Reason #73 why charter schools are wrong: they teach creationism

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, July 31st, 2018 - 78 comments
Categories: child abuse, education, national, same old national, schools, Simon Bridges - Tags: ,

So it appears that one reason the right is so keen on charter schools that do not have properly qualified teachers or the need to comply with a state curriculum is so they can teach all sorts of things. Like creationism.

From Farah Hancock at Newsroom:

A former student of a Villa Education Trust private school claims creationism was taught as a preferred theory of how the world began in science classes he attended.

The student from Mt Hobson Middle School said Darwinism was taught as an unproven theory and students were shown a video purporting to show science had found proof of God’s existence.

His impression was the school backed the concept of creationism “100 percent”.

The science teacher was Rachel O’Connor, sister of National Party leader Simon Bridges and wife of National MP Simon O’Connor.

Of course the trust denies it.

Alwyn Poole, a board member of Villa Education Trust and principal of Mt Hobson Middle school, said all the trust’s schools stick to the New Zealand Curriculum which includes Darwin’s theory of natural selection and does not teach other theories.

In 2013 RNZ reported South Auckland Middle School planned to teach a number of theories about the origins of life.

Poole described questions asked by Newsroom as “a big red herring”.

The Mt Hobson student said in 2016 a Year 10 class of 13 and 14-year-old students was shown a video in a science lesson. The video was entitled Science Has Found Proof of the Existence of God.

“They [O’Connor] said, we’re going to watch a video. They didn’t tell us anything about it, they just started showing it. What followed was a documentary of twisted quotes trying to prove how scientists had discovered God.

And here is the video:

Is this the reason for National’s newly found preference for charter schools? So that the religious fundamentalists in the party can ensure that creationism is taught as a serious subject?

78 comments on “Reason #73 why charter schools are wrong: they teach creationism ”

  1. greywarshark 1

    Question – Why do they teach creationism children?
    Answer – Because they can if they want.

    There is too much opportunity for charter schools to go off on any path they wish
    and cover it up with words that sound as if they are on track.

    And further there is too much opportunity for ordinary state schools to reflect board members’ fixations – religious for example.

    This should be looked at – the emphasis should be on factual stuff generally acceptable by educated people and some time for discussion of matters to encourage thinking, which parents can join in. It is good to know what your children are being taught, and could be useful to parents of limited experience.

    • Sacha 1.1

      “Because they can if they want.”

      Nope. A private school like the subject of the article can, but the charter ones run by the same people cannot.

      “MacGregor-Reid said no current charter school is allowed to teach creationism or intelligent design in a science class as a preferred theory: “… in terms of science class they must teach to the curriculum in their contracts.”

      • Sacha 1.1.1

        From Russell Brown’s twitter:

        “Curiously, the website of Mt Hobson Middle School says it teaches “exactly the same curriculum” as its Villa Education *charter school* sibling South Auckland Middle School.”

        • mickysavage 1.1.1.1

          Thanks looks like two of the schools run by VET are charter schools but two including the one that I refer to are not.

          I think the concern is still valid. The entity is being funded by Government money.

          • Enough is Enough 1.1.1.1.1

            It might be best to change the very misleading title to your post then

  2. indiana 2

    From Farah’s article:

    “The mother of the student is a trained secondary teacher. She said she was shocked the video had been shown in a science class.”

    Why was this child sent to a charter school in the first place? Was this school providing something more than trained qualified teachers at a state school?

    • In fact all of the NZ Charter schools teach the NZ Curriculum …. and in most cases they employ registered teachers. There are very few situations where non registered teachers are used. Vanguard Military School for example uses ex Forces trades people such as ‘aircraft engineers’ to teach their students technology.

    • Sacha 2.2

      It’s a private school, not a charter.

  3. Cinny 3

    So I listened to the full clip…

    Because of the delicate balance of nature and complexities of DNA, SOME scientists question if in fact a ‘higher being’ could have created us and the universe.

    SOME scientists believe in the big bang theory… ie there was nothing then a big bang and there was the beginnings of life etc.

    The makers of the above video, take this information and claim that they too believe there was nothing, then the beginnings of life and that everything was created by a higher being; so of course it must be god.

    Then at the end of the clip it’s all about Jesus.

    Could in fact their higher being, be an alien, or a super computer? If they want to go down that road…. but no, no, it must be god.

    Handpicked facts and pretty graphics make for compelling propaganda, in the end it’s nothing more than a religion conversion film.

