Ramshackle PR fiasco

Written By: Tane - Date published: 6:02 pm, November 22nd, 2007 - 175 comments
Categories: activism, dpf, election funding - Tags: activism, dpf, election funding

It’s a bit late, but a reader who was at yesterday’s anti-EFB march has mailed us through some pics from the rally. As David Farrar has noted, the protest march was joined by a small group of activists in John Key and Mr Burns masks chanting things like “What is it that we support? John Key’s election rort!”, “Elections, money, power, cash – Bring back Don Brash!” and my favourite, “2, 4, 6, 11 – We support the Exclusive Brethren!”. Their goal was to expose the real motivations of the bill’s opponents – that is, safeguarding the National Party’s dirty money – and to do so with humour. Judging by the media coverage they pulled it off.

As expected, ten counterprotesters in the midst of a hundred or so angry Tories were always going to be abused and attacked. Here’s one anti-EFB protester who didn’t seem to have much of an appetite for free speech:

And it might just be me, but doesn’t this look like a lot less than 200 people?

175 comments on “Ramshackle PR fiasco ”

Comments are now closed

Robinsod 1

22 November 2007 at 6:05 pm

re: photo two – Burt! I must apologise for calling you a drunken old bigot – you’re clearly younger than I thought.
MikeE 2

22 November 2007 at 6:17 pm

How ironic that Tane, mentions free speech – which is what the bill is what the protest was about.

Especially considering that the counter protestors were given a microphone and allowed to state their case.

I wonder if I’d ever be given the microphone at a Labour or Greens protest?
Gruela 3

22 November 2007 at 6:27 pm

Why are lefties always funnier than righties? Can anyone name even one funny conservative or libertarian? I’m talking intentionally funny, of course. Can’t think of any myself.
milo 4

22 November 2007 at 6:40 pm

Well, I was towards the back of the march, and I wasn’t even aware of the counter protest until it was mentioned in the speeches at Parliament. So it can’t have been that small. At the time, I texted my partner “Maybe 250?”. Probably some wishful thinking, but certainly well over 150.

Funnily enough, I wasn’t marching in favour of anonymous donations, the exclusive brethren or anything like that. Nor would I characterise myself as a Tory.

That, to me, has been been one of the puzzling things about Labour’s EFB campaign. The response to any criticism has effectively been “Well National are Worse!”. That shows a deep failure of imagination to me. Politics is about far more than National V Labour. It is about the institutions that form the basis of our society.

And that is why I object to the EFB. Rather than strengthen our democratic institutions, it mainly seeks to strengthen one party at the expense of another.
thomas 5

22 November 2007 at 7:12 pm

I don’t recognise anyone that was at the Burma Rally.
Which is odd because thats was about democracy too
milo 6

22 November 2007 at 7:20 pm

Interesting comment Thomas. Of course, that is an international rather than a domestic issue. But I must say, I haven’t marched since 1981. Mind you, I marched then for the same reason: a ruthless politician was twisting our political landscape for partisan gain.
the sprout 7

22 November 2007 at 7:29 pm

“a lot less than 200 people”

well if it were the Herald reporting and they were opposed to the march’s intent it would be a handful. considering they support this one i expect they’d estimate about 2000.
burt 8

22 November 2007 at 7:37 pm

Their goal was to expose the real motivations of the bill’s opponents – that is, safeguarding the National Party’s dirty money

Yes they did that well. Labour puppets shouting down the voice of the principled so that Labour can freely make legal what was illegal in 2005, retain access to what is required for them to have any chance of winning again in 2008. At any cost. Yes the puppets certainly had to try and run the parade, some might say they were representing Nanny state where their message was bigger than the democratic right of the people.

Labour party members should be ashamed of these people. If I acted that way at a young Labour convention I would expect and deserve significant ridicule.
thomas 9

22 November 2007 at 7:41 pm

Well you can’t say I’m pro democracy as long as it only affects me
The protest seems to me to be more about indignation over a more level playing field for the Nats coming into effect rather then democracy.
I was at the Burmese Rally because monks were being taken away and shot. Interesting to note:
A Green Mp spoke
A Labour Minister spoke
A trade unionist spoke
Not a National Mp in sight
Funny that
r0b 10

22 November 2007 at 7:46 pm

“But I must say, I haven’t marched since 1981.”

Were you on an Anti Tour march milo? If so, what city? Those were formative times.
burt 11

22 November 2007 at 7:48 pm

thomas

I would have liked to have seen the PM talking to the Dalai Lama in NZ as well. What is your point?

The stupid thing is thomas, if Labour weren’t being so partisan about this then none of this would be happening. If the public had been broadly consulted then your claim that it’s National throwing their toys because it will cost them might carry some weight. IE: Non partisan people might agree with you. Anyone can convince the partisan the other side is just having it’s moment.

Do you support the actions of young Labour people trying to ‘over shout’ citisens exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest?
thomas 12

22 November 2007 at 7:51 pm

Milo
You said Well, I was towards the back of the march
which as it turns out means that you were also near the front
🙂
burt 13

22 November 2007 at 7:57 pm

thomas

that’s funny. 🙂
burt 14

22 November 2007 at 8:01 pm

Robinsod

That’s not me. I accept the apology for calling me a drunken old bigot.

It’s clear from this post that Tane supports using aggression and oppression to shout down the democratic rights on NZ citisens, do you you?
milo 15

22 November 2007 at 8:10 pm

rOb. Yep. Auckland. Including the last test at Eden Park.
r0b 16

22 November 2007 at 8:23 pm

“rOb. Yep. Auckland. Including the last test at Eden Park.”

That was the main event. I remember the clowns. Christchruch myself, I got personally harrassed by the police as I was leacing the march. I’ve never got over it. Did you catch Ross Meurant’s recent comments?
thomas 17

22 November 2007 at 8:23 pm

No Burt I don’t agree with the young Labour supporters actions.
But I don’t think democracy is under threat.

I do not know of anybody who will be adversely affected by the bill. And judging by the hordes at the march not many other people think they will either
When it comes down to an election, all the parties WILL have the opportunity to put forward their policies to the electorate
If most of the electorate likes what they say , they will get in. If they don’t they won’t Pretty simple really
burt 18

22 November 2007 at 8:29 pm

Thomas

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

I know, I’m not an Exclusive Brethren either, stuff em if they are not allowed to exercise their democratic right to spend their own money expressing their views.
burt 19

22 November 2007 at 8:32 pm

“First they came.” is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin NiemÃƒÆ’Ã‚¶ller (1892&1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came…
Billy 20

22 November 2007 at 8:37 pm

Gruela: Bill Hicks.
r0b 21

22 November 2007 at 8:39 pm

“When the Nazis came for the communists,”

So are you comparing the Labour led government to the Nazis Burt? Are you seriously meaning to suggest a similarity between 1930’s Germany and NZ today? Tell us Burt, is Helen Clark a Nazi?
thomas 22

22 November 2007 at 8:41 pm

Burt I hope you are not equating the current Gov with the Nazi’s Because that would be silly and does not help your argument in the least

captcha : yesterday ferocious
thomas 23

22 November 2007 at 8:44 pm

Hi rob
burt 24

22 November 2007 at 8:47 pm

rOb, thomas

Stop frothing, I’m pointing out to thomas that his post said there was nobody effected by it… well yes the target of the bill is effected.

If you think it’s valid for laws to be passed to stop certain groups campaigning against the govt at election time then some comparisons could easily be made. The Fallong Gong are a target in another country, so is the Dalai Lama. Choose your oppressor and if you can find a poem about them let me know and I’ll post it here for you.
r0b 25

22 November 2007 at 8:48 pm

Hi thomas. Our Man Burt is on very thin ice here eh?

Tell us Burt – is Helen Clark a Nazi?
r0b 26

22 November 2007 at 8:52 pm

Come on Burt – don’t try and weasel out of it.

Simple question Burt. Is Helen Clark a Nazi?
burt 27

22 November 2007 at 8:57 pm

rOb

I think Niki Hager made the first comparison of the bill being something you might expect from the Nazi party.

I can see his reasoning, targeting certain groups that offend you is something the Nazi party certainly did – with the support of it’s party members.

Perhaps you could answer your own question for me, have you been to any uplifting party gatherings where the great plan to eliminate the influence of the EB from NZ politics was discussed?

If you have I might be forced to answer in the affirmative, until then I don’t think it’s gone that far just yet.
r0b 28

22 November 2007 at 8:59 pm

So is that a yes or a no Burt?
Kent 29

22 November 2007 at 9:01 pm

Thomas,

I understood Nick Smith spoke. While not ignoring it, I don’t think National are jumping to be identified with this protest. It’s more the territory of the extreme right, like Stephen Franks. So long as that space is well occupied by vocal support then Key and English can successfully place themselves near the center.

It’s weird. Not long ago I described DPF as being centrist, with right wing leanings. That’s certainly not the case now.
Camryn 30

22 November 2007 at 9:08 pm

r0b – Can we have the logical r0b back? He’s not calling Helen a Nazi. The answer you want is “no”. Stop calling Godwin and argue the point like you usually do.
r0b 31

22 November 2007 at 9:13 pm

Yo Camryn. Fair call! And indeed, the answer I want is “no”. People who equate this government with the Nazis trivialise history, and they really really piss me off (and Godwin too).

As to the point at hand – does the DFB unfairly limit the speech of specific chosen groups, then the answer once again is no…
the sprout 32

22 November 2007 at 9:17 pm

burt
those who took action “to eliminate the influence of the” Nazis, were they Nazis too, or is it that some things should rightly be eliminated?
thomas 33

22 November 2007 at 9:18 pm

I saw this at the Beans

First they came for the BRT
milo 34

22 November 2007 at 9:24 pm

I think some of you are missing the point: The Labour Party has adopted a very divisive style, which reaches into all aspects of government. New Zealand is changing. Our political institutions are changing. And it’s becoming “us” and “them”.

We are increasingly moving away from democracy towards the tyranny of the majority.

Hope you like what you’re going to get. I don’t.
thomas 35

22 November 2007 at 9:38 pm

Metiria Turei Said today If the Greens thought for one moment that the bill undermined human rights, they would oppose it, just as they have opposed the Terrorism Suppression Act.

She has a point. The Greens have the most integrity of all the parties in Parliament
I know the right hate them (Just look at Ttdays general debate at Santa’s} They might be politically naive
But they do have integrity

Unlike Labour and National who’s behavior at the last election left a lot to be desired
r0b 36

22 November 2007 at 9:41 pm

Milo – “And it’s becoming “us” and “them”.”

I put it to you that this effect is just as much a consequence of opposition behaviour as it is of government. It would be possible for an opposition to be constructive. The National opposition is not. Their only concept of “opposition” is to be relentlessly negative. Why else would they vote against tax cuts?

“We are increasingly moving away from democracy towards the tyranny of the majority.”

