Covid death rate of 8 per million compared to Australia’s 76, Japan’s 146, Germany’s 1,191, the UK’s 2,146 and America’s 2,316?
Covid infection rate of 200 per hundred thousand compared to Australia’s 777, Japan’s 1,372, Germany’s 6,457, the US’s 14,327 and the UK’s 14,677?
A vaccination rate of 145 doses per hundred residents, behind the UK at 167, Japan at 156 and Australia at 150 but ahead of the US at 135 and Germany at 142?
Debt to GDP ratio of 28% compared to 41% for Australia, Germany 57%, the UK 86%, the US’s 107% and Japan’s 238%?
An unemployment rate of 3.4% compared to Australia’s 5.6%, the UK’s 4.4%, the US’s 4.4% although Japan’s rate is 2.9%?
It seems to me we should continue to have a woman in charge although not Judith.
Shades of whatever have the Romans ever done for us.
Well even given the infrequent polls, it still seems that roughly 70% over 30% favour the Govt. handling of this awful COVID scenario.
Auckland business bleating again on RNZ this morning. Whinged about lockdowns, now lockdowns are being phased out Service Industry and petit bourgeoisie are whingeing about the non lock down regime!
I at least have some good news for some of these brats and poseurs–will be wearing a mask in public and avoiding cafes and crowds for some time to come. Have a nice day.
Power an it indicates misogyny is alive and well. Women are far more likely to receive abuse, threats and pornographic imagery than others. Sorry no reference there, but have read it many times. If you have evidence to the contrary far enough.. in the words of Germaine Greer, women don’t realise how much men hate them…..I know, I know Not all men……..I am happily married to one of the best, just to set the record straight
During my 24 years in a Public Service agency, dominated by men at the time, here are my experiences:
Initially refused permission to upgrade my qualifications on the grounds that I would marry and have babies and so it would be a waste of time.
Continued to refuse permission to upgrade etc. on the grounds I would never be able to pass the exams. I eventually passed with pleasing results.
Frequent attempts to harass and bully me for trumped up misdemeanours I never committed.
Attempted to discredit my work by changing a vital calculation. Fell flat on their faces because they forgot it was my job to send a copy to Wellington H.0. which was correct. Interfered with my computer in an attempt to prove incompetency. I was ahead of them on that one so it failed.
Arranged for colleagues to report any [supposed] misstep that could be used to dismiss me. None eventuated. I was told about that one by a former colleague – who had refused to cooperate – some time after it happened.
The basis of their hostility was political. I was a member of the Labour Party and after the Lange government came to power they convinced themselves I was spying on them and reporting their activity back to my 'handlers' in the Party – whoever they were supposed to be. Hard to believe but it was true. I had dropped out of politics about two years previously but these idiots knew better.
Shades of rabbit holes and false conspiracies. đ
2015? six years ago? Our son on Gold Coast has had their property go from S480 000 to $700 000 in one year. So Australia and several other countries assets have sharply revalued because of governments' cheap capital. This now changing back to more normal interest rates.
So in the midst of a housing affordability crises a government we elected to fix; average house prices went from $490k to $930k and the government did nothing extra?
The flu kills 500-600 people each year in NZ. I’m not sure that focusing on one virus while ignoring the other is good policy.
Of course any health policy’s effect on life expectancy and quality of life are factors which need to be taken into account. Our life expectancy has been somewhat lower than that of Australians. That seems set to continue.
The flu kills 500-600 people each year in NZ. I’m not sure that focusing on one virus while ignoring the other is good policy.
We have a vaccination programme for seasonal flu that targets at risk people. That's not ignoring. You're argument would hold more water if you put up some strategy ideas of lowering the flu rate.
As far as I can tell the covid response has lessen spread of influenza. Haven't seen the figures on flu deaths in NZ in past year though, does anyone know?
Of course any health policy’s effect on life expectancy and quality of life are factors which need to be taken into account. Our life expectancy has been somewhat lower than that of Australians. That seems set to continue.
So? From your first link,
Healthy life expectancy in Australia and New Zealand – the number of years a person can expect to live in good health – has increased steadily over the past three decades to 70 years in Australia and 69.4 in New Zealand, according to new research, but has not risen as much as overall life expectancy(82.9 and 81.8, respectively), indicating that people are living more years in poor health.
We have a vaccine available for the flu, a vaccine that many health professionals including doctors and nurses don’t use. What we don’t have is those professionals losing their jobs over their reasonable decision not to be vaccinated. That is very different to the vaccination programme for Covid.
Also the Government doesn’t borrow billions of dollars each flu season as such largesse would be unsustainable. We realise that people will die from the flu but the at-risk can get vaccinated if they wish. We don’t have restrictions imposed despite the possibility of harm including death.
It’s been predicted that lockdowns will have a negative effect on life expectancy. As I explained, we already have a lower life expectancy than those living in Australia. I suspect that gap will widen given our Government’s short-sighted decision to lockdown, a policy failure that will be felt for years to come.
I have to listen to loud old pale stale males everyday at work in a large smoko room.
It annoys me, to have these blockheads spouting off about Jacinda Ardern and many other woman MP's just to get laughs from other blockheads. Pretty sickening really.
I could say something but misogynists are so widespread in the community that it is futile and would get me offside with so many. I can't be bothered with most men, fullstop. No wonder there is so much family violence in Aotearoa.
Having said that, there are a lot of situations that women are best kept away from, for their own safety. Toxic aggressive male company is very prevalent in work and social settings. Once again, the older males are the most common, and their misogynist beliefs are being passed down to their young. It needs to stop.
I call it the little willy syndrome. These people desperately need to grow up.
Like a space time warp, some of these shit for brains seem to operate as if it is 1921 not 2021! Pathetic bravado in many cases. But silence is condoning…
I am a man and no problem with that personally, but I disown fully half of the others. Can’t stand them in my personal space, much prefer womenâs company and insight.
The fucking horrendous violent intimidation & extreme anti-social behaviour over the past 4 years in my parents' street (& their wider neighbourhood) is 100% Underclass Male MÄori … middle-aged & older Pakeha (both men & women, but particularly men) are the ones who have intervened to try & stop Male MÄori violence against both women & men.