    Students should not be shown just ONE point of view, they should be shown MANY. Unless we want a nation of people unable to think for themselves. Hmm maybe some national party people do…. lololz

    Religion is a form of control. I betcha they don’t show the kids a zeitgeist film.

    “Religion the Greatest Story Ever SOLD”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWNBz6HZTgs

  4. SpaceMonkey 4

    As far as the creation of this universe goes, I always thought most major religions and the big bang theory were in alignment – the difference was in the telling. Except Hinduism and it’s off shots appear to describe this universe as just one cycle of many. The key ingredient seems to be the injection of time and the foundations are frequencies in the form of sound and light. But I digress.

    It’s a tricky path for schools to teach any of these stories as fact for we may never fully know. The reality may well be beyond the capacity of the human mind to ever understand.

    • RedLogix 4.1

      Exactly. Fundamentally reality must have a coherent unity, therefore when you get both the science and religion correct, they will be in harmony.

      The useful contribution of postmodernism, is the realisation that there is a limitless number of ways of interpreting reality, but all can be broadly grouped as being rooted either in the material or spiritual domains.

      What binds them is consciousness.

  5. Rosemary McDonald 5

    But, but, it was Slartibartfast and his mates who created the Earth!

    Humans eh? Always asking why? Who? How? When?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aboZctrHfK8

    • halfcrown 5.1

      I liked that Rosemary but not as good as the original TV series. I remember Marvin had such a pessimistic face. I thought this version of it was pathetic

      • Rosemary McDonald 5.1.1

        Oh god…Marvin the Paranoid android. “Brain the size of a planet and they have me parking….”

        I’ve not actually seen the version above…I just googled that particular scene.

        You’re right..the original telly series was good. Brilliant in fact. The books even better.

        Adams certainly had a novel take on life, the universe etc etc.

        I most especially liked the bit planning the evacuation of Golgafrincham.

        https://fordprefecthitchhikersguide.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/golgafrincham/

        • Halfcrown 5.1.1.1

          Yeah great books Rosemary, brings back memories of better times when everybody got a fair go.

          Getting back to this teaching creationist rubbish, why don’t they teach Pratchett s Disc World
          Just as valid and a lot science theory there on the Big Bang theory and in the last novel I read the sex of the gaint turtle discworld is on.had not been determined
          Not good science but just as valid as this creationist rubbish and a lot more funnier

          • halfcrown 5.1.1.1.1

            Can I correct that? The original I wrote on my new TAB A useless. Too fat fingers and slow. So have written it again and corrected my bad grammar on my PC.

            Yeah great books Rosemary, brings back memories of better times when everybody got a fair go.
            Getting back to this teaching creationist rubbish, why don’t they teach Pratchett’s Disc World? Just as valid and a lot of scientific theory there on the Big Bang theory and in the last novel I read, the sex of the giant turtle GREAT A’Tuin that Discworld is on, had not been established. Not good science but just as valid as this creationist rubbish and a lot more funnier

      • Draco T Bastard 5.1.2

        The original Deep Thought was awesome

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZLtcTZP2js

  6. Tricledrown 6

    Job creationists for their fundamentalist mates.
    Simple Simon lives up to his moniker

  7. millsy 7

    Charter school are more or less a trojaan horse for US style evangilical protestants to infiltrate the school system. They see the bottom brown 20% tail as plump picking for a radicalized church congregation. Science is under threat in this country.

    • NZJester 7.1

      The evangelicals using them as a trojan horse to push their ideas is just a secondary problem with them in the US. The primary reason they were created in the US was to get teachers in environments where they could prevent them from joining unions and to allow large amounts of public money to be funneled to donors as well as politicians own pockets through investments in the companies running them.

  8. SPC 8

    Hilarious conclusion to the “science” video – basically nothing new on the creation proves creator line of scholaticism, that this creator would want to communicate with us, is known to us as Jesus Christ, and he does so via the bible word.

    It’s not science, it’s a theist argument, that a religious authority on earth based on heavenly agency exists and is supreme to our own democratic/sovereign governments. It results in end time Kingdom come faith common in the USA and id destructive to their society well-being, end our human dominion and reign over us – man created by the “chosen of God” bowing down to these overlords of Zion.

    Who will save us from the moneychangers of the Temple/capitalists of mammon/imperial coin paying for the stormtrooper occupation…?

