Roastbusters redux

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:46 am, January 27th, 2019 - 92 comments
Categories: alcohol, auckland supercity, child abuse, child welfare, crime, law, law and "order", local body elections, police, Politics, Social issues, supercity - Tags: john tamihere

In what was very unfortunate timing for John Tamihere’s launch of his Mayoral campaign the Roastbusters issue is back in the public eye.

To recap the roast busters were a group of young predominately westie males who used to get young women drunk and then engage in sexual contact with them. A private page on Facebook was then used to brag about what had happened.

I have been on the panel of West Auckland lawyers representing young people in the Youth Court for over 30 years. I have acted for many young people who have got themselves into trouble doing not dissimilar things.

The normal response is to first of all make sure everyone is safe, then determine guilt, and if the matter is admitted to have the young people attend the Safe Programme, an intensive programme involving counselling, therapy, family sessions and group sessions. The programme works remarkably well and changes young people’s views on sexuality. But early intervention is really important.

Jail time is not normally involved. It is more important that they are fixed up. And that intervention happens as soon as possible.

Prosecution of the roast busters should have been a slam dunk. It may have been difficult to prove sexual violation because of consent issues. But it is also against the law to engage in sexual conduct with a woman under the age of 16 years. And there were admissions on Facebook that this was what had happened. Proof of this offence should have been very easy.

I do not know why but instead of the Police moving immediately to charge the males involved they held off. For too long. And then found out they could not do anything because too much time had passed.

The Independent Police Complaint Authority had a good look at the situation.

There were some interesting findings:

[Child Protection Team] staff did not adequately follow up and pursue positive lines of enquiry
…
The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations
…
CPT staff did not properly evaluate all available offences when determining the outcome of their respective investigations
…
CPT staff failed to properly consider alternative action to address the potential offending behaviour of the young men involved and their potential care and protection issues.

Most of the findings were sound but the fact that the father of one of the roast busters was a Police Officer caused and still causes concern. I wish I was not so confident about this. It seems to me that something significant happened to affect their treatment.

Because the Child Protection Team did not do what they should have. Young women were badly treated and then watched as the system let them down.

One of the Roastbusters, Joseph Parker has recently gone public and given some media interviews, apparently in an attempt to launch a music career. Talking about his redemption as a media opportunity really sucks. He should not venture into our consciousness and say that he has learned and is better now. He should keep quiet. And privately beg forgiveness from his victims.

John Tamihere ran into problems by apparently justifying and minimising their behaviour and by treating one young woman very poorly in a radio interview interview. Tamihere’s problem is that his jovial it was all a bit of a youthful banter and boys will be boys stuff may have been acceptable in the stone age, or even in the middle ages, but nowadays most of us expect much better.

Simon Wilson talked to Tamihere recently about Roastbusters and this passage captures lots of events simultaneously:

In 2013, a group of teens who called themselves Roast Busters boasted on Facebook about their sexual activities with underage girls, some as young as 13. At the time Tamihere was a co-host on Radio Live with Willie Jackson, who is now a cabinet minister. At least five girls laid complaints with the police.
Live on air, Tamihere and Jackson interviewed a girl who said she was a friend of one of the complainants, who alleged she had been raped.
The two men seemed to belittle the girl and trivialise the accusations.
They cast doubt on her story, suggested the youths’ behaviour wasn’t serious and wondered aloud whether blame should be shared by the girls as well as the youths.
In the backlash that followed, both hosts were censured and Tamihere lost his job.
When I ask him about it, the first thing he says is: “It’s not widely known but I got a six-figure settlement from MediaWorks after that had all died down.”
I ask him, is that his response now? Does he regret anything he said?
“You tell me what I said and I’ll tell you if I regret it.”
What he and Jackson said, in a series of questions, was that perhaps the girls should not have been drinking or out late at night, that they were “free and easy”, and that perhaps the sex was consensual.
They said the youths’ behaviour was merely “mischief”. They laughed at the suggestion of rape.
A few days later, I read those comments to him. He says “Well they’re the sort of thing you say as a talkback host”.
But is he suggesting the girls should share the blame or that rape was not involved?
“Let me ask you this. How many people have been charged with rape?” he says.
I tell him the answer is none. I ask whether he has anything else to say about it.
He says: “You are now making things up in terms of connecting dots.”
He gets up, says “thank you very much”, and walks out of the room.

I have a great deal of respect for JT. His work for Waipareira over the last couple of decades has been outstanding. I can recall attending a meeting in 2004 and wondering if he could be the first Maori Prime Minister of New Zealand.

But his attitude to women and young women sucks.

And to the roast busters. Laura Walters is right. You should privately seek forgiveness and redemption. And don’t think that your status should be some sort of platform for a future career.

92 comments on “Roastbusters redux ”

Comments are now closed

Sabine 1

27 January 2019 at 9:57 am

boys will be boys

and young women should have known better.

Young women who are all but 13 years of age for some of the victims.
- RedLogix 1.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 10:27 am
  
  When I was a boy I would not have even had a dark fantasy to do something like this; much less carried out anything like it. So … not this boy thank you very much.
  
  We have age of consent laws for a good reason; young people are prone to being emotionally manipulated into doing things they later regret a lot. It may even look like consent at the time, but it isn’t really. This is a pretty open and shut case of that and I agree totally with Mickey’s post on this, the Police should have made an attempt at prosecution regardless of the difficulties.
  
  Combined with the perpetrator’s recent public comments, you have to think they haven’t learned anything beyond feeling a bit sorry for themselves.
  
  I tend to err on the side of compassion for human failings, but these oxygen thieves have nothing but my contempt.
  - Sabine 1.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 12:08 pm
    
    you again don’t listen to what i said.
    
    in response to the post, aka the words of Tamihere
    
    boys will be boys
    and what where the women thinking
    
    is essentially just simply the down grading of the severity of the crimes committed, crimes i might add that were not prosecuted even to the slightest lest to the fullest extend of the law.
    
    boys will be boys
    and why were the women there, why were the women drinking alcohol, why were the women alone with boys, why why why why.
    
    Never mind that a thirteen year old is not a women.
    Never mind that a thirteen year old can not consent.
    Never mind that a thirteen year old is not legally allowed to drink alcohol.
    Never mind that a drunk and drugged person can not consent, never mind that a thirteen year old would be flattered beyond believe to be invited to an afternoon party with some older kids from school one whose daddy is a hollywood star and one whose daddy is a cop and one is a well to do offspring of a realtor.
    
    boys will be boys
    and why did she not go to the police, why did she not lay a charge
    
    never mind they did go to the police, they did lay charges
    
    and nothing happened, not even a charge of supplying alcohol to minors, not even a charge for statuatory rape, nothing
    
    cause boys will be boys
    and tamihere stated quite clearly why boys will be boys.
    
    and men like you need to understand that there is a small segment of people that goes around raping – babies, kids, teens, young women, old women, boys, young and old men, but because the Police does not do its job, because our Justice system does not do its job, we – the victims of sexual assault and rape are blamed for doing something wrong or else this would not have happened.
    
    Because men like Tamihere, and Police officers in NZ don’t give a flying fuck about the girls, don’t prosecute even the to the slightest of the law, and turn around blaming the victims for not coming out, even when they do.
    
    This is the issue, the roastbusters are simply the product of a society that does not care abut rape. And that blames the victims of rape for their rapes.
    A society that calls 13 year old girls young women.
    They are not women, they are girls, without any life experience, without any experience in drinking alcohol for most part, without any experience in using drugs, and thus can be used and discarded at the leisure of guys like the roast busters.
    As for tamihere, who cares what good he does, he obviously only cares about the well being of one gender in all of this doing good, and he is a rape apologist. he should hide in the darkest corner somewhere and be never spoken of against. He wants to be Mayor of a town, but only for the men? Or how is he going to protect the women and girls in the town that he is responsible for if this is his reaction to a serious crime that the police decided to not care about, to not prosecute, to not do anything to stop it?
    
    boys will be boys, until the day Police, the Law, and men like Tamihere decide that rape is a crime and that the fault for that crime does not lay with the victim, but with the perpetrator, and that that crime needs and must be prosecuted to teh fullest of the law.
    - RedLogix 1.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 4:28 pm
      
      All I can suggest is that you do take the time to read the IPCA report linked to in the OP:
      
      https://www.nbr.co.nz/sites/default/files/IPCA-Roastbusters.pdf
      
      It’s a mixed bag; clearly the Officers involved failed to spot the pattern of behaviour in a timely fashion. There was miscommunication in the team and you have to assume that due to their workloads and prioritising of other investigations, some important follow-up work didn’t happen. They got some things right, and others wrong.
      
