Search Results
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Comment:Open mike 18/01/2021
Date published: 1:17 pm, January 18th, 2021There have been 500,000 permanent resident visas issued since 2015. Who knows how many more before then. I am unable to find that data, just as I am unable to find data that specifies how many of those PRV holders actually reside in New Zealand. NZ is the ...
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Comment:Open mike 18/01/2021
Date published: 1:14 pm, January 18th, 2021I do not think it's at all coincidence that the "pathway to residency" that National put in place for students coming to NZ to study low value degrees from 1999 subsequently saw a massive increase in house prices from 2002. That policy setting then allowed...
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Comment:Open mike 18/01/2021
Date published: 9:35 am, January 18th, 2021Would probably need to do an OIA to MBIE to find out the information about PRVs. In any event, if they've been out of NZ for longer than 6 months, even 12, it's clear they haven't got a life here. They're a citizen of another country so we'd be perfectly ...
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Comment:Open mike 18/01/2021
Date published: 7:48 am, January 18th, 2021I see the drum beat on comments sections, Facebook and Twitter seems to be increasing about shutting the border entirely. I posted this on OM late last night but thought it could be a good discussion point. While there are certainly problems in restricting...
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Comment:Open mike 17/01/2021
Date published: 10:47 pm, January 17th, 2021Certainly problems in restricting citizens rights to return back to their country of citizenship. NZ could stop entry to NZ by permanent resident visa holders - particularly those that were not in NZ for say the 6 months prior to February 2020. PRVs have ...
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Comment:Open mike 08/01/2021
Date published: 9:17 am, January 8th, 2021Muldoon refused to do something with the currency on the request of the incoming Lange government. I think it was a request to devalue it?
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Comment:Open mike 02/01/2021
Date published: 5:43 pm, January 2nd, 2021Multinationals often see NZ and Australia as one market. That is, 30 million people. That's a lot of people to spread the cost of shipping and distribution amongst. Instead, NZ is heavily penalised on the "last mile" shipping between AU and NZ. Our 5 ...
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Comment:Open mike 24/12/2020
Date published: 12:53 pm, December 24th, 2020Why? Let's use the theory that "only rental houses are habitable houses" Owner Occupiers should not live at a lesser standard than renters. They should all be equal. How then, is it morally right to allow landlords to claim maintenance costs on bringing a ...
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Comment:Open mike 24/12/2020
Date published: 11:44 am, December 24th, 2020The easiest thing to do to address house pricing and the availability is to remove the ability for Landlords to claim interest and maintenance deductions on rental properties and shift that over to Owner Occupiers only. Many landlords deliberately gear up ...
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Comment:The Government's finances are in very good shape
Date published: 11:49 am, December 17th, 2020Grant Robertson was part of the first generation of student loan payers, coupled with interest on his loan while he was studying. Hardly "free"
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Comment:Open mike 17/12/2020
Date published: 8:36 am, December 17th, 2020A higher minimum wage also reduces the amount of redistribution needed through winz. So less is paid out from the state and more is paid by the employer in recognition of the output from the workers.
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Comment:Open mike 16/12/2020
Date published: 3:35 pm, December 16th, 2020Ryman had no other option but to repay it after Summerset came out of the blocks first and said they'd repay it.
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Comment:The challenge to the reeferendum result
Date published: 10:48 am, December 8th, 2020No. They aren't. The Green Party made the referendum their coalition requirement right from the outset in 2017.
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Comment:National's gonna National
Date published: 9:56 am, December 2nd, 2020https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26092016/#comment-1236759 Only taken 4 years for that idea of letting owner Occupiers claim interest costs to enter the mainstream discourse. I can't make the link go straight to my comment on that page as I'm on mobile...
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Comment:Open mike 24/11/2020
Date published: 11:45 am, November 24th, 2020Jan Logie uses the train nearly every day she has to go to Parliament. I see her on it quite often.
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Comment:Open mike 15/11/2020
Date published: 3:34 pm, November 15th, 2020Whomst labelling RSE workers in racial epithets? The payments of RSE workers is a drain on NZs balance of payments. Better for NZs economy for that money to be circulated back within NZs internal economy. If the growers have to take less dividends from the...
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Comment:Less buzz and more cooperative governing
Date published: 10:22 pm, November 1st, 2020The stand downs have been scrapped until July 2021. Ideally they will remain scrapped.
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Comment:Open mike 31/10/2020
Date published: 9:36 am, October 31st, 2020All good in Wellington. Kowhai were brilliantly flowering the past few weeks. Have seen multiple monarchs fluttering about.
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Comment:The reeferendum fails
Date published: 3:25 pm, October 30th, 2020Yes to everything in your last paragraph
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Comment:The reeferendum fails
Date published: 3:24 pm, October 30th, 2020Nope, it's already law and takes effect shortly following the final election results.