No wonder there is so much family violence in Aotearoa.
Once again, disproportionately MÄori … around 5X the average [& to a somewhat lesser extent, Pasifika]
If that cold hard reality doesn't dovetail with your Woke dogma … then tough shit.
The patriarchal system fucks men over too, and allows everyone else to be fucked over, including your parents. Although I'd point to neoliberalism there, because wtaf that the various agencies can't sort that and other situations out, it's not rocket science.
Was the reason because they'd disconnected their heads from their hearts?
This is a lovely train of thought. We can see that in hunter/gatherer societies men do/did have hearts connected to their heads. Think aroha, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga concepts in MÄori cultures.
Our long evolution from apes to Homo sapiens to Homo destructicus included tribe/whÄnau as the primary unit of existence ie connection. How men become disconnected from that is worth exploring. Women remained more connected because having babies does that. It's not hard to draw a line from that to why women leaders have managed covid better (although I think the reasons are multiple and complex).
Evolution in humans clearly is an interaction of the biological, environmental and social. Female humans evolving the menstrual cycle and menopause are obvious ones. Might be good if men worked out how those interactions work for them and fit into the picture, eh (I'm sure there are men that have figured this out).
no. I've thought about it (for a very long time) and yes there are obviously reasons why male and female humans evolved differently in relation to size and strength.
for some strange reason Red has this idea that we were all biology and evolutionary denialists.
that there are evolutionary reasons why female and male humans evolved differently with regards to strength and size (that's why I said obviously, because it's obvious and I get why this is even a question).
So why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being more aggressive, more exposed to physical risk and to be more disposable? What benefit does have for them?
And why does all the research on this theme tell us that women sexually select for men who are taller, more physically powerful, more socially capable and self-confident – almost every single time? What benefit would this have for them?
As you seem to have noticed recently – biology matters.
"So why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being more aggressive, more exposed to physical risk and to be more disposable? What benefit does have for them?"
Alternately, why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being less aggressive, less exposed to physical risk and to be less disposable?
No, let's be clear … the common denominator in my parents neighbourhood … & it seems in most of the other cases that are beginning to finally see daylight around New Zealand … as hard as it may be for a self-interested socially-detached Woke to hear .. is Underclass MÄori Men (in terms of violent intimidation) … & Underclass MÄori of both sexes (in terms of anti-social behaviour … including both lower level intimidation & inflicting severe sleep deprivation throughout the night on neighbours).
We're talking about a policy in which the most hardcore anti-socials are casually dumped on unsuspecting neighbourhoods. Many, but by no means all, are gang-affiliated.
If we're going to head down this increasingly dangerous road of hyper-racial awareness demanded by CRT dogmatists … then I will certainly be naming the precise demographic the perpetrators of this violence belong to … Sunlight's always the best infectant.
Meanwhile, as I've suggested, the middle-aged & older Pakeha of the neighbourhood (esp men) have intervened at certain points to try to end the on-going violence … including (to take just one example) trying to stop one these guys from forcing a woman into a car just outside my Parents' house … she was terrified & screaming … everyone (including my elderly parents) rushed out to help … the MÄori guy was violently swearing his head off at everyone & threatening two of the (Pakeha male) neighbours with violence if they tried to intervene … "Fucking come here, you little fuck !!!" etc … courageously they persisted to help the woman … and it certainly takes real courage.
Not putting up with the Woke Fantasy World anymore. Bears precisely zero resemblance to cold hard reality … just an Upper-Middle Vanity Project … where those on lower incomes are systematically scapegoated in the most brutal way (by the very people who disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation) … essentially the antithesis of the genuine trad Left … Zero patience with the rank cowards, covert sadists & morally posturing hypocrites who casually throw others to the wolves for their own prestige enhancement among their little clique (and that includes the more dogmatic Woke minority on this site … though, I hasten to add, most people here are more than decent).
I was pointing to the common denominator in your situation and Greenbus's situation. In both case there are men behaving badly, in quite different ways. I'm suggesting that how men are socialised is part of that.
But also, obviously in your parents's neighbourhood, class is a major factor. You put any group of men into the lives those men are leading and many will turn out like that.
I don't have a problem with you naming them as MÄori underclass men, so long as Greenbus can point to the descriptors in their situation as well. It's what meaning we attach to that that determines the politics.
Swordfish I completely feel for you and your parents and feel outraged by this situation. Bet if this was happening to a politician the rules would change by lunchtime. Boot out the anti social tenants and let someone else on the waiting list have a home.
read that Kai Orangi were offering tenants in this situation a security guard and counselling ffs
Read between the lines mate. Some things are best left unspoken. As for old whities, many many are terrible racists and misogynists and if you don't know that then you need to get out more.
All of the people I'm talking about are in management positions from bottom to top. They are the real scum of society. I hang out with battlers, shun most of the men that are being dicks and associate with the young people – who don't display this dimwit behaviour.
Many friends have said "We have to learn to live with it." At first I, like many others resisted that idea, and would come back with "Die with it more like".
After reading listening and discussing the fact that Delta is not able to be eradicated, I like many now see vaccination plus masks social distancing and good hand washing practice as necessary methods of minimising the transmission of this now endemic disease.
We have completely changed how we do certain things. We follow the numbers every day flinching when they are over 200. We no longer "pop" to see friends, we now call and set times for visits. Shopping has changed with a great deal of online click and collect or delivery to the door by masked staff. After reading up on effective hand cleaning we went back to our cakes of soap. We have always aired our home, but we are much more aware of access to and use of fresh air when visitors come, now the gardens is full of roses and the weather more settled.
We have Auckland family we have not seen for twelve months since we lunched on the Lakeland Queen for my 79th birthday, and sadly that tourist business has folded. Our eldest son was over for a day visit as soon as their lockdown ended, as he like us was at home almost full time.
I don't know if the management of these challenges were improved by the current PM, but all countries led by women appeared to do well initially, though Germany looks very scary now. Our PM manages crises well rising to all the challenges of covid.
Let's use the guides to the new system with sensitivity, and stay safe in a covid world.
You might not want to celebrate the day before night has fallen.
Maybe you want to wait until say, December 29th before writing such celebratory nonsense in regards to Covid – which would be about three weeks after Freedom Day.