Well I don’t agree with that point at all (Thank You MMP!) – but I acknowledge that it displays a pretty sophisticated conception of democracy.
Gruela 37

22 November 2007 at 9:45 pm

I think all you guys are reaching if you really think the EFB is going to have ANY effect on the outcome of next years election.
Points to consider:
1. No-one except the unhealthily politically obsessed (u know who u are) really cares.
2. When no-one actually EVER gets arrested for using a loud hailer at a political rally next year, people will start not to care.
3. We will all be startled to discover that National gets mucho fundo from business-type people. Once the startlement settles (i.e 2.8 seconds later,) no-one will care.
4. No-one cares.

Billy: never heard of Bill Hicks but read his wikipedia entry and he didn’t sound that right wing. Obviously I’ll have to get hold of some of his stuff. But really I meant proper right-wing fundamentalists who can get across their beliefs in a funny way. I wonder if it’s even possible?
r0b 38

22 November 2007 at 9:49 pm

Gruela – “4. No-one cares”

You may be the only sane one here. Goodnight all!
Pascal's bookie 39

22 November 2007 at 9:56 pm

milo
Do you honestly think that the National party has had no input into the polarisation that you allude to?

Think about the message of the iwi/kiwi series of billboards, and how big that billboard campaign was, and how long it lasted. The whole point of that campaign was division. Think about the whole message of the National parties campaign at the last election.

The National party ran a very long co-ordinated campaign around the theme that National was the party of “mainstream” “ordinary NZers” etc ad nauseaum, these are phrases that have only one purpose: to define yourself in opposition to the freakish outsiderish “other”. They are too generic to do anything else, and obviously false given that the Nats knew they could get at best 50% of the vote.

It is a strategy that Howard has used well in Australia and that served the Republicans well in the states for decades.

The labour side is not perfect, and I’ve voted more often with the right than the left in my lifetime, but the attacks that labour makes do tend to be against specific groups, for specific reasons.
The Nats went after the left last election by saying that they supported Maori rights,(the horror!!), gay rights (the bastards!!)and cared more about teachers and doctors than education and health. That’s your partisan, divisive rhetoric right there.

It cost them my vote then, and probably will again next year. I no longer trust them.

That they are now blaming the left for creating a toxic environment is just the icing on the cake.
Kent 40

22 November 2007 at 10:08 pm

At no time has this country been more divided than in 1981 over the Springbok Tour, and it took three long years after that to get rid of Muldoon. I would say that Clark has created divisiveness through her forceful management style, in a similar manner to Maggie Thatcher…

Actually, when I think about it, I don’t really care.

G’nite.
Pascal's bookie 41

22 November 2007 at 10:08 pm

Billy.
Did you just say that Bill Hicks was right wing?

Those Ronald Reagan hating right wing americans are really starting to piss me off, what with their pot smoking, long hair growing, anti-war, anti-corporate, baby jesus mocking so called humorists.

Gruela, definitely check out Bill Hicks. Very funny, very coarse man, sometimes OTT but worth it for when he was on fire. Dirty fucking hippie though, who thought essentially that we should all just get along, because we’ve only got one planet, and when you die your dead forever. So not getting along and making sure others are getting along too is a terrible thing.
Matthew Pilott 42

22 November 2007 at 10:14 pm

Brashie wouldn’t have been labelled “Cancerous and Corrosive” without good cause – Clark wouldn’t just pull that one off the cuff.

Remember that this was when the maller parties were going to walk out of Parliament mostly due to National’s behaviour. They have contibuted nothing to NZ politics in the past eight years.

Where have the alternatives to Labour’s policies been? What does Natonal want? All we have to judge them on is the old ideas of slash and burn, bulk funding, privatisation. There’s nothing to indicate any new or positive thinking – as Thompson put it – “the forces of Old and Evil”. They have given the NZ public nothing, and that’s why they’re going to lose the next election.

P.S I love teh tories wondering why there was a counter-protest – a if it was about ‘democracy’ they were there because they wanted National to retain this “level” playing field. If they were suckered by Farrar and Slater and Darnton into thinking it was really about megaphones, then they should wake up and smell teh greenbacks they were marching for.

P.P.S yeah almost all the news coverage was on the counter protest, pity those Aucklanders couldn’t whip one up too…
Gruela 43

22 November 2007 at 10:19 pm

Personally, if it was up to me the EFB would ban outright all election advertising in the year leading up to an election. Let them live or die on their records, with no spin involved in the process at all.

Now that would be a vote winner.

Maybe someone should get a Citizen Initiated Referendum going to this effect, (or do we not do that anymore? I don’t know.)
burt 44

23 November 2007 at 12:45 am

Gruela/rOb

Gruela – “4. No-one cares”

You may be the only sane one here. Goodnight all!

When they came for the RB,
I remained silent;
I was not an EB.

You guys/gals are gold.
r0b 45

23 November 2007 at 8:20 am

Bookie – helluva post on the divisiveness issue. You to Matthew. Nice work.

So how about it milo – are Labour to blame for the divisiveness in politics?

And as for you Burt, you carry on trivialising the holocaust for what you imagine to be clever political point scoring. It looks good on you.
The Double Standard 46

23 November 2007 at 9:20 am

Rob – “Haters and Wreckers” mean anything to you?

The seabed and foreshore bill resulted in the Maori party. Pretty hard not to call that divisive.
The Double Standard 47

23 November 2007 at 9:31 am

Ever hear of the foreshore and seabed bill? Hater and Wreckers?

Be a stretch to label that episode as “not divisive”
milo 48

23 November 2007 at 9:31 am

r0b: Labour and Brash are to blame. Brash has gone. Labour’s still there, and still doing it.

I mean look at the disgusting display yesterday of Trevor Mallard using parliamentary privilege to personally attack a whistleblower. Still, at least he didn’t punch her.
milo 49

23 November 2007 at 9:55 am

And is Michael Cullen still making homophobic jokes at the expense of opposition spokespeople? He was earlier this year. Have Labour giving up telling Nick Smith to take his pills? Are the oprressed women of the exclusive brethren still being vilified as chinless scarf wearers?

And are commentators like me still being told that if we criticise Labour we must supporters of secret trusts, religious fanatics and corrosive politics? It seems “incorrect thoughts” require that the thinker be labelled with all these things – and thereby have their criticisms written off.

And when I watch question time, I never see the National quetioners engaging in personal abuse. Yet the Labour ministers frequently respond in that way.

Meanwhile, how is it that:
– We never found out who tried to bribe the Maori party.
– Labour got away with deliberately breaching the election spending cap, to which Matt McCarten and Chris Trotter have attributed Labour’s election victory.
– The leader of the opposition was brought down (and good riddance in my opinion) by Watergate-style tactics.
– The Exclusive Brethren are accussed of secretly rorting the election, when in fact they wrote to officials to try to ensure that what they did was legal!

Raising these points will no doubt lead to a chorus of attacks on secret trusts (which Helen Clark originally wanted to keep), big money (although government big money seems okay), and the National party (of which I am not a member).
the sprout 50

23 November 2007 at 9:56 am

“Brash has gone”

well in body, but he was only ever an empty vessel puppeteered by others who still remain in the party, who hold the strings of another puppet.
Matthew Pilott 51

23 November 2007 at 9:59 am

TDS champ, heard of Brashie’s Orewa speech?

That was the kick-off of it all, wouldn’t you say?
Lampie 52

23 November 2007 at 10:09 am

well if it were the Herald reporting and they were opposed to the march’s intent it would be a handful. considering they support this one i expect they’d estimate about 2000.

did they actually report it? Think they missed it since it wasn’t a great support for there article
r0b 53

23 November 2007 at 10:24 am

milo, anyone can make a partisan case based on small examples. (Ask David Benson-Pope if National ever engages in personal abuse eh?).

I’m afraid that bookie and Matthew have really handed you your ass on the big issue. Orewa. Iwi / Kiwi. Game over.
insider 54

23 November 2007 at 10:28 am

No Brash’s speech crystallised a range of concerns that had been building over various policies like closing the gaps (which was dropped like a hot potato) that while worthy in aim were rightly or wrongly seen to be favouring a group at the expense of another.

Brash did not create those conditions but tapped inot them
insider 55

23 November 2007 at 10:42 am

I should add that Winston Peters has been doing the same for years. Crediting Orewa with “kicking it off” shows a dangerously short view of history
milo 56

23 November 2007 at 10:46 am

r0b: your argument seems to be that Labour can do what they like because National started it. Even if you subscribe to the premise, I don’t subscribe to the logic.
r0b 57

23 November 2007 at 10:53 am

“r0b: your argument seems to be that Labour can do what they like because National started it.”

Your summary is not quite accurate. My argument is that both sides are guilty of indiscretion and occasional foolish aggression in the rough and tumble that is politics. I wish it was different but it isn’t. But only one party made division and divisiveness the very essence of their last election campaign.
milo 58

23 November 2007 at 10:54 am

Sprout: So when the Prime Minister said Don Brash was a cancerous and corrosive force in New Zealand politics, was she really referring to the National Party in general?
Matthew Pilott 59

23 November 2007 at 11:19 am

Milo, that would depend on whether you agree it was the National party in general that was driving Brash’s “cancerous and Corrosive” attributes, or whether it was just his sunny personality shining through 😉

Insider – I agree. Roughly every 3 years (it’s some cycle, not lunar or anything but i just can’t figure it out, any thoughts? :)) Winston and Rodney drum up a bit of immigrant, Maori, beneficiary and PC bashing. Fortunately it’s limited in scope and noted (and believed) by few.

Milo, my original point stands, that the real divisiveness is National’s negative attitude to politics, as r0b noted. Simply attacking doesn’t cut it – this isn’t an explicit demand for policy btw, but a realisation that for the past years I haven’t heard a single example aboiut how National would make a percieved problem better. Not one.
Gruela 60

23 November 2007 at 11:59 am

Sorry to interject on what seems like a really fun pissing contest for all involved, but I can’t help but think that all this talk about ‘divisive politics’ is just so much hyperbole, (fuelled somewhat by a media hungry for it, as well.)

I’m too young to remember the ’81 tour, but if you ask me, from what I’ve seen of the video from that era, THAT was divisive politics.

I AM old enough to remember the debate over legalising homosexuality in ’86, however, and really, THAT was divisive politics. 200 people marching against the EFB, or 400? Come on, how many 100,000’s marched against that particular piece of legislation, and how red in the face did they get about it? We’ve got nothing on those good old days of screaming at each other.

Now fast-forward 20 years, and are there really any reasonable pundits ready to re-argue the toss over either of these issues? (Remember, no gays = no Gandalf.)