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Comment:What should Labour do in the next three years?
Date published: 10:27 am, October 25th, 2020Labour need to be cultivating future leaders like Kiri Allan and Kieran McAnulty to lead Labour from 2024 into the 2026 election. Grant Robertson should not be elevated to the leadership because, renewal, and the public will have seen enough of him by 2024...
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Comment:This should have been the climate election
Date published: 9:16 pm, October 17th, 2020If by "systems thinking" you mean joined up thinking, then yes, I agree. I still view Nationals abhorrent failure to house SH1 road and rail workers in Kaikoura motels and hotels after the 2016 quakes but instead renting all those portacabins from the ...
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Comment:Open mike 17/10/2020
Date published: 2:49 pm, October 17th, 2020I hope the grapes aren't going to take a hammering from that bastard pest, harlequin ladybug. They managed to infest Wellington summer last, and have heard from people in Marlborough that the harlequin has managed to establish itself over there. Another ...
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Comment:Latest UMR Poll - National sinking
Date published: 9:08 am, October 14th, 2020There is a Colmar Brunton tomorrow.
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Comment:Daily review 28/09/2020
Date published: 6:58 am, September 29th, 202065,000 overseas votes. It's on the election website.
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Comment:Open mike 25/09/2020
Date published: 8:46 am, September 25th, 2020There's actually no extra light. The amount of sunshine hours remains the same so the curtain principle is a misnomer. The only thing that changes is the false equivalence that there is "more" daylight at the end of the working day thanks to the completely...
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Comment:Open mike 25/09/2020
Date published: 7:44 am, September 25th, 2020This morning I woke up at 6.15am with it being nice and light outside. It was glorious. Then sadness kicked in when I realised the artifical construct that is Daylight Saving, invented by the Germans, starts on Sunday leading NZ back into the dark ages. No...
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Comment:Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government: Style over substance or a guiding light for progressive politics?
Date published: 8:59 am, August 10th, 2020Scott Watson? Judith likely to pull an upset win? I think you mean Scott Morrison, and Judith is unlikely to pull an upset win? The challenge for Labour if they win (nothing is ever certain) is to be bold, although given Grant's poo-poohing of MMT, I'm not...
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Comment:NZ First is in trouble in Northland
Date published: 12:39 pm, August 9th, 2020NZ first has a high churn of members and MPs. The only consistent MP in NZ1st that's been there since it began has been WP. That's part of NZ1st problem. Winston seems to not let any NZ1st MP hang around longer than 2 terms at the most, so there's never ...
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Comment:NZ First is in trouble in Northland
Date published: 11:24 am, August 9th, 2020NZ1st have focused on the wrong person. They should be focusing on Tracey Martin, winning Ohariu, and making Tracey the next NZ1st leader. The focus on Jones is misplaced as he's a lazybones. He's not well liked in the Far North, and my whanau links up ...
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Comment:Open mike 08/08/2020
Date published: 9:30 pm, August 8th, 2020Oh it'll be a fascinating night all around regardless. The only question remaining is just how much Labour will win by :)
- NZ Politics Daily: 27 January 2021
Covid: Vaccine Tova O’Brien (Newshub): New Zealand catching up to allies on COVID-19 vaccines but mass roll-out won’t begin until mid-year Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Not much time for DHBs to get ready to administer Covid vaccines, vendor warns Rowan Quinn (RNZ): Health staff train up to administer Pfizer vaccine Henry Cooke (Stuff): PM says government approval for Pfizer vaccine possible ...2 hours ago - Postmodernism – the joke is on society
Postmodernism has long been looked upon as an indecipherable ideology and a source of amusement. In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a hoax article published in ‘Social Text’ an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In ‘Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of ...12 hours ago - Study: Accounting for value of nature reinforces Paris climate targets
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew study in Nature Sustainability incorporates the damages that climate change does to healthy ecosystems into standard climate-economics models. The key finding in the study by Bernardo Bastien-Olvera and Frances Moore from the University of California at Davis: The models have been underestimating the ...13 hours ago - Dane Giraud: It’s time to “hound” beagle into doing his jobIn a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...16 hours ago
- To kill a beast.
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...18 hours ago - Going after the money
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...22 hours ago - Good riddance againLast month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...23 hours ago
- How worried should we be about these new Covid-19 mutations?
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...23 hours ago - Community Or Chaos: Chris Trotter Talks To Marvin Hubbard.