      Overall the report is worth looking at; my reading is that due to the number of people involved, their workloads, the lack of cooperation from the complainants, the whole thing turned into a muddle. Plus some questionable judgement calls. I’ve no doubt in hindsight everyone wishes they’d made different choices.
      
      But to say that the Police and CPT teams didn’t care goes too far. Keeping in mind that the 2 of the 3 offenders themselves were under 16 at the time, this is the sort of policing that lies at the boundary of social work and criminal offending.
      
      Keep in mind also that if the Police were to criminally prosecute every time kids under the age of 16 had sex, we’d have very full prisons indeed. This is a worthwhile link:
      
      https://www.bmj.com/content/316/7124/29
      
      This is the median age… implying that fully 50% of women are having first sex under this. While this isn’t at all desirable, it’s not obvious criminalisation is the best response.
      
      In particular the Conclusions section states:
      
      . The Authority appreciates that the incidents involving the ‘Roastbusters’ presented Police with a complex set of challenges. The reprehensible and unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by this group of young men was further complicated by other issues. These included the vulnerability and fragility of the young women, the impact of peer, familial and social pressures in adolescence, attitudes towards sexual behaviour and the use of alcohol and other drugs, and the influence of youth culture and social media.
      
      Indeed, the issues were such that it is unlikely they could have ever been dealt with meaningfully and effectively solely by Police. Regrettably, Police had numerous opportunities to ‘connect the dots’ earlier, to generate a more organised, expansive and cohesive response, and to work in collaboration with CYF, the schools, and the parents of these young men to prevent their behaviour from continuing.
      
      I doubt very much you’ll find this a satisfying outcome; but it’s the reasonable explanation. The ball got dropped, as it usually is, from a combination of unintentional errors, omissions and mis-judgments. If you’ve ever worked on a complex project with multiple people working different rotations and shifts, over many months, with incomplete and confusing information you’d be very familiar with this phenomenon. While it’s easy for outsiders to leap to easy conclusions with the benefit of hindsight; the reality for the people involved at the time was much less clear.
      
      We have a very good friend here in Australia who has many decades of social work experience; this is her daily concern, that in among distractions and difficult decisions, something important will be missed. She’s had some close calls over the years, and watched colleagues get unjustly crushed by the machine when they got it wrong. It’s not easy in the slightest.
      - Sabine 1.1.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 8:39 pm
        
        i watched the saga in real live, and i will never forget the cop that said no one came forward, just to back track a week later saying oh someone came forward, but but but.
        
        the police did not do its job
        
        justice did not do its job
        
        these girls did not have sex, they got raped.
        Sex implies consent.
        Sex implies willing partners. Spiking someones drink and plying them till they are drunk and then raping them, filming them and shaming them online by showing these films is not sex. It is supplying alcohol to minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, forced sexual intercourse with a person not of age, producing porn with a minor, distributing porn with a minor.
        
        And the police – to their everlasting shame – could not be bothered to do their jobs and protect these girls, apprehend these guys, lock them up, and have them judged.
        If send to prison, believe me they would have recieved more care then the girls. More funds for rehabilitation, more access to social workers, psychiatrists etc etc etc. But no they got nothing, cause the Police in NZ was to fucking lazy, to full of bullshit, to ‘blame the girls for not coming forward’ and they did fuck all.
        
        If you consider this sex, than you might have to think about that.
        
        The police should prosecute anytime someone is raped. Irrespective of age.
        Do young people have sex, consentually? yes, and guess what, generally they are not drunk, they don’t get fucked by several guys, they don’t get filmed and they don’t get shamed.
        
        I don’t care if the offenders were sixteen, fifteen or thirty. They were old enough to go and find someone old enough to buy the booze, they then were old enough to ply girls with that booze to get them drunk, they then partook in a gang rape. They conspired, they planned, they executed they gangrapes.
        The police should have prosecuted, the police did not do its jobs, could not be bothered do its job, the son of the cop was never even named.
        The police in nz does not take rape as a crime serious enough to do its fucking job for which they are paid by the tax payer. Protect and serve only if it is convenient.
        
        This is not a reasonable outcome, maybe instead of interviewing the rapist who is begging for money pretending to have come ‘to his god’ they should interview the girls, some who by now might have turned 18 and ask them how they are dealing with the situation, if they have access to a social worker, if they have access to counseling, if they have any recourse with their emotional issues should they need recourse, if the videos of them are still around on the internet etc etc etc
        You will find that chances are they have received on that end as little help as they received when they went to the police to lay a complaint for rape.
        
        For what its worth, just about right now you sound like Tamihere, just that you hide behind ‘would you not want to think of the poor children who are rapists and young – boys will be boys , and social work, and prison, and such such such’.
        
        They raped, they got away with it, they don’t regret a single thing, they never felt sorry other then for themselves and if it would not have come out chances are they would have done it some more.
        
        As for OZ, generally speaking one women a week is killed in oz by a partner/expartner, surely that too is only due to boys being boys. .
        
        RedLogix 1.1.1.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 9:44 pm
        
        I’m not at all sure exactly what chimera you addressed that rant to, but it seems to bear little relationship to the comment I made above.
        
        I bothered to read the IPCA report and precis the general contents in order to give some sense of what exactly went wrong and why. Clearly this doesn’t interest you much beyond another opportunity to abuse the NZ Police.
        
        Have you considered that its highly probable at least some of the Police Officers investigating were women? Exactly what motive would they have to ‘not care about rape’? That seems an unjustified and defamatory claim.
        
        I don’t care if the offenders were sixteen, fifteen or thirty.
        
        Everyone here agrees their behaviour was reprehensible and totally out of line, that’s so obvious it hardly needs repeating. As I clearly stated above, it has to be damned disappointing they didn’t face legal consequences.
        
        At the same time while you may not care about their age, the law does. And the Police in this country, much to our huge good fortune, do generally care about the law. Two of these kids were minors, and when the girls first came forward, the wider pattern of abuse was not obvious. The normal Police response in these sorts of instances was to treat is as underage sex between minors. Very common as one of my links pointed out, and as I said above, it’s not clear that a criminal prosecution is always the best response in these cases.
        
        In this case it certainly was, but it was only later that the full facts emerged, and by then the complainants had decided to stop cooperating with the Police. This would have made a successful prosecution virtually impossible; but it doesn’t rule out one or more of them coming forward at some time in the future. Also for obvious reasons there might have been other evidence we don’t know about that caused the Prosecution Service to not proceed at this time.
        
        Contrary to what you may think, there are no real time limits here, and we may yet see this matter appear in Court.
        
        Lucy …
        
        28 January 2019 at 9:41 am
        
        It does not matter whether this goes to court now – only 30% of rape cases result in convictions. There was a story in the herald about juries agonizing on how short the skirt the woman was wearing when she got raped! Roast Busters for women was about how we are minimized by the courts, by police, by shock jocks when we say consent was not given. Even in clear cases under law when consent can not be given men are given the benefit of the doubt. If this was done in other criminal cases then how many cases of fraud do you think would fail? Money is more precious to the justice system and the people of NZ than its women! .
        
        Tiger Mountain …
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:13 am
        
        Spare us RL, the Police essentially investigating themselves, via IPCA, only on the rarest of occasions ever challenges NZ macho Police Culture
        
        RedLogix …
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:22 am
        
        Are you certain that all of the investigating officers were macho men? We do know that one of the people speaking on behalf of the Police is one “Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus”.
        
        I suspect that if you ever tried to actually do the job the Police have to do, you’d very quickly change your tune.
    - Tiger Mountain 1.1.1.2
      
      28 January 2019 at 11:11 am
      
      Well put Sabine, Mr Tamihere is ultimately an excuser and an enabler of dodgy males and NZ’s rape culture
Visubversa 2

27 January 2019 at 10:05 am

Tamahere does some good work, but he should stick to dealing with what he does. He is a sexist pillock and I have a recall of a newspaper article saying that he abandoned his 2 ginger cats when he moved house. That is him dead to me!
- marty mars 2.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 10:44 am
  
  + 1 yep – he isn’t as good as he thinks he is and he has done some good work amongst his foul and disgusting attitudes.
  - Tiger Mountain 2.1.1
    
    28 January 2019 at 11:48 am
    
    Not been keen on JT since he tried to exclude unions in the form of the then National Distribution Union-now First Union-from any role with staff in his early years at the trust in West Auckland. The cat abandonment showed a heartless streak too.
    
    He has authoritarian aspects to his character, which I guess could be seen as a good fit by some for local government!
    
    But really the supercity seems on a chaos spiral that no individual Mayor is going to arrest unless they go full raving left-Free public transport, homeless villages, tiny houses for tiny rents (plonk them in NIMBYs backyards…), car bans, slash the $100 grand plus salaries, sack Hods, and run a referendum or whatever is legally required to can ACT’s undemocratic CCOs once and for all. If the Council operated for people maybe more than 38% would participate in voting.
cathy 3

27 January 2019 at 10:10 am

“Well they’re the sort of thing you say as a talkback host”.

and that was “recently” ?