Does either side in this debate really believe that in 20 years, people will look back to the mid 2000’s and say ‘My, what a divisive time that was.’
r0b 61

23 November 2007 at 12:10 pm

Hmmm – once again Gruela may be right. This is not 1981, or 1986, or 1951. Thank goodness.
Gruela 62

23 November 2007 at 12:23 pm

I just think it’s always worth applying some historical perspective to political issues. This is politics after all, and they’re supposed to be insulting each other and calling each other’s parentage into question.

It’s when the House falls silent, and they all start speaking with one voice, that we should all start to worry.

Insults are all good.
ak 63

23 November 2007 at 12:31 pm

Milo, you’re my favourite tipple but your attempt to paint the left as the faction of divisive politics leaves me gagging. Even the most cursory reading of history proves beyond a shadow of doubt that the opposite is the case.
Through slavery, votes for women, the birth of unions, welfare, indigenous rights, gay rights, apartheid, etc etc you name it, any progressive initiative at all, the Right has by definition been the force of reaction – and division and fearmongering have been the stock in trade. A young Jim Bolger once told me that Apartheid might be a very good system – and that to end it would result in a bloodbath. As in every other case, Jim and all the other prophets of doom have moved on – like your stance on the “evil” EFB, minor footnotes as futile fleeting handbrakes on the history of progress.

Race is the one area that drags on: as Insider notes, there’s still fertile ground for the fearmonger there – as Brash’s pupeteers knew and as Howard tried recently on the poor Aborigines. Good news is, it didnt work for wee Johnnie and it didn’t last long for Don – though I’m not too sure about that any more: the last Morgan poll wasn’t a rogue as some have suggested – it was taken during the “maori terrorist” fiasco and Winston’s boost from that one speech was entirely predictable. The surprise (and worry for the left) was National’s boost – indicating their continued attraction for the redneck vote despite Key’s pallid innoculuations in an effort to woo the Maori Party.
Labour now has no choice. Sitting tight and attempting to placate redneckery has failed: National can and will detonate the “one law for all” nuclear device at any time it suits, and it will be primed and waiting already.
It’s time for a reassertion of the progressive leadership that has delivered for more than a century: I’d suggest a bold re-focussing on “closing the gaps” (there has already been progress to celebrate as outlined in several recent reports) in partnership with the Maori and Green parties, and an offer to all other parties to participate in the formation of a non-partisan accord on the subject.
Lead or cower; the ball in now in Labour’s court.
the sprout 64

23 November 2007 at 12:53 pm

and who are the arch architects of this stragey of (mostly race based) divisive campaigning? why the PR boys for National and the Liberals, Crosby|Textor.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/demonising-unions-not-working-poll/2007/11/02/1193619148297.html
http://www.pjreview.info/issues/docs/13_1/PJR13_1_7_hagerpp197-204.pdf
http://publicaddress.net/default,3739.sm#post
milo 65

23 November 2007 at 1:14 pm

Not the left, ak. The last two years of this government.

But your post seems to say that the left is not divisive, because right wingers are moral scumbags. Heh, heh. Note the slight contradiction there … ? In fact, you seem to be arguing against me by saying my views are associated with slavery, racism, dickensian working conditions and oppression of women and gays.

That really is pretty offensive. In fact it is extremely offensive. Care to withdraw that?
Max Call 66

23 November 2007 at 1:19 pm

Matthew Pilott
Nov 23rd, 2007 at 11:19 am
“that for the past years I haven’t heard a single example aboiut how National would make a percieved problem better. Not one.”

funny you say that… I just got a pamphlet in my letterbox this week which is titled ‘Policy Summary – National Education Standards’ which has photos of Bob the Builder, John, and Katherine. Apparently their policy is to “introduce three key requirements for all primary and intermediate schools” which are 1)Clear National Standards 2)Effective Assessment and 3)Upfront Reporting.

Basically most schools are already using the PATs or asTTle tests as cited in the pamphlet. What National wants to do (my interpretation) is to make this testing compulsary for all primary and intermediate age children and for these test results to be benchmarked against the minimum skills every child should have (at that age). Parents would be informed of their childs results, how these compare to the benchmarks and other New Zealand children.

I really don’t see how this is much different from the status quo – expcept making the tests compulsary. My childen already take these tests, I already know my childrens results and understand how these compare(as do all parents/caregivers of their classmates).

No where in this pamphlet does it address what National will do to ensure that every child who does not meet these benchmarks has followup. For example, if a child is below par with their spelling – what happens next? What if they have dyslexia? Will National fund the testing to see if they do indeed have dyslexia? Or any other testing to see why the spelling is below par? Will they fund any remedial lessons that may be required?

So, in summary to me, their policy on National Education Standards is to make compulsary the tests on childrens reading, writing and maths (as most already do at school), compare their results to minimum standards for their age and report these results to parents. However, there is nothing in place for those children who do not meet these minimum benchmarks that is not already in place now.
So, while it may pick up a few children who are not currently being tested and are also not achieving sufficiently at reading, writing or maths (though how a teacher who has a child in their class everyday cannot pick this up regardless – I am not sure!)it stops there! It almost seems like half a policy. I read the pamphlet and it felt like half of it was missing anyway.
Sorry for above garble, but I was in a hurray to get this out before I need to go.
Nick C 67

23 November 2007 at 1:21 pm

Clearly those with the Mr Burns masks didnt appreciate the irony that they will have to yell out their name and address after their anti-national slogan when this bill passes.
Gruela 68

23 November 2007 at 1:24 pm

Compulsory testing of our school children? WTF?
Sounds like National wants to turn New Zealand into some kind of nanny state.
Nih 69

23 November 2007 at 1:28 pm

That would be a very North Korean thing for KKKey to do.

Hey, that’s actually quite a lot of fun. I see now why burt enjoys it so much.
Max Call 70

23 November 2007 at 1:33 pm

hehehe
most are already tested anyway – PATs at my kids school.
the interesting part is that Nationals rationale for the testing is for the parents to know
Is my child reading, writing and doing maths at the expected level?
Are they doing better than last year?
Are they doing as well as others in the class?
Which they should be able to get answered without the tests anyway.
Also no questions like
What resources is National going to put in place to address “one in five Kiwi children – a staggering 150,000 – are not succeeding at school”
You can test the children everyday if you like but it will not help those who aren’t succeeding!
thomas 71

23 November 2007 at 1:42 pm

Nick C
Clearly Nick you believe that every thing Farrar writes at the bog is true
Gruela 72

23 November 2007 at 1:45 pm

I think that’s really the bottom line for next year’s election, isn’t it. Tax Cuts vs. Investment in Infrastructure. (Education, Health etc.)

Speaking as a Keynesian at heart, I’m all for tax cuts, but they have to be at the right time, and that time is at the bottom of economic cycles. When times are good, (ie now) all they do is push up interest rates and, in a small, importing economy like NZ, blow out our balance of payments.

I think Labour’s best chance for success at the next election is to just keep harping on the one message: “National=Tax Cuts & Higher Mortgage Payments, Labour=Investment in Infrastructure.”

They should completely ignore these side issues like the EFB and Anti-Smacking(Anti Child Abuse)
thomas 73

23 November 2007 at 1:57 pm

yes a lot of the left were pissed when HC announced Tax cuts Next Year.

To win the next Election I think the Nats will have to attack the Greens . Get them under 5% and its all over. High Risk strategy though

Labour needs to form strong links with The Moari Party and the Greens.
Labour will not catch National in the polls
But if the Nats can be kept to around 45%
they won’t be the Government

Biggest party but in opposition …I can hear the screams of outrage already
milo 74

23 November 2007 at 1:58 pm

Thank heavens we have progressive MPs like this to protect workers rights and maintain the moral superiority of the Left.
The Double Standard 75

23 November 2007 at 2:02 pm

Now now Milo – surely you know that TPF was a naive and unexperienced minister, and that the law of common sense says that he was only being helpful.
thomas 76

23 November 2007 at 2:07 pm

Break time at the TUANZ strategic meeting is it Dave.? I hope your not wearing that purple shirt I saw you in the other day twas the wrong colour for your complextion
Gruela 77

23 November 2007 at 2:20 pm

come on, milo, play the ball, not the man. Anyway, if National do get onto the Govt. benches next year, with an extra dozen MP’s or so, how sure are YOU that not one of them will turn out to be an embarrassing idiot like Taito.

Just look at your man from Tauranga. (I forget his name.) National can be thankful he seems pretty uninterested in politics after all, and that he’s not sending out all sorts of unusual and thought-provoking press releases on their behalf. If he can get in as a National MP, chances are good you could get a Blue version of Taito next year.
Matthew Pilott 78

23 November 2007 at 2:28 pm

Max Call – that reminded me of john Key’s comments about giving police tasers – that wouldn’t be the Government’s decision to make anyway! But it makes it sound like he’s going to do something.

Milo, TDS – congratulations on proving my point 🙂 Couldn’t have put it better.

Gruela, I like the cut of your jib. I wonder what the biggest issues will be in the coming election. Doubt it will be tax cuts, neither party wants to get in a pissing contest there.

My wild guess will be National will continue negative campaigning about how bad this country is, while many will look around and say “really?” and wonder what National would actually do about it!
milo 79

23 November 2007 at 2:44 pm

Nothing to see here. Move on please. No hobbled enquiry. No continuing support after his lies were caught on camera. No hypocrisy. Just a beltway issue. Doesn’t resonate. He’s only guilty of being helpful and energetic. Unlike that member of the National party who is just too fat to work hard (another Cullenism).

And did you know right wingers once supported slavery! And they eat their children!

I’m off back out of the rabbit hole now. Thanks for the arguments.

(Although that was never 5 minutes …)
Gruela 80

23 November 2007 at 2:55 pm

Matthew:
You have a point. Up to now, National’s policy releases have been fairly disastrous. They must know they won’t get any more traction from the heartland with recycled policies from the 90’s.

But I do think they will campaign on tax cuts because:

a) The media seems to lap it up
b) They’ve invested too much effort into painting themselves as the low -tax party. So, to follow…
c) Up until now, there has been the smell of National being Labour-lite. If they don’t come out with some substantial tax cuts in their shadow budget, this smell will only get stronger.

plus, they’ve been trying to paint Labour as incompetent managers of the State. This is a fundamental platform required if they want to convince the average voter that National can introduce significant tax cuts while still providing adequate funding for public services.

Really, what else do they have as policy, apart from tax cuts?
The Double Standard 81

23 November 2007 at 3:04 pm

Gruela, if Clarkson is so bad, I wonder why he was awarded a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit by the current govt in 2003 for “services to Philanthropy, Industrial Properties and the Sports Stadium”

If you can’t recognise the difference between being charged by police for fraud, and making a couple of non-PC statements then I guess you might make a good spin-doctor for Teh party.
Gruela 82

23 November 2007 at 3:21 pm

Double Standard:
I didn’t know that about your man Clarkson. Obviously he’s not all bad, as are none of the MP’s currently in Parliament, as far as I can tell, (Yes, even Rodney has his fine moments.)