1 day ago - NZ Politics Daily: 26 January 2021Covid Luke Malpass (Stuff): Northland Covid-19 case threatens to bring summer to screeching halt Audrey Young (Herald): Aussie suspension adds to Cabinet’s Covid agenda (paywalled) Richard Harman: Testing the limts – the Northland Covid-19 case Katie Todd (RNZ): ‘This is totally on the government’ – anger grows in Northland after community case revealed Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Northland Covid-19 case will be top of ...1 day ago
- The SCIARA Project – Interactive Time Travel into the Climate FutureThis is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...2 days ago
- The Winds Of Change.2 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 25 January 2021Covid Harry Lock (RNZ): Covid community case: Infection at MIQ facility ‘most likely scenario’ Jamie Morton (Herald): Time to ‘turn down tap’ on travel from risky countries, experts say Kate Green and Jackson Thomas (Stuff): Covid-19 response, experts say in wake of probable case Audrey Young (Herald): Where is Jacinda Ardern’s collectivism when it is needed for Covid 19?(paywalled) Herald: Editorial: More spreadable ...2 days ago
- Josh Van Veen: A Modest defence of Chris LiddellIs it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...2 days ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #4A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021 Editor's Choice 12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate change Authors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...3 days ago
- Twelve Forgotten Principles of Public Health
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...4 days ago - Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2020This article, guest authored by Robert Sweeney was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Jan 13, 2021. The first part of the article is reposted below in. Click here to access the complete original article and comments posted on Carbon Brief. Last year was meant to be very ...4 days ago
- How is the Economy Doing?
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...5 days ago - COVID-19 vaccines and community immunity (transmission)Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...5 days ago
- Biden’s Choice
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...5 days ago - Four years of the Aotearoa NZ Science Journalism FundKeana Virmani From healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects. Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...5 days ago
- Places to go, people to beNothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...5 days ago
- BannedThe Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...5 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 22 January 2021Housing Luke Malpass (Stuff): Labour announces that it will make more housing announcements this year Zane Small and Conor Whitten (Newshub): Backlash over Labour’s public housing ‘re-announcement’ prompts firm defence from Jacinda Ardern Chris Trotter: The Economic consequences of Mr Hickey Miriam Bell (Stuff): More public housing won’t ‘fix’ the housing crisis Yvette McCullough (RNZ): Jacinda Ardern’s government facing continued criticism over its ...5 days ago
- The Economic Consequences Of Mr Hickey."Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...5 days ago
- Should tech giants control the public square?by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...5 days ago
- What Biden and Democatic Senate can do on climate in their first 100 daysThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...6 days ago
- The Adventures of Annalax: Volume XVI
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...6 days ago - ReliefLast night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...6 days ago
- Joe Biden inauguration: The pendulum has swung, but how far?
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...6 days ago - NZ Politics Daily: 21 January 2021Jenée Tibshraeny (Interest): Greens say house prices need to fall Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Green Party will continue to push for wealth tax, blast Govt for ‘not doing enough’ about housing crisis Anna Whyte (1News): ‘Government is not doing enough’ – Greens, National call for action amid soaring public housing need, high house prices Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Govt can’t, and won’t, ...6 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #3, 2021Weather reporting turns into climate recording Leading a quartet of researchers, Chunlüe Zhou produces a tour de force of improved and more productive data exploitation in the paper A New Approach to Homogenize Global Subdaily Radiosonde Temperature Data from 1958 to 2018. Due to operational constraints, characteristics and the limited objectives of the ...7 days ago
- Why Do So Many Astronomy Discoveries Fail to Live Up to the Hype?Dan Falk Britons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...7 days ago
- Book Review: Unlocking the World of AutismSara Luterman Growing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...7 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 20 January 2021Housing Henry Cooke (Stuff): Public housing waitlist grows by 1000 in two months to new record high as high rents hit the poor Jason Walls (Herald): The Crown spent $16.5 million in four years on motels for emergency accommodation Sophie Trigger (Herald): Affordable Wellington flats offered through council initiative Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Shipping container for rent at $390/wk: Council to inspect ...1 week ago
- Breathing Life into the Corpse FlowerDoug Johnson The alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...1 week ago
- Gillett et al. (2021) global warming attribution studyThe Human vs. Natural Contributions to Global Warming chart on the Skeptical Science Graphics Page has been updated to include the study discussed below A new study published in Nature Climate Change, Gillett et al. (2021), is the latest in a long line of 'detection and attribution' studies published over the past 20-plus years ...1 week ago
- JEEMGetting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...1 week ago
- The cold supply chain can’t reach everywhere – that’s a big problem for equitable COVID-19 vac...Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts Amherst To mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...1 week ago