“Let me ask you this. How many people have been charged with rape?” he says.

so his attitude hasn’t changed.
- Anne 3.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 10:42 am
  
  From the IPCA report:
  The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations.
  
  When that information was first revealed by the media I thought: “… so that’s what was at the bottom of the delay”.
  
  It will not be the first time that the police have delayed or chosen not to prosecute because of a relationship/association with the perpetrator or perpetrators of crimes of this nature. My own experience with the police (admittedly a long time ago) suggest that the attitude of some police officers towards women were no different to John Tamihere.
  
  Maybe that is changing but I suspect there’s still a long way to go.
  - DJ Ward 3.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 1:32 pm
    
    Good point. The police policy with police safety orders of just walking over to the male and going “your it” is clear evidence of a bad attitude towards women. Imagine not being believed if your a girl and something bad did happen. You get sat down and listened to, they may even go and talk to the accused. Then the biased cops say no, we are not taking this further, we can’t establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
    
    Meanwhile a young male walks in to talk about being sexually abused by a female and gets laughed out of the station.
    - Anne 3.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 5:58 pm
      
      Meanwhile a young male walks in to talk about being sexually abused by a female and gets laughed out of the station.
      
      Well, that actually did happen to me twenty five years ago and I am a woman. It was Takapuna police station. I reported abusive and intimidating behaviour and the arrogant sod (he looked like he was not long out of nappies) behind the counter chose not to believe me and laughed. Unfortunately there were no witnesses. I walked out feeling embarrassed, humiliated and shaking with anger. I think I would still recognise the shit if I saw him today.
      
      So, DJ Ward don’t try to suggest it is only males who get treated like that because in those days in particular it was more likely to be females – such was the ignorance and misogyny in the Police Force.
    - mpledger 3.1.1.2
      
      28 January 2019 at 9:44 am
      
      Do you actually know a young man or know of a young man that this happened too? Or are you just assuming it happened?
      - DJ Ward 3.1.1.2.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:34 am
        
        Me. Apart from being around for a long time and well informed from the male victims of sex crimes groups where being laughed out of the police station is a well recorded phenomenon. I’ve even tried to deal with these issues in court on 2 occasions. Hell has no fury like a judge under attack for the sex crimes they support. One judge had to state he could never be in a case involving me again, and the other because I was attacking the conspiracy of the police and the courts of falsifying birth certificates lasted 30 seconds. Simple fact mpledger. Rate of female victims and prosecutions vs rate of male victims and prosecutions.
        
        The cops do this sex crime supporting and denigration of the male stuff on a consistent bases.
        In DV situations the female to anger the male will sometimes use a comment like “the kids not even yours”. The police do nothing in response to the admission of a crime involving sex and impose the law on the male for his anger. The same for comments “of course I lied about being on the pill” an actual sex crime. Often accompanied by you should have used a condom, and laughter.
        
        But how would we know. No research, no data, no integrity.
        
        3 days ago in a social setting I ended up for a few hours with a good freind and a 16 year old male. The good freind has got evidence his missus has been cheating on him, and is 6 months pregnant. To say the least he is not in a good state of mind. The 16 year old has just split up with a girlfriend and has experienced suicidle thoughts. Simply put the girl was treating him like he was her own personal slave. Eventually the subject of sex came up and he admitted his first experience was him 15 and the woman was 22. I pointed out she committed a crime and he simply didn’t even know it was a crime.
        
        RedLogix 3.1.1.2.1.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:44 am
        
        Of course if this young guy does kill himself, as men do very frequently, then absolutely no-one outside of his immediate family will give a shit.
        
        We lost one of our drivers where I’m working right now a few days ago in similar circumstances … FIFO creating plenty of opportunity for female cheating.
        
        DJ Ward …
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:57 am
        
        Especially the coroner.
        
        No surprise feminists went hard out preventing them releasing any information. Even now all we get is race and regions. Nothing about cause.
Sacha 4

27 January 2019 at 10:15 am

Via OnceWasTim on the other thread, Mediawatch has a detailed discussion of this: https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018679753/roastbuster-s-re-emergence-reopens-old-wounds
marty mars 5

27 January 2019 at 10:41 am

Good post. Toxic male thinking does have to change – sadly this thinking is deeply engrained and normalized for many males – look around – the shit we are in has a lot to do with toxic masculinity which is related to toxic thinking about nature, the world and even life.
DJ Ward 6

27 January 2019 at 11:07 am

So this is investigated in a court of law and Tamahere got paid out.

NZs attitude, or his.
NZ was the last nation on earth , apart from Saudi Arabia, to make it a crime to have sex with children in 2008. Well in traditional NZ male hating bigotry, women having sex with boys. Males having sex with girls in modern NZ has always been a crime.
It is also the case that if a boy is drunk and a woman has sex with them, nobody gives a shit. There’s absolutely no difference in harm, or morality. In fact the behavour can be far worse. The young male can end up being subject to a life changing, and for teenage males, deadly pregnancy. It’s not like they get any say in what’s happening, the resources, or have intellectual competency, or extortionary level finances, to protect themselves in the court, and the anti male bias of the courts is amplified by compassion towards the female and denigration of his behavour.
It’s not like the drunk boys can pre empt risk by taking a contraceptive just in case they get stupefied and raped. Oh that’s right rape doesn’t exist if your a little boy, or any male and an older women intentionaly acts for some fun and a sperm donation.
IRD has 15 year old boys paying child support. Sounds serous when a person is subject to a crime and then has to pay money to the offender. For 18 years. Shit the rape just goes on and on and on. Pay check after pay check. The girls wake up the next morning devastated and have a cry. It goes on and on and on, week after week, for the boys. There’s no comparison in harm. The boys get no justice at any level. The girls get the media and blog sites go full noise for them, with compassion, hatred of the offender, persecution years later for even just a wrong comment.

The boys get silence from the coroner. Silence from the media. Silence from the police. Silence from politicians. Look what happens when you go out of bounds on the discussion.

Not from me. The day before this scam, politically motivated attack on Tamahere, i was one of his callers. We had a lengthy discussion on these points. Cleary Tamahere was rocking the boat and needed to be silenced.

Yep lots of bigotry today.
- joe90 6.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 11:48 am
  
  So this is investigated in a court of law and Tamahere got paid out.
  
  Deny..
  
  Well in traditional NZ male hating bigotry,
  
  ..attack..
  
  In fact the behavour can be far worse. The young male can end up being subject to a life changing, and for teenage males, deadly pregnancy.
  
  ..reverse..
  
  The young male can end up being subject to a life changing, and for teenage males, deadly pregnancy.
  
  ..offender..
  
  Sounds serous when a person is subject to a crime and then has to pay money to the offender. For 18 years. Shit the rape just goes on and on and on.
  
  ..victim..
  
  …DARVO!
  - DJ Ward 6.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 1:17 pm
    
    Something like this.
    
    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/boys-men/201403/why-is-discussion-boys-and-men-opposed
    
    For a second there I thought you were condoning having sex with little boys. Or just the general normalised culture of having sex with drunk males and putting all the blame on them.
    - marty mars 6.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 1:42 pm
      
      Lol – yeah that’s what happens…
- Sabine 6.2
  
  27 January 2019 at 12:11 pm
  
  pregnancy is deadly for teenage males?
  
  Yeah, right Tui.
  - DJ Ward 6.2.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 1:02 pm
    
    Tell you what let’s put that comment to the test.
    
    Go and look for the data.
    You will find endless study’s and articles on female suicide related to pregnancy. You will find nothing on men. No discussion, no data.
    
    Just a dirty little secret.
    
    NZ very high rates of teenage pregnancy.
    NZ very high rates of teenage male suicide.
    Higher rates of teenage pregnancy with Maori.
    Higher rates a teenage male suicide with Maori.
    
    Nope, definately no link there.
  - Patricia 6.2.2
    
    27 January 2019 at 4:34 pm
    
    Some of the young girls involved in the Roast Busters debacle were / still are badly affected by the actual assaults and the subsequent fall out. I don’t see that the males involved were badly affected or remorseful. I cannot find any evidence of male mortality from teenage pregnancies.
    - RedLogix 6.2.2.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 4:55 pm
      
      Some of the young girls involved in the Roast Busters debacle were / still are badly affected by the actual assaults and the subsequent fall out.
      
      No-one is questioning this at all. It’s why the Police failure to act is has frustrated so many people, especially those who have a keen interest.
      
      I don’t see that the males involved were badly affected or remorseful.
      
      Ugly indeed; clearly they haven’t learned anything. Maybe no-one has taken the opportunity to try.
      
