances this might be justified, the fact is that it’s easy to misjudge the dynamics of an event, especially if you only witness part of it or hear one side of it, and especially if the wider framing includes media demonising or dehumanising of one group of people while consistently portraying another group as victims. The people who assume that any group young people who are of African descent is a “gang”, for example, could easily intervene based on this assumption and actually be part of the problem. There’s a fine line between this kind of citizens’ direct action and vigilantism.
It was about Melbourne Police arrests of the Apex gang and a core of about 60 individuals. Here’s a quick explainer from an open site on gangs in Melbourne:
I am not proposing direct action. But I get pretty tired of activists on the left decrying the Police in New Zealand. We might want to look at extracting the log in our own eye in Kaitaia and other gang-dominated small towns for example before trying to wash the dust off someone else’s face.
“Pedalling lies and threatening racial tolerance for political gain should result in automatic failure, every time. That it does not, and that it is seen to be a legitimate political tool by the right means that we have a problem”
This type of Intolerance extends beyond racism to target various groups (generally poor people) – and in my view is designed to create division within populations – because while we’re hating each other, the Trumps of the world and our political leaders get to do what they will and we all get to forget who is causing the problems and blame each other instead.
Sadly in New Zealand “pedalling lies” is a tool that has been used by the right and left for decades – And actually I fail to see who the ‘left’ actually are these days, they’re much of a sameness and all implicated in promoting lies to justify and force harmful policy on disadvantaged groups – usually poor and brown people – maybe we overlook racism in our own backyard too?
Australia has a problem. The same one New Zealand does: racists. We need to get into their homes and communities, identify the instigators, and get them out of Parliament.
Start with anyone who bleats about political correctness. It’s simple code that means: “I am a racist.”
That sounds like you would use any lame excuse to label someone a racist.
Intolerance of and attacks on people with different views to your own can be as dirty as any racist (who typically are intolerant and attack or ostracise people they don’t like).
I so agree. I get very beady eyed about people who start bleating about society being ‘too pc’. They seem to me to have the pip because their favourite sexist/racist/etc meme which they have used to justify rotten behaviour has come under the spotlight and has been identified and described for what it is
To an extent but I think you’re over-generalising.
Confronting sexist/racist/whateverist language is important, but there’s also a danger of oversanitising language, and shutting down reasonable discussion using -ists as justification.
I think the BSA was right to dismiss the complaints for Hosking saying ‘for God’s sake’ (during an election debate), and for someone else saying ‘for Christ’s sake’.
Beautifully said Fairy Godmother and JanM above !
For a long time now I’ve thought that anti-PC is in reality the new PC……subscribed to by ignorant/lazy pricks as a distraction from their shame about their manifest inadequacies.
How could we think that racism was vanishing. We live in a culture of neo liberalism that has brought back classism, raised materialism above religion and consciousness of others worth, and the need to serve one another for their benefit, mutual benefit and the good of the whole community. It has wiped away equality-oriented policies and thoughts, replacing them with competitiveness. Push yourself, advocate for yourself and your superiority over all others. This link shows the epitome of the modern
educated go-ahead person focussed on business advantage, they have no time for consideration of real life and racism and how others are being treated. (Everybusinessvideoever)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjtnGqvDM8
You want to get more than you have? Get to and use other people around you or far; stand on their shoulders if need be. Don’t bother about gratitude or reciprocation for good acts.
Neo lib teaches the simple psychology, as a tenet of its beliefs, that everyone does something to satisfy themselves, some innate urge. So no need to consider others, they are all following their own path in life. Concentrate on yourself, use your advantages, slide into line before others in the queue – say, hey look over there – and get in. Leave the others standing, if they have problems because of race, that gives you an advantage, seize it. /sarc
Does Peter Dutton have no depth that he will sink to?
Apparently not but we shouldn’t be surprised by the actions of this RWNJ. It’s pretty much their MO as we learned here from Dirty Politics.
Pedalling lies and threatening racial tolerance for political gain should result in automatic failure, every time. That it does not, and that it is seen to be a legitimate political tool by the right means that we have a problem.
It should do but our system has been designed from the top to protect those at the top.
+1000 Draco T Bastard the system have been designed by the top to protect the top and that has to change. I still say that the word race should be wiped from our minds books and Computers and we use culture instead to identify all the beautiful unique people on Papatuanukue. I readed work from good writers and the use culture instead of race its the Ass holes of the World that use race to divide US the 99% of the world so they can carry on ripping US off. Ka kite ano
It’s pleasing that we don’t have any racist slurs flung around by our MPs.
Imagine if we had someone like the bigot mentioned in this story, who claimed that housing in his country was being all bought up by Chinese who weren’t residents.
His method of deciding they were Chinese was that the had “Chinese sounding names”. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/twyford-s-racist-cynical-chinese-property-buyer-statistics-de-bunked-q00964
Lucky that none of our New Zealand MPs are like that isn’t it?
Meh – both Australia and Canada have found significant impacts from Chinese buyers on their housing markets. We have increasing numbers of Chinese speaking real estate agents, and Chinese language real estate adverts. NZ real estate companies are now advertising in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. No controls on foreign buyers are in evidence.
Given these indicators it would be frankly extraordinary if the NZ market were not feeling the impact of a rise in Chinese buying. But by all means repeat the Gnat attack meme – their sudden false concern about racism certainly trumps ordinary NZer’s legitimate expectations of housing availability.
I think I’m going to generate a post about why OECD-country conservative movements are crushing the left with immigration policies and immigration discourse, and what if anything the left can do about it. Just needs an NZ immigration policy announcement to hang it off.
I’m waiting for it Ad. Recall also my comment on the Jim Anderton post re MoBIE.
I hope and pray for a better approach, and so far the signs are looking slightly better.
That’ll be the tricky part, because the typical left-wing response to people unhappy about mass immigration from completely foreign cultures is “Your bigotry is unacceptable.” The accused bigots then vote for people not declaring them to be bigots. I’m detecting a Gordian knot here…
So why aren’t there any good stats on whom was buying house in Auckland. Buying and selling houses in NZ is easy money. Iv seen a house brought and sold 3 times in 12 months with everyone getting a mark up. Why are there no stats on this subject well national was covering this up. It is not wise to let the foreigns buy up all OUR Assets. 15 years ago I read a article that pridicted New Zealand would become the Dairy farm of the world and The holiday home for the rich and famous .lf New Zealand became the holiday home for the rich and famous most of the people will be put on the bread line as everything will become to expensive for the 99% I say foreign should only be able to lease land. And can only buy land after being a resident for 10 years Ka kite ano
Totally agree with Shona. New Zealand should be for New Zealanders, not refugees from the world’s many shithole dumps. National lost votes because of their daft mass immigration policy (including mine), and Labour and co will do so also, if they insist on importing masses from all and sundry. FFS, we have an almost country wide housing crisis, huge unemployment, groaning cities, crowded schools and resources, but we want to bring in more and more? National didn’t listen and Labour won’t ever. Tone deaf when it comes to what kiwis want. No Islam here, pulease. Multi cultural simply means loss of our way of life, and death by one thousand cuts. Our pollies are UN sellouts, both sides, including Winnie.