    Just how a universe comes out of nothing is ignored. E = MC2 after all. What was surmised before the bible was that energy came from the balls of a god (Egypt) or the egg of a goddess (China), today in our modern globalism collequially summed up as a big bang – invitation to real scientists to witness the consummation of a marriage and its consequences.

  9. I don’t have a problem with Christian versions of science being taught in schools, – primarily because evolution was only ever a ‘ theory’ to begin with. A theory. Not the gospel truth or solid facts.

    And it is poor science in itself to simply settle for a theory when it has been successfully challenged. Crazy as that may seem regards the theory of evolution.

    For more than one hundred years whole streams of education , well paying academic careers have been devoted to what amounts to just a theory. A whole myriad of industry’s have built up around this theory. As well as political careers.

    And yet it remains ,… just a theory.

    I do however have a problem just with charter schools as it is one way of consolidating the neo liberal agenda of privatization , – with dire results for the poorer sectors of society. I also resent the fact that neo liberal ideology purports to support the idea of private concerns not needing handouts or concessions from the govt when in actual fact they do. And that’s called hypocrisy.

    When even scientists are met with inexplicable facts that deny , challenge and contradict their firmly held beliefs the classic approach is usually to try to tear down and drown out those facts or to quietly adopt a policy of deliberately ignoring them.

    Here is one such:

    Polystrate Fossils – Examining the Evidence for Evolution – YouTube
    Video for Polystrate Fossils – Examining the Evidence for Evolution you tube▶ 8:55
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmb3CGH0pcc

    • SPC 9.1

      An intended irony with “gospel truth”?

    • Draco T Bastard 9.2

      I don’t have a problem with Christian versions of science being taught in schools, – primarily because evolution was only ever a ‘ theory’ to begin with. A theory.

      Your ignorance and stupidity are showing.

      https://www.dictionary.com/browse/theory

      1. a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena: Einstein’s theory of relativity.
      2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
      3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject:

      Darwin’s theory of evolution fits number 1.

      Creationism doesn’t even get to number 2. It’s been tested and proved wrong.

      Of course, wrong information is still valid so Creationism should be taught at school with the proviso that the kids are told that it’s completely and totally wrong.

      • Monty 9.2.1

        Don’t worry world, DTB who tho thinks we can just print money and nothing happens. (DTB is a fucking idiot)

        DTB would be the person at the gulag turning the valve on the special showers to happily cleanse anyone who didn’t fit DTB’s world view. (Fucking evil authoritarian)

        DTB refuses to accept any other ideas unless it his fucked in the head ideas.

        I picture DTB as a miserable loser who is jealous as he has failed at life and has no friends and potentially is so repressed that DTB thinks he has purpose in life. (DTB reminds every one that idiots exist)

        DTB was always the last selected in any team and the laughing stock and has now proven that a complete joke exists.

        DTB i have heard that nylon rope provides better results. You should Give it a go. It may save you from those extreme ideas that the majority prefer.

        • corodale 9.2.1.1

          Hey Monty,
          let me guess; do your religous beliefs find opposition to quantitative easying anti-semitic? Pull-your-head-in regarding that sleazy ignorance on finance.

          • Monty 9.2.1.1.1

            so what do you know about finance. W

            I have no religious views, please explain how religion comes into this or are you just stupid.

        • Draco T Bastard 9.2.1.2

          Typical RWNJ ad hom attack as they’ve got no argument.

          • Monty 9.2.1.2.1

            We have had this before. I am not RW I just believe your ideas are evil and should be challenged.

            But go on use a label to defend your retarded ideas. Please produce a situation when your ideas have worked and not lead to mass killings and repression of people.

            • Draco T Bastard 9.2.1.2.1.1

              We have had this before. I am not RW I just believe your ideas are evil and should be challenged.

              You’re a RWNJ who’s never challenged my ideas and has always done an ad hom attack as you did above.

              It is capitalism that is evil. Capitalism has destroyed more throughout history than any other form of governance and instituted huge amounts of oppression.

              Please produce a situation when your ideas have worked and not lead to mass killings and repression of people.

              Many civilisations throughout history (Debt: The first 5000 years). Go read a bit of it.

              • Monty

                Please show me where I have shown to be RW. Moments other the. Thinking your evil.

                Unless. as I said unless people have to agree with you, anything else is RW. Which shows how much of a idiot you are. So if you don’t agree with DTB you are a RWNJ.