- Vaccines are cheapIsrael chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...1 week ago
- Irish Marxist looks at postmodern transgender identity politics and ideologyOrla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...1 week ago
- 2020: The History That Was – Part 2
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...1 week ago - NZ Politics Daily: 19 January 2021Parliament, government, and extremism Chris Trotter (Interest): Trump’s surprisingly large army of New Zealand supporters Jason Walls (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won’t say if she’s backing Chris Liddell for OECD’s top job Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Familiar titles with a new twist Peter McKenzie (Spinoff): The progressive fault lines facing New Zealand in 2021 and beyond Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): How ...1 week ago
- What the Blood Supply Shows About Covid-19’s SpreadNathaniel Scharping In March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...1 week ago
- Coronavirus: few vaccines prevent infection – here’s why that’s not a problemSarah L Caddy, University of Cambridge Vaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...1 week ago
- Climate Change: Ending coal in PortugalBack in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...1 week ago
- Trump's Surprisingly Large Army Of New Zealand Supporters.The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...1 week ago
- Aristocracy of Pull continuesRNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...1 week ago
- The Plan B implosion – what Brazil teaches us about the herd immunity hogwashAs families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 18 January 2021Housing Bernard Hickey (Stuff): The ‘brutal’ catch-22 politics of trying to move to affordable housing Bernard Hickey: Why work when you can just own houses? Miriam Bell (Stuff): Consents are up, but will that help with NZ’s stubborn housing shortage? Miriam Bell (Stuff): New house listings have surged so far this year – but it’s not enough Miriam Bell (Stuff): House ...1 week ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021 Editor's Choice NASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to help Photo by Michael Held on Unsplash ...1 week ago
- The frail elderly and COVID vaccines – should we be concerned?Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...2 weeks ago
- Guest post: How to ‘fairly’ share emissions from goods traded around the worldThis article, guest authored by Dr Michael Jakob, Dr Hauke Ward & Dr Jan C Stecke, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Jan 4, 2021. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Photo by Kingsley Jebaraj on Unsplash Each year, close ...2 weeks ago
- How good is the AstraZeneca vaccine looking? Look at the data, not news headlinesHappy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...2 weeks ago
- Opening Pandora’s American Box
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...2 weeks ago - 100 Days 4 ActionSchool Strike 4 Climate is holding a "100 Days 4 Action" rally outside Parliament on the 26th: The Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “We ...2 weeks ago
- A Big Science Publisher Is Going Open Access. But at What Cost?Grigori Guitchounts In November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...2 weeks ago
- Early next step: Add risk management to National Climate AssessmentThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...2 weeks ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 15 January 2021Tiwai Point Smelter deal Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Aluminium smelter deal – who caved? Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Power play: Meridian Energy reaches deal with Rio Tinto over Tiwai Point Smelter No Right Turn: Paying the BluffGeld Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Tiwai Point negotiations continuing despite breakthrough on smelter RNZ: Locals ‘absolutely thrilled’ about Tiwai Point’s revival Evan Harding (Stuff): Tiwai aluminium smelter to stay open until ...2 weeks ago
- Will New Zealand’s Body-Politic Be Snatched By Trumpism?“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...2 weeks ago
- Thoughts on the Amazon LOTR TV Series Synopsis
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...2 weeks ago - Hat tips to history
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...2 weeks ago - Ideology as an organising principle.For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...2 weeks ago
- Paying the BluffGeldSo, Rio Tinto has supposedly reached a deal with Meridian and Contact to give them cheaper electricity prices and keep the Tiwai Point smelter open. Down south, they're celebrating. But the rest of us shouldn't be. I've argued before that the best thing this foreign polluter can do is close. ...2 weeks ago
- Impeached againThe US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...2 weeks ago
- Dire wolves went extinct 13,000 years ago but thanks to new genetic analysis their true story can no...Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Thanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...2 weeks ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 14 January 2021Twitter suspension of NZ accounts Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Twitter’s suspension of New Zealand-based right-wing accounts ‘an overreaction’ – Simon Bridges Alex Braae (Spinoff): NZ right-wingers caught up in global purge of Twitter accounts No Right Turn: The Twitter Purge Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ far-right Twitter accounts suspended Jason Walls (Herald): Twitter crackdown reaches NZ: Hundreds of NZ right-wing users kicked off Twitter ...2 weeks ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2, 2021Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...2 weeks ago
- The Mob Rules Society: Reckoning between an Idea versus the Reality of America as chickens came home...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...2 weeks ago - The Twitter PurgeIn the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...2 weeks ago
- They’re everywhere: New study finds polyester fibres throughout the Arctic OceanPeter S. Ross, University of British Columbia The Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...2 weeks ago
- Time to tackle the housing crisis!