In the 1870s recent immigrants were criticised by those who been original European immigrants from the 1840s and 1850s now living in North Canterbury. They were described as ‘sweepings from the gutters of European cities.” My ancestor was one of these. He stood up in a public meeting in Loburn and defended these people saying he was one of them. He was chaired from the meeting.
Documented history. I am so proud of this ancestor. A son of his was a champion dog-trialist, a grandson of his was a great wartime hero, another grandson a Shield winning Rugby coach, and so on, and so on. Descendants of one who had to borrow the money to emigrate away from the unemployment of 1860/70s rural England.
As the Statue of Liberty says, “Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
His descendants married into families of English, Irish, Scottish, Indian, Japanese, Maori descent. Canterbury always was a little mono-cultural…………
Tanz, you were out-of-date and indeed plain wrong, even 150 years ago.
NZ IS a shit-hol dump for many people and you Tanz with your skewed attitudes are an enabler of this. Anyone who is for the present economic practices at present in NZ, must take responsibility for helping bring this about. The fact that you and all the other RWs and fellow travellers of National won’t take responsibility is a sad observation that lefties must take on board.
Labour must ameliorate the conditions but wouldn’t be able to change them greatly in three years. One of the things they need to do is to try and limit immigration of rich foreigners to this country by ensuring that money invested here has taxed profits, and that investments made here are not just on land and buildings to absentee landlords.
Controlling immigration should also include NZ companies and the government not allowing the poor people from overseas shitholes to be fleeced by either their own people who have set up business in hypocritical, lying NZ presenting itself as a great and good country, but with a dark underbelly of sharp practices, or actually fleeced by NZ government and NZ business.
If you could bring yourself to actually think around and behind the problems you see Tanz rather than take soapbox stands shouting out your pre-programmed messages it would be worth your time to write here and ours to read what you have to say.
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
‘a programme to combat racism’
The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
‘theories of racism’
On this definition i don’t believe Trump to be racist but then I’ve also never met the guy so i don’t know what hes like
But when it came to shooting the suspects, police officers were more likely to fire without having first been attacked if the suspects were white. Additionally, the study learned that black and white civilians in the shootings were equally likely to be carrying a weapon.
And while zeroing in on the police department in Houston to get a more detailed picture, Mr. Fryer found that in situations of justifiable use of force, when, for instance, the officer is being attacked by the suspect, officers were 20% less likely to shoot at a black suspect. Accounting for other control factors in tense situations, Mr. Fryer saw similar results that there was either no difference between how blacks and whites were treated or that blacks were less likely to be shot.
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SUBMISSION ON THE REVISED TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT Professor Jane Kelsey, Faculty of Law, The University of Auckland 1. I am a Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, specialising in international economic regulation. From 2010 I closely monitored the ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: That “Clarkism” continues to be the driver of Labour policy is now impossible to either ignore or hide. Why else would Jacinda Ardern's finance minister (and Michael Cullen protégé) Grant Robertson have deliberately hamstrung the ...
Our electric trains have been fantastic and successful addition to the city. More successful than officials predicted, helping to drive ridership on trains to double in four years to 20 million trips annually. They’ve been so successful that many ...
. . The unthinkable has happened. US, French, and British military forces attacked various targets in Syria. The attack took place at around mid-day-1.00PM local time (14 April); . . Trump described the attack with flowery words that served only ...
This is a guest post from Bridget Burdett. She is a principal researcher at TDG (now part of Stantec). She has a Bachelor of Engineering and Masters of Engineering in Transportation, and is in the final stages of a PhD ...
When Jacinda Ardern was asked to justify her government's decision to stop issuing oil drilling permits forthwith she drew on a memory that sits deep in her party's - and our country's - soul. Our nuclear-free status. The decision for ...
by Don Franks Last year, US ambassador Scott Brown clashed with our then prime minister Bill English, who’d described Trump’s threat to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea as “not helpful”.In a TVNZ interview on October 15th , Scott Brown ...
With global warming, we can make predictions and then take measurements to test those predictions. One prediction (a pretty obvious one) is that a warmer world will have less snow and ice. In particular, areas that have year-round ice and snow will ...
Grinding out scores. Andrew Barrow receives his oversized cheque. Photo: Kate Russell/Meow Wolf I met Andrew Barrow in an empty Timezone. The arcade is tucked behind The Warehouse’s central Wellington store and doubles as a Laserforce. ...
by Zella Downing. Good on Jacinda Ardern and the current New Zealand government for their courage in announcing an end to offshore oil exploration, and issuing no new onshore permits outside of Taranaki. This vital first step re-directs our focus ...
So, someone decided to stage a Three Billboards style protest about anti-Semitism outside Labour Party headquarters.Clever, eh? That'll show that nasty old anti-Semitic Labour Party the errors of its ways.Obviously a stunt like that requires a bit off effort and ...
Ellie Jay tries (and fails gloriously) to go waste free for a week. Le bin bag heureuse The sea is full of plastic, dolphins are choking on it. There’s a garbage patch bigger than the ...
At the moment the UK government is persecuting the "Windrush generation". People who legally migrated to the UK and have a legal right to remain are being thrown out of their jobs and threatened with deportation unless they can prove ...
But do their grades paint the full picture? Ando International garment factory in Vietnam Photo: ILO / Aaron SantosSome of New Zealand’s top fashion brands have landed at the bottom of this year’s Ethical Fashion Report. The ...
In the wake of Tony Blair's illegal war in Iraq, the UK had been developing a constitutional convention which saw Parliament vote on waging war, and this had prevented the UK from bombing Syria in 2013. But over the weekend, ...
Yesterday the government announced its interim climate change committee - a group of experts to advise it on climate change policy. The group is intended to eventually become a permanent independent climate change commission once the government's Zero Carbon Act ...
Why Is James Shaw Smiling? Labour's motto, when it comes to potential political challengers, has always been: "No enemies to our left!" Given the recent history of Labour's left-wing competitors, the Green Party co-leader's broad smile may, therefore, be misplaced ...
So, you might wonder what has prompted me to stir in my Cthulhuesque slumber?Today in parliament a debate was held on the issue of anti-Semitism. Its a rather important issue and one which - you'd hope - would transcend party ...
. . Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later, using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) ...
This is a guest post by Pippa Coom, Chair, Waitematā Local Board. Pippa recently attended and presented at the the Local Government Road Safety Summit called by Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter. It has been a sad week ...
Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little, and Pike Family representatives Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse have entered the Pike River Mine portal. ...
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has welcomed the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on the Whakatōhea mandate. “The Tribunal acknowledged that the package on the table is a good package but there are some concerns about the process. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little’s Māori death protocols Bill had its first reading in Parliament last night. “The Bill requires coroners to consider Māori cultural protocols when determining who can view, touch or remain near a tūpāpaku - body of deceased. ...