While I don't think we will ever get to the unbelievable death rates of the UK and the US, in many ways we are only just about to start living the way they have been since March 2020. Living with the virus becomes our reality on Freedom Day and as a consequence of that we will see deaths on an almost daily basis from Christmas onwards.
Those who keep back slapping our current rates remind me of George Bush and his infamous Mission Accomplished speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Thankfully our government isn't really like that, but some of its cheerleaders certainly are.
The test isn't whether we end up in a mess, but whether we end up in as bad a mess as other countries whose leaders have taken a less compassion stance.
Labour were always going to have to go back to being economics focused at some point. The question here is how much the compassion and feminism will mitigate that.
so being a mess as a country is acceptable if the responses of other countries led to more of a mess? the cult of managerialism is strong in that answer.
What you've said, as I read it, is akin to "there is no point doing anything about climate change in NZ as india and china still use coal"
Why can't we just be good? or great? instead of the relavatism of "better" relying on the worsening of our fellow countries for us to achieve anything
Also, you missed my point. Sabine is pointing to the problem of letting covid out into the rest of NZ. I'm saying this is Labour, it was inevitable given delta, and the measuring stick isn't whether it's bad or not (people are doing to die, people are going to be disabled), it's whether it's a shitshow or whether we are able to mitigate the worst of it.
Kind of like climate change. We missed the boat on EVs saving the day, by some decades. There are still many critical things we need to do, but let's not pretend we're going to prevent catastrophe. What's on the table now is how much we can save and how much damage we can limit.
If we want to achieve some further maturity, acceptance, forgiveness, communication etc etc in NZ society (needed) discussions and debates, little digs like that (as seen in our Parliament?) need to be removed, it only pulls us all down to further immaturity. When it seems we actually need and want more maturity in NZ. let’s raise the level, just a little at a time at least
Some of us pale, male, stales manage to criticise a politician for their policies. I would happily mock Collins any day of the week, and yet somehow manage not to make it about her gender. It's not hard, is it?
I'd wager that to a Collins supporter your mockery of her would look just like 'misogyny'.
But then like 'racism' it's become one of those emotionally laden words that's been so twisted and stretched out of shape to have become virtually useless in any meaningful discussion.
It's a straightforward test. "Ardern = communist" is wrong, in my subjective opinion. "Ardern = pretty little communist" is gendered, in objective fact.
But you know this already, unless you carefully avert your eyes from all coverage of the anti-Ardern protests.
Collins is one of the women allowed into the boys' club because she agrees to play the game the way that the boys want it*. Probably agrees with that too. It's no uncommon for this to happen, think Shipley, Richardson, Thatcher. Or Clark for that matter. The women who want to change that system have tended to get out. Ardern has stayed and make some positive changes (I think the strong MÄori caucus is part of this too).
Women as a class are better leaders at this time on covid response, for a range of reasons. This doesn't mean all women are good leaders, it just means that as a group there is something that women are doing that is different from men. And it also means that some women would be just as bad as say Trump or Boris Johnson.
*for people having a reaction to that, understand that the boys club refers to the patriarchy, a system based on privileging men (and wealth, Caucasian ethnicity, male, fit body norms, etc). It doesn't mean that men are bad.
The real giveaway here is 'thinking time'. Not that much thinking goes on.
In conversation, somebody might mutter "stupid little woman" or some such, because in real time we all say things instantly and then regret them.
But these anti-Ardern signs are prepared. They have thought "What shall I write?" and then they have decided. And there's a little light bulb in our heads that should say "Good idea … no, maybe not." So we don't add swastikas and other idiocy because the light bulb suggests it's not a good idea. Not these guys.
What's more, after they've taken the time and trouble to make the sign about the "mad cow" or "horse face" or whatever, they've met up with their friends and their little light bulbsaren't working either. They haven't had pushback from fellow protesters saying "Do you really want that message? Isn't this about water or utes?" etc. After all, you can only hold up one placard at a time.
Think about the group mentality that says misogyny is not only acceptable, it's clever. With all of that thinking time … they still go ahead and make it their preferred message. Those are people (men) with major issues.
Those people making sexist hateful vicious attacks are envious of Arderns success.They can't beat her at virtually any level in honest debates.So are resorting to lowdown Dirty tactics/politics.
when was the last time we had a man in charge? I would suggest ,maybe mike moore, geoffrey palmer . key was NOT in charge, who has he ALWAYS worked for???.bolger was led by ruthless, then winston, then whatshername. maybe you could argue that the last time we had a man in charge was muldoon, and what a phuckup that was-is.
Our woman in charge did a good job in Parliament question time yesterday over their woman in charge. The PM was in charge of information and the issues as raised.
The best bit for me came when having just asked a question about what restrictions would take place at what level, the Leader of the Opposition asked a question about a particular instance,
Ardern cheerfully pointed out that the question showed that Collins already had a good understanding of the covid restrictions and her previous question was somewhat unnecessary.
For those questioning Ardern's leadership she showed in these exchanges a grasp of detail and a quick mind and wit, a command presence and a passion, logical thinking and clear expression.
On the other hand, Collins was asked to ask a question again when she could not control her feelings- "what the hell" was the phrase used.
Ardern very clearly told Cameron from ACT who asked why she did not talk to Groundswell that she spoke to a series of farmer and rural groups and listed them.
She also listed for Collins the good results we have had in NZ in a series of areas in these Covid times. It was very reminiscent of what the Romans have done for us-oiur version has low death rates, high business resilience, low unemployment, low infection rates, low hospitalisation rates.
I think Ardern is a great leader. Her response to Chch massacre and 1st round of covid outstanding.
re sacking people….David Clark, she rightly said she couldn’t sack in a pandemic, but did when the situation was less critical and second misdemeanour. Lees-Galloway gone by lunchtime as minister for work place relations. In interviews and question time mostly Ardern is quick witted and we’ll informed. She has seemed tired and under the weather this year, understandable for all she has had to deal with……….I think she is great, even though I have turned away from Labour and will not be voting for them next time
I think the guys who hold up these sexist signs, make themselves look so ridiculous that I can’t really take seriously. It is the men who threaten women, eg the likes of JK Rowling with rape and death threats that are dangerous and misogynistic
Ardern appeared to come out of nowhere in 2017. But her origin sits within the tight circle of Hipkins, King, and Robertson. King in particular worked caucus very hard to ensure that the transition from King to Ardern in the Deputy position was totally unanimous.