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...2 weeks ago - Cleansing the TwittersI’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...2 weeks ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 13 January 2021Covid Nick Wilson & Michael Baker (The Conversation): With COVID-19 mutating and surging, NZ urgently needs to tighten border controls Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Government’s latest Covid measures described as both too strong and too weak RNZ: Covid-19: Ban on UK flights should be considered – Professor Nick Wilson Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Covid-19 testing numbers plummet, worrying experts Phillip Hill & Brian ...2 weeks ago
- Liam Hehir: Do as I say – the ongoing risks of covid hypocrisyThe hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party supports demands by School Strike 4 Climate NZ
The Green Party supports the demands by School Strike 4 Climate NZ that were announced today. ...21 hours ago - Grainne Moss’ resignation welcome, it must pave way for Māori leadership at OTThe Green Party welcomes the resignation of Grainne Moss as Chief Executive of Oranga Tamariki. ...5 days ago
- More public houses where they’re needed most
Labour is building thousands of new state houses as part of our work to ensure every Kiwi has a warm, dry place to call home. ...6 days ago - Worsening housing crisis must prompt actionA growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...7 days ago
- Major redevelopment of Wainuiomata High School underway
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...49 mins ago - New expert group appointed to advise Government on Oranga TamarikiA skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...5 hours ago
- COVID-19 vaccine slated for possible approval next weekThe green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...18 hours ago
- New ACC Board members announced.The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...21 hours ago
- Economic boost for Southland maraeThe Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...1 day ago
- Celebrating the Entry Into Force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...5 days ago
- Supporting disabled people to stay connectedThe Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...5 days ago
- Voluntary saliva testing offered to quarantine workers from MondayBorder workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...5 days ago
- Next steps in firearms buy-backThe next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...5 days ago
- Jobs for Nature projects target iconic ecosystemsUpscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...6 days ago
- New Public Housing Plan announcedThe Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...6 days ago
- Prime Minister congratulates President Joe Biden on his inaugurationPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...6 days ago
- Jobs for Nature funding will create training and employment opportunitiesA major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...1 week ago
- Pre-departure testing extended to all passengers to New ZealandTo further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...1 week ago
- Bay Cadets learn skills to protect environmentBay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...1 week ago
- Cook Islanders to resume travel to New ZealandThe Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...2 weeks ago
- Supporting communities and landowners to grow employment opportunitiesJobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...2 weeks ago
- Border exception for some returning international tertiary studentsThe Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...2 weeks ago
- Tiwai deal gives time for managed transitionToday’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...2 weeks ago
- New member for APEC Business Advisory CouncilPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s careful economic management recognisedThe Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...2 weeks ago
- Additional actions to keep COVID-19 out of NZThe Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...2 weeks ago
- 19 projects will clean up and protect waterways$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...3 weeks ago
- New Zealand Government acknowledges 175th anniversary of Battle of RuapekapekaThe commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...3 weeks ago
- If border restrictions increase to combat new COVID-19 strains, what rights do returning New Zealand...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...18 mins ago - Housing: Judith Collins says free up land and bring in more tradespeople
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...54 mins ago - ‘These people are my heroes’: An industry insider on NZ music’s #MeToo reckoning
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...1 hour ago - Pfizer Boss Pours Cold Water On Ardern Claim Of Possible Aussie Delay
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...2 hours ago - Could the Biden administration pressure Australia to adopt more humane refugee policies?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...2 hours ago
- Domestic violence soars after natural disasters. Preventing it needs to be part of the emergency res...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Boddy, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of School (Learning and Teaching), Griffith University Domestic and family violence soars in the months and years following natural disasters. It usually involves physical and psychological violence perpetrated by men against women and children, but ...2 hours ago
- We are the 1%: the wealth of many Australians puts them in an elite club wrecking the planetSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...2 hours ago
- It’s not just about the rise in anti-Semitism: why we need real stories for better Holocaust educa...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...2 hours ago
- Dressed for success – as workers return to the office, men might finally shed their suits and tiesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...2 hours ago