Treaty Minister Andrew Little has announced the Government has secured land near Whangarei that’s been the focus of Ngāpuhi concerns about the health and well-being of Porotī Springs. ...
Payments have been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under their Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Negotiations Hon Andrew Little announced today. ...
- Check Against Delivery - Tēna koutou, tēna koutou, tēna koutou katoa. Professor Rouben Azizian, Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies - thank you for the invitation to speak. ...
The third reading of a Bill to wipe historic homosexual offences from criminal records marks the end of an historic struggle for New Zealand’s gay community says Justice Minister Andrew Little. ...
People in rural areas, driving for work and the elderly were some of the surprising groups new research has found to be dying in road crashes when not wearing seatbelts. The AA Research Foundation led a project in partnership with ...
The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill doesn’t go far enough, says criminal justice research group People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA). ...
Pigs are amongst the most intensively farmed animals on the planet, suffering at every stage of their lives, and a new study for World Animal Protection has found that: ...
On Wednesday, 11 April, the Zionist Federation of New Zealand (ZFNZ) published a vicious attack on Green MP Go lriz Ghahraman for accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people. Unable to deny the decades of ideologically-driven oppression ...
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care has received over 200 submissions from the public on the draft Terms of Reference. Public submissions close on April 30th. ...
On 2 March 2018 a column I wrote was published in the print edition of the NBR and on the NBR’s website. It was titled: “Joyce sacking first test of Bridges’ leadership”. ...
Media reports that New Zealand children of 14 or 15 years of age are now being targeted for contracts by sporting franchises, should prompt New Zealand authorities to review laws preventing the exploitation of children. ...
Economist Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Fraying Societies According to renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, the unravelling taking place in the United States shows why economic inequality is socially and morally unsustainable, a lesson the income equality group ...
Energy Minister assures consumers they can still cook with gas Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says New Zealand consumers will still be able to cook and heat their water with gas for many years to come, despite the government’s ...
Reserve Bank Chief: No need for banking inquiry in NZ The new head of the Reserve Bank does not think New Zealand’s banks conduct themselves as badly as their Australian counterparts and he does not think institutions here need to ...
Will Jacinda Ardern Champion Women in Seeking Legal Recognition for the Humanity of the Unborn Child and its Right to Life? Media Release Friday 20th April 2018 ...
Lisa Owen: The Royal Commission into historical state abuse is currently taking public submissions on its draft terms of reference. There’s already been plenty of debate over the time period the inquiry will cover, whether churches should be ...
The Provincial Development Unit (PDU) administering the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is strengthening its systems and processes for assessing and approving requests for funding following an internal review, Provincial Development Unit head Nigel Bickle ...
The Governor-General, The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy, GNZM, QSO, will represent the people of New Zealand at the 2018 Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli. ...
Mark Middleton granted permanent residence after pressure from lawyer and Sensible Sentencing Trust Compensation should be awarded for legal fees and loss of job. 20th April 2018 ...
Green MPs Marama Davidson and Golriz Ghahraman demonstrated selective outrage last week, suggesting that their concern for human rights in the Middle East extends only so far as Israel can be blamed. ...
All New Zealanders should brace themselves for a regional fuel tax as Christchurch City Council seeks to expand the Government’s bill, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “Taxes are like ...
Christchurch-based political organisation the Canterbury Socialist Society will be hosting a public lecture on the eve of ANZAC day to acknowledge and commemorate the efforts of workers who actively resisted the First World War both at home and abroad. ...
State sector reform may undermine governance in Crown entities, warns Institute of Directors Embargoed until 5am, Friday 20 April 2018 The Institute of Directors (IoD) warns proposed state sector reforms may undermine good governance in Crown ...
The majority of NZNO DHB members, who are party to the DHB Nurses and Midwifery MECA, receive their strike ballot paper by post and email from Monday 23 April to vote on proposed strike action. The action will occur if ...
The Commonwealth heads of government are discussing and possibly deciding who will be the next symbolic head of the Commonwealth after Queen Elizabeth. ...
Preventive detention in New Zealand violates human rights, UN experts find GENEVA (19 April 2018) – New Zealand violated its obligations under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights by keeping two men convicted of rape in exceptionally ...
We have been noticing positive change recently in society’s attitude towards beneficiaries. This more positive view of the previously maligned group will lead to some much-needed changes in the benefit system. Things will only improve for beneficiaries with better ...
Fish & Game has called for urgent government action on what it describes as a “sobering” official report showing wetlands, forests and waterways are coming under increasing pressure from unsustainable development. ...
NZNO Auckland members are gathering outside the Auckland Hospital this Thursday at 1.30pm to add their voice to the nations’ DHB nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. ...
Peter Glasson, the Southern Response earthquake claimant who started a hunger strike at midnight on Monday 16 April is continuing to refuse all food, 3 days on. ...
The Ministry for the Environment has released Our Land 2018 which reveals that the large scale conversion and intensification of dairying is a key driver of environmental degradation. ...
Taxpayers deserve an assurance that the Prime Minister’s Office followed all appropriate steps in appointing a recruitment agency linked to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff to recruit the replacement to the Prime Minister’s Chief Press Secretary, ...
Minister for Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods and Revenue Minister Stuart Nash have released a discussion document on a proposed Research and Development tax incentive. ...
Forest & Bird says a major environmental report out today confirms nature is in serious trouble in New Zealand, and is paying the price for an economic strategy that prioritises the production of low value commodities. ...
The eradication of Callaghan Innovation’s controversial Growth Grants in favour of a rules-based R&D tax incentive is a major victory for taxpayers, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams ...
We are losing our most productive land to houses - that’s the most significant point Federated Farmers takes from the ‘Our Land 2018’ report released today. ...
The Environmental Defence Society has commended the Ministry for the Environment and Stats New Zealand for their latest environmental report, Our Land 2018. ...
Reach for the stars is the message that has been shared with hundreds of care-experienced young people who have been through the innovative social impact programme L’Oréal Face Your Future. ...
Long-lost siblings? A high-stakes and seemingly pointless quest? A fake death? Sounds like a good time. Sam Brooks celebrates the forgotten Kiwi drama Seekers.Before Filthy Rich was even a glimmer in Gavin Strawhan’s eye, Seekers brought the unpredictable and improbable drama to ...
WATCH: 'In Foreign Fields' New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera investigates the story of the war dead in the player above. John Keir explains how the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries came into existence - and why most Māori and some Pākehā question whether all our fallen should ‘forever lie in ...
Stopping a woman's benefit before a tip she was cheating the system had been properly investigated is "not okay", and a culture change at the ministry is needed, says the prime minister. ...
The Prime Minister is back in the country after a week-long trip to Europe and is in the RNZ studio to discuss the week's big issues. Watch a live stream here. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Food grant stats show poverty in NZ is getting worse, woman’s benefit wrongly cut off by WINZ over dates, and the budget responsibility rules are set to be bent.The number of ...