My point is that he doesn’t make a very good MP. Sure, he may not be the worst, (mainly because he doesn’t seem to DO anything.) And my truly actual point was this: Sometimes an MP will get into parliament who really shouldn’t be there (as I think we can all agree, Taito is an excellent example,) and National are just as likely to succumb to this predicament in the future as Labour did.

So, basically, it’s my opinion that you should focus more on what’s wrong with actual Labour policy, rather than singling out Taito as some sort of symptom of the baseness of the current Government.

He’s really irrelevant to what a decent political discussion should focus on, I think.

Anyway, I’m off to work. Sunny Friday’s always bring out the dickheads, so I suspect I’m in for a busy night.

Peace be upon you all, fullas. I love this stuff.
r0b 83

23 November 2007 at 3:28 pm

“Anyway, I’m off to work. Sunny Friday’s always bring out the dickheads, so I suspect I’m in for a busy night.”

Law enforcement? Medical?

“Peace be upon you all, fullas. I love this stuff.”

Don’t get institutionalised (I fear it’s happening to me) – we need your fresh perspective.
The Double Standard 84

23 November 2007 at 3:57 pm

‘I think Labour’s best chance for success at the next election is to just keep harping on the one message: “National=Tax Cuts & Higher Mortgage Payments, Labour=Investment in Infrastructure.”‘

But aren’t Labour offering tax cuts as well?

And how much have interest rates gone up under Labour?

The line you are proposing doesn’t seem to have worked well for the Libs in Oz (Election tomorrow of course)

Also, which of Labour’s infrastructure spending do you think National won’t support?
r0b 85

23 November 2007 at 4:31 pm

“But aren’t Labour offering tax cuts as well?”

Yup. National will be forced to offer significantly bigger cuts, hence the perfectly valid concerns about the consequences of those cuts.

“Also, which of Labour’s infrastructure spending do you think National won’t support?”

Very difficult to say, because National don’t much like being pinned down on anything resembling policy. It frightens the horses.
the sprout 86

23 November 2007 at 4:38 pm

“which of Labour’s infrastructure spending do you think National won’t support”

um, anything that won’t be profitable to National’s benefactors
Nih 87

23 November 2007 at 4:38 pm

Conservatives often all agree on on thing: they hate or disapprove or otherwise express that the glass is half empty and possibly polluted with blacks and gays. Dreadful world, isn’t it.

When you start producing policy, you have to get all of these reserved people to agree. And that’s the thing, they can only agree that they do all have reservations. When you bring out the details you end up with Hinamoo vs dork4justice. They’re both extremely conservative and disagree with each other completely. Worse, we’ve taught them to abuse whatever they fear or disagree with, so at the moment they’re at each other’s throats over minor matters.

Imagine what it’ll be like when policy comes out. Farrar will lose his flock.
thomas 88

23 November 2007 at 4:44 pm

Basically you are pitching to 3 or4 % in the middle
Labour and the greens will get 45% whatever happens
What do those 3 to 4% want ?
Maybe a bit of dosh in their pockets a week before polling. >
Maybe they will be swayed when National plays its race card ?
Maybe the women will like Key >
Or maybe Helen will destroy key in the debates ?

Its going to be close
But at least the nats can blame the EFB when they lose
ak 89

23 November 2007 at 6:47 pm

thomas:
Dosh don’t matter so much – polls say so and it balances anyway
Women don’t like National – polls ditto
Helen will definitely destroy Key in the debates

Its Race. Race, Race, Race.

And remembering Winnie’s asian-bash and Orewa One, its more like 6 – 10%. Solution in earlier comment.
Nih 90

23 November 2007 at 7:06 pm

My partner mentioned that Winston has started to make statements that are more comfortable for the larger demographics in New Zealand now that an election is coming up. I don’t know if he’ll pull out his anti-immigration crap again or just go be anti about something else, such as the bunch arrested in Tuhoe.

It just goes to show he knows what everyone wants, he just so rarely gives a fuck. I hope he is widely judged on his prior behaviour rather than his sparkling new election image.
the sprout 91

23 November 2007 at 8:00 pm

as long as National re-employ the Liberals’ strategists Crosby Textor, it’ll be race for sure.

http://www.pjreview.info/issues/docs/13_1/PJR13_1_7_hagerpp197-204.pdf
thomas 92

23 November 2007 at 9:03 pm

Just returned from Maryan Street’s Nelson Campaign Launch
Lots of people there all very positive
She was pretty impresive I think she is going to give Nick Smuth a run for his money.
burt 93

23 November 2007 at 9:27 pm

Max Cell

You can test the children everyday if you like but it will not help those who aren’t succeeding!

It will help them, it will ensure it’s brought to the attention of anybody who cares!

The issue is – Is there anybody who cares about “one in five Kiwi children – a staggering 150,000 – are not succeeding at school”?

I suspect there are quite a few of that 150,000 who can’t say “yes” to that and testing would help identify that as well.

Status quo is clearly not working very well if 1 in 5 is failing, yet status quo is defended quite well by the lefties – go figure.
Nih 94

23 November 2007 at 9:32 pm

One in five sounds more like standard intelligence deviation. Maybe one in ten would be more reasonable. My question would be is the standard for passing being set on how well an average child performs.

I’m all for identifying struggling kids and helping them though, it’s just that as everyone else said, they’re already doing what Key is promising to make mandatory. I think we need to look at other areas of primary and intermediate schooling for ways to improve them.
burt 95

23 November 2007 at 9:37 pm

Cruela

I think that’s really the bottom line for next year’s election, isn’t it. Tax Cuts vs. Investment in Infrastructure. (Education, Health etc.)

This is the state of education, 1 in 5 failing and a shambles of an organisation. Teacher shortage threatens schools. Primary schools are forecast to be short 800-1,000 teachers next year as well.

Health is a debacle, tens of thousands slashed off waiting lists last year, elective surgery canceled regularly due to bed and/or staff shoratges.

People voted to pay more tax in 1999 to fix health and education, again in 2002 and then again in 2005. Who in their right mind would trust Labour in 2008 to make any positive improvements after 9 years of making a pudding out of both Health and Education. Only people with no ability to comprehend the difference between Labour spin and reality would give them a forth term to fuck it up more.
Nih 96

23 November 2007 at 9:37 pm

Also, have you considered that the point of the tests is NOT to pass everyone, but help identify who does need help. If the latter, it seems reasonable that these children will always be the ones singled out by the results for more help. It’s not a negative thing, it’s what I would expect.

If all the kids are passing, the curriculum isn’t challenging enough for the majority of the class or the testing is failing to identify the inevitable performance drift.

I know it’s a bit complicated, but I won’t stand by and let education issues go to rort, even on a tiny scale.
burt 97

23 November 2007 at 9:50 pm

Nih

The point of testing is to set a standard and to evaluate individual students. Evaluating individual students is a bit of a PC quagmire in our current school system although I do think the the strategy of using more tools than ‘tests’ to evaluate students is extremely valid.

I think it’s a bit of a pendulum type thing where testing was all we had and we are yet to find our balance between formal tests and other internal assessment methods. Testing and evaluating against an ‘average’ suddenly became bad and we threw the baby out with the bath water by removing it almost completely rather than having it as a key part of a bigger strategy for evaluation.

I’m quiote passionate about good education, as your comments would imply you are, and I agree it’s far to important to let if get stuffed up my political popularism.
Nih 98

23 November 2007 at 10:13 pm

The point of testing is to set a standard and to evaluate individual students.

Then I look forward to a future of AI-designed individual tuition for every student that caters to their needs, their learning methods and their goals. The very best education setting is a tutor for every kid coupled with a safe, rich social environment to learn in.

Until that magical day we don’t have the manpower and never will. That’s why existing primary testing is designed to show teachers where most of their time should be going. Nobody left behind and your class remains challenged.

The face of education and knowledge is changing in any case. It’s going to be more about keeping kids occupied and using their brains while they grow for 13 years. Why bother learning much of anything specialised when you can find it organised and well presented on the internet? We should begin to change the focus to teaching a proactive can-do attitude and the ability to learn and retain information, because the age of always-available information is virtually upon us.

Let’s face it, the existing system was OK by last century’s standards but the same system is failing us now. The whole thing has to change.
ahod 99

23 November 2007 at 11:43 pm

“2, 4, 6, 11 – We Support the Exclusive Brethren!”
– Kids should be chanting this as a pre-exam prep! Pump the lungs and mind with a bit of political fervour! Marvellous!
r0b 100

23 November 2007 at 11:54 pm

This is the state of education, 1 in 5 failing and a shambles of an organisation. Teacher shortage threatens schools. Primary schools are forecast to be short 800-1,000 teachers next year as well.

Health is a debacle, tens of thousands slashed off waiting lists last year, elective surgery canceled regularly due to bed and/or staff shoratges.

Burt, you really are a “glass half empty” kinda guy aren’t you. I bet you’re loadsa fun at parties.

Health and Education in NZ are not perfect, and of course they can never be perfect. Anyone can selectively focus on the right weaknesses and paint a picture of “shambles” and “debacle”. Thing is, it isn’t true. Shall we look to some independent statistics?

http://www.stats.govt.nz/products-and-services/nz-in-the-oecd/education.htm

Hmm, let’s see. NZ 12 / 30 in the OECD for secondary and tertiary qualifications, 9 / 30 for participation in early childhood. NZ children rank fifth in reading, ninth in mathematics, seventh in science. Is it perfect? No. Should we aim to do better? Yes. Education “shambles”? Hardly.

For Health stats see same link as above but /health.htm

Infant mortality – better than OECD average but not good enough. Life expectancy, above OECD average but could do better. Expenditure on health is average. From other sources the Commonwealth Fund 2004 international health survey rates NZ equal with Australia, both ahead of Canada and the US, both behind Germany and the UK. Is it perfect? No. Should we aim to do better? Yes. Health “debacle”? Hardly.

So Burt, carry on with your partisan rantings. But do so knowing that the facts tell a different story.
ak 101

23 November 2007 at 11:59 pm

burt: “The point of testing is to set a standard and to evaluate individual students.”

hmmm…..how would you evaluate the author of this sentence burt?
“I’m quiote passionate about good education……it’s far to important to let if get stuffed up my political popularism.”

Hey! 99 comments – congrats Standardistas!
thomas 102

24 November 2007 at 12:21 am

102
Tane 103

24 November 2007 at 12:38 am

Thanks ak – Standardistas, I like it. We did get 123 comments once though: http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=481
Gruela 104

24 November 2007 at 12:45 am

Excellent comment, rOb. I was thinking along the same lines when I read burt’s contribution. However, I think you missed one thing. You’ve got the international comparisons covered, but what about the historical ones? Allow me to add this:
Life expectancy in New Zealand 2001:
Male: 74.3 years
Female: 79.6 years
Life expectancy 2006:
Male: 78.2 years
Female: 82.2 years
according to the OECD.