- Live updates, January 27: ‘Really unlikely’ Covid-19 spread through Pullman ventilationWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...2 hours ago
- With the US now calling China’s treatment of the Uyghurs ‘genocide’, how should NZ respond?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...3 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Collins outlines the plan forward for NationalGood morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...3 hours ago
- Long wait for trans-Tasman bubble just got even longer
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...3 hours ago - Near-empty hotels hibernate for winter
The hurt caused by border closures is proving unsustainable for some of the country's 330 hotels, and they are closing their doors. ...3 hours ago - Pākehā invading the Māori mind: The strange case of Roderick Finlayson
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...3 hours ago - Covid concerns continue to weigh on travel stocks
Business & Investing: While travel stocks felt pressure, Chorus and Synlait had good news ...4 hours ago - Govt moves again on Oranga Tamariki
Children's Minister Kelvin Davis will have independent eyes and ears across Oranga Tamariki over the next five months as the Government tries to change the work and practices of the ministry. The Government has created a Māori-led watchdog to oversee how the children's ministry, Oranga Tamariki, deals with parents and ...4 hours ago - Plan flexibly, build more or pay the price
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. Broken urban planning systems make for misery even in the best of times. If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as ...4 hours ago - Covid-19: At the back of the vaccine queue
What if it was better for the world – and even for NZ – if we waited at the back of the line for Covid-19 vaccines? ...5 hours ago - A disaster no one is paying attention to
When an Auckland school classroom went up in flames in December last year, exploding asbestos over neighbouring houses, five separate government agencies were involved. Yet stressed residents dealing with the aftermath on their homes say the response felt chaotic and uncoordinated; even local MPs who got involved couldn't get the information they wanted. Hundreds of thousands of ...5 hours ago - The new bank branch: pull up a stool
The pandemic has accelerated the trend of doing our banking online instead of in person. This rapid digital embrace has, in turn, sped up the closure of many smaller bank branches. But, as Mark Jennings writes, there are new branches springing up with a different look and purpose. Auckland’s Wynyard ...5 hours ago - At 58, waka ama legend still leads the way
Corrina Gage has represented New Zealand in a trio of water sports. But it's her love for waka ama - and the opportunities it gives paddlers from 5 to 85 - that keeps her racing and coaching around the world. Lake Karāpiro is quiet and still now. But last week, it was all noise ...5 hours ago - Judith Collins wants to help solve the country’s housing crisis. Do people care?Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti.Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug.Elevated to her ...5 hours ago
- Is there an end in sight for Ōtara’s gang problem?A gang turf war gripped the South Auckland suburb in late 2020, forcing schools to lock down and armed police to patrol the streets. Community leaders are now warning the cycle of violent retribution could continue in 2021, unless radical interventions are made.The violent altercations that loomed large in Ōtara ...5 hours ago
- Go hard and go early on climate change
This will be a watershed year as we move from climate advocacy to action. We proved we could do it with Covid. ...8 hours ago - Contaminated waste dumping: Ardern weighs options against companies in breachThe prime minister has put companies dumping contaminated waste into sewers on notice, saying she's seeking advice about the available options. ...16 hours ago
- Protesters demand rapid action on climate changeMore than 100 climate strikers gathered at Parliament to hand over a list of demands for rapid action from the government. ...17 hours ago
- My favourite detective: Jules Maigret, the Paris detective with a pipe but no pretenceSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...18 hours ago
- Watch: Jacinda Ardern speaks in first post-Cabinet briefing of 2021Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says approval for the Pfizer vaccine could come as early as Wednesday next week. ...18 hours ago
- New Zealand and China upgrade free trade agreementThe New Zealand and Chinese governments have signed an upgrade to the free trade agreement between the two countries. ...19 hours ago
- Kit Marlowe died 400 years ago – but he’s back, and sexy as hellAuckland writer Olivia Hayfield* explains how she resurrected 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe to star in her new novel, Sister to Sister. Olivia Hayfield is a pen name. Real name: Sue Copsey. When I’m planning my modern retellings of historical tales, I read widely on the characters and see who leaps out at ...19 hours ago
- Pfizer vaccine could be approved next week
The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine could be approved as early as next week, Marc Daalder reports Medsafe will be asked to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 on February 2, the Government has announced. The Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an independent panel that provides advice on some medicine approvals in ...19 hours ago - Watch live: Jacinda Ardern speaks in first post-Cabinet briefing of 2021The prime minister is addressing media in a post-Cabinet conference after holding the first Cabinet meeting of the year today. ...19 hours ago
- Bryan Kramer: How many PNG police chiefs have had a degree? NoneCOMMENT: By Bryan Kramer, PNG’s Minister of Police who has defended Commissioner Manning’s appointment today in The National My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to ...20 hours ago
- The political payoff is plain but is it smart to borrow $219,512 per job (mostly temporary) to spruc...