      I cannot find any evidence of male mortality from teenage pregnancies.
      
      I doubt DJW is implying any direct link; that would be a crazy assertion. Whether there is an indirect, associative link is an interesting question. It can’t be ruled out and it would interesting to see if there is any research into this.
      
      What is becoming clearer is that males are distinctly vulnerable to suicide in the aftermath of a bad relationship break-up; more so than commonly assumed. From my own experience I can attest this does seem a reasonable assertion.
      
      For men, being rejected sexually is a form of death. Not directly, but certainly in the reproductive sense. We’re supposed to ‘get over it’ and never talk about it, but it’s not always a trivial process.
      - marty mars 6.2.2.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 5:05 pm
        
        “For men, being rejected sexually is a form of death. Not directly, but certainly in the reproductive sense.”
        
        for SOME men maybe – I’d venture these shallow men really need to adjust the way they see the world because it isn’t all there JUST for them. This attitude od theirs causes pain for many many people.
        
        Patricia 6.2.2.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 5:30 pm
        
        Agree Marty Mars. Our young people, maybe more so young males, need to be more resiliant. Not sure how we teach this but should start at an early age.
        I well remember the good old days when young men would claim they would be physically damaged for life if we females spurned their sexual advances. I do hope our laughter and spurning has not had dire long term effects.
        
        RedLogix …
        
        27 January 2019 at 7:52 pm
        
        I do hope our laughter and spurning has not had dire long term effects.
        
        Probably not in that context; males are trained up to be the risk-taking, disposable gender, and very early in life we get used to the idea that our feelings don’t count whatsoever. And if we are silly enough to talk about them with our ‘intimate’ partner she’s likely to react quite badly to this perceived ‘weakness’.
        
        In general men are expected to be the performative gender; while women are innately valuable as the mothers of the next generation, we have to prove ourselves as worthwhile mates and fathers. It’s a different calculus for us.
        
        While women do tend to be more emotionally skilled and intelligent; but for all that it’s surprising how little most women really know about the inner lives of the men around them. It’s possibly why you sometimes find us so laughable and dangerous at the same time.
        
        RedLogix 6.2.2.1.1.2
        
        27 January 2019 at 6:20 pm
        
        It’s not something conscious. The biological reality is that women do the sexual selection. Geneticists tell us that fully half of all men who ever lived never reproduced; we have on average two female ancestors for every one male.
        
        It’s also why rape is such an emotionally fraught issue; because it breaks the fundamental taboo of this essential female prerogative, the right to select the male they want to have children with. It’s not even accurate to call it a ‘right’; it’s something deeply hard-wired into us; women especially.
        
        And it has to be said, from the male perspective the human female ‘hidden estrus’ created the problem of uncertain paternity. Adultery and rape both obviously feeding into this concern, especially in traditional societies.
        
        But the aspect we almost never talk about is that while women do the selecting, it is men who are expected to do the initiating, and take the risk of being turned down. Most of the time. And for fully half of men who ever lived, this was all of the time. From a strictly genetic perspective, this was the end of their heritage, their particular gene line dies out with them.
        
        It also explains why some men have a particular terror of approaching women they’re interested in; why it’s such a fraught experience. Although with maturity and experience we usually get past it, it’s certainly an unwanted guest squatting in the teenage and later years for many.
        
        The other day Sabine quoted a line I’ve seen before men are afraid women will laugh at them; women are afraid men will kill them.. There is real element of truth in this, but also a misapprehension. Superficially it seems absurd to compare being ‘laughed at’ with being ‘killed’.
        
        Yet if you reframe the experience of ‘being laughed at’ as ‘rejected and humiliated’, and ‘genetic death’ it takes on a different complexion. And it goes some way to explaining why men are vulnerable to disturbed and extreme responses in the aftermath of a relationship breakdown. Usually it comes in the form of heartache, depression and suicidal thoughts. Sometimes it lashes out as jealousy, stalking, threats and assaults. At the extremes we see suicides and familial murders.
        
        Understanding our innate subconscious drivers is key to helping people turn away from resentment, bitterness and vengeance. Knowing why we feel the way we do, especially when they’re dark, bitter feelings, is to my mind the first step in controlling how we respond to them. That’s how we develop resilience in the face of life’s inevitable crisis’s.
        
        marty mars …
        
        27 January 2019 at 6:41 pm
        
        “Yet if you reframe the experience of ‘being laughed at’ as ‘rejected and humiliated’, and ‘genetic death’ it takes on a different complexion. And it goes some way to explaining why men are vulnerable to disturbed and extreme responses in the aftermath of a relationship breakdown. Usually it comes in the form of heartache, depression and suicidal thoughts. Sometimes it lashes out as jealousy, stalking, threats and assaults. At the extremes we see suicides and familial murders.”
        
        nah I just don’t agree with those assertions of yours.
        
        I get it fits your narrative but the truth is life and men are much more complicated and have many more drivers than the base reproductive one you’d reduce us all to. That is just a way to create wiggle room in the same way as “What was she wearing” does for men.
        
        Men are able to be holistic, creative and controlled. Some men can’t do that – they need help from other men not reinforcement imo.
        
        RedLogix …
        
        27 January 2019 at 7:02 pm
        
        have many more drivers than the base reproductive one you’d reduce us all to.
        
        Every scrap of psychological research confirms our biological origins; and how they shape our unconscious reactions. Evolution is one of the single most powerful scientific ideas we have ever had, and one that has been confirmed in millions of different ways.
        
        But absolutely nowhere do I reduce us to these ‘base drivers’ as you suggest. Quite the opposite, how many times have I used the phrase ‘the first post-biological species’? Just to be 100% clear on this, I say this as emphatically as I can … our unique capacity for self-aware consciousness and complex abstraction also means that we can grasp the transcendent. We’re aware however dimly, of the divine spark in all of creation, and means we grapple with ideas such as justice, compassion, dignity and more.
        
        Biological determinism is by itself every bit as silly as the ‘blank-slate’ social constructionist claims. When you use the term ‘holistic’ I understand this as the merging of the biological creature and spiritual being that we all are. But to fully understand ourselves we cannot ignore our biological roots; and if we want to understand sexuality and it’s sometimes dark relationship with exploitation and violence there is every reason to turn to the ancient creature with us all.
        
        they need help from other men not reinforcement imo.
        
        You don’t help anyone by getting them to pretend they’re innately good.
        
        Patricia …
        
        27 January 2019 at 7:32 pm
        
        Marty Mars – when I was 17 in 1962 being pregnant and unmarried would have brought great shame on me and my parents. Difficult to get good birth control in those days – “no” was the only 100% method of contraception. Even though I had sympathy for my young boyfriend the prospect of pregnancy was absolutely frightening. I had a couple of women friends who did become pregnant. When they named the fathers the alleged fathers arranged for a couple of their mates to say they also had had sex with with the girls so case dismissed ; father unknown and no paternity fees @ 30 shillings weekly to be paid for 16 years. Great shame for the women ; in one case the entire family packed up and left town after buying a wedding ring for the woman to wear over the next 6 months. No DPB available for another 10 years so parents had to support their daughters until the birth. We females had far more to lose than young men with “blue balls”.
        
        veutoviper …
        
        27 January 2019 at 7:51 pm
        
        Patricia, I have not yet read in detail this whole thread, but I really thank you for this particular contribution.
        
        You have said in a very few words what I and others of our generation of females experienced in those days but have not, or cannot, express so well. Thank you.
        
        I have a few things to do this evening but will be reading this whole thread in detail later. As well as you, the people you are talking to are some of the best IMO. Kia kaha. Please stay..
        
        marty mars …
        
        27 January 2019 at 8:02 pm
        
        Thanks Patricia for your comment – you have outlined the issues very well. And so true about who had things to lose – there is no comparison in my opinion.
        
        RedLogix …
        
        27 January 2019 at 8:07 pm
        
        Absolutely, sex was always more costly and potentially dangerous for women; this was a simply biological reality. It explains why women are generally far more selective and cautious about the whole business. And it certainly explains why women are generally more sensitive to risk and threat, both to themselves and the relatively small number of potential children they might bear in a lifetime.
        
        Reliable contraception, the Pill in particular, dramatically reduced the physical cost of sex for women; although interestingly their evolved emotional caution and selectivity around mating remained as alive as ever.
        
        In many ways we’re still grappling with the profound social implications of this change in our biology.
        
        Sabine …
        
        27 January 2019 at 8:45 pm
        
        simple
        
        men fear that women laugh at them
        women fear that men will kill them.
        
        marty mars …
        
        27 January 2019 at 8:50 pm
        
        Yep Sabine – there is no getting around that fact, no mincing of words or spillage of meaning or consideration of oh so many factors – nope, the truth is very scary and unequivocal.
        