This is a terrific leap, and I didn’t believe it at first, but I checked at statistics NZ and it seems genuine. I think even burt would have to agree that if you’re interested in the health of our health system (sorry) then life expectancy would be one of the first statistics you’d check out. Hardly seem indicative of a ‘debacle’, does it?
Isn’t this fun, burt? burt? Where are you burt?

Probably gone to bed. More sense than I’ve got.
Max Call 105

24 November 2007 at 6:36 am

Hi Burt,
my point was not really the testing (as its already being done anyway!) – more that Nationals policy only contained the ‘testing’. There was no mention of the followup and resourcing of the followup required after this testing.
Whats the point of testing if nothing happens next?
They quote in their pamphlet that “one in five Kiwi children – a staggering 150,000 – are not succeeding at school”
For a start – how would they know this if the children aren’t already being tested?
And second, their policy goes no further than identifying these individuals. It doesn’t set out what they propose should be done with these students once identified. That is what I meant by it being only half a policy. (hahaha – could even say ‘hollow policy’)
Max Call 106

24 November 2007 at 6:44 am

Unfortunately our great averages and comparisons to other OECD countries hides our ‘long tail’ of students not achieving.
I contend that teachers already know who these students are – there is just not the resources in place to sufficiently address these students needs.
I believe I have read/seen many times studies that show the prison population has much higher incidences of dyslexia and illiteracy than the general population. As it stands, there is currently no resourcing in place to address dyslexia in our schools. The MOE does not recognise dyslexia as a learning difficulty for students that requires any resourcing.
Surely it would make sense both economically and socially to fund both the identifying of dyslexic students and the help they require?
r0b 107

24 November 2007 at 9:07 am

“Excellent comment, rOb.”

Cheers Gruela. I hope you had an OK evening with the Friday night hoons.

“You’ve got the international comparisons covered, but what about the historical ones? Allow me to add this:”

Great stuff – many thanks for that. (I’ll add it to my “library”.) I too am amazed by the increase!

Speaking more generally of collecting useful info, we often repeat these arguments about health, education, the economy and so on. I wonder if The Standard could provide some kind of mechanism for building a FAQ file. We could all contribute, build up good sound well researched answers to the usual questions and trolls. It would be kinda useful.
r0b 108

24 November 2007 at 9:18 am

“Surely it would make sense both economically and socially to fund both the identifying of dyslexic students and the help they require?”

For sure. There are various ways you could try to draw attention to this issue. One of them cuts out a lot of “the usual channels” and speaks very directly to the government, and that is (if you are a member of the Labour party) to propose it to the Labour policy committee, or propose it as a remit for Conference. Labour members still actively debate and promote policy at their annual conference (most other parties have given this up).
thomas 109

24 November 2007 at 10:34 am

Is anybody in Ch Ch going to the
March ? today
the sprout 110

24 November 2007 at 10:43 am

looks like we’re about to see a concerted effort to not repeat DPF’s cock-up.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10478099
Gruela 111

24 November 2007 at 11:29 am

Wow!! John Key’s coming to the provinces! Truly that will bolster National’s poll rating, because there’s nothing us yokels like to do more over the summer months than stand around and listen to a politician. (Although it might get the editors of a few yokel newspapers mildly excited.)

Also interesting, the article goes on to say this “will have the added function of getting him acquainted with the pressures he will face in an election campaign.”

I don’t understand this. Is Helen Clark going to be touring with him, and will they be having televised debates during which Johno will be required to explain National policy?

I don’t think John Key has yet been put under real pressure, has he?
thomas 112

24 November 2007 at 11:31 am

Key seeks to halt Labour momentum

Then he had better not release any policy then
the sprout 113

24 November 2007 at 11:36 am

a classic pretend-balanced article from the Herald that one, over-stating the successes and citing strawman failures while avoioding the worst ones.
indeed keeping his mouth shut will be the best strategy, which he’ll be following again shortly what with Crosby Textor soon to become free for business again.
obviously it won’t be anything like real campaigning, but JK’s puppeteers will understand the importance of making him feel like it’s the real thing… “oh you’rte doing great Johno, keep it up mate, they’re loving you, you’re beautiful, a master at this, etc”.
thomas 114

24 November 2007 at 12:34 pm

what with Crosby Textor soon to become free for business again.
Is Crosby ill then
I guess it soon to be Stills & Nash then
Gruela 115

24 November 2007 at 1:05 pm

You have to admit, though, that as uninspiring as the John Key article is, it pales before the magnificent glow that is Fran O’Sullivan on John Howard in the same paper.

I believe this may be the most glaring display of the author’s wishful thinking overtaking any degree of nuance or subtlety of opinion, any sense of balance or perspective, that I have read in any newspaper column in a long time. I laughed until I wet myself. Twice.
Gruela 116

24 November 2007 at 1:44 pm

And while I’m on the subject, what’s with the idea that John Howard has been ‘the best prime minister New Zealand never had.’

This is just silly. I can think of three better one’s off the top of my head:
1) Voltaire
2) Nelson Mandela
3) Norman Kirk (because he never had a fair chance)

Anyway, I think you guys should put up a post on this subject, and make it so that we all can vote on who we think has been ‘ the best prime minister New Zealand never had.’ Then after a couple days you could send the results to the Herald, maybe ask if Fran O’Sullivan would want to comment on it.

It’s just an idea.
Nih 117

24 November 2007 at 2:14 pm

This is just silly. I can think of three better one’s off the top of my head:
1) Voltaire
2) Nelson Mandela
3) Norman Kirk (because he never had a fair chance)

Obviously you’ve never heard of Yoda.
thomas 118

24 November 2007 at 2:22 pm

Well i think Helen Clarke is the best Pm that Australia never had

and while I think of it John Clark
oh and Allan Clark who used to play for Leeds Utd in the seventies
burt 119

24 November 2007 at 2:46 pm

ak

I guess I made a typo and therefore my entire comment is something to be discarded. Wow, how many years did you spend at university to be so gifted that you could spot a typo and just know that means that the entire message is a waste of space and the next thing to do is shoot the messenger. You’re a first class chump ak!

rOb

Quoting ORCD statistics that show we are in the bottom half and saying we are doing well is about what I would expect from a lefty. Private schools kick ass over state schools and the only answer the left seem to have is – ‘state schools just don’t have the resources’.

How do you people so readily accept mediocrity in health and education simply because we have had a Labour govt for 8 years? The public of NZ voted to pay extra tax in 1999 to fix health and education and the stats are going backward – still you can’t see it because … well I guess because darling Labour are in charge and to suggest they could do better would make you just like them nasty National party people.

Give up and accept anything – it’s much easier and you can keep pretending that dear leader has it all under control.
thomas 120

24 November 2007 at 3:11 pm

You’re a first class chump ak!
Ak is the brightest most erudite
poster in the New Zealand Blogosphere maybe the world
So leave him alone you bully

Burt On which stats do you base the comment the public of NZ voted to pay extra tax in 1999 to fix health and education and the stats are going backward
r0b 121

24 November 2007 at 3:11 pm

“Quoting ORCD statistics that show we are in the bottom half and saying we are doing well is about what I would expect from a lefty.”

Burt, not being able to tell the difference between the bottom half and the top half is, sadly, about what I would expect from you.
thomas 122

24 November 2007 at 3:38 pm

Where are those Stats Burt ?
ak 123

24 November 2007 at 3:52 pm

Chump burt? Chump?
I’m disappointed and a little hurt burt, surely you can muster up something far more lickspittlicious than a paltry “chump” – have all those hours at kiwibog taught you nothing? C’mon burt, you’re letting the side down.. anyway, I certainly wouldn’t shoot you and don’t regard your comments as a “waste of space” – au contraire mon ami (french burt, look it up), I find them highly entertaining and a fascinating study of dogged determination against all odds.

rOb and the others consistently and repeatedly decipher and debunk your obtuse meanderings (excellent work by the way rOb), yet you return immediately without a hair out of place to fight another day with the same tedious tory cant. So respected international studies show our health system to be near the best in the world? – no worries to you burt, simply repeat the lies, drop in a “dear leader” or two, then scamper on to urinate on the next post.

We could have used you at the Somme burt: unfortunately, like all cannon-fodder your tory heroes won’t thank or want you when they lose next year. Come to the light burt: drop the pitiful propaganda and keep improving the clarity and you’ll find more admirers for your grit on this side of the barricades.
Pascal's bookie 124

24 November 2007 at 5:16 pm

On the best PM we’ve never had, my vote would be for John Rawls, though I’d be dancing jigs and giving out free home made cider to all and sundry if we had any of Gruela’s suggestions as well.

As for Fran O’S, who cares what she thinks?

The major issue I have with MSM punditry, and it is not a problem limited to nz, is that they are journo’s, trained in the “art” of modern crappy journalist style. There was a time that the qualification for being a journo was that you know something about a subject and be able to string a paragraph together. The latter was subordinate to the former. The had sub editors that could deal with the prose stylings. these days kids go to polytech or wherever to learn ‘journalism’ which consists of a bit of writing guidence and a whole bunch of usesless stuff that they confuse with ethics, but which is fact a license to peddle crap for PR wallahs and the Bon McCroskie’s of the world.

The baby is crying so I might expand on this later, but the take away is that journo’s who don’t understand a subject will always end up falling back on ‘he said, she said’, think they’ve achieved something and end up considering that their own opinions have some value. And you end up with Frau Fran.
Pascal's bookie 125

24 November 2007 at 5:19 pm

Sorry about the typo’s. I blame the baby (always), who is now happy, but still demanding attention.
Historian 126

24 November 2007 at 5:19 pm

Fran’s other candidates for best Prime Minister NZ never had:

Bill English (2002)
Don Brash (2005)
John Key (2008)
Bill English (2011)
John Key (2014)
burt 127

24 November 2007 at 5:29 pm

rOb

I can tell the difference between the top and the bottom, that was a typing error, I was meaning that simply pointing to OECD stats showing we are in the top half and claiming it’s OK is what I would expect from a Labour supporter.

It’s good that you remind us about OECD ratings, remember the claim that Labour would take us up in the ratings while we have actually gone backwards. It’s this sliding that is unacceptable against a promise to fix health and education.

Private schools significantly out perform state schools, you might say that private schools have more money than state schools but that’s simply a cop out. There is a culture of success that money can’t buy, but setting the expectations at mediocre can easily destroy it. If you claim that private schools are established for profit, then if the state was running them it could deliver the same quality for a lot less money as there would not need to be a profit. So either way there is something systemically wrong with the education system, the teacher shortages I pointed to earlier back this up.

ak

You must try posting about the topic of the thread rather than simply denigrating other contributors. Who knows – you might actually have something to offer. Go on try it, what do you think we can do about the horrific teacher shortages next year ?