The Point of Order Trough Monitor was triggered today by the announcement of a $9 million handout for Southlanders – sorry, some Southlanders. The news came from the office of Grant Robertson who, as Minister of Finance, prefers to invest public money rather than give it away – especially when ...20 hours ago - Frame: Behind the scenes of Chlöe Swarbrick’s historic Auckland Central campaignFew people outside of her campaign team gave Chlöe Swarbrick any chance of winning in Auckland Central this year – but the Green Party MP was too busy to listen. Here’s how they turned the electorate green.First published November 12, 2020.Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short ...20 hours ago
- Discrimination by healthcare providers could affect immunisation rates – studyInteractions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake.Released today, the report is based on research ...20 hours ago
- Collins: No time to prioritise climate change
The Opposition starts the political year calling for emergency, temporary legislation to free up house building National leader Judith Collins has set five priorities for her party over the next three years - but excluded climate change, education and Crown-Māori relations. Giving her first 'state of the nation' speech as party ...21 hours ago - Judith Collins focuses on housing, Covid-19 in National's state of the nation addressNational is calling on the government to introduce urgent temporary legislation to make it easier to build houses. ...21 hours ago
- Let’s see what Andrew Little prescribes to remedy structural weaknesses in NZ’s health system
One of the biggest challenges facing the Ardern government is in public health. New Zealand may have escaped the pressures heaped on other health systems by the Covid-19 pandemic but its health service has had its problems, not least those exposed in the first report from Heather Simpson and her ...22 hours ago - NZ covid: 14 close contacts of Northland case test negativeNew Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results. Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative. In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”. However, New ...23 hours ago
- RSF condemns Google for dropping Australian media searches in ‘tests’Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the arbitrary and opaque experiments that Google is conducting with its search engine in Australia, with the consequence that many national news websites are no longer appearing in the search results seen by some users. The Australian, ABC, Australian Financial ...23 hours ago
- Contaminant dumping: Minister says companies must comply with consentsLocal Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says councils can take stronger action against companies dumping contaminated waste water, even though they have identified loopholes in the law on fines. ...23 hours ago
- Will Drag Race Down Under truly represent the NZ drag scene?Drag Race Down Under, part of the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, is filming in New Zealand. In their own words, local drag talent share what drag means to them and how it might be impacted by the show.RuPaul’s Drag Race is, quite simply, a television phenomenon. Love it or ...23 hours ago
- Fee fi fo fum, the weighted blanket industry has comeFor a long time, weighted blankets were considered a specialist device. Now they’re popular with even the most normal sleepers.Growing up, Temple Grandin spent time on her aunt’s cattle ranch in America, watching cow after stressed cow enter a squeeze chute and come out calm as the dead sea. She ...1 day ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – January 26 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Covid Luke Malpass (Stuff): Northland Covid-19 case threatens to bring summer to screeching halt Audrey Young (Herald): Aussie suspension adds to Cabinet’s Covid agenda (paywalled) Richard Harman: Testing the limts – the Northland Covid-19 ...1 day ago
- Survey – Govt’s “shot Gun” COVID Tax-relief Measures Mostly Hit The MarkIncreased provisional tax thresholds, immediate low-value asset write offs and allowing the deferral of tax payments and use of money interest (UOMI) write offs were the most popular tax measures introduced by the Government to help businesses survive ...1 day ago
- Police Pursuits Sky-rocket To Record High – So Police Stop ChasingThe latest fleeing driver statistics show the numbers of incidents sky-rocketing out of control through 2020 with Police deciding the only tactic is to give up on chasing altogether, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The inconvenient truth is ...1 day ago
- Dolphins, Discrimination And The Government’s “Complicity By Silence”With new revelations of the appalling racism behind Israel’s refusal to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 4.5 million Palestinians under its occupation and control, PSNA has renewed our call for the government to speak out alongside the United Nations ...1 day ago
- School Strike 4 Climate NZ's January 26th 100 Days 4 Action RallyThe Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again, on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “COVID-19 may have stopped us in our tracks in the past. However, I tend ...1 day ago
- A new 3D koala genome will aid efforts to defend the threatened speciesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Parwinder Kaur, Associate Professor | Director, DNA Zoo Australia, University of Western Australia Koalas are unique in the animal kingdom, living on a eucalyptus diet that would kill other creatures and drinking so little their name comes from the Dharug word gula, ...1 day ago
- Burnt ancient nutshells reveal the story of climate change at Kakadu — now drier than ever beforeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, Research fellow, University of Wollongong Archaeological research provides a long-term perspective on how humans survived various environmental conditions over tens of thousands of years. In a paper published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, we’ve tracked rainfall in northern ...1 day ago
- Auf Wiedersehen, ‘Mutti’: How Angela Merkel’s centrist politics shaped Germany and EuropeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Binoy Kampmark, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT University Since 2005, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has been one of the most stable and enduring of political forces, both in Europe and on the global stage. During her 16 ...1 day ago