That's the positioning, ready for Shearer and then Little to fall.
That doesn't deny Ardern her own agency. The construction of the digital infrastructure with the "Burns Unit" was critical within the public campaign. Nor does it deny her popularity.
But the positioning had been occurring for years beforehand, and Robertson was not only key then, he now holds all the budget power.
Robertson is an intelligent, centrist, neoliberal with zero personality. Ardern is an intelligent, centrist, neoliberal with recognised empathetic personality. If JA decides to leave, or is pushed and Robertson takes over, it's hard to see any glimmer of anything mildly progressive on the agenda and even a depressed and chaotic oppositon looking well placed to do well in the next NZ GE.
I prefer Robertson since he is by a long way the most interventionist Minister of Finance we've had since Muldoon.
Labour's progressive agenda is primarily in the hands of this one Minister: all those big ticket items like Minimum Wage, Living Wage, $55b wage guarantee that kept unemployment under 4%, PGF, industry loans, sectoral wage increases, choking the banks, joining up ACC NZSuper and Govt Super funds together, increasing welfare, increasing tax on the very rich – that's on Robertson like no other.
No, that is not accurate Ad. "That's how she got there'.
Robertson chose her as his running mate in the Labour Party Election of a new Leader. Andrew Little won that and worked with the advice of Annette King, who suggested they train up Ardern as his deputy as Annette was retiring. When Andrew Little realised he lacked that special spark of "cut through" he nominated Jacinda Ardern to take the Party into the election, believing they would lose less seats that way. She was nominated by Little and was elected unanimously 6 weeks out from the election.
Ardern brought sparkle and wit to the campaign, and showed NZ a different political style. Her first test were the negotiations with Winston Peters. Bill English was a staid person and Winston accepted Jacinda Ardern as the PM, Winston as Deputy and Grant Robertson as Treasurer plus Jacinda gave Andrew Little a front row role and trust. He swallowed his pride and has served NZ well ever since as she knew he would.
She led the Labour Party to an historic second term win in an MMP Election and replaced a losing Winston with Grant Robertson as her Deputy. She has had loyalty from the 6th Labour Government consisting of 65 members. Real men are not threatened by her qualities.
Afraid not Patricia. Not going green. Huge family connection to the Labour Party, always voted Labour. Possibly won’t vote next year.
i have lost my respect for the party due to allowing themselves to be captured by gender ideology, the Greens more so. As well as this, both parties have attempted to bring in changes to laws by stealth. No mention of self ID in Labours election manifesto nor as a party member was I ever surveyed about it. I watched many submissions for SOP 59 and the Conversion Practices Bill and felt disgusted by the labour MPs and Dr E Kerekere’s behaviour.
Greens are even more ideologically driven and put ideology above evidence.
I do admire Labours Covid strategy and I think they have sincerely meant to address housing, poverty etc, but they haven’t achieved much there.
I can’t vote for a party who I believe are throwing women and girls under a bus. Not to mention all children who have been taught it is possible to change your sex and had medical transitioning enabled by the adults in their lives
i think its too early for congratulations….when Auckland/nth island hits the country i expect to see a surge in cases…just how high/how bad that will get is the question and what will more coming waves bring us? we have fared well through good govt and team play mostly and one can hope that we will be spared the mayhem that occurred overseas with opening up….the best of luck to us all.
Seems like Morgan Godfery (writing* an opinion piece in the Guardian) agrees with you, Micky. He's not usually that complimentary. I'm in Queensland, where the Premier is a woman. The Covid response (unlike JA the only crisis that Annastacia Palaszczuk has had to deal with) has been exemplary so far, with only 7 deaths, and each small Delta outbreak comeptently squashed. No real male/female pattern here, though. Gladys Berejiklian pursued a dangerous strategy in NSW, while Dan Andrews in Victoria did his best with Delta. All other states and territories have done a relatively good job – as good as Queensland all with male Premiers/First Ministers, Labor and Tory. Maybe the women worldwide who do make it to the top job are all by necessity exemplary, but not necessarily empathetic (Thatcher?)
Climate change is a rolling crisis that will require real time actions and long term plans.
Covid also will be a rolling crisis in the same manner, affecting all humanity.
We will seldom be free of this pressure now, as weather bombs rivers in the sky cyclones and easterly swells bring problems compounded with supply shortages caused by covid waves in our trading partners. Insurrection will be common, and as we have seen strange beliefs common. Security will be precious.
Insurance underwriters will have nightmares, policy planners need to be flexible and ready to meet the challenge of changing conditions.
Humans have caused such damage that we are all on runaway systems which could fail at any time. NZ has never faced food security challenges, how lucky are we, but with all these problems shopping online from overseas will get more difficult, and many treats may not be available.
Think that I am exaggerating? The second hand car market has been affected, building and construction also. Risk and reward behaviours will impact, as people live in denial. Jacinda Ardern has been honed by all these crises.
Hmm – if only it were that simple. I remember when Shipley was in charge – they were not halcyon days, and were Judith Collins in power I suspect the qualities of gynocracy might garner a much less sympathetic hearing.
It might be something to do with being a mature and decent human being – qualities that it seems parliament does not reliably cultivate. Then again our whole society has pretty much dropped the ball on that.
Against all odds, I still cherish the ideal of an enlightened society. It doesn't seem particularly realistic, nor does there seem to be much support for one. Nevertheless, I persist, because, although pessimists are always right, optimists have more fun.