(oh, here is a few typos for you to denigrete just encase you sumply can’t stay on the topic long enuf to construct a position on something without leaping into attack and denigrate mode. )
The Double Standard 128

24 November 2007 at 5:29 pm

Shouldn’t “ramshackle PR fiasco” be about the treatment of the communications staff at the environment ministry? Seems like Teh Party can’t keep its hands out the public service, and doesn’t hesitate to send out its violent attack dog when things go wrong.
thomas 129

24 November 2007 at 5:52 pm

David as a National stalwart, you of all people
shouldn’t be commenting on a ramshackle PR fiasco”
John Key hasn’t opened his mouth since
he declared the war is over, said he was going to make doctors visits more expensive, sell state assets and privatise schools
David Farrar 130

24 November 2007 at 7:37 pm

Your paranoia is getting alarming Thomas. You should consider medical intervention before it is too late.

The last person from here to accuse me of posting under an alias (something I have never done here) turned out to be forging identities himself.
Nih 131

24 November 2007 at 8:08 pm

You of course have the benefit of not being banned from expressing yourself on other blogs despite much poorer behaviour.
thomas 132

24 November 2007 at 9:15 pm

I am glad about your concern David
But I’m not paranoiac in the slightest.
I “know” you are DPF. simple

Anyway moving on

And back to the subject of this post
Do you know how th ChCh march went David ?
r0b 133

24 November 2007 at 9:31 pm

Burt – “I can tell the difference between the top and the bottom, that was a typing error,”

That’s a helluva typo Burt. But let’s give you the benefit of the doubt (because the alternative is too depressing to contemplate).

“I was meaning that simply pointing to OECD stats showing we are in the top half and claiming it’s OK is what I would expect from a Labour supporter.”

Really Burt? Being in the top half of the list of the world’s most affluent countries is not OK? I think that it’s better than OK Burt, I think it’s pretty damn good, though of course we should aim to do better. I think that instead of running them down, we should thank the hard working people who work in our world class health system Burt, don’t you?

It’s good that you remind us about OECD ratings, remember the claim that Labour would take us up in the ratings while we have actually gone backwards. It’s this sliding that is unacceptable against a promise to fix health and education.

I answer you with facts. Your turn Burt. Where is your evidence for this claim? Actual numbers please Burt, quoting Kiwibog won’t do. Time to put up Burt. Let’s see whatcha got here.
thomas 134

24 November 2007 at 9:35 pm

I asked him that as well
Maybe he is doing research rOb
r0b 135

24 November 2007 at 9:39 pm

“excellent work by the way rOb” Cheers ak, and likewise. Nice to make your acquaintance.

bookie – good luck with the young one. It’s such a special time! Sleep deprivation notwithstanding of course…
r0b 136

24 November 2007 at 9:41 pm

“Maybe he is doing research rOb”

Maybe he is. The suspense is making me all tingly!
r0b 137

24 November 2007 at 9:59 pm

While we’re waiting for Burt, fellow Standardistas, I hope you’re keeping an eye on the unfolding drama in Oz…

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/
burt 138

24 November 2007 at 10:37 pm

While I dig around a bit more, and to save me suffering the ‘2 link moderation’, here is a starter.

The PM agrees here that she would like to see us ‘back in the top half’ of the OECD ratings’.

Unless the PM is incredibly stupid she has acknowledged we were once there, are not there now and would like to go back.

The search continues.
burt 139

24 November 2007 at 10:39 pm

http://theyworkforyou.co.nz/portfolios/prime_minister/2007/oct/23/o01
thomas 140

24 November 2007 at 11:00 pm

Lab looks like they are hosing in
yesssssssssssssssssss
r0b 141

24 November 2007 at 11:05 pm

“The PM agrees here that she would like to see us ‘back in the top half’ of the OECD ratings’.”

The PM was referring to much publicised economic results. We are discussing health and education (where we are in the top half). Sorry Burt, no joy there.

“The search continues.”

Well good on you for trying I guess. But really Burt, if you go round shooting your mouth off like that, shouldn’t you have the facts close at hand? If it is so bad, shouldn’t the facts be at least easy to find?

Or did you just make it up Burt?
burt 142

24 November 2007 at 11:06 pm

New Zealand business and the economy
r0b 143

24 November 2007 at 11:17 pm

Burt – you’ll find a few variants of this story. You can post them all, but you’re just making yourself look silly. They are about economic indicators Burt, and we’re discussing health and education.

Try and find something relevant to the actual topic of debate Burt.
burt 144

24 November 2007 at 11:20 pm

rOb

The link to the Aussie election results is great. Looks like Labor are going to stomp home. Good on them, their ‘time for a change’ ads were excellent.
burt 145

24 November 2007 at 11:27 pm

rOb

We’re actually discussing young Labour people denying people they disagree with their democratic right to peaceful protest by shouting them down with megaphones. Under the heading of “Democracy under threat” described as a “Ramshackle PR fiasco”

Some distractors dragged the topic off thread to try and sell the “Labour good” “National bad” line so anything is fair game really.

Sure Education and Health might be in the top half, but ‘overall’ the country still slips backward so how long can we sustain it?

The Auckland University link for example.

New Zealand is under performing relative to other comparable countries and is slipping down a number of OECD ranking tables with per capita GDP falling from third to twenty second. A recent study argues that in these terms New Zealand is now significantly less wealthy than Australia, Singapore and Ireland.

This slippage, combined with continuing corporate flight from New Zealand, and the loss of talented and experienced people overseas, has resulted in extensive discussion about how best to recover New Zealand’s forward momentum and to regain the country’s place in the top half of OECD country rankings. The challenge is considerable. It will require a rate of growth of GDP of around 5% per annum or the emergence of new businesses three times the size of the current diary industry to achieve this goal by 2011.
r0b 146

24 November 2007 at 11:48 pm

Righteo then Burt. Goodnight.
Gruela 147

25 November 2007 at 12:09 am

Dear burt,

I would really like to take the discussion of private schools being better than state schools further, if you’re of a mind. I wonder if you have any ideas on what the outcome would be if there were no state schools?

What would your ideal system be under a totally private regime? Would it be up to the individual parents to totally fund their own children’s educations or would you prefer a voucher system funded through taxation with which parents could purchase their children’s education from ‘education companies’, who perhaps might run discreet and competing networks of schools and tertiary institutions throughout the country?

Or is their some other way you’d prefer the NZ education system to be redifined? I’m very interested in reading your ideas.
The Double Standard 148

25 November 2007 at 8:45 am

Thomas “I “know” you are DPF.”

Well, duh, he posts as himself.

Still, I guess both DPF and I get a laugh out of your pathetic claims. All you do is prove over and over again that your are both stupid and a liar. Actually I’m surprised that you have the intelligence to operate a computer.
burt 149

25 November 2007 at 2:55 pm

Cruela

I would really like to take the discussion of private schools being better than state schools further, if you’re of a mind. I wonder if you have any ideas on what the outcome would be if there were no state schools?

Before we can debate it in a reasonable manner you need to be reasonable. Are you implying I want a situation where there are no state schools or is that what you want?

State funding and state provision are two separate concepts. Sometimes used as one in the same but more often not. Health and Education are examples where the state has a myopic ideology and would rather have people falling off waiting lists than state funding used to get positive outcomes with private providers.

Schooling is much the same. Currently private schools are experiencing significant demand on their limited resources. That primarily being classrooms and space for more classrooms. Teacher retention seems to be much less of an issue in private schools, funny that.

The argument of the state being the funder but not necessarily the provider is an interesting one, and if you want a situation where there are no state run schools then this might be a good starting point for debate.
Nih 150

25 November 2007 at 3:36 pm

Cruela[…] Before we can debate it in a reasonable manner you need to be reasonable.

Well Burtram, given that you get Gruela’s name wrong every single time you address her, I do wonder at the way in which you wield reasonable manners yourself. Just pointing it out in case you’re genuinely mistake. For a change. Cough.
burt 151

25 November 2007 at 4:55 pm

Nih

So I take it you have got nothing to say about state funding and state provision ?
burt 152

25 November 2007 at 5:00 pm

Out of interest, thomas is the only one of the Labour apologists here to say that he thinks that the young Labour people were out of order trying to shout down a democratic protest with megaphones.

Can I assume that all the “reasonable” people here are quite comfortable with the way young Labour conducted themselves and would be quite happy if people behaved that way to disrupt a young Labour convention, or a Greenpeace march?

Looking at Tane’s favourite “”2, 4, 6, 11 – We support the Exclusive Brethren!” I do wonder about you guys sometimes.
Nih 153

25 November 2007 at 5:06 pm

So I take it you have got nothing to say about state funding and state provision ?

What has that got to do with you making a “haw haw nigger” joke at someone elses expense? Not a very good one at that.

So I take it you knew what you were writing then.
Nih 154

25 November 2007 at 5:09 pm

By the way, Colonel Burt here is declaring victory in the face of everyone ignoring his trolling. Is someone going to waste time debating with him or can we let him ‘win’? It would be very gracious of us to let the good old boys from the south have one.
burt 155

25 November 2007 at 5:14 pm

Nih

For one so motivated to nit-pick the spelling of peoples aliases you could at least use a lower case “b” for mine.
Nih 156

25 November 2007 at 5:51 pm

Yeah, because improperly capitalising your internet alias is like making nigger jokes.

Suck it up burt.
burt 157

25 November 2007 at 6:04 pm

Nih

You will need to explain the nigger joke Nih, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s missed your point. I do note however you’re still not engaging in anything other than swiping at me.
Nih 158

25 November 2007 at 6:09 pm

You mean you didn’t get it from my first post? Don’t be slow burt.

Just kidding. We know you know that you’re being a racist douche. Who knows if you’re like this off the internet, but I would bet money that you’re a douche fulltime.

Keep blabbing you racist windbag.
burt 159

25 November 2007 at 6:13 pm

Nih

You seem to have gone off the deep end for no valid reason, perhaps you could explain to me why I’m suddenly a racist. Race was the last thing in my thoughts (as it usually is) during all of the comments I have made on this thread.

Perhaps you are stuck for insults, I don’t know where you are coming from but calling me racist for any of my comments above is just bizarre. Especially since you continue without any justification of where I even mentioned race at all!
Nih 160

25 November 2007 at 6:18 pm

Jesus. You’re like a guy in blackface mock-shrugging while your audience goes hysterical.
burt 161

25 November 2007 at 6:27 pm

Nih

If you’re not proud of the way young Labour people acted but can’t bring yourself to speak out against them then there is no need to denigrate me.

You just rant on without even providing a hint of evidence to back up your assertion I’m being racist. Robinsod normally tells me to take my Ritalin, pehaps he should be talking to you!
Nih 162

25 November 2007 at 6:35 pm

Oh, shit? Is that what this is about? How insensitive of me. I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were missing Robinsod you big lug.