                My god what sort of world do you want.

        • KJT 9.2.1.3

          No one, including DTB, ever said nothing happens. For example, in the 1950‘s and 60’s, “printing money produced thousands of State houses. While in the 2010’s banks, printing money for existing houses, has simply inflated house prices.

          I know which I would prefer.

          • Monty 9.2.1.3.1

            DTB has constantly said the govt can just create money to pay for what DTB wants.

            That has never worked and lead to
            Misery, death and failure.

            • Draco T Bastard 9.2.1.3.1.1

              ?

              DTB has constantly said the govt can just create money to pay for what DTB wants.

              Oh look – the RWNJ lied.

              I’ve never said that. I’ve said that the government can create money and spend it into the economy to utilise the countries resources. It can do this because it already owns those resources.

              That has never worked and lead to
              Misery, death and failure.

              Actually, it’s always worked and has never led to misery death and failure (the Money Masters).

              On the other, whenever the private banks create money it always fails and leads to mass poverty, death and failure. Exactly what’s happening now around the world in fact.

              • Monty

                How do governments create money.

                Convince me it can happen.

                As how you have suggested and implied is about printing money in how I view your views.

                • corodale

                  Treasury could borrow money from our central bank, but this is against orthodox Basal banking norms, and against NZ’s own laws. Therefore the international rating agencies would sentence the NZD to death. Low unemployment rates are only a slight problem, as structural employment adjustments are realistic in NZ’s well educated workforce, which is over employed in service sector.

                  The restriction on Social Credit is an ugly risk reduction from international finance and industry.
                  But without a solution to this debt crisis, and peace in the Middle East, then all dreams like carbon neutrality, or prosperity, etc. are all just dreams.

                  Welcome to the politics of globalisation vs decentralisation. It would seem that UN and Agenda 21 etc are just hollow, finance controlled, austerity. But hope may remain in decentralised regional developement, and simple stuff like nitrogen limits to promote agricultural diversification via organic farming.

                  (We mention god knowledge (and neo-pagan-semitism), as this is the topic of the article above, and it’s also one of the control mechanisms which the banking class of Israelites (including Jesuits and Masons) use to maintain their power. Though I don’t say this critically, as I’m not saying that these Babylonian Bankers are any different to the UN or other contenders for global power, as global power is corrupt by nature, thus decentralised resiliance, especially economic and financial, is the healthy way forward.

              • Monty

                Do you believe in punching a far right person

                • corodale

                  Yeah, the left are brainwashed by political science degrees, that “forget” to mention that the left-right thing died 50 years ago. Divide and conquer is the tool, and PC-crap vs RW-power is the way it is done, but who cares, lets just fix our own backyards, and see how it goes.

        • Sacha 9.2.1.4

          Monty, that is a disgusting attack on another commenter. How about sticking to actual arguments rather than personal smears.

          • Monty 9.2.1.4.1

            In most cases I have, but with commenters like DTB I will call a spade a spade. so I suggest you go back and look at DTB’S personal attacks on other commenters then make judgement on me.

            As soon as DTB doesn’t like what the person says, instantly DTB attacks them as RW. No thought, no ability to have discussion or debate. Unless you agree with DTB your wrong and RW.

      • WILD KATIPO 9.2.2

        Well for starters, mate , you’ve messed up on the first qualifier because evolution cant even explain the missing link in any coherent fashion. Their still looking for him / her.

        But we’ve got some nice humanoid looking apes bones along the way.

        Now I don’t go along with Loyd Pye about aliens from planet whatever coming here to mine gold and whatnot and making a hybrid race to do all the sweaty stuff while they get to sit around drinking rum and cokes and watching the football but it seems hes got some pretty good points in regards the quackery of the theory of evolution and some of the ridiculous assumptions made thereof…

        Lloyd Pye Everything You Know Is Wrong – YouTube
        Video for lloyd pye youtube▶ 1:58:35
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5qJYwfAju8

        Number two pretty much states what I’ve just been saying so that hardly changes things.

        And as far as I am concerned what you wrote is only your subjective opinion. Like a lot of the other scientists who’s assertions are baseless because their theory holds water like a sieve. People, even academics including scientist’s only believe what they want to believe. Especially if it suits their govt funded salary’s to do so.