Newsroom technology columnist Richard MacManus points out Spark has a lot of work to do before next year's Rugby World Cup to ensure its technology can handle sports live streaming. COMMENT: Last week World Rugby sold local broadcast rightsto the 2019 ...
Rebecca Wood is a force of nature in a striking new Rebel Sport commercial. But ‘how many lives you live is up to you’? Nah, not for female rugby players.There’s a lot to like about Rebel Sport’s latest foray into ...
BRIEFING:By Ben Bohane in Port Vila China … China … China … All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully see past the elephant in the room. Contrary to most commentary, ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific.David Robie talks on 95bFM about current Pacific issues Reuben McLaren of 95bFM talks to Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology, on the centre’s Southern ...
Veteran Herald sports reporter Wynne Grey has written a new book about what happens to rugby players when they hang up their boots. In this excerpt, Mark “Bull” Allen – the All Blacks prop who led the Hurricanes in the Super 12 ...
Last week, Auckland-based producer and musician October released her debut album, Ultra Red. She tells Henry Oliver about how, two months before the album’s intended release, she took the recordings back and remade it by herself.“I had my pre-album release freak ...
Paul Buchanan On intelligence oversight, a broader perspective. – 36th Parallel AssessmentsIntroduction.Dr Paul Buchanan, co-founder of 36th Parallel Assessments.36th Parallel Assessments’ Director Paul G. Buchanan has been named as a member of the New Zealand Inspector General ...
With The Handmaid’s Tale season two arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Thursday, Alex Casey assembles a handy list of ways you can bide your time. I wish I could tell you everything about The Handmaid’s Tale season two, I really do. ...
Despite National’s attempts to paint it as a coalition of uneasy bedfellows, the Labour, Greens and NZ First alliance has held up rather well so far, writes Jason Walls for interest.co.nz.“I give ‘em a year and a half.”“That’s generous, I ...
Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – April 23 2018 – Today’s contentEditor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.Below are the links ...
The latest addition to the vast and sprawling Harry Potter canon is out, and it’s a mobile game. Alice Webb-Liddall heads to Hogwarts in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.Apart from a very out of character (hungover) day last weekend when I played Little ...
On Friday fans of The Killers turned out for a packed show at Spark Arena, the band’s first in New Zealand since 2009. Jihee Junn sat down with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr before the show.When Hot Fuss came out in ...
‘Super-gonorrhoea’ has been reported in Australia, and experts say we’re next. How bad could it get, asks Don Rowe.What’s all this then? A historically resistant strain of gonorrhoea has made its way from South East Asia to the UK and Australia, ...
An inventive landscape gardener has transformed a dull inner-city garden into an overflowing food forestWords: Emma RawsonPhotos and video: Guy Frederick When Rory Harding moved into his parents’ rental property on George Street in the heart of Dunedin’s central-city ...
Patsy Holt’s granddaughter may be tiny like a mouse but she has the courage of a lion – and she’s the reason the 73-year-old grandmother is running her first ever marathon. As part of our series celebrating the amazing things ...
Will humans ever have a colony on Mars? If we do, some cutting edge technology of today could help us get there.If humans ever want to achieve the outlandish, science fiction sounding goal of a colony on Mars, our species ...
Claims in Deborah Hill Cone column cast doubt on the prime minister and her squeeze, who stands accused of being cringey and having a name ending with the letter ‘e’. Danyl Mclauchlan digs deeperEarly this morning the New Zealand Herald ...
Information is power, right? A new money personality quiz built by our partners at Kiwibank could help you tackle your money issues. The Spinoff took it for a spin – here are our results.Do you ever consider your relationship with ...
Britain's government wants to take action to ban plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds — and is urging other Commonwealth nations to follow suit. Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday that "plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Australian banking scandal described as a wake up call for NZ, Commonwealth wide free trade deal being talked up, and nurses union voting on strike opens. Scandalous banking misconduct in Australia ...
Political and social science research on climate change shows some countries have been far more successful than others in orchestrating state-led transition to renewable energy over the past 40 years. Without exception, it is countries that have fully embraced ...
We all agree on the ambition – the question is how. 2Degrees Mobile founder Tex Edwards says the market has failed and lays out the case for more government intervention.What is the problem with housing in New Zealand? Most young ...
Our greatest Olympian is "jilting" her family, her coach and her support team in a bid to get mentally tougher for Tokyo 2020. Suzanne McFadden reports. Sophie Pascoe is packing her bags and leaving New Zealand. This time, she’s not going off to compete. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is talking up the prospect of a free trade agreement between all 53 commonwealth nations after discussions in London over the weekend. ...
TRIBUTE:By Geoff Lealand in Auckland David Beatson, broadcaster, editor, journalist, public intellectual and media visionary, proposed a new, or renewed, role for New Zealand public broadcasting in anticipating and managing risk – such as natural disasters and technological crises, ...
It’s the OG, the king, the grandaddy, and it’s back – New Zealand-style. Luke Harries recaps the first episode of season two of Survivor NZ.The first of anything is never that good. It’s like when you make pancakes and the first ...
There could still be oil and gas exploration going on in New Zealand in 50 years' time, despite government moves against the practice, says the Energy Minister. ...
Headline: On intelligence oversight, a broader perspective. – 36th Parallel Assessments Introduction. Director Paul G. Buchanan has been named as a member of the New Zealand Inspector General of Intelligence and Security’s Reference Group, an external interest intermediation panel. ...
A spate of tropical cyclones has hit Fiji and other Pacific Islands in the past few months, causing widespread damage and flooding in low-lying areas. Image: Dept of Information/Wansolwara By Wansolwara News staff The Fiji National Provident Fund has ...
Grey Lynn arts lovers just don’t get it. The debate over plans to close libraries at the University of Auckland lays bare a battle for the middle classes, writes design historian Peter Gilderdale.If one were to look for a watershed moment in ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in ...
Twenty thousand women experience a miscarriage every year in New Zealand, a country failing to provide adequate medical and emotional care, writes Kathryn Van Beek.Pregnancy loss and infertility counsellor Megan Downer is gearing up for Mother’s Day. The days before ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has cautiously welcomed North Korea's move to halt all weapons testing - saying it lays the foundation for a conversation about further disarmament. ...
Rod Oram systematically dismantles the economic and environmental claims New Zealand's gas sector makes as it doubles down on on its promises that it can help cut carbon emissions Countries prosper when they play to their comparative advantages. In our ...
The National Party has accused the government of forcing officials working on the $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund to cut corners to meet unrealistic deadlines. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is sticking to his desire for a free trade deal with Russia at some point in the future, saying even North Korea could be one day be an option. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is sticking to his desire for a free trade deal with Russia at some point in the future, saying even North Korea could be one day be an option. ...
An epic tale of Scandinavian myths and the father-son duo that fight them, God of War is a defining AAA game that pushes the boundaries graphically and thematically. Don Rowe reviews.I wrote last month about German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s theory of the ...
He founded an ethical dairying company that would allow calves to stay with their mothers. Last week, Glenn Herud had to admit that his enterprise had failed.I’m a third generation dairy farmer. The milk business is the only business I ...