        RedLogix …
        
        27 January 2019 at 10:17 pm
        
        As I said, there is truth in that. Superficially it’s absurd to compare the consequences of ‘being laughed at’ with ‘being killed’. I’m not a fool, that’s entirely obvious.
        
        But it covers up the reality that ‘being laughed at’ is in this context a proxy for humiliation, rejection and psychological abuse.
        
        We aren’t talking about good-natured ribbing or shit-stirring here, we’re talking the kind of cruel, undermining and shaming laughter that shrivels and diminishes.
        
        I’ve used this argument before. Imagine someone on a ladder falls onto you and breaks your arm. Painful, unpleasant and you could be a tad pissed off. Now consider the same person instead of accidentally falling, uses the ladder as a weapon, deliberately bashes you, breaking your arm. Clearly this is an entirely different situation, even though the physical injury is identical. Their bad intent matters, there is now a component of psychological injury to the attack, completely absent in the accident.
        
        Arguably it is more important that the physical injury. After all what is the fundamental difference between happy consensual sex and traumatic rape … if not bad intent.
        
        Now of course this in no way diminishes killing someone. That remains the most serious crime of all. If you commit homicide, you will rightly wear the most serious consequences.
        
        But neither does this alter the cost and consequences of psychological injuries. They aren’t visible like bruises, bashings or killings …. but I don’t think you get to dismiss their bad intent as trifles to be laughed at either.
        
        marty mars …
        
        27 January 2019 at 10:21 pm
        
        laughed at verses killed – hmmmm – imo they are chalk and cheese – unless toxic masculinity enters the male mind then laughed at becomes killed.
        
        RedLogix …
        
        27 January 2019 at 11:08 pm
        
        Yes they are different. I’m emphatically not making them the same. I’m not asking anyone to chose one over the other. Nor can anyone sanely use ‘being laughed at’ to justify ‘killing someone’. That would be utterly idiotic.
        
        Anne …
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:52 am
        
        Coming from the same generation as you Patricia, thank-you for your comments.
        
        I have found subsequent generations of men and women – including family – somewhat scornful of our youthful predicament. To be unmarried and pregnant was the most horrific thing that could happen to us. We would be harshly judged by every segment of society and shunned by our peers. Then when the baby was born it would be whisked away and adopted out. The birth mother would not be allowed to see her baby again and the adopted parents’ details withheld from her. That was her punishment for becoming pregnant no matter what the circumstances.
        
        Is it any wonder the majority of us said NO. We then stood a good chance of being discarded by the boyfriend in favour of someone who would say YES.
        
        So we lost whichever way we chose to go. The harsh attitudes we had to contend with in those days had a negative impact on our lives for a long time afterwards.
        
        DJ Ward …
        
        28 January 2019 at 2:45 pm
        
        I have never met a brother who was whisked away from my father when he was 14.
        At 16 he had a shotgun pointed at him, and a subsequent marriage he didn’t want to be part of.
        
        Luckily we have for the women moved on from that stuff.
        
        Anne …
        
        28 January 2019 at 3:31 pm
        
        @ DJ Ward
        Sorry to hear about your brother. Yes, all sorts of horrible attitudes existed decades ago but your response to my comment replying to Patricia is not in any way relevant nor does it make much sense
        
        You seem to want to play some silly game with women on this site who have a conversation about mutual experiences – an attempt to infer our contributions are somehow unworthy. Why? Do you believe women are not entitled to discuss their experiences?
        
        sumsuch 6.2.2.1.1.3
        
        27 January 2019 at 10:47 pm
        
        These narrow sea elephants disallowed by the beachmaster need to readjust their attitude. The quote is correct. The drama and tension of life.
        
        ‘After 40 men are either stoics or satyrs’. Well, both mostly. Most of us can’t do the unkind to a face thing.
      - mpledger 6.2.2.1.2
        
        28 January 2019 at 10:12 am
        
        But who doesn’t want you to talk about it? Other men might not but women certainly want men to be more open to them about their lives. It’s that the one of those eternal generalisations that women want to men to communicate more with them.
        
        Maori don’t have the same hang-ups about babies being born out of wedlock so I don’t believe that it causes a lot of angst at the time – grannies and aunties step up and get things done. I think it’s more an issue 10 years later when men who have bought into the hard living/hard drinking lifestyle and then find they have nothing to offer as a family man so they are left living an unconnected life.
        
        RedLogix 6.2.2.1.2.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:29 am
        
        Other men might not but women certainly want men to be more open to them about their lives.
        
        That is the conventional wisdom. In my experience the opposite is what actually happens.
        
        I recall an old Ray Bradbury short story which has a moment which goes like this; ‘For years women had wished that the men in their lives might open up and tell them what they really felt. And at 9pm that night they all did. And then at midnight all of the women suddenly wished their men would stop talking’.
        
        I paraphrase a lot, but Ray was a great student of the human condition.
Bazza64 7

27 January 2019 at 11:43 am

Agree totally with this post. Best they kept their mouths shut & not try to make more publicity out of it, nothing these guys did can be defended.
Ad 8

27 January 2019 at 1:35 pm

John Tamihere and Christine Fletcher are spent and stale.

They have no place anywhere near the Auckland mayoralty.

I won’t be supporting them.
- jam tomorrow 8.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 3:13 pm
  
  Christine Fletcher and Michelle Boag will make mincemeat of John Tamahere , he is too vain, too self-centred to be allowed anywhere near power – a minor Trump in the making.
  Fletcher and Boag will flatter and manipulate him – they are both far smarter at the dark arts than he – he is all bluster and puffery.
  - Ad 8.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 8:06 pm
    
    Tamihere has plenty of dark arts mates, in Maori, broadcasting, corporate, sport, trusts, and government. Don’t overestimate him as he is a bully and plays for keeps.
    
    Boag is as spent as Fletcher for all her skill.
Ross 9

27 January 2019 at 2:01 pm

I can’t stand Tamihere. But your comments about Roastbusters are off.

Prosecution of the roast busters should have been a slam dunk. It may have been difficult to prove sexual violation because of consent issues. But it is also against the law to engage in sexual conduct with a woman under the age of 16 years. And there were admissions on Facebook that this was what had happened. Proof of this offence should have been very easy.

Some people like bragging on Facebook. Some people like bragging off Facebook. It may surprise you, Mickey, but some people like to gild the lily. Bullshitting on Facebook isn’t enough to get you convicted, and I’d be concerned if that is the proof you are talking about.

I’m not sure why proof of the offence should’ve been easy. The Police apparently undertook a thorough review of the initial investigation and still found there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. Police often prosecute without much more than the allegation of the complainant. So when Police decide not to prosecute, it suggests the evidence is weak.
- mpledger 9.1
  
  28 January 2019 at 10:18 am
  
  The police didn’t make any decision at all, they left it too long for any prosecution to proceed. That doesn’t smack of the evidence being too weak, it suggests that there was no *easy* decision so they made *no* decision.
  
  Just prior to these events, their was a lot of take about letting boys off the hook if the couple were close in age e.g. boy 16 and girl 15 – all the “they’re in love” so he shouldn’t be prosecuted. But once there was purposeful stupefying the police should have been in like a shot to nail it on the head.
Ross 10

27 January 2019 at 2:04 pm

I do not know why but instead of the Police moving immediately to charge the males involved they held off. For too long. And then found out they could not do anything because too much time had passed.

I don’t believe that is correct. There have been convictions for historical sex offences dating back decades. When the offence happened is largely irrelevant.

http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/operation-clover-investigation-overview-report.pdf
- veutoviper 10.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 3:36 pm
  
  Hi Ross (and mickysavage as author of the OP)
  
  This is completely off topic and I apologise to you both for that, but am wondering whether we have two people using the name “Ross” here at present, but with different identicons, or one person with two identicons.
  
  We have had situations where two people using the same name can be very confusing and the newest one is usually asked to differentiate their name. We have also had situations where the same person (eg Ed) has used more than one identicon as a result of using more than one email address – again very confusing.
  
  I noted yesterday that on the long comments to the “Herald names Dowie as the sender of the text to Jami-Lee Ross” we had several comments from “Ross” but :
  
  — Two with the same blue square identicon used here at your comments at 9 and 10 above, ie the comments @ 22.2 on 25 Jan at 1.20pm and @ 20.3.1.1 on 26 Jan at 11.53am on the Herald Dowie post;
  
  — the others (earlier ones on that other post) used a different violet snowflake type identicon – ie @ 19 dated 25 Jan 10.29am and @ 20.3 also dated 25 Jan at 12.47pm.
  
  I won’t try to post links to these specific comments as that does not seem to work currently – links only go to the post itself.
  
  No criticism intended, but it would be helpful to know whether it is a case of one person with two identicons, or two different people.
  