- An unexpected consequence of climate change: heatwaves kill plant pests and save our favourite giant...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Australia is sweltering through another heatwave, and there will be more in the near future as climate change brings hotter, drier weather. In some parts of Australia, the number of days above 40℃ will ...1 day ago
- My favourite detective: Jules Maigret, the Paris detective with a pipe but no pretenseSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...1 day ago
- Experts urge rethink on using isolation hotels with sub-par ventilation
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Experts are calling for hotels with sub-par ventilation systems to no longer be used as managed isolation facilities as health officials investigate how a Northland woman became infected with Covid-19 while staying at the Pullman hotel, Rowan Quinn reports. ...1 day ago - Live updates, January 26: Thousands of Covid-19 test results expected back todayWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 26, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur Members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...1 day ago
- The Bulletin: What happens next after Northland Covid-19 caseGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions to be answered about case in the community, major companies flagrantly breaching wastewater consents, and Tenancy Tribunal decisions harming abuse survivors.As of this morning, we’re still waiting on some crucial information about the situation in Northland, after a person travelled ...1 day ago
- NZ must build collaboration, not more intense competition in the Asia-Pacific
With democracy what now separates the US from its adversaries, Wellington can bet on more continuity than change in Washington’s hardline view of China. ...1 day ago - Latest Covid scare weighs on travel stocks
Business & Investing: New Covid scare hits some stock prices, Plus Don't bet on a Bitcoin rebound ...1 day ago - Plan flexibly, scale up construction, or pay the price
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. ...1 day ago - Love in Pukehina: The strange case of Roderick Finlayson
We continue our week-long examination of writer Roderick Finlayson. Today: his daughter Kate on his doomed love for Poti Mita, whose family inspired him to write short stories about Māori life in the 1930s We all knew of Poti Mita and how important Pukehina was to Dad. He wanted ...1 day ago - Agency ambitions spark tourism turf war
An expansion push by Tourism NZ sparked a behind-the-scenes, inter-agency tussle to control the industry's direction. ...1 day ago - Sleepyhead's dream answer to the housing crisis
Sleepyhead is chopping and changing its ambitious plan to build a super-factory and a community of 1100 medium density houses on a block of farmland in the north Waikato. Sydney Turner set his grandsons Craig and Graeme to work on the factory floor, building mattresses. Now Craig and Graeme Turner own ...1 day ago - We must avoid scares in vaccine rollout
Helen Petousis-Harris looks at the potential complications of vaccinating older New Zealanders - and how we should prepare Two weeks ago health authorities in Norway reported some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine. Are these deaths related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are ...1 day ago - Round-the-world solo sailor steers clear of her fears
A change of plans for round-the-world single-handed sailor Elana Connor means she's helping Kiwi kids in foster care to go sailing - as she also seeks to 'demystify' the sport for women. Elana Connor wears a silver necklace engraved with the word “Fearlessness”. As she sails solo around the globe, it reminds her that ...1 day ago - Climate Commission report: get it right or face catastrophe
New Zealand rose to the occasion in its response to Covid-19. Will it do the same for climate change? Jack Santa Barbara looks ahead to the Climate Change Commission report. New Zealand’s management of the Covid pandemic clearly demonstrated the benefits of paying attention to the science and prioritising human wellbeing ...1 day ago - After the pandemic: Will our system of healthcare change?
Was Covid-19 and lockdown the catalyst for a new future for healthcare or did it just expose systemic inequity? In the latest of a series on the country's future infrastructure needs, Tim Murphy looks at how the long push to shift health's focus from hospitals to the community might have received a nudge ...1 day ago - Keeping calm in a world gone viral
Not only is the New Zealand summer in danger of coming to a grinding halt, but we increase the risk that an almighty wreck might follow shortly afterwards. Here's what we can do, writes Dr Sarb Johal. While the rest of the world is wrestling with virulent new strains of the ...1 day ago - Twenty years of housing costs beating wages in one heinous chartFor two decades, under both National and Labour governments, housing costs have risen far faster than wages. Here’s a horrific graph that shows by just how much.Last Thursday saw the first of what will no doubt be dozens of housing-related set pieces from Labour, wherein they announced 8,000 public and ...1 day ago
- Siouxsie Wiles: How worried should we be about these new Covid-19 mutations?The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why.Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA made ...1 day ago
- Wealth Of New Zealand’s Richest Person’s Soars By $3.4bn Since Beginning Of PandemicNew Zealand’s richest citizen, Graeme Hart, has seen his fortune increase by NZ$3,494,333,333 since March 2020 – a sum equivalent to over half a million New Zealanders receiving a cheque for NZ$6,849 each, reveals a new analysis from Oxfam today. The New Zealand ...1 day ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – January 25 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Covid Harry Lock (RNZ): Covid community case: Infection at MIQ facility ‘most likely scenario’ Jamie Morton (Herald): Time to ‘turn down tap’ on travel from risky countries, experts say Kate Green and ...2 days ago
- Laws making social media firms expose major COVID myths could help Australia’s vaccine rolloutSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tauel Harper, Lecturer, Media and Communication, UWA, University of Western Australia With a vaccine rollout impending, key groups have backed calls for the Australian government to force social media platforms to share details about popular coronavirus misinformation. An open letter was put ...2 days ago
- Free PressSelling out ACT’s Waitangi Day State of the Nation Address is set to sell out again. If you’d like to start the political year right over brunch with fellow ACT supporters (Saturday 6 February 10am-12pm, Mt Eden), please buy your tickets ...2 days ago
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