All seven seasons of Prime Suspect drop on Lightbox today, and Sam Brooks is here to tell you why its central character Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is one of television’s most significant characters – ever.Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison doesn’t show up ...
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today we dissect the stats showing growth in New Zealand music revenue. I’ve been hearing about the decline in the music industry for as long ...
Racist dog whistling 
For the past few weeks pressure has been growing on the British government over its persecution of the "Windrush generation". People who legally came to the UK, lived there their entire lives, and had a permanent right of residency are ...30 mins ago
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Hala Jaber, highly Respected Middle East correspondent and author of The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman’s Fight to Save Two Orphans.” Image Credit: Goodreads. Several things have come together in the last few months – centred around news ...1 hour ago
. . Can this political cartoon from a Fairfax community newspaper be the most insightful and damaging to National, ever penned? . . After all the criticisms; all the protests; all the thousands of media stories; and seven years ...3 hours ago
The draft Government Policy Statement clearly indicates that the Government are keen on encouraging more people to use public transport. In the release for the GPS they state this about the 46% increase in funding for PT: This will support ...4 hours ago
People should try not to abuse the real statistics for simplistic cheap points scoring, whether this is on social media or through the media itself (in other words, politicians current or former making a play of it). Currently there is ...10 hours ago
One of the things that gives me pause before setting off on my bike from Point Chevalier to anywhere in the direction of the city is the prospect of navigating the many traffic hazards in the area either side of ...17 hours ago
"The law seems designed to strip patients of their dignity." Photo: Josh Adamski / Unsplash The Law Commission is seeking public input on how New Zealand’s abortion laws can be reworked to treat terminations as a ...18 hours ago
The closure of Backpage.com in a sex trafficking bust has had unexpected consequences in New Zealand. Photo: Filip Mroz / Unsplash Before New Zealand Cracker - a classifieds website used by sex workers - was shut down ...21 hours ago
This is a guest post from Bevan Woodward. He is the project director for SkyPath and spokesperson for Movement, an alliance of national organisations seeking safe journeys for active transport users. bevan@movement.org.nz Last week Julie Anne Genter released an evaluation report ...22 hours ago
Can comedians make their parents laugh? Made with funding support from NZ On Air. ...23 hours ago
Coffee now carries a cancer warning in California. So will my daily cup of joe kill me? Photo: Tyler Nix / Unsplash. In our new weekly column, Fransplaining Science, biochemist Dr Frances-Rose Schumacher explains science. Late last ...1 day ago
PRESS RELEASE: SIMON J BRIDGES DATE: 23 APRIL, 2018 BEGINS It’s not fair. It’s just not fair!! I’m voted leader and it’s just not fair!!! I mean, take the last week for example. Parliament is away for a bit and ...1 day ago
Public Transport in Auckland has improved remarkably over the last few decades. The number of annual boardings have almost tripled from a low of just 33 million to 92 million today, well ahead of population growth and most of that ...1 day ago
The way we go about remembering the past matters. Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again,” and the pro-Brexit visions of Imperial Britain are urgent reminders that our narratives about the past can have a strong effect on the present. ...1 day ago
What Donald Trump meant by announcing that he wanted the US to rejoin the TPP left everyone a bit baffled. His withdrawal from the original deal was one of his first presidential announcements following an election campaign promise. His opponent, ...2 days ago
Another conflict of interest / undisclosed relationship type thingy is emerging, involving Sean 'Death of Journalism' Hannity and people who got frequent boosts on his show, without Mr Hannity bothering to acknowledge that he had a relationship with them beyond ...2 days ago
In 1954, Sir Winston Churchill famously advised an American audience that “to jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war”. Churchill was of course someone who knew about “war-war”. His political career had encompassed both world wars and he had been ...2 days ago
by Yassamine Mather Irrespective of what the experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons say, there is no doubt that the Syrian dictator is capable of using weapons of mass destruction against his own population and it ...2 days ago
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post by Matt was originally published in April 2014. Next Monday will be a historic day for transport in Auckland as for the first time the city will have electric trains carrying ...2 days ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week. Editor's Pick Earth Day and the Hockey Stick: A Singular Message When the hockey stick was first attacked in the late 1990s ...2 days ago
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. Climate change mitigation 1. Pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C: a tale of turning around in no time? (open access) 2. Climate change and technology: examining opinion formation of geoengineering 3. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: ...3 days ago
The announcement that the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS), Cheryl Gwynn, has convened an external Reference Group to discuss issues of intelligence agency oversight (specifically, that of the NZSIS and GCSB, which are the agencies under her purview) ...4 days ago
After Jacinda’s historic announcement that brought an end to new offshore oil and gas exploration, we’ve been hearing a lot from the industry about how the sky is about to fall in. Fun fact: it isn’t. But just in case ...4 days ago
NZ's 'pregnant leftie PM' gets photographed with various world leaders across Europe. The Internet loses its mind. Image: The Internet Jacinda Ardern has been in Paris, Berlin and London this week for talks with French President Emmanuel ...4 days ago
In the previous post, I wrote about how we could improve the Wellington rail network including how we could possibly make the Melling line fit better for Wellington from a network operations perspective In this last post for this series, ...4 days ago
"There's a work ethic that I think the bread is teaching me." Timon Martin makes music and bread. Photo: Luke McPake Thanks to reality TV, most of us don’t associate baking with calm. But observing Timon ...4 days ago
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Then the other day: Sean Hannity mourns the death of journalism, having personally viciously stabbed it repeatedly.Who says Americans don't do irony?Love the "Coming Up: Newt Gingrich" in the corner. Newts live in swamps, don't they? And now this:Hannity declared––and ...4 days ago
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On the morning of 11 August 1993, my partner and I took a train and then a bus from Milan, where we lived, to Courmayeur, an alpine town near the French border. We didn’t book any accommodation, but headed with ...5 days ago
by Don Franks At the end of our street, there’s a little stone memorial. It was raised in 1920, for local working people whose lives were cut short or ruined by the Great War. The young men from Holloway Road and ...5 days ago
Tertiary Update – Vol 21 No 8 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) should be allowed to renegotiate conditions of work so staff can be used “more efficiently,” according to a paper agreed by Cabinet Ministers last month. Written by Minister ...5 days ago
Waxing lyrical. Photo: 123RF Everyone loves music. And for most people these days, their music listening is conducted online through streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. However, for some fans, the physical still trumps ...5 days ago
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This is a guest post from Bridget Burdett. She is a principal researcher at TDG (now part of Stantec). She has a Bachelor of Engineering and Masters of Engineering in Transportation, and is in the final stages of a PhD ...5 days ago
Grinding out scores. Andrew Barrow receives his oversized cheque. Photo: Kate Russell/Meow Wolf I met Andrew Barrow in an empty Timezone. The arcade is tucked behind The Warehouse’s central Wellington store and doubles as a Laserforce. ...6 days ago