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Chris Trotter writes –Â Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and appliedâŠÂ Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliamentâs Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECDâs chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changesâintroducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, Â “Oranga Tamarikiâs governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealandâs foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech:Â AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This weekâs announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House â but itâs not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand:Â The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasuryâs forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when â during an interview on RNZâs Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? âIt's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their âfutureâ amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected â and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers â as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP â critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori âstrenuouslyâ objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to âtheirâ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – âAn SEP,â he said, âis something that we canât see, or donât see, or our brain doesnât let us see, because we think that itâs somebody elseâs problem. Thatâs what SEP means. Somebody Elseâs Problem. The brain just edits it out, itâs like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper â released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today ….  Buzz from the Beehive There we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Petersâ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard âboilerplateâ Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of âbenignâ becoming âmalignâ and old truths giving way to ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion âThis House Believes British Museums are not Very Britishâ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP HĆ«hana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of MÄori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of MÄori land. ...
A senior, highly respected Kingâs Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga MÄori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealandâs growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesnât know or care about the frontline cuts sheâs making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
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 is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. Â ...
Todayâs Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
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. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and itâs 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. âThis is the second rise in unemployment ...
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 ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. âThe government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicineâ, said Ayesha Verrall âThis is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoonâs interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour childrenâs spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te PÄti MÄori 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 ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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 yearâs severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
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, Labourâs environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
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. ...
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. ...
Some of our countryâs most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
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 PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori and Pasifika received ...
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. ...
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. ...
New Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in TairÄwhiti and Hawkeâs Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealandâs engagement with the region.  The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu.  âNew Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealandersâ security and wellbeing. âCongratulations to this yearâs recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealandâs defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealandâs digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. Â âThe immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Governmentâs school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealandâs next Ambassador to the United States of America.  âOur relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,â Mr Peters says.  âNew Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. âNew Zealand was built on gold, itâs in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is âan Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhereâ and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. âThis is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASAâs Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. âOur Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECDâs latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its membersâ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli.  ...
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 Councilâs Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
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 ...
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 Councilâs Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
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 ...
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. âThese reforms are long overdue. New Zealandâs insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
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. âThree years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
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. âBeing able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canadaâs 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 ânext moveâ ...
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 Childrenâs Commissioner. âThe Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
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.    âThe coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
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. âOur Governmentâs thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening â  Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealandâs foreign policy, weâd 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. ...
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. âCreating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northlandâs 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 ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. âThis 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 countryâs total economic activity. ...
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. âThe beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ć-RÄkau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mĆ Ć-RÄkau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ć-RÄkau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Governmentâs plan to supercharge New Zealandâs EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four â and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Governmentâs plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âI 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 ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People â 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 ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Governmentâs plan to restore law and order. âSpeaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
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 ...
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). âNew Zealandâs goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. âIâm 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 ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure âone stop shopâ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. âThe NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayersâ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
The Taxpayersâ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Ministerâs office. Taxpayersâ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. Itâs power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, thereâs the rich list and the powerful âc-suiteâ list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeerâs phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gaddâs story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didnât have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail â those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Whatâs all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boyâs body was found the day he died. Lachieâs body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucyâs brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where âhe had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didnât get inâ. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
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Allan Simmons, partner of Sue Grey, an organiser of this rally is heard to call our PM "a silly girl". what does that indicate?
that's he's sexist and possibly misogynist.
Well even given the infrequent polls, it still seems that roughly 70% over 30% favour the Govt. handling of this awful COVID scenario.
Auckland business bleating again on RNZ this morning. Whinged about lockdowns, now lockdowns are being phased out Service Industry and petit bourgeoisie are whingeing about the non lock down regime!
I at least have some good news for some of these brats and poseurs–will be wearing a mask in public and avoiding cafes and crowds for some time to come. Have a nice day.
Yes women do cop it, remember Judith Collins’ husband posting some pretty awful images of Jacinda Ardern on social media? He seemed to get off that pretty lightly. Have linked to a milder post of Wong-Tung’s here, others had “Porn Hub” associations.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/424885/judith-collins-husband-shares-anti-ardern-facebook-posts
Germaine was right too.
Yes, women do cop it TM.
During my 24 years in a Public Service agency, dominated by men at the time, here are my experiences:
Initially refused permission to upgrade my qualifications on the grounds that I would marry and have babies and so it would be a waste of time.
Continued to refuse permission to upgrade etc. on the grounds I would never be able to pass the exams. I eventually passed with pleasing results.
Frequent attempts to harass and bully me for trumped up misdemeanours I never committed.
Attempted to discredit my work by changing a vital calculation. Fell flat on their faces because they forgot it was my job to send a copy to Wellington H.0. which was correct. Interfered with my computer in an attempt to prove incompetency. I was ahead of them on that one so it failed.
Arranged for colleagues to report any [supposed] misstep that could be used to dismiss me. None eventuated. I was told about that one by a former colleague – who had refused to cooperate – some time after it happened.
The basis of their hostility was political. I was a member of the Labour Party and after the Lange government came to power they convinced themselves I was spying on them and reporting their activity back to my 'handlers' in the Party – whoever they were supposed to be. Hard to believe but it was true. I had dropped out of politics about two years previously but these idiots knew better.
Shades of rabbit holes and false conspiracies. đ
Same here Anker. Him indoors snorted at some comments and called them "The trouser brigade"lol.
That's great, but Labour still gets a big fail for this
https://twitter.com/zbigdu/status/1463057058878529538?s=20
2015? six years ago? Our son on Gold Coast has had their property go from S480 000 to $700 000 in one year. So Australia and several other countries assets have sharply revalued because of governments' cheap capital. This now changing back to more normal interest rates.
Imagine how bad it is now after 40% house price growth since 2018
That was 46% this year DukeEll.
So in the midst of a housing affordability crises a government we elected to fix; average house prices went from $490k to $930k and the government did nothing extra?
that’s crazy
Covid death rate of 8 per million
The flu kills 500-600 people each year in NZ. I’m not sure that focusing on one virus while ignoring the other is good policy.
Of course any health policy’s effect on life expectancy and quality of life are factors which need to be taken into account. Our life expectancy has been somewhat lower than that of Australians. That seems set to continue.
https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/14388
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10834804/
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/life-expectancy-across-australia-and-nz-on-the-rise-as-latest-global-disease-estimates-revealed
"I’m not sure that focusing on one virus while ignoring the other is good policy."
Hmmm.
I think you missed the point.
The focus is on the POTENTIAL of the virus if let loose like the common cold.
Compare apples with apples and you may just get it.
ps. The FLU is NOT ignored, by the way.