  Sorry, I am just a nuisance pedant!
  - Ross 10.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 6:13 pm
    
    Thanks, I’m happy adopt a different name and maybe say “formerly Ross”?
    - veutoviper 10.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 7:10 pm
      
      Thank you so much for your reply. I probably overstepped the mark not being an author or moderator here, but pedants must do what pedants do!
      
      Hopefully the real moderators, sysops who is lprent will step up and sort it with you.
      
      Ie I take it that you are not the same Ross (blue identicon) from the first Ross (violet snowflake identicon) ?
      
      Help – mickysavage lprent te reo putake – ….????
      
      Mea culpa (on repetition)
Treetop 11

27 January 2019 at 2:36 pm

It does not sit right with me that there were no actual legal consequences for the roast busters. This happened in 2013, it goes to show that there needs to be a shake up in legislation so people do not get away with committing serious crime.

Next month the inquiry into sexual, physical and emotional harm in state care begins.

I predict that the harm and suffering which was caused decades ago, for far to many, will not be fully understood in individual and monetary terms. The cost to an individual on many levels is a high price paid because this is the reality of what can happen and does happen.

Not enough is being done in current times and tragically the past is being repeated.

To take from a person a portion of their life, the value on this is what the offender does.

Settlement of sensitive claims with ACC are rigged, people are not compensated for the actual mental damage caused, especially in childhood.
- Formerly Ross 11.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 6:17 pm
  
  Police were also frustrated there were no consequences, but there was little possibility of conviction.
  
  Detective Inspector Karyn Malthus said today that the decision not to charge came about due to a range of factors including “evidential tests under the Solicitor General’s prosecution guidelines”.
  
  “These state that there must be a reasonable prospect of conviction for police to initiate a conviction.”
  
  Other factors included “the wishes of individual victims, the admissible evidence available, the nature of the offence and the age of the parties at the time of the offending”.
  
  Malthus said she was satisfied “every investigative avenue” was pursued, though she left the door open to further action saying there was no time limit on reporting sexual offending and any future disclosures would be assessed and investigated.
  
  “This is an important message to potential victims who have decided not to seek police assistance at this time,” she said.
  
  When questioned, Malthus agreed she would have liked to been able to prosecute but what they had did not pass the evidence test.
  
  http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/10674764/Roast-Busters-case-No-charges-to-be-laid
  - McFlock 11.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 8:25 pm
    
    It’s funny that “every investigative avenue was pursued” when the suspects were interviewed in only one case, and that was by officiers insufficiently prepared to conduct the interview.
    - Psycho Milt 11.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 10:10 pm
      
      “every investigative avenue was pursued” = “you must be joking pal, like fuck we’d investigate sluts whingeing about getting fucked, only shit, we’d better not say it like that or we’re, er fucked…”
      - Formerly Ross 11.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 6:08 am
        
        Psycho,
        
        The report into the case states:
        
        “Police acknowledge that the basis for interviews of the majority was hearsay and rumour and wish to make it clear at the time of this report that there is little evidence in existence to accuse the majority of persons of interest of being engaged in criminal sexual offending.”
        
        Would you really want a suspect tarred and feathered over some hearsay and rumour? That might be your kind of justice system but it isn’t mine.
        
        And you obviously missed my earlier comment when I said that Police are usually quick to prosecute where sexual offending is concerned. How many times have they said that they prefer to leave it to the jury to decide the facts of the case?
        
        Getting it wrong can be very costly for the wrongly convicted.
        
        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156071
        
        mpledger 11.1.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 10:20 am
        
        And being drugged and raped is costly too.
    - Formerly Ross 11.1.1.2
      
      28 January 2019 at 5:55 am
      
      the suspects were interviewed in only one case
      
      I’m not sure what you are saying, but of course suspects can refuse to be interviewed, and two did in this case.
      - McFlock 11.1.1.2.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 11:53 am
        
        Which case? The report covered half a dozen. One interviewed the suspects. You say two suspects refused to be interviewed – that’s still “every investigative avenue was pursued” except actually approaching the suspects in half the cases.
        
        “Police are usually quick to prosecute where sexual offending is concerned.”
        cf:
        “Rape cases are four times less likely to go to court in comparison with other types of physical assault“
        
        Formerly Ross 11.1.1.2.1.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 6:37 pm
        
        cf low rates of convictions for sexual assault prosecutions. About 35% of rape prosecutions result in a conviction.
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/107081667/over-60-per-cent-of-rape-charges-not-proven-in-court
        
        Clearly, many cases result in an acquittal. Therefore, one can only surmise at how weak the evidence may be in cases that are not prosecuted. But as stated, there ought to be a realistic chance of conviction. In these cases, police prosecuted despite the judge saying there was no realistic chance of conviction.
        
        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10387389
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/95862446/rape-charge-dismissed-against-ashburton-man
        
        Again, it raises the prospect of police prosecuting even when the evidence is weak. The police’s position is: let the jury decide.
        
        McFlock …
        
        28 January 2019 at 7:14 pm
        
        And yet they still have a low prosecution rate, and the majority of the roastbusters “investigations” did not involve an attempt to interview the suspects.
        
        Pretending that “a low conviction rate” means “the evidence is weak” might make you feel safer from the complaints of mean women, but the other possibility is that making a rapist accountable involves an unusually high threshold of evidence in this society. At no point would leaving a car unlocked be regarded as an excuse to enter the vehicle, and yet clothing is frequently brought up in rape trials. I suggest that supports the latter interpretation.
Jum 12

27 January 2019 at 7:11 pm

Until women/girls actually realise that their actions will impact on girls after them, then they will continue to be silent on what has happened to them.

So far, women have failed to warn their girls that there is no such thing as equality with men unless it is demanded and fought/killed even for.

Every women needs to understand that men will not allow or encourage them to stand beside men as equals until women unite and guard upcoming girls and women from the garbage of evolutionary woman-hatred by men.
- RedLogix 12.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 7:23 pm
  
  evolutionary woman-hatred by men.
  
  Honestly that phrase baffles me. I just cannot get my head around why anyone would think that.
  
  For certain there are some men who hate women, and some women who hate men. Our capacity for resentment and hate is something both genders share pretty damned equally in common.
  
  But the idea that the whole of human evolution can be boiled down to “all men innately hating all women” is absurd on the face of it, and contradicts every scrap of evidence.
  
  Quite the contrary; the most irritating thing about most men for many women is how we tend to put them on pedestals …
  - Psycho Milt 12.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 10:13 pm
    
    You don’t think there are evolutionary reasons why men might have an incentive not to consider leaving their sperm in a woman’s vagina a victory regardless of how she personally felt about the experience? Seriously?
    - RedLogix 12.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 10:55 pm
      
      Almost all human societies have a strong social taboo against rape. After all consider how we legally treat rape as a crime equally seriously as murder. On the face of it this is quite odd, after all from a purely objective perspective the act itself is almost indistinguishable from the same act enthusiastically undertaken by hundreds of millions of people every day. The same certainly cannot be said about murder.
      
      Of course what really matters is the psychological component, the bad intent to coerce, manipulate and negate the other’s power to say no. And all the evidence points to us taking this very seriously.
      
      Absent war and the general breakdown of social constraints, forcible rape is relatively rare. Of the roughly hundred million times humans have sex every day, only a tiny fraction of these would be in a legal sense coerced with bad intent.
      
      And even then there is good evidence to suggest that most serious sexual offenses are committed by a small number of serial offenders, sociopaths, psychopaths, pedophiles and other seriously damaged personalities. Most others tend to be crimes of circumstance and opportunity, just as culpable, but self-limiting when the circumstances change.
      
      However you want to paint it, coercive bad intent rape is not normal human behaviour. (Drunken, opportunistic, ill-advised, manipulative, guilt tripping, transactional bad sex is however pretty commonplace, but then again both genders seem more than capable of that.)
      - Psycho Milt 12.1.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 11:19 pm
        
        Almost all human societies have a strong social taboo against rape.
        
        Well, that’s the theory. How does that work out for women in practice?
        
        RedLogix 12.1.1.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 11:43 pm
        
        On a daily basis it works out reasonably well for most women. We could do better, but the good news is that generally rates of violent crime continue to diminish everywhere but on social media.
  - mpledger 12.1.2
    
    28 January 2019 at 10:24 am
    
    That’s not the most irritating thing about most men.
Jum 13

27 January 2019 at 7:22 pm

haumaha, roastbusters, tamahere – the hatred towards women and girls is palpable.
Morrissey 14

27 January 2019 at 8:15 pm

….a group of young predominately westie males who used to get young women drunk and then engage in sexual contact with them.