by Zella Downing. Good on Jacinda Ardern and the current New Zealand government for their courage in announcing an end to offshore oil exploration, and issuing no new onshore permits outside of Taranaki. This vital first step re-directs our focus ...6 days ago
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Ellie Jay tries (and fails gloriously) to go waste free for a week. Le bin bag heureuse The sea is full of plastic, dolphins are choking on it. There’s a garbage patch bigger than the ...6 days ago
But do their grades paint the full picture? Ando International garment factory in Vietnam Photo: ILO / Aaron Santos Some of New Zealand’s top fashion brands have landed at the bottom of this year’s Ethical Fashion Report. The ...6 days ago
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Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little, and Pike Family representatives Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse have entered the Pike River Mine portal. ...5 days ago
NZ Transport Agency and NZ Police welcome the AA research report findings that identify those groups of people who aren’t wearing seatbelts. ...58 mins ago
Long-lost siblings? A high-stakes and seemingly pointless quest? A fake death? Sounds like a good time. Sam Brooks celebrates the forgotten Kiwi drama Seekers.Before Filthy Rich was even a glimmer in Gavin Strawhan’s eye, Seekers brought the unpredictable and improbable drama to ...5 mins ago
WATCH: 'In Foreign Fields' New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera investigates the story of the war dead in the player above. John Keir explains how the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries came into existence - and why most Māori and some Pākehā question whether all our fallen should ‘forever lie in ...20 mins ago
Stopping a woman's benefit before a tip she was cheating the system had been properly investigated is "not okay", and a culture change at the ministry is needed, says the prime minister. ...3 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Food grant stats show poverty in NZ is getting worse, woman’s benefit wrongly cut off by WINZ over dates, and the budget responsibility rules are set to be bent.The number of ...4 hours ago
Newsroom technology columnist Richard MacManus points out Spark has a lot of work to do before next year's Rugby World Cup to ensure its technology can handle sports live streaming. COMMENT: Last week World Rugby sold local broadcast rights to the 2019 ...4 hours ago
Rebecca Wood is a force of nature in a striking new Rebel Sport commercial. But ‘how many lives you live is up to you’? Nah, not for female rugby players.There’s a lot to like about Rebel Sport’s latest foray into ...4 hours ago
BRIEFING: By Ben Bohane in Port Vila China … China … China … All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully see past the elephant in the room. Contrary to most commentary, ...14 hours ago
Veteran Herald sports reporter Wynne Grey has written a new book about what happens to rugby players when they hang up their boots. In this excerpt, Mark “Bull” Allen – the All Blacks prop who led the Hurricanes in the Super 12 ...18 hours ago
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These contemptible human beings (they are not worthy of being called people) are being emboldened all around the world by this “shithole”, Donald Trump.
Decades ago my late Dad used to say… when America starts to go downhill, they’ll take the rest of us down with them. And that is exactly what is happening.
My daughter had a knife held to her throat and was threatened with death while a Sudanese 16 year old youth groped her in Central Melbourne during daylight work hours, while she was carrying our her job. i have NO SYMPATHY for these assholes. The aggression against the Sudanese is because of their fucked up religious views of women amongst other things. An no those views are not to be tolerated in a modern society.They do not give a rats arse about western values. And no Australia and NZ do not need these fucking people . Now out will come all the dearly deluded members of NZ’s oh so tolerant left telling me what a racist I am. I am an atheist and an old fashioned working class feminist . Fuck these people we don’t need em!
Well said Shona.
That sounds like an awful experience for your daughter.
I know other women have experienced such behaviour by men from other ethnic groups, including pakeha/white/European men, etc.
The stats reported in the post do indicate that a very small percentage of overall offending is carried out by Sudanese young people in Melbourne.
The Sudenese in Australia are generally young, sometimes with parents but very few grandparents. It’s not surprising that their crime rate is high because the young are more likely to be in trouble with the law. On top of that, many are refugees that have had horrific experiences in country to country war and in civil war that has left them troubled.
FWIW I thought this show was pretty enlightening plus it has Melanie Lynskey in it.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/sunshine
Accepting what you say at face value do you accept Shona there are assholes in all cultures and to concentrate on the ethnic background of an attacker distorts the picture? After all Australians are the largest group of people involve in Australian crime followed by kiwis …
The problem is one of what your expectations of migrants are once they arrive.
Until the 1970s migrants mostly arrived by ship and had little to no expectation of return to or regular contact with their native countries and cultures. Since the advent of cheap passengers flights and the internet, immigrants can form self-imposed ghettos of permanent first-generation migrants, Somali or Sudanese or whatever who never integrate and indeed, are told by white-guilt liberals they have every right to continue living just like they did in their shithole wasteland Sudan in nice, verdant Sandringham, or whatever.
When you have a self-imposed ghetto full of people whose antediluvian religious views (and I don’t give a shit if they are ultra-orthodox Jews who won’t pay tax or slut-shaming Amish who beat their children or misogynistic Muslims from Sudan) are in direct conflict with the values and social mores of their host society you are going to get serious problems. Nation states are historically meant to be heavily racially homogeneous groups with a shared culture and even a cursory glance at history shows what a terrible job they do at being multi-racial and multi-cultural (Just ask an Austro-Hungarian, or a Yugoslav, or a Transylvanian or a Czech or a Hutu…).
We spend a large amount of time condemning colonialism for creating unstable African nations containing religious and ethnic groups who hate each other, yet somehow we think it is bad to say to migrants from countries with polar opposite cultural and social views they must conform to and assimilate our values or be deported/barred from ever coming here. It is an exercise in liberal schizophrenia that is tearing societies apart, not making new migrants welcome.
I expect them to behave like human beings. After all, that’s what the racists are doing.
Shona, that was a shocking thing to happen to your daughter. You have a right to be angry and bitter. In your shoes, I would want them cut up into bits and fed to the pigs. But I don’t think mickysavage was referring to such human animals. His concern – and mine – is related to institutionalised racism for political gain as practiced by Donald Trump… and being copied elsewhere in the world.The last time that happened in the 1930s and 1940s millions lost their loves.
If the post is about the overall behaviour of certain people, one or a few anecdotes indicate that they have some people in their group who will commit good, or bad things, violence, fraud etc. But the individual anecdote has a place at the side of the main analysis, not taken as a central point, otherwise there is no overview and no tentative judgment can be made.
A cousin of mine was raped at knife point in the South of USA by a couple of whites.
Am I now meant to think that all white Americans are like that due to their race, nationality, religion? I mean look at the fundamentalist, racist, sexists, class hating people in the USA. (And that includes so many in power.)
“Fuck these people we don’t need them(?)”
+111
And my son was stabbed fourteen times by a NZ born white crohn’s disease sufferer who was unemployed and is now in jail. I’m unaware of any religious or misogynist views held by this asshole but obviously he’s from a group that is also not needed in this country (using your logic).
Agreed it is why i don’t consider myself part of the modern left anymore and if the standard are going to start bleating on like the rest then i will cut them out of my news cycle.
Will you be ok, snowflake?
Will you?