We have a vaccination programme for seasonal flu that targets at risk people. That's not ignoring. You're argument would hold more water if you put up some strategy ideas of lowering the flu rate.
As far as I can tell the covid response has lessen spread of influenza. Haven't seen the figures on flu deaths in NZ in past year though, does anyone know?
So? From your first link,
my bold.
Weka
We have a vaccine available for the flu, a vaccine that many health professionals including doctors and nurses don’t use. What we don’t have is those professionals losing their jobs over their reasonable decision not to be vaccinated. That is very different to the vaccination programme for Covid.
Also the Government doesn’t borrow billions of dollars each flu season as such largesse would be unsustainable. We realise that people will die from the flu but the at-risk can get vaccinated if they wish. We don’t have restrictions imposed despite the possibility of harm including death.
It’s been predicted that lockdowns will have a negative effect on life expectancy. As I explained, we already have a lower life expectancy than those living in Australia. I suspect that gap will widen given our Government’s short-sighted decision to lockdown, a policy failure that will be felt for years to come.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13571516.2021.1976051?journalCode=cijb20
Ross the Aboriginal % of the Australian population is is between 1 and 3%, Their life expectancy is very low. 45% have died by 40, 70% have died by65.
So Australia's figures are hardly influenced by that small %
NZ has 16.5 % Maori.
Come on, if we had The Man in charge then NZ would be getting global coverage from the BBC and New York Times …
The good old days, when men were men and hair was nervous
That guys an avid standard reader then?
I have to listen to loud old pale stale males everyday at work in a large smoko room.
It annoys me, to have these blockheads spouting off about Jacinda Ardern and many other woman MP's just to get laughs from other blockheads. Pretty sickening really.
I could say something but misogynists are so widespread in the community that it is futile and would get me offside with so many. I can't be bothered with most men, fullstop. No wonder there is so much family violence in Aotearoa.
Having said that, there are a lot of situations that women are best kept away from, for their own safety. Toxic aggressive male company is very prevalent in work and social settings. Once again, the older males are the most common, and their misogynist beliefs are being passed down to their young. It needs to stop.
I call it the little willy syndrome. These people desperately need to grow up.
Like a space time warp, some of these shit for brains seem to operate as if it is 1921 not 2021! Pathetic bravado in many cases. But silence is condoning…
I am a man and no problem with that personally, but I disown fully half of the others. Can’t stand them in my personal space, much prefer womenâs company and insight.
.
The fucking horrendous violent intimidation & extreme anti-social behaviour over the past 4 years in my parents' street (& their wider neighbourhood) is 100% Underclass Male MÄori … middle-aged & older Pakeha (both men & women, but particularly men) are the ones who have intervened to try & stop Male MÄori violence against both women & men.
Once again, disproportionately MÄori … around 5X the average [& to a somewhat lesser extent, Pasifika]
If that cold hard reality doesn't dovetail with your Woke dogma … then tough shit.
maybe the common denominator there is men.
The patriarchal system fucks men over too, and allows everyone else to be fucked over, including your parents. Although I'd point to neoliberalism there, because wtaf that the various agencies can't sort that and other situations out, it's not rocket science.
maybe the common denominator there is men.
Did it never occur to you that men evolved to be bigger, stronger and meaner for a reason?
Was the reason because they'd disconnected their heads from their hearts?
What purpose would that serve? From an evolutionary pov that is.
None that's useful – us blokes panicked, lost faith in our women and bulked-up.
Big mistake.
Can be fixed though đ
How?
Perhaps, brothers, we could pay more attention to the guidance offered to us by…women?
In my experience most women despise men who lack agency. Besides what would women know about being male?
And where does this fit in with the question I asked?
Agency? A person or thing through which power is exerted or an end is achieved ?
Something like that.
As to what women know about being male; gestation, birth, infancy, puberty…you know, those motherly-things.
So, a considerable amount.
What do males know about being male?
Interesting how you left fathers out of that.
Please go into bat for the fathers. Are we helping or hindering?
One of the single biggest predictors of being in prison, is not having a stable father in your life.
But still you seem determined not to answer my original question – so I'll leave it here.
This question "Did it never occur to you that men evolved to be bigger, stronger and meaner for a reason?"
No, it did not never occur to me.
This is a lovely train of thought. We can see that in hunter/gatherer societies men do/did have hearts connected to their heads. Think aroha, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga concepts in MÄori cultures.
Our long evolution from apes to Homo sapiens to Homo destructicus included tribe/whÄnau as the primary unit of existence ie connection. How men become disconnected from that is worth exploring. Women remained more connected because having babies does that. It's not hard to draw a line from that to why women leaders have managed covid better (although I think the reasons are multiple and complex).
Evolution in humans clearly is an interaction of the biological, environmental and social. Female humans evolving the menstrual cycle and menopause are obvious ones. Might be good if men worked out how those interactions work for them and fit into the picture, eh (I'm sure there are men that have figured this out).
Sexual dimorphism is extremely common across many species – which I think more or less rules out Robert's somewhat fanciful explanation.
most other animals haven't evolved such large brains or had such difficulty managing that.
Sexual dimorphism lends support to Robert's idea (other wise he would have said humans not men).
yes, obviously.
?
Yes, it never occurred to you to ask?
no. I've thought about it (for a very long time) and yes there are obviously reasons why male and female humans evolved differently in relation to size and strength.
for some strange reason Red has this idea that we were all biology and evolutionary denialists.
4 weka: https://www.facebook.com/shesmagicandmidnightlace/photos/a.1585050185113419/3072317476386675/
đ You got it đ
I mean, look at the progression of Le Guin's Earthsea series, and most of the books with dragons written by men. It's all there.
And the answer you arrived at was?
that there are evolutionary reasons why female and male humans evolved differently with regards to strength and size (that's why I said obviously, because it's obvious and I get why this is even a question).
So why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being more aggressive, more exposed to physical risk and to be more disposable? What benefit does have for them?
And why does all the research on this theme tell us that women sexually select for men who are taller, more physically powerful, more socially capable and self-confident – almost every single time? What benefit would this have for them?
As you seem to have noticed recently – biology matters.