They sound exactly like an organized group of eastie and northie males.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/alleged-inappropriate-touching-young-nats-event-investigated

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/108894339/national-party-defends-handling-of-young-nats-incident

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/11/27/340389/young-nat-suspended-after-newsroom-story
McFlock 15

27 January 2019 at 8:49 pm

Young men do objectionable things.
Old men say objectionable thing to defend the young men.
Police fuck up the case.
Old and young men pretend “no charges were laid” means they never did anything wrong.
Discussions about the objectionable things get derailed by people saying how difficult life can be for men.

That’s how rape culture works: ignore the women, ignore the acts, defend the men, so men feel free to do objectionable things again. To use an americanism, “fuck all y’all” who do that shit.
- Treetop 15.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 10:02 pm
  
  Ineffective legislation is the problem and worse no one is changing it so that a prosecution can occur.
  - McFlock 15.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 10:26 pm
    
    The current legislation would be fine if women were believed.
    
    If “reasonable doubt” in some cases meant “it’s not reqasonable to believe the defendant rather than the witness”, rather than “one person’s word against another, oh gosh I guess we can never know”. If “reasonable chance of successful prosecution” meant “it could work” rather than “it will probably work”.
    
    If suspects were interviewed by police who are thoroughly familiar with the details of the case each and every time.
    
    The legislation is fine. Our society is broken.
Chris T 16

27 January 2019 at 10:52 pm

I have little time for this roastbuster scum, but the comments on Tamihere are far from the truth.

What is done is done, but I’d point out I was actually listening to the radio on that day and they weren’t

a) Interviewing her. She rang in as a normal caller

b) She was mates with girls involved and was actually besmirching the girls

c) The whole thing was taken out of context
- Psycho Milt 16.1
  
  27 January 2019 at 11:17 pm
  
  Was there a context in which Tamihere siding with the perpetrators against their victims made him look less of an arsehole? Because I’m finding it difficult to picture that context.
  - Chris T 16.1.1
    
    27 January 2019 at 11:26 pm
    
    He didn’t
    
    That is kind of the point.
    
    The whole conversation was taken out of context, with snippets of edited material.
    
    He was asking what was going on because his daughter was roughly the same age.
    
    I can see exactly what this thread is btw and I am not even an Aucklander, can’t vote and don’t particularly give a shit who wins.
    
    Bloke announces mayoralty challenge, Labour supporters of Goff do group lynch mob on the same day, to label the other bloke a rape apologist.
    
    It would actually be quite funny if it wasn’t so sick
    - McFlock 16.1.1.1
      
      27 January 2019 at 11:41 pm
      
      From my perspective (not that I have a bottle on that shelf), the main thing that makes him worse than Goff is attitudes to Roastbusters and suchlike. His actual community-related work, from what I gather, has been pretty darn good.
      
      Signing up with Christine Fletcher bodes poorly, but it’s not like Goff is the last true hope of the Left, either. He and Goff probably aren’t too far apart.
      - Chris T 16.1.1.1.1
        
        27 January 2019 at 11:48 pm
        
        I’m similar actually
        
        Personally think he can’t do worse than Goff, but he can be a bit of a loose cannon.
        
        And as I say, I don’t actually care as I live in Welly
        
        It is just the coincidental character assassination on here on the same day as he put up his name I find a bit distasteful.
        
        But hey
        
        Only the right do dirty politics apparently
        
        McFlock 16.1.1.1.1.1
        
        28 January 2019 at 12:04 am
        
        As the post said, unfortunate timing for him that one of the little shits was trying to launch a recording career at the same time Tamihere announced running for mayor.
        
        It’s not character assassination, though. He fucked up badly, and his actual excuse (rather than the one you presented) was that apparently one is supposed to talk like that on talkback. Which is a whole other argument.
- mpledger 16.2
  
  28 January 2019 at 10:30 am
  
  I heard it too. Not at the time but later over the internet (before it was taken down). They were really awful to the girl and it wasn’t taken out of context. I thought she handled herself really well against a couple of misogynist pricks. I would never have had the guts to go toe to toe with them at her age – and probably wouldn’t even now.
- Morrissey 16.3
  
  28 January 2019 at 10:45 am
  
  Some years ago the RadioVILE intellectuals Willie Jackson and John Tamihere talked learnedly and sensitively on the subject of marital infidelity. The dwarf-boxing impresario Dean Lonergan also took part.
  
  Both Deano and JT made it clear that there was no excuse for violence against any woman, even if one came home one day midway through the afternoon to find her in bed with, say, half the ACT caucus. Willie Jackson, though, was having none of that P.C. nonsense. “If I found out that my missus was fooling around on me,” he said, with quiet sincerity, “I’d put a knife through her heart.”
  
  This shocked even the crass and offensive Lonergan, who felt moved to remonstrate: “I think that’s going a bit far, mate.”
  
  Willie didn’t back down an inch, however. “Nah, nah, nah—don’t give me THAT,” he said, without even a hint of his usual playfulness. “I would. I would put a knife through her heart. I WOULD.”
  
  JT snorted sardonically and laughed, “You’re a mongrel, Willie, a mongrel.”
  
  http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/daytime-tv-review-three-wise-men.html

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6 days ago

Bread, and how it gets buttered
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
6 days ago

Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
6 days ago

Justice for Gaza?
The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
6 days ago

If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
6 days ago

FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
6 days ago

Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
7 days ago

Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
7 days ago

Release: National gaslights women fighting for equal pay
National has scrapped the pay equity taskforce that fights for equal pay for women and looks at ethnic pay gaps. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: More job cuts, fewer houses under National
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Children fall deeper through the cracks in Govt cuts
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Labour honours memory of Sir Robert Martin
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Release: 130,000 cattle saved from live export
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fire
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
Greens
4 days ago

New unemployment figures paint bleak picture
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Greens
4 days ago

Release: National’s job cuts already starting to bite as unemployment rises
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Release: National hiking transport costs for families and young New Zealanders
Weekly expenses will grow for more than 1.6 million New Zealanders as the Government ends free and half price public transport fares tomorrow. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Release: Labour welcomes EU free trade agreement
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Surprise: Landlord tax cuts don’t trickle down
The Green Party is renewing its call for rent controls following reports of rental prices hitting an all-time high. ...
Greens
6 days ago

Release: $1.7b for no increase in access to medicine
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: National should heed Tribunal warning and scrap coalition commitment with ACT
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: More accountability for preventable workplace deaths this Workers’ Memorial Day
Labour is calling for more accountability for preventable workplace deaths because everybody who goes to work deserves to come home safely. ...
Labour Blog
7 days ago

Gaza: Aotearoa Must Support Independent Investigation into Mass Graves
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Māori Party
1 week ago

Release: Working together on consistent support for veterans this Anzac Day
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Penny drops – but what about Seymour and Peters?
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Another ‘Stolen Generation’ enabled by court ruling on Waitangi Tribunal summons
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
Māori Party
2 weeks ago

Release: Budget blunder shows Nicola Willis could cut recovery funding
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Further environmental mismanagement on the cards
The Government’s resource management reforms will add to the heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: RMA changes will be a disaster for environment
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Labour supports urgent changes to emergency management system
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Labour calls for New Zealand to recognise Palestine
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Three strikes law political posturing of worst kind
The Government is bringing back a law that has little evidential backing just to look tough, Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Government cuts unbelievably target child exploitation, violent extremism, ports and airpor...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Three strikes has failed before and will fail again
Resurrecting the archaic three-strikes legislation is an unwelcome return to a failed American-style approach to justice. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Environmental protection vital, not ‘onerous’
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Ferris – Three Strikes targets those ‘too brown to be white’
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Māori Party
2 weeks ago

Release: Govt cuts doctors and nurses in hiring freeze
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Fast-track submissions period must be extended
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Progress on climate will be undone by Govt
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Dark day for Kiwi kids as a third of Govt cuts affect them
News that 1000 jobs at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki could go is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Release: Alarm as Government signals further blow to school lunches
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Oranga Tamariki cuts commit tamariki to state abuse
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
Māori Party
3 weeks ago

Release: Quick, submit – stop Govt’s dodgy approvals bill
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Government throws coal on the climate crisis fire
The Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Agreement delivers Local Water Done Well for Auckland
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
12 hours ago

Gaza and the Pacific on the agenda with Germany
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Decision allows for housing growth in Western Bay of Plenty
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Speech to New Zealand China Council
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Modern insurance law will protect Kiwi households
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Government recommits to equal pay
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Transforming how our children learn to read
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

NZ not backing down in Canada dairy dispute
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Stronger oversight for our most vulnerable children
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Streamlining Building Consent Changes
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Accelerating airport security lines
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Community hui to talk about kina barrens
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Mining resurgence a welcome sign
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Government to boost public EV charging network
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Independent review into disability support services
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Speech – Eid al-Fitr
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Government saves access to medicines
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Pharmac Chair appointed
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Diplomacy needed more than ever
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk Bair
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