Why do you say that RC?
The post acknowledges offending but opposes the racist dog whistle being used by the right because it is not backed up by reality.
Because as always diversity hits the working class the hardest and its not just the “white” working class complaining. Local aborigines say the Sudanese young are behaving like ingrates turning their community into the same kind of place they fled from yet no one seems to even care what they have to say.
My daughter is regularly harassed, and even ‘touched up’ whilst heading home to her apartment off Cuba St. Usually by bar patrons-supposedly drinking in a sophisticated kind of way….’cos ya know-they really can handle their piss.
They’re predominantly white males-and usually fugly specimens at that.
Just as well that because of surf lifesaving and rowing, she is capable of totally flooring most of them.
“Flooring people” is harder than it sounds, and without training she might break her hand.
Far better to develop some innate abilities through practice and diligence, like any other sport. There are great Wing Chun and Taijiquan teachers in Wellington. Not some “self-defense” class, either: seek out a master.
On the one hand we have Bill writing “You cowed?” decrying the unwillingness of citizens to protect each other.
On the other hand we have Mickey saying that we should worry more about the media framing and the reactions when violence goes down on the street.
May not be huge but it’s a dangerous gang that needs eradicating:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/gang-violence-in-melbourne-new-intel-on-core-apex-members/news-story/9873f9e18ac0a9c611601885b453e69d
I have no time for Peter Dutton and his ilk, but New Zealand citizens put in the same situation should support their own communities and support the Police. There’s a few towns in New Zealand that for example are dominated by crime and it’s really hard to organize against them. That would be whether they were immigrants or not.
Ad, the story you linked to is for members only. What was it about?
I do have a bit of a problem with your suggestion that people should involve themselves in direct action to support each other and the police. While in some circumstances this might be justified, the fact is that it’s easy to misjudge the dynamics of an event, especially if you only witness part of it or hear one side of it, and especially if the wider framing includes media demonising or dehumanising of one group of people while consistently portraying another group as victims. The people who assume that any group young people who are of African descent is a “gang”, for example, could easily intervene based on this assumption and actually be part of the problem. There’s a fine line between this kind of citizens’ direct action and vigilantism.
It was about Melbourne Police arrests of the Apex gang and a core of about 60 individuals. Here’s a quick explainer from an open site on gangs in Melbourne:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/explainer-does-melbourne-have-a-street-gang-problem-20180102-h0cku6.html
I am not proposing direct action. But I get pretty tired of activists on the left decrying the Police in New Zealand. We might want to look at extracting the log in our own eye in Kaitaia and other gang-dominated small towns for example before trying to wash the dust off someone else’s face.
“Pedalling lies and threatening racial tolerance for political gain should result in automatic failure, every time. That it does not, and that it is seen to be a legitimate political tool by the right means that we have a problem”
This type of Intolerance extends beyond racism to target various groups (generally poor people) – and in my view is designed to create division within populations – because while we’re hating each other, the Trumps of the world and our political leaders get to do what they will and we all get to forget who is causing the problems and blame each other instead.
Sadly in New Zealand “pedalling lies” is a tool that has been used by the right and left for decades – And actually I fail to see who the ‘left’ actually are these days, they’re much of a sameness and all implicated in promoting lies to justify and force harmful policy on disadvantaged groups – usually poor and brown people – maybe we overlook racism in our own backyard too?
Australia has a problem. The same one New Zealand does: racists. We need to get into their homes and communities, identify the instigators, and get them out of Parliament.
Start with anyone who bleats about political correctness. It’s simple code that means: “I am a racist.”
That sounds like you would use any lame excuse to label someone a racist.
Intolerance of and attacks on people with different views to your own can be as dirty as any racist (who typically are intolerant and attack or ostracise people they don’t like).
It seems as though you would use any lame excuse.
Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.
Albert Einstein.
🙄
People’s views go to their character as human beings, and if contemptible justify contempt, and if Nazi then any “attack” is pre-emptive self defense.
People’s ethnicity has nothing to do with their character. Did you not know that, Pete?
I agree with you about pc. I interpret it as polite and considerate and on the odd occasion have asked people if they prefer to be rude.
I so agree. I get very beady eyed about people who start bleating about society being ‘too pc’. They seem to me to have the pip because their favourite sexist/racist/etc meme which they have used to justify rotten behaviour has come under the spotlight and has been identified and described for what it is
To an extent but I think you’re over-generalising.
Confronting sexist/racist/whateverist language is important, but there’s also a danger of oversanitising language, and shutting down reasonable discussion using -ists as justification.
And there’s also a problem with being oversensitive to common and fairly harmless language as highlighted here: Hosking’s outburst deemed not offensive
I think the BSA was right to dismiss the complaints for Hosking saying ‘for God’s sake’ (during an election debate), and for someone else saying ‘for Christ’s sake’.
🙄
Equates racism to invoking the gods.
Calls out people for over-generalising about people who use the term “pc”.
Very meta.
Beautifully said Fairy Godmother and JanM above !
For a long time now I’ve thought that anti-PC is in reality the new PC……subscribed to by ignorant/lazy pricks as a distraction from their shame about their manifest inadequacies.
How could we think that racism was vanishing. We live in a culture of neo liberalism that has brought back classism, raised materialism above religion and consciousness of others worth, and the need to serve one another for their benefit, mutual benefit and the good of the whole community. It has wiped away equality-oriented policies and thoughts, replacing them with competitiveness. Push yourself, advocate for yourself and your superiority over all others. This link shows the epitome of the modern
educated go-ahead person focussed on business advantage, they have no time for consideration of real life and racism and how others are being treated. (Everybusinessvideoever)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjtnGqvDM8
You want to get more than you have? Get to and use other people around you or far; stand on their shoulders if need be. Don’t bother about gratitude or reciprocation for good acts.
Neo lib teaches the simple psychology, as a tenet of its beliefs, that everyone does something to satisfy themselves, some innate urge. So no need to consider others, they are all following their own path in life. Concentrate on yourself, use your advantages, slide into line before others in the queue – say, hey look over there – and get in. Leave the others standing, if they have problems because of race, that gives you an advantage, seize it. /sarc
Apparently not but we shouldn’t be surprised by the actions of this RWNJ. It’s pretty much their MO as we learned here from Dirty Politics.
It should do but our system has been designed from the top to protect those at the top.
+1000 Draco T Bastard the system have been designed by the top to protect the top and that has to change. I still say that the word race should be wiped from our minds books and Computers and we use culture instead to identify all the beautiful unique people on Papatuanukue. I readed work from good writers and the use culture instead of race its the Ass holes of the World that use race to divide US the 99% of the world so they can carry on ripping US off. Ka kite ano
It’s pleasing that we don’t have any racist slurs flung around by our MPs.
Imagine if we had someone like the bigot mentioned in this story, who claimed that housing in his country was being all bought up by Chinese who weren’t residents.
His method of deciding they were Chinese was that the had “Chinese sounding names”.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/twyford-s-racist-cynical-chinese-property-buyer-statistics-de-bunked-q00964
Lucky that none of our New Zealand MPs are like that isn’t it?