"So why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being more aggressive, more exposed to physical risk and to be more disposable? What benefit does have for them?"
Alternately, why would one sex evolve to occupy the role of being less aggressive, less exposed to physical risk and to be less disposable?
That is: women.
don't know what you are on about mate, why not just get to the point.
.
No, let's be clear … the common denominator in my parents neighbourhood … & it seems in most of the other cases that are beginning to finally see daylight around New Zealand … as hard as it may be for a self-interested socially-detached Woke to hear .. is Underclass MÄori Men (in terms of violent intimidation) … & Underclass MÄori of both sexes (in terms of anti-social behaviour … including both lower level intimidation & inflicting severe sleep deprivation throughout the night on neighbours).
We're talking about a policy in which the most hardcore anti-socials are casually dumped on unsuspecting neighbourhoods. Many, but by no means all, are gang-affiliated.
If we're going to head down this increasingly dangerous road of hyper-racial awareness demanded by CRT dogmatists … then I will certainly be naming the precise demographic the perpetrators of this violence belong to … Sunlight's always the best infectant.
Meanwhile, as I've suggested, the middle-aged & older Pakeha of the neighbourhood (esp men) have intervened at certain points to try to end the on-going violence … including (to take just one example) trying to stop one these guys from forcing a woman into a car just outside my Parents' house … she was terrified & screaming … everyone (including my elderly parents) rushed out to help … the MÄori guy was violently swearing his head off at everyone & threatening two of the (Pakeha male) neighbours with violence if they tried to intervene … "Fucking come here, you little fuck !!!" etc … courageously they persisted to help the woman … and it certainly takes real courage.
Not putting up with the Woke Fantasy World anymore. Bears precisely zero resemblance to cold hard reality … just an Upper-Middle Vanity Project … where those on lower incomes are systematically scapegoated in the most brutal way (by the very people who disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation) … essentially the antithesis of the genuine trad Left … Zero patience with the rank cowards, covert sadists & morally posturing hypocrites who casually throw others to the wolves for their own prestige enhancement among their little clique (and that includes the more dogmatic Woke minority on this site … though, I hasten to add, most people here are more than decent).
I was pointing to the common denominator in your situation and Greenbus's situation. In both case there are men behaving badly, in quite different ways. I'm suggesting that how men are socialised is part of that.
But also, obviously in your parents's neighbourhood, class is a major factor. You put any group of men into the lives those men are leading and many will turn out like that.
I don't have a problem with you naming them as MÄori underclass men, so long as Greenbus can point to the descriptors in their situation as well. It's what meaning we attach to that that determines the politics.
read that Kai Orangi were offering tenants in this situation a security guard and counselling ffs
Cheers, Anker … appreciate the support.
Read between the lines mate. Some things are best left unspoken. As for old whities, many many are terrible racists and misogynists and if you don't know that then you need to get out more.
Maybe you need to keep better company rather than making generic claims about people based on their skin colour.
All of the people I'm talking about are in management positions from bottom to top. They are the real scum of society. I hang out with battlers, shun most of the men that are being dicks and associate with the young people – who don't display this dimwit behaviour.
As they say Micky, "So far so good"
Many friends have said "We have to learn to live with it." At first I, like many others resisted that idea, and would come back with "Die with it more like".
After reading listening and discussing the fact that Delta is not able to be eradicated, I like many now see vaccination plus masks social distancing and good hand washing practice as necessary methods of minimising the transmission of this now endemic disease.
We have completely changed how we do certain things. We follow the numbers every day flinching when they are over 200. We no longer "pop" to see friends, we now call and set times for visits. Shopping has changed with a great deal of online click and collect or delivery to the door by masked staff. After reading up on effective hand cleaning we went back to our cakes of soap. We have always aired our home, but we are much more aware of access to and use of fresh air when visitors come, now the gardens is full of roses and the weather more settled.
We have Auckland family we have not seen for twelve months since we lunched on the Lakeland Queen for my 79th birthday, and sadly that tourist business has folded. Our eldest son was over for a day visit as soon as their lockdown ended, as he like us was at home almost full time.
I don't know if the management of these challenges were improved by the current PM, but all countries led by women appeared to do well initially, though Germany looks very scary now. Our PM manages crises well rising to all the challenges of covid.
Let's use the guides to the new system with sensitivity, and stay safe in a covid world.
You might not want to celebrate the day before night has fallen.
Maybe you want to wait until say, December 29th before writing such celebratory nonsense in regards to Covid – which would be about three weeks after Freedom Day.
Show where I was "celebrating covid" ??? Or are you speaking to Micky???
Indeed.
While I don't think we will ever get to the unbelievable death rates of the UK and the US, in many ways we are only just about to start living the way they have been since March 2020. Living with the virus becomes our reality on Freedom Day and as a consequence of that we will see deaths on an almost daily basis from Christmas onwards.
Those who keep back slapping our current rates remind me of George Bush and his infamous Mission Accomplished speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Thankfully our government isn't really like that, but some of its cheerleaders certainly are.
The test isn't whether we end up in a mess, but whether we end up in as bad a mess as other countries whose leaders have taken a less compassion stance.
Labour were always going to have to go back to being economics focused at some point. The question here is how much the compassion and feminism will mitigate that.
so being a mess as a country is acceptable if the responses of other countries led to more of a mess? the cult of managerialism is strong in that answer.
What you've said, as I read it, is akin to "there is no point doing anything about climate change in NZ as india and china still use coal"
Why can't we just be good? or great? instead of the relavatism of "better" relying on the worsening of our fellow countries for us to achieve anything
Don't look at me, I don't vote the neolibs in.
Also, you missed my point. Sabine is pointing to the problem of letting covid out into the rest of NZ. I'm saying this is Labour, it was inevitable given delta, and the measuring stick isn't whether it's bad or not (people are doing to die, people are going to be disabled), it's whether it's a shitshow or whether we are able to mitigate the worst of it.
Kind of like climate change. We missed the boat on EVs saving the day, by some decades. There are still many critical things we need to do, but let's not pretend we're going to prevent catastrophe. What's on the table now is how much we can save and how much damage we can limit.
The last line speaks volumes to the article: "It seems to me we should continue to have a woman in charge although not Judith".