        At one time what passed for scientists , – believed the earth was flat and if you sailed too far you’d sail off the edge. So which group / era of scientists do you mean?. A 19th century bloke called Darwin who recanted on his theory laying on his deathbed and declared it was just a theory ? .Well , we’ve traveled a long way since then , – split the atom, fired men off to the moon , discovered the existence of DNA and supposedly even invented a better mouse trap. Just ask DOC.

        And they still haven’t found that dastardly missing link. But what they have found is human footprints alongside dinosaur ones. Fossilized ones . But most choose not to make a big fuss out of that and instead keep looking for that blasted missing link… ” Its there! , we know its there !! , – it’ll turn up if we just keep digging !!! ”… Id say that takes a whole lot more faith than simply believing there’s a ‘God’ in my book.

        And as for number three , – well math is math and is an abstract theory converted into tangible and practical use ie: measurements to make rocket ships to fire men off to the moon and design better mousetraps, – but the difference is it doesn’t have a missing link problem like evolution and thus is more like a pot than a sieve and actually holds water.

        Don’t worry mate, … when I was 12 years old, I too , … believed in evolution. But as I got older I started to realize some scientists, – particularly evolutionists ,- had a nasty habit of stretching the truth a bit to suit their purposes. And some of them came up with some real whoppers. And continued to receive that handsome govt funded salary just for doing so.

        But scientists did achieve the monumental task of inventing and then building a better mousetrap and that’s whats really important.

        Just ask DOC.

      • One Two 9.2.3

        Draco, all you’ve achieved is validating what WK had already stated…

        ‘Evolution’ = creation..

        It is ALL creation…whichever theory one subscribes to…

        ‘Ignorance and Studpidity’…

    • KJT 9.3

      You are misunderstanding the use of the word “theory” in science.
      The word you are looking for is hypothesis.
      A “theory” is something that is proven, so far as we can tell with the current state of our knowledge.

      Evolution is apparent all around us. The only scientific doubt is exactly how the mechanism works. New research on genetic inheritance for example.

      Creationism is pure bullshit.

      • WILD KATIPO 9.3.1

        Yeah mate and I’ll believe evolution when a horse decides to turn into a frog.

        Provided that in the process we see legitimate examples of the thousands and thousands of ‘missing links’ required during that process.

        But be my guest mate, – carry on believing in the primordial soup and that one day a tadpole decided it’d had enough of the swamp , swam its little fishy tail up onto the beach and decided on a course of action that included morphing into a Lemur (and dodging the dinosaurs in the meantime ) with the view to one day becoming a renowned Wall Street Stock Exchange executive instead.

        Oh , and btw … you can bang on all day about specific word meanings that no one but a dry as toast English language Professor in some musty library would care about but frankly most of us don’t need our hands held to understand plain-speak and whats patently obvious to even the least educated among us.

        • KJT 9.3.1.1

          If you are claiming to talk about science, at least enough knowledge of basic science concepts is required.

          This is primary school level.

          • WILD KATIPO 9.3.1.1.1

            Yeah funny that.

            Seems DTB seems to have had the same problem .

            Went along with the whole deal about theory’s as opposed to ‘hypothesis’.

            But finding the correct words when writing a post to always placate the sensibility’s of one oh – so knowledgeable and enlightening , – who at the same time is more concerned with diversionary tactics , points scoring and in offering up pithy one liners to back up ones ‘ intolerance, bigotry and denial of reality ‘ instead of focusing on the issue at hand maturely and looking at all of the facts is kinda Primary school level all in itself.

            Wouldn’t you agree?

  10. Zack Brando 10

    I believe the Earth is young, I believe science agrees. I challenge evolutionists to watch the following 4 part presentation on YouTube:

    https://youtu.be/uJGairhrPGc

  11. Yeah , I knew Id get a visit from DTB firing off on all cylinders.

    The tolerant left.

    Complete with some beautiful put downs. The real problem with a ‘ God’ however is that ‘God’ may require something from us . That troubles some of us. The other is a convenient excuse for pinning mankind’s murderous excesses on the same. Yet still others are that ‘God’ may require a certain code of behavior that may be seen to curb ones activity’s.

    Oh well.

    • KJT 11.1

      I don’t see how superstitious rubbish moderates behaviour.
      Evidently, it makes for intolerance, bigotry and denial of reality.

      For example, research shows that children bought up in a religious faith, have less empathy for others.

      • WILD KATIPO 11.1.1

        [ ” I don’t see how superstitious rubbish moderates behaviour . Evidently, it makes for intolerance, bigotry and denial of reality ” ].