I doubt he’ll make party leader. Unlike Don Brash, John Banks, and
John Key.
Lockie ‘small hands’ Smith, Melissa ‘crims will drive Lee, Paul ‘you’re Indian’ Goldsmith……
That wasn’t racist in any way. Just the data available and data simply isn’t racist.
Meh – both Australia and Canada have found significant impacts from Chinese buyers on their housing markets. We have increasing numbers of Chinese speaking real estate agents, and Chinese language real estate adverts. NZ real estate companies are now advertising in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. No controls on foreign buyers are in evidence.
Given these indicators it would be frankly extraordinary if the NZ market were not feeling the impact of a rise in Chinese buying. But by all means repeat the Gnat attack meme – their sudden false concern about racism certainly trumps ordinary NZer’s legitimate expectations of housing availability.
I think I’m going to generate a post about why OECD-country conservative movements are crushing the left with immigration policies and immigration discourse, and what if anything the left can do about it. Just needs an NZ immigration policy announcement to hang it off.
I’m waiting for it Ad. Recall also my comment on the Jim Anderton post re MoBIE.
I hope and pray for a better approach, and so far the signs are looking slightly better.
I’m sure you are.
Can’t recall what you said, but great to hear about your signs.
…and what if anything the left can do about it.
That’ll be the tricky part, because the typical left-wing response to people unhappy about mass immigration from completely foreign cultures is “Your bigotry is unacceptable.” The accused bigots then vote for people not declaring them to be bigots. I’m detecting a Gordian knot here…
So why aren’t there any good stats on whom was buying house in Auckland. Buying and selling houses in NZ is easy money. Iv seen a house brought and sold 3 times in 12 months with everyone getting a mark up. Why are there no stats on this subject well national was covering this up. It is not wise to let the foreigns buy up all OUR Assets. 15 years ago I read a article that pridicted New Zealand would become the Dairy farm of the world and The holiday home for the rich and famous .lf New Zealand became the holiday home for the rich and famous most of the people will be put on the bread line as everything will become to expensive for the 99% I say foreign should only be able to lease land. And can only buy land after being a resident for 10 years Ka kite ano
Totally agree with Shona. New Zealand should be for New Zealanders, not refugees from the world’s many shithole dumps. National lost votes because of their daft mass immigration policy (including mine), and Labour and co will do so also, if they insist on importing masses from all and sundry. FFS, we have an almost country wide housing crisis, huge unemployment, groaning cities, crowded schools and resources, but we want to bring in more and more? National didn’t listen and Labour won’t ever. Tone deaf when it comes to what kiwis want. No Islam here, pulease. Multi cultural simply means loss of our way of life, and death by one thousand cuts. Our pollies are UN sellouts, both sides, including Winnie.
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
Islam is an idea, which has been here for as long as Europeans have (if not before).
The first Muslims in New Zealand were an Indian family who settled in Cashmere, Christchurch, in the 1850s
Wikipedia.
You’re a bigot because you’re stupid and ignorant, but not all stupid ignorant people are bigots.
PS: I don’t want your slavish vile child-abusing Christianity here.
Who did you vote for?
I was convinced from previous posts you were a strong Nat fan.
New Zealand should be for New Zealanders, not refugees from the world’s many shithole dumps.
One could argue that a few hundred years ago it was, but that horse has long since bolted. Racists wouldn’t argue that, though, because racism.
he he – ‘you took the words right out of my mouth’
[my italics]
Idiot is incapable of complaining about multiculturalism in NZ without using East Asian cultural references.
Looks a bit like iron.
😆
In the 1870s recent immigrants were criticised by those who been original European immigrants from the 1840s and 1850s now living in North Canterbury. They were described as ‘sweepings from the gutters of European cities.” My ancestor was one of these. He stood up in a public meeting in Loburn and defended these people saying he was one of them. He was chaired from the meeting.
Documented history. I am so proud of this ancestor. A son of his was a champion dog-trialist, a grandson of his was a great wartime hero, another grandson a Shield winning Rugby coach, and so on, and so on. Descendants of one who had to borrow the money to emigrate away from the unemployment of 1860/70s rural England.
As the Statue of Liberty says, “Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
His descendants married into families of English, Irish, Scottish, Indian, Japanese, Maori descent. Canterbury always was a little mono-cultural…………
Tanz, you were out-of-date and indeed plain wrong, even 150 years ago.
NZ IS a shit-hol dump for many people and you Tanz with your skewed attitudes are an enabler of this. Anyone who is for the present economic practices at present in NZ, must take responsibility for helping bring this about. The fact that you and all the other RWs and fellow travellers of National won’t take responsibility is a sad observation that lefties must take on board.
Labour must ameliorate the conditions but wouldn’t be able to change them greatly in three years. One of the things they need to do is to try and limit immigration of rich foreigners to this country by ensuring that money invested here has taxed profits, and that investments made here are not just on land and buildings to absentee landlords.
Controlling immigration should also include NZ companies and the government not allowing the poor people from overseas shitholes to be fleeced by either their own people who have set up business in hypocritical, lying NZ presenting itself as a great and good country, but with a dark underbelly of sharp practices, or actually fleeced by NZ government and NZ business.
If you could bring yourself to actually think around and behind the problems you see Tanz rather than take soapbox stands shouting out your pre-programmed messages it would be worth your time to write here and ours to read what you have to say.
Racist is a term that should be considered carefully before being bandied about:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11888053
Your Dear White Supremacist Leader is a racist. Own it.
Are you trying to say Trump is not racist??
I’m saying that calling something racist doesn’t make it so
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70225493/Could-the-Chinese-sounding-names-stunt-be-Labours-Orewa
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/94543321/Peters-warns-of-consequences-after-Green-co-leader-calls-his-policy-racist
I’ll ask the question in a straightforward way.
Do you think Trump is a racist?
It’s a yes/ no question.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
‘a programme to combat racism’
The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
‘theories of racism’
On this definition i don’t believe Trump to be racist but then I’ve also never met the guy so i don’t know what hes like
“People are not regularly being killed…”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-map-us-police-killings
Given the Police are overseen by Politicians, then to my mind, people are being killed on a racist basis by their elected leaders.
Meantime in NZ we know that Maori are more at risk of something going wrong in their treatment in hospital than non-Maori
http://salient.org.nz/2009/07/discrimination-and-maori-health/
http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/test-9
But when it came to shooting the suspects, police officers were more likely to fire without having first been attacked if the suspects were white. Additionally, the study learned that black and white civilians in the shootings were equally likely to be carrying a weapon.
And while zeroing in on the police department in Houston to get a more detailed picture, Mr. Fryer found that in situations of justifiable use of force, when, for instance, the officer is being attacked by the suspect, officers were 20% less likely to shoot at a black suspect. Accounting for other control factors in tense situations, Mr. Fryer saw similar results that there was either no difference between how blacks and whites were treated or that blacks were less likely to be shot.