Just not any woman? Because its NOT JUST ABOUT male vs female. Come on humans, get over this!
Lighten up, it's just mocking the misogynist protest signs (see image in OP).
Simply removed the veil.
If we want to achieve some further maturity, acceptance, forgiveness, communication etc etc in NZ society (needed) discussions and debates, little digs like that (as seen in our Parliament?) need to be removed, it only pulls us all down to further immaturity. When it seems we actually need and want more maturity in NZ. let’s raise the level, just a little at a time at least
The OP is not about women – it's about signaling the original sin of "pale, male, stales."
It's really not.
Some of us pale, male, stales manage to criticise a politician for their policies. I would happily mock Collins any day of the week, and yet somehow manage not to make it about her gender. It's not hard, is it?
I'd wager that to a Collins supporter your mockery of her would look just like 'misogyny'.
But then like 'racism' it's become one of those emotionally laden words that's been so twisted and stretched out of shape to have become virtually useless in any meaningful discussion.
Rubbish.
It's a straightforward test. "Ardern = communist" is wrong, in my subjective opinion. "Ardern = pretty little communist" is gendered, in objective fact.
But you know this already, unless you carefully avert your eyes from all coverage of the anti-Ardern protests.
For the political tribalist everything is very straightforward.
You're not engaging with anything here, just shoehorning in preconceived lines.
Is it possible to criticise Collins without misogyny, yes or no?
Have you seen plenty of misogyny on the anti-Ardern signs, yes or no?
Collins is one of the women allowed into the boys' club because she agrees to play the game the way that the boys want it*. Probably agrees with that too. It's no uncommon for this to happen, think Shipley, Richardson, Thatcher. Or Clark for that matter. The women who want to change that system have tended to get out. Ardern has stayed and make some positive changes (I think the strong MÄori caucus is part of this too).
Women as a class are better leaders at this time on covid response, for a range of reasons. This doesn't mean all women are good leaders, it just means that as a group there is something that women are doing that is different from men. And it also means that some women would be just as bad as say Trump or Boris Johnson.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/female-led-countries-handled-coronavirus-better-study-jacinda-ardern-angela-merkel
*for people having a reaction to that, understand that the boys club refers to the patriarchy, a system based on privileging men (and wealth, Caucasian ethnicity, male, fit body norms, etc). It doesn't mean that men are bad.
The amen beyond the prayer.
Actually, women and men do tend to organise things differently.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/female-led-countries-handled-coronavirus-better-study-jacinda-ardern-angela-merkel
The real giveaway here is 'thinking time'. Not that much thinking goes on.
In conversation, somebody might mutter "stupid little woman" or some such, because in real time we all say things instantly and then regret them.
But these anti-Ardern signs are prepared. They have thought "What shall I write?" and then they have decided. And there's a little light bulb in our heads that should say "Good idea … no, maybe not." So we don't add swastikas and other idiocy because the light bulb suggests it's not a good idea. Not these guys.
What's more, after they've taken the time and trouble to make the sign about the "mad cow" or "horse face" or whatever, they've met up with their friends and their little light bulbs aren't working either. They haven't had pushback from fellow protesters saying "Do you really want that message? Isn't this about water or utes?" etc. After all, you can only hold up one placard at a time.
Think about the group mentality that says misogyny is not only acceptable, it's clever. With all of that thinking time … they still go ahead and make it their preferred message. Those are people (men) with major issues.
Those people making sexist hateful vicious attacks are envious of Arderns success.They can't beat her at virtually any level in honest debates.So are resorting to lowdown Dirty tactics/politics.
when was the last time we had a man in charge? I would suggest ,maybe mike moore, geoffrey palmer . key was NOT in charge, who has he ALWAYS worked for???.bolger was led by ruthless, then winston, then whatshername. maybe you could argue that the last time we had a man in charge was muldoon, and what a phuckup that was-is.
Our woman in charge did a good job in Parliament question time yesterday over their woman in charge. The PM was in charge of information and the issues as raised.
The best bit for me came when having just asked a question about what restrictions would take place at what level, the Leader of the Opposition asked a question about a particular instance,
Ardern cheerfully pointed out that the question showed that Collins already had a good understanding of the covid restrictions and her previous question was somewhat unnecessary.
For those questioning Ardern's leadership she showed in these exchanges a grasp of detail and a quick mind and wit, a command presence and a passion, logical thinking and clear expression.
On the other hand, Collins was asked to ask a question again when she could not control her feelings- "what the hell" was the phrase used.
Ardern very clearly told Cameron from ACT who asked why she did not talk to Groundswell that she spoke to a series of farmer and rural groups and listed them.
She also listed for Collins the good results we have had in NZ in a series of areas in these Covid times. It was very reminiscent of what the Romans have done for us-oiur version has low death rates, high business resilience, low unemployment, low infection rates, low hospitalisation rates.
Anker going Green?
They definitely are not women – and as far as I'm concerned they aren't men either.
Looks more like Robertson is in charge and Ardern communicates.
It's how she got there.
Oh Ad…….that's a big claim. What's your evidence?
Because if you don't have any, you do realize that this makes you look a tiny bit sexist?
How tiresome.
Ardern appeared to come out of nowhere in 2017. But her origin sits within the tight circle of Hipkins, King, and Robertson. King in particular worked caucus very hard to ensure that the transition from King to Ardern in the Deputy position was totally unanimous.
That's the positioning, ready for Shearer and then Little to fall.
That doesn't deny Ardern her own agency. The construction of the digital infrastructure with the "Burns Unit" was critical within the public campaign. Nor does it deny her popularity.
But the positioning had been occurring for years beforehand, and Robertson was not only key then, he now holds all the budget power.
And in turn is perfectly positioned himself.
Robertson is an intelligent, centrist, neoliberal with zero personality. Ardern is an intelligent, centrist, neoliberal with recognised empathetic personality. If JA decides to leave, or is pushed and Robertson takes over, it's hard to see any glimmer of anything mildly progressive on the agenda and even a depressed and chaotic oppositon looking well placed to do well in the next NZ GE.
Each to their own.
I prefer Robertson since he is by a long way the most interventionist Minister of Finance we've had since Muldoon.