Tell you what, if I pat your hand and get you a little glass of water, will you take your ritalin?

Do you sleep after that, or do we have to tell you a fucking story? Sorry, I mean normal story. Don’t tell your parents you heard me say that around you, ok? Otherwise I’ll tell them you were bad.
burt 163

25 November 2007 at 6:40 pm

Nih

Still no substance, just person attacks. You started off so well saying sorry for calling me a racist with no justification then you slipped back into ‘why play the ball when you can play the man’.

Perhaps you could leave the discussion that Gruela asked for to people who want to do more than trade insults.
Nih 164

25 November 2007 at 6:48 pm

I didn’t realise mock ignorance was considered such a hearty defence among the ignorant. The truth is you knew exactly what you were doing and kept doing it in the face of someone asking you to stop. Your forumla goes:

Insult
Baseless stance, possibly confused and without sense
Insult
Generally absurd statement regarding current events, the future or other people’s comments

Unfortuntately you’re not very creative so you don’t even make a good read in terms of trolling. I bet I could do a better job of right-wing-troll than you. At least I’d get a theme and a running joke going. Do you want me to create a new far-right login to troll with? I could walk you through the basics of winning arguments too. No? Not keen?

I suppose at least you’re calling her Gruela now instead of that other revolting name you came up with. A win for us all I’d say.

Try to stay on the straight and narrow from now on burt.
Nih 165

25 November 2007 at 6:51 pm

Perhaps you could leave the discussion that Gruela asked for to people who want to do more than trade insults.

I clean forgot this.

Most priceless, precious comment of the night. To continue the alliteration you are the pinkest little princess I have ever perused. Want a lollypop peach?

Seeing as you’re one of the most obnoxious repeat offenders AND a threat to all serious discussion, have you considered leaving the conversation yourself? If you didn’t notice, Greula was probably setting you up to fall. Rule number one of taking down deranged sociopaths: get them to elucidate their stance on everyday issues. You’re like a disenfranchised D4J, why hasn’t your crazy overflowed yet? Scared to shine, burt?
Thomas 166

25 November 2007 at 7:23 pm

All you do is prove over and over again that your are both stupid and a liar. Actually I’m surprised that you have the intelligence to operate a computer.WTF

Anyone here know how many protesters attended the Christchurch March ?
burt 167

25 November 2007 at 7:51 pm

Nih

If Gruela is setting me up for a fall then bring it on, you are trying hard to trip me up yourself but so far have offered nothing more than personal attacks. A bit of robust debate on the issue would be nice. Is the reason you haven’t elucidated your position because you don’t have one or is it because you get sidetracked attacking me?

BTW: Who appointed you the spokesperson for the thread ?

Is someone going to waste time debating with him or can we let him ‘win’? It would be very gracious of us to let the good old boys from the south have one.

You neither ignored me, showed good grace, or debated with me – and you imply I’m a deranged sociopath !
Nih 168

25 November 2007 at 9:49 pm

I’m a deranged sociopath !

😮
Thomas 169

25 November 2007 at 10:01 pm

Nih this just posted at the bog

National supporters/posters are like a pubic hair on a toilet seat
sooner or later one will come along and piss you off
Nih 170

25 November 2007 at 10:21 pm

Substitute burt’s deranged sociopaths for National supporters and it’s perfect.

Normal National supporters are nothing like these narcissistic morons.
burt 171

25 November 2007 at 10:27 pm

Nih

Jesus. You’re like a guy in blackface mock-shrugging while your audience goes hysterical.

No Nih, I think it was only you getting hysterical. I actually wouldn’t mind if you would explain to me how and why I was racist because that misunderstanding is still a mystery to me. It’s a mistake I wouldn’t want to repeat again, which is more likely if I have no friggin idea what I said that was racist.
Gruela 172

25 November 2007 at 10:37 pm

Guys, chill out out for a minute please. As much as I truly enjoy such unashamed personal vendettas as you seem to have going, (it’s such fun to read), I would like to clarify a few things about what I wrote.

I am interested about burt’s ideas about private education because I come from a rural backround, and while I will concede that a market economy may work for the provision of education in a large enough market, once you get into the farmland it becomes much harder to envision how a private provider who was failing to supply the local community with an adequate education framework for their children could easily be replaced. In this situation, the parents can’t decide to just send their kids to the school down the road.

One of the fundamental tenets of a free market has always been the easiest possible entry and exit for suppliers, and I think this is the major problem I would have with a private education system out in the provinces where I live. I would be interested in your thoughts on how this problem could be overcome, burt.

Also, I have to say I’m probably slightly more interested in the mating habits of the bacteria up my left nostril, than I am in how anyone spells my name. Just so you know.
burt 173

25 November 2007 at 11:24 pm

Gruela

The rural environment is an interesting one. My family has branches into a very remote community where very recently the only local school has closed down. In days gone by there has been times when some of the wider family have moved back into the area on a temporary basis to provide ‘numbers’ to the school role to stop it being closed. It’s an unthinkable sacrifice for ‘townies’ to comprehend that people shift part or all of their family so that a local school is not shut down.

However you make a valid point re: How can the govt control the quality when there is a single provider. The Ministry of Ed would be in a far better position to sack a private provider under simple get out clauses in a commercial contract rather than an employment contract.

A motivated teacher (the kind we like) would work in either environment. So I don’t have an answer for you, but I do think your concerns about the private provider apply more so to the state provider. The venom against me on this site proves that any service provided by the state should never be questioned re: quality.

In the broader sense I would like to see significant expansion of the independent school model and greater funding for low decile schools. I’d also like to see an approach that manages the school popularity vs unpopularity issues by changing (fixing, more funding, different teachers etc) the unpopular schools rather than restricting the zones on the ones that are popular.
Gruela 174

26 November 2007 at 12:00 am

burt

‘The Ministry of Ed would be in a far better position to sack a private provider under simple get out clauses in a commercial contract rather than an employment contract.’

Would it? I’m not convinced. Surely it would come down to how good the lawyer was who drew up the respective contracts. And I also think a large, (probably multinational) company would be more able (and therefore more likely) to challenge the Ministry of Ed in a prolonged court case if the Ministry were to end their contract, than a single teacher on a private contract would. And while this was going on, the kids and their parents would be left in limbo.

I have two main problems with private schools:

(1) Profit. In a free market, the providers aren’t going to produce the goods if they’re not making money. A state run system doesn’t need to supply a dividend (except for well-educated kids.) Ergo, state run = more money for books and crayons.

(2) Community. The parents sending their kids to a state run school know that they actually own the school. Therefore you’re going to get a much higher level of involvement from the locals. In a private school I think you’d get a lot more of the attitude ‘well, let the teachers fix it. Isn’t that what I pay my fees for?”
burt 175

26 November 2007 at 7:09 pm

Gruela

I can understand that you have little faith in the Govt’s ability to operate within a tight legal framework as would be required for a public/private partnerships involving schools. This issue is however another issue that relates to the current Govt and their apparent inability to draft robust legislation and/or stick within the law themselves, not something that is an issue with private provision per-sae.

One of the things that I always find interesting is that the supporters of monopolistic state provision are very quick to identify that a single private provider might be under performing yet there seems to be some ideological stance that all instances of state provision are identical and off exceptional quality and value for money. You quickly point out that a private provider might be under performing and difficult to remove/replace yet the concept that a single state school is under performing seems to escape you. It’s also interesting that you seem to think that parents in private schools will just leave the school to it since they are paying for it, my experience is quite the opposite. Having kids in both private and state schools I think I’ve got a pretty good understanding of this. I’ve given up talking with the principal of the local state school, he just hides behind the “There is nothing I can do about it”. This has never been the response from the principals of the private school(s) I have dealt with, they know that their business depends on good academic results and good PR rather than just opening their doors in the morning and ringing the bell.

I stated earlier in this thread that the relationship between quality of education and profit is loose. I can’t see how the state schools cant provide the same quality of education as private schools without the need to make a profit. Without the requirement to make a profit the cost to the consumers would be substantially lower (see integrated schools). However if you are are saying that profit is necessary for quality education then the stats on school results will generally back you up. I certainly won’t argue that’s it looks like there is strong correlation between profit and excellent school outcomes however I don’t think it needs to be this way. It is however easy to just say that the state schools can never match the private schools for resources, but that’s just a cop out. State schools can be excellent, and a few are even if they are zoned and not everybody can afford to live in their zone, but they will not be excellent if our expectations are low and we don’t demand any accountability from them.

Class sizes are a big issue, high decile state schools are funded 1-30. (1 teacher per 30 students). This is ridiculous, completely head in the sand type stuff, especially against an 8 year old promise to fix health and education.

Do you have an opinion on school zoning ? If you are from a rural area it might be something you have never had to consider, but like a lot of things that get done in monopoly provider situations, zoning is to make life easier for the Min of Ed and has no benefits for the students. Great for real estate prices however and if you have been lucky enough to own real estate in a school zone that has become in high demand it’s a big bonus.

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One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

4 days ago
MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day

Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

4 days ago
The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.

It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...

PunditBy Brian Easton

4 days ago
Back on Track

This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tūī

4 days ago
Book Review: How Big Things Get Done

This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner Want to know how to do something big? Ask someone who has done it before! Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent his career studying megaprojects. In 2023, ...

Greater AucklandBy Guest Post

4 days ago
Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This

Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

4 days ago
Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…

Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...

exhALANtBy exhalantblog

5 days ago
Handling Democracy.

String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...

Bowalley Road

5 days ago
Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances

Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

5 days ago
Open Government: The joke ends

The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

5 days ago
An unusual sort of press conference

Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

5 days ago
This substack has talked about this government’s seeming corruption & pro-corporate issues...

This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEO Our news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tūī

5 days ago
NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...

NZCTUBy Stella Whitfield

5 days ago
Wednesday 18 December

The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...

NZCTUBy Jack McDonald

5 days ago
Can the government change its mind on the ferries?

The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

5 days ago
Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...

Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tūī

5 days ago
Member’s morning

Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

5 days ago
Going Backwards

We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

5 days ago
Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity

Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

5 days ago
December-24 AT Board Meeting

Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

5 days ago
The Making of a Mental Health Rockstar

Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

5 days ago
It could have been worse

Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

5 days ago
The Deep Divisions of Local Government

The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

5 days ago
Willis’ austerity strategy just isn’t working

Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

6 days ago
Sabin 33 #7 – Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?

On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...

Skeptical Science

6 days ago
Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU

Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

6 days ago
‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers

Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...

A Phuulish FellowBy strda221

6 days ago
Corrections is torturing prisoners again

In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

6 days ago
HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track

New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...

NZCTUBy Jack McDonald

6 days ago
“Better economic management”

At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

6 days ago
Shameless, clueless

AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

6 days ago
Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut

The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...