PM announces changes to portfolios
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

New catch limits for unique fishery areas
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Auckland Palestine rally honours Gaza journalists for freedom award
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
23 mins ago

GCSB foreign spying capability under scrutiny
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
Radio NZ – political
8 hours ago

Auckland academics call out university stance over pro-Palestine protest
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
10 hours ago

Auckland's new water plan unveiled by Mayor Wayne Brown and Local Government Minister Simeon Br...
The government claims Aucklanders will avoid a projected 25.8 percent water rates increase with the coalition's Local Water Done Well plan. ...
Radio NZ – political
11 hours ago

'Māori Seabed, For Shore!' – Two decades on from the largest hīkoi in a generation
Twenty years has passed since the historic hīkoi against the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act reached Parliament. ...
Radio NZ – political
16 hours ago

An Ode to .. Julie Anne Genter
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
NewsroomBy Victor Billot
16 hours ago

National aims high while struggling to take off
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
NewsroomBy Sam Sachdeva
16 hours ago

Real journalists can lead the war against deepfakes
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
NewsroomBy 360info
18 hours ago

Meet the cast of Married at First Sight NZ for 2024
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
The SpinoffBy Tara Ward
19 hours ago

The good news is the government plans to cancel $3 billion in student debt. The bad news is indexati...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Albanese government to wipe $3 billion in student debt, benefitting three million people
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
23 hours ago

ICC demands end to threats against court amid Gaza war probe
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
1 day ago

New Caledonia’s women sit-in to support smeared Kanak journalist
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
1 day ago

New Zealand signs deal with Germany on Antarctica cooperation
The memorandum of understanding with Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute is expected to foster cooperation between the two polar science bodies. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

NZ food safety agency monitoring Indian spice mix recalls
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Fiji’s media freedom ranking jumps, Papua New Guinea’s plummets
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
1 day ago

The Boy in the Water: ‘I just can’t do this anymore’
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
NewsroomBy Bonnie Sumner
2 days ago

'Data is the new oil': Call to save jobs of data security guards
New Zealanders' data is at risk with the government's "unintelligent" proposal to cut information security jobs, the Privacy Foundation says. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

The Secret Diary of .. Coalition Sheriff Luxon
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
NewsroomBy Steve Braunias
2 days ago

Liam Hewson seeks answers in nature
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
NewsroomBy Penny Lewis
2 days ago

Dan Carter won’t stop kicking
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
The SpinoffBy Calum Henderson
2 days ago

‘Everybody rolls their eyes’: Dame Susan Devoy’s guilty TV pleasure
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
The SpinoffBy My Life in TV
2 days ago

Dunedin’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard. Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
The SpinoffBy Hera Lindsay Bird
2 days ago

Review: High Country is the ideal crime drama for a cold winter night
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
The SpinoffBy Tara Ward
2 days ago

Welcome to The Weekend
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
The SpinoffBy Madeleine Chapman
2 days ago

Tips and tricks for when your therapist looks like your dad
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
The SpinoffBy Gráinne Patterson
2 days ago

The Sunday Essay: The books that electrify and consume you
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
The SpinoffBy James Pasley
2 days ago

The Enhanced games, where drug use isn’t cheating
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
NewsroomBy Gwen McClure
2 days ago

Short story: The boat in the shed, by Kyle Mewburn
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
NewsroomBy Kyle Mewburn
2 days ago

USP Council votes to bring controversial VC back to Fiji
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
2 days ago

Public health expert urges govt to focus on disease prevention
The government needs to step up in the wake of a report showing a third of Kiwis have unmet health needs, Professor Boyd Swinburn says. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Figures like Andrew Tate may help spread misogyny. But they’re amplifying – not causing – the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Free speech debate back on as Victoria University expands diversity on panel
A perceived right-wing bias and concerns about panellist diversity have pushed Victoria University to reformat its debate. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Week in Politics: Polls, pay rises and a Green MP in trouble
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Māori win customary title over Tokomaru Bay on East Coast
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
NewsroomBy Tim Murphy
2 days ago

Universal’s music is returning to TikTok, ending a spat that hurt fans more than anyone
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

To tackle gendered violence, we also need to look at drugs, trauma and mental health
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

National raised $10.4m in donations in 2023
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Don't 'mistake' Pacific leaders 'quietness' on AUKUS as support for NZ&#039...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Florist says Julie Anne Genter exchange was 'massive imbalance of power'
The Wellington woman says she felt degraded and humiliated after being confronted by the Green MP. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

China’s new Moon mission is about to launch, and it’s a rare example of countries working togeth...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

National returned $200,000 donation day after Newsroom story
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
NewsroomBy Andrew Bevin
2 days ago

NZ slumps to 19th as RSF says press freedom threatened by global decline
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
2 days ago

Access to documents about Australia’s political history is fraught and inadequate. It needs to cha...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Greens have 'historically bad' start to the year – political scientist
The party has had faced a challenging set of circumstances over the past five months, Lara Greaves says. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

HWPL Calls For Peace Amid Rising Tensions Between Israel And Iran
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
Scoop politics
2 days ago

The Friday Poem: ‘Mātou’ by Tessa Keenan
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The SpinoffBy Tessa Keenan
2 days ago

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending May 3
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25) The masterful Irish writer ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
2 days ago

Marriages, Civil Unions, And Divorces: Year Ended Dec 2023
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Scoop politics
2 days ago

Marriages, Civil Unions, And Divorces: Year Ended December 2023
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Scoop politics
2 days ago

How effective are domestic violence advertising campaigns for preventing violence against women?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Waller, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney shutterstock Cristina RasoBoluda/Shutterstock Domestic violence is a significant personal, community and social issue attracting much attention. After several recent horrific cases, media discussion, calls for a royal commission to end the violence and ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Taiwan is experiencing millions of cyberattacks every day. The world should be paying attention
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

‘There was life in the old girl yet’: Dame Susan Devoy on taking reality TV by storm
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
The SpinoffBy Susan Devoy
2 days ago

Auditor-General criticises way University of Waikato contracted Steven Joyce
John Ryan says the University of Waikato did not invite multiple contractors and reached out to the former finance minister directly. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

'Not my first legal rodeo' – Winston Peters on defamation threat
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says he will not be cowed by threats of legal action, having received a legal letter from Bob Carr. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Can the Green Party’s holy mission survive its fallible disciples?
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
The SpinoffBy Duncan Greive
3 days ago

Vanuatu’s Kalsakau resigns, calls for delay on constitutional referendum
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
3 days ago

Winston Peters gives China speech amid legal drama and AUKUS questions
The Foreign Minister spoke about the NZ-China relationship amid lingering questions about the AUKUS security alliance . ...
Radio NZ – political
3 days ago

Gone By Lunchtime: Mojo machine misfires, honeymoon cancelled
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff
3 days ago

The Waitangi Tribunal’s latest report is about far more than just child protection
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The SpinoffBy Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown
3 days ago

Live Winston Peters gives China speech amid legal drama and AUKUS questions
The Foreign Minister was speaking at the New Zealand China Council while questions linger about the AUKUS security alliance . ...
Radio NZ – political
3 days ago

'We weren't informed': Apprentice working on school unaware of asbestos
The Education Ministry is promising to do more about asbestos problems in schools, with tighter controls over detection and removal. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 days ago

New Treasury Paper On The Productivity Slowdown
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
Scoop politics
3 days ago

The prison slushy story is back, baby, and it’s less nutritious than ever
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it. Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
The SpinoffBy Madeleine Holden
3 days ago

AI can now generate entire songs on demand. What does this mean for music as we know it?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Bown, Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney PeamDesign / Shutterstock In March, we saw the launch of a “ChatGPT for music” called Suno, which uses generative AI to produce realistic songs on demand from short text prompts. A few weeks later, a ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Domestic violence disclosure schemes may not improve safety for victim-survivors of intimate partner...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Clearing the elective surgery backlog will take more than one budget. It’ll need major reform
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Why is cancer called cancer? We need to go back to Greco-Roman times for the answer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Electric vehicles will start to cut emissions and improve air quality in our cities – but only onc...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

4 things our schools should do now to help prevent gender-based violence
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Becoming a landlord while still renting? ‘Rentvesting’ promises a foot on the property ladder, b...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Season two of Heartbreak High makes diversity feel ‘banal’. This is its strength
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
3 days ago

Winston Peters receives legal letter from Bob Carr after defamation threat
Bob Carr has confirmed his intention to take legal action against the NZ First leader. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 days ago

Legal action and bullying allegations: Peters and Genter knock government agenda off its perch
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
The SpinoffBy Anna Rawhiti-Connell
3 days ago

New law looks to shake up insurance
The Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs says insurance laws are too complicated and change is long overdue. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 days ago

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