        ——————————–

        Yeah , neither do I. And that’s exactly my point , – evolution theory does tend to make for intolerance, bigotry and denial of reality.

        I’m glad we see eye to eye on this and cleared that one up.

        Cheers.

        Oh,… just a little confused as to your statement regarding ”children bought up in a religious faith, have less empathy for others ”.

        I dunno about you bud, – but I don’t think Pol Pot expressed any particular religious faith, likewise Idi Amin and a fair swag of all the other genocidal mass murdering dictators.

        • KJT 11.1.1.1

          Clever. But most of our current problems are people who disregard evidence, and rely on “reckons”.

          Disregarding the evidence for evolution, anthropogenic global warming, the effectiveness of vaccination. And denying the evidence against charter schools, trickle down”, lower Government spending, and, of course a whole lot of others, “because God, Milton Friedman, Trump or the flying sphagetti monster said”. Pick your guru of choice.

          • WILD KATIPO 11.1.1.1.1

            [ ” But most of our current problems are people who disregard evidence, and rely on “reckons ” ]

            And I reckon your right. Bang on , mate!

            And that’s just the problem . Too many Tom Dick and Harry’s running around reckoning things. I reckon it has something to do with fervently reckoning that all we are , – are nothing but glorified tadpoles reconstituted. Last time I heard tadpoles had no morals. They are amoral. Do anything. Eat your smaller brother . And if your still hungry nibble on the tail of your sister. Hell , – she wont need it. She’ll be a frog soon anyways!

            Waddaya reckon ?

  12. corodale 12

    Some of that “Proof of God” video was quite good, but to end with the neo-pagan-semitic measage; “OMG, it was Jesus Christ!!!”, that was a bit of a fizz.

    Yeah, I’m open to our kids hearing alternatives. Wasn’t Darwinism modelled on market competition in industrial Victorian England?

    • Gabby 12.1

      Neo pagan?
      Classic corry!

    • [ ” Wasn’t Darwinism modelled on market competition in industrial Victorian England?”]

      Survival of the fittest.

      Sounds about right. The Nazi’s and the Austrian school of economics basically had that same idea. So too did a bloke called Thomas Robert Malthus :

      [ ” Of the relationship between population and economics, Malthus wrote that …. as to why he refuses to donate to the poor and destitute: “If they would rather die they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population” ].

      Thomas Robert Malthus – Wikipedia
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Malthus

      Charles Darwin was a great reader of Malthus apparently…

  13. Now this is an article about charter schools and not necessarily ones faith in whether God does or does not exist.

    However it would be wrong to try and use the secular versus faith science debate to try and inhibit what that school chooses to teach. Especially in this age of so called tolerance.

    But I would like to clarify something I typed about Darwin – it appears he never recanted his theory. So my mistake. Now just to show there’s a lot of good material out there regarding secular science and faith based science , there’s this:

    ( Its a massive site but you can see the articles by clicking on the ‘about us’ thingy on the first page.)

    Answers in Genesis
    https://answersingenesis.org/

  14. the other pat 14

    in the beginning there was nothing………………then…………….you were born!!!!!……all the rest is hype for the sheeple………everything is made from stardust and that’s where we end up……….anything after that is a nice surprise….or not.
    donations welcome!

    • [ ” everything is made from stardust ” ]

      Including charter schools.

      But hopefully our children wont end up there as we already have state owned schools instead that may have the good fortune under this govt to receive adequate funding, – unlike under the last National government.

  15. Lucy 15

    I would have thought that someone would have asked about the fact that the charter school was staffed by the wife of a Cabinet Minister (then) and the sister of the now leader of the opposition. This appears the most problematic for me as the charter schools seem to be filling staff with people who would get them influence in Government – not necessarily teachers who can teach.

  16. One Two 16

    The insidious relationships and family trees require deeper investigation…

    Politics…sport…business…

    Inside or outside…it’s a stich up

  17. KJT 17

    https://thestandard.org.nz/the-real-aims-of-nationals-education-policy/

    “When you see that the real goal is to commercialise public education………….

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    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    9 hours ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    10 hours ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    19 hours ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    22 hours ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    23 hours ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    23 hours ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    1 day ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    2 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    2 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    2 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    2 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    3 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    3 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    5 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    6 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    6 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    1 week ago
  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    1 week ago
  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    1 week ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
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