NZCTUBy Jack McDonald

6 days ago
Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man

Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

6 days ago
How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...

Skeptical Science

6 days ago
8% ACT Party Creates One Ring To Rule Them All

In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour 1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tūī

6 days ago
When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP

Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

6 days ago
Govt to double number of toll roads

On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

6 days ago
Luxon’s pre-emptive strike

The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

6 days ago
Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery

This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

6 days ago
More public service contempt of parliament

Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

7 days ago
If There Is A God

And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

7 days ago
A Lipstick Government

Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tūī

7 days ago
NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings

Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...

NZCTUBy Jack McDonald

7 days ago
Why you won’t hear me advocate for electric cars

This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate. I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...

Greater AucklandBy Guest Post

7 days ago
Coalition forced to back down on tolling Pahiatua track

A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

7 days ago
Thank You

Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 week ago
2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50

A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...

Skeptical Science

1 week ago
Making Gravy

I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 week ago
Nothing here but the shadows

Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

1 week ago
The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia

The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

1 week ago
Showing the Americans how to do it

Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

1 week ago
2 Men, 1 Haircut

Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

1 week ago
Chris Penk’s Hate Parade

What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

1 week ago
Tell me a story

All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 week ago

National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4

National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...

Labour Blog

3 days ago
Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step

Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...

Labour Blog

3 days ago
Release: National buries 1019 planned homes

It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...

Labour Blog

3 days ago
Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab

The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...

Labour Blog

3 days ago
Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...

Labour Blog

4 days ago
Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom

The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...

Greens

4 days ago
Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession

The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...

Labour Blog

4 days ago
Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis

Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...

Labour Blog

5 days ago
ECE no place to cut corners

The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...

Greens

5 days ago
Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders

A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...

Labour Blog

5 days ago
Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects

Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...

Labour Blog

6 days ago
Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects

The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...

Greens

6 days ago
Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity

The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...

Greens

6 days ago
Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less

The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...

Labour Blog

6 days ago
Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis

With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...

Labour Blog

6 days ago
Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’

Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...

Māori Party

6 days ago
Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again

For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...

Labour Blog

6 days ago
Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards

The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...

Greens

6 days ago
Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes

All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...

Labour Blog

6 days ago
Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again

The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...

Greens

7 days ago
Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers

The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...

Labour Blog

7 days ago
Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex

The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...

Greens

7 days ago
Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty

The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat

The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction

New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day

The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families

Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas

Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation

Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker

The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
One year on, still no progress on new ferries

Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more

After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban

The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare

After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh

In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation

The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech

Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...

NZ First Press Release

2 weeks ago
Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre

Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
He Ara Anamata: Greens launch Emissions Reduction Plan

Today, the Green Party of Aotearoa proudly unveils its new Emissions Reduction Plan–He Ara Anamata–a blueprint reimagining our collective future. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago

Internationally-trained doctors jump at chance to boost health workforce

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

21 hours ago
PM appoints business leader to APEC Business Advisory Council

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
New intelligence oversight appointments

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
New housing developments able to progress more quickly

Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Actions to speed up air travel delivering results

The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Ending contracted emergency housing in Rotorua

The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Vocational education and training decisions support return to regions

The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Reducing the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants

The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Ngāruawāhia section of Waikato Expressway back to 4 lanes for Christmas

People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Appointments to the ENZ board

Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Government to celebrate Waitangi Day around NZ

The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
More gangs added to Gangs Act list

Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Judicial appointment announced

Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
GDP data highlights importance of growth

The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Strengthening Free Speech in Universities

Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Launch of Emergency Cellular Priority Service

Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Minister reopens Mangamuka Gorge

State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Funding confirmed for second Ashburton Bridge

The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Government boosts support for avian influenza response

The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Levelling the playing field for media advertising

Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Inspector-General of Defence appointed

Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Fire and Emergency New Zealand final levy rates confirmed

Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
More AML relief on the way for Kiwi businesses

The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Hawke’s Bay Expressway moving at pace

Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Government seeks partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned-land

The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Wide ranging legislation to make justice system more efficient

Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Diverse skills in community trust appointments

A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Torture redress for survivors of the Lake Alice Unit

The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
A busy year in the House

It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Consultation opens on working with engineered stone

“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Greater reporting on Treaty settlement commitments

Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
New appointments to the Charities Registration Board

Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Building consent processing times improve

More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Faster access to support through Innovation Fund

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
New Zealand to assist Vanuatu on earthquake response

New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Government takes steps to reduce card fees for Kiwis

The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Review recommends ECE regulation shakeup

Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Offshore Renewable Energy Bill passes first reading

The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Local Government (Water Services) Bill passes first reading

Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Gene Technology Bill passes first reading

New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago

Māori ‘under siege’ in 2024, must fight back in 2025 – Ngarewa-Packer

Te Pāti Māori has had to adopt a new way of debating, operating and even thinking in Parliament in response to the Government’s “onslaught” against te ao Māori, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.In an end-of-year interview with Newsroom, the Te Tai Hauauru MP reflected on how 2024 has differed from her ...

NewsroomBy Marc Daalder

1 hour ago
The real story behind the Government’s maths narrative

Opinion: The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science report was announced earlier this month, yet it didn’t get the flurry of media attention and political hand-wringing that typically accompanies these announcements. This might be because it presented good news, or you could argue, no news; the results paint a ...

NewsroomBy Dr Lisa Darragh, Dr Raewyn Eden and Dr David Pomeroy

1 hour ago
Pretty much every common nut in Aotearoa, reviewed and ranked

At long last, The Spinoff shells out for a nut ranking. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. It recently came to The Spinoff’s attention ...

The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias

2 hours ago
What it’s like to be made redundant by the Ministry of Education

I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here’s exactly how it played out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a ...

The SpinoffBy Anonymous

2 hours ago
Why can’t I pick up my own dropped phone on a plane?

Summer reissue: One anxiously attentive passenger pays attention to an in-flight safety video, and wonders ‘Why can’t I pick up my own phone?’ The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up ...

The SpinoffBy Gabi Lardies

2 hours ago
Juggernaut: The ghosts of 1984

Summer reissue: Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published June ...

The SpinoffBy Toby Manhire

2 hours ago
Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December

Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...

NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles

2 hours ago
Govt walks away from infrastructure alliance

The Government’s social housing agency has backed out of a billion-dollar infrastructure alliance that would have built about 6000 new homes in Auckland – less than 18 months after signing a five-year extension.Labour says the decision to rip up the contract and sell off existing state houses could lead to ...

NewsroomBy Sam Sachdeva

2 hours ago
Daily crossword, Monday 23 December

.wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: 25px; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .post-thumbnail{ margin: 0; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .post-thumbnail img { height: auto; width: 100%; ...

NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles

2 hours ago
Vanuatu quake: Warnings as bad weather threat looms for Port Vila

By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

8 hours ago
Signs of the hīkoi: More than just ‘words on cardboard’

The placards seen at the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti conveyed "huge kōrero with immediacy", expert says: "People know the power of the word." ...

Radio NZ – political

17 hours ago
A final Ode to .. King Luxon

Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...

NewsroomBy Victor Billot

1 day ago
A hater and an enthusiast review The Royal Free by Carl Shuker

Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...

The SpinoffBy Claire Mabey

1 day ago
Survive to 25 (December, that is)

Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...

The SpinoffBy Anna Rawhiti-Connell

1 day ago
All I want for Christmas is modern day slavery legislation

Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...

The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias

1 day ago
Israeli-American historian describes attacks on Gaza as ‘war of annihilation’

Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

1 day ago
NZ govt plans to make ‘heavy handed’ change to free speech rules for universities

The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

1 day ago
Caitlin Johnstone: Where does the aggression really begin?

Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...

Evening ReportBy David Robie

1 day ago
OECD Report Highlights That More Is Needed

This report reflects that gap in our dealings overseas, and it shows that legislators, the public sector and businesses need to walk the talk. ...

Scoop politics

2 days ago
Government quietly scraps waste minimisation policies

The government has quietly cancelled plans to improve recycling and roll out a kerbside food scraps composting scheme. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 days ago
MEAA welcomes News MAP funding ‘leg up’ for Australian journalism

Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

2 days ago
Transmission Gully partnership breakdown will not hurt future public-private partnerships, Infrastru...

The roads partnership unravelled under a confidential settlement this week, meaning NZTA will now finish off what it had said was incomplete work. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 days ago
Funding cuts to charity particularly felt over Christmas period

The number of people seeking help from Lifeline is expected to increase by 10 to 20 percent over Christmas. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 days ago
Nelson Hospital conditions ‘unbearable’ – staff

One worker says the building is decrepit and falling down around them. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 days ago
The Secret Diary of .. Luxon at Xmas

MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...

NewsroomBy Steve Braunias

2 days ago
Stand by for cricket’s Smash Palace

It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...

NewsroomBy Aiden McLaughlin

2 days ago
Early-onset dementia under the microscope

Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...

NewsroomBy Shruti Sharma and Dr Brigid Ryan

2 days ago
Keeping the pirates at bay: Should the Australian ‘Blocking Order’ case prompt a discussion in N...

Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...

NewsroomBy Tania Goatley and Oscar Zambuto

2 days ago
‘We were as famous as Tom Cruise’: Craig Parker on 90s Shortland St fandom

As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...

The SpinoffBy My Life in TV

2 days ago
‘I prioritise the mission, not my health’: Adam McGrath’s perfect weekend playlist

The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...

The SpinoffBy Weekend playlist

2 days ago
The rescue dog bringing joy to Christchurch retirement homes

Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes. Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...

The SpinoffBy Alex Casey

2 days ago
Fiji pro-Palestine nativity scene exposes Gaza as ‘hell on earth’ at Christmas

Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

2 days ago
Vanuatu quake: ‘Our shop was flattened like a deck of cards’

By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

2 days ago
How diplomats have broken the law in NZ – and what happened next

A handful of foreign diplomats have misbehaved during their time here - and not all of them have been brought to justice. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 days ago
Swim schools report sinking enrolments as downturn deepens

Being able to swim is often considered a life skill, but tough economic times are forcing many families to pull their children out of lessons. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 days ago
‘There will be deaths because of this’ – Warning over Health NZ IT cuts

A West Coast IT worker is warning patients will die as Health New Zealand aims to slash its data and digital staff. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 days ago
Polytech sales possible but unlikely when Te Pūkenga disestablished – minister

In a surprise move, the sale of polytechnics will be on the table when the national institute of technology Te Pūkenga is disestablished. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 days ago
Parliament’s final sitting day an insight into party factions

On Parliament's last day of the year, there was a rare glimpse of the factions within the major parties. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 days ago
Former Labour MP, North Shore mayor Ann Hartley dies

Former Labour MP and mayor of Auckland's North Shore City Ann Hartley has died. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 days ago
The closest thing Australian cartooning had to a prophet: the sometimes celebrated, sometimes contro...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker. Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

3 days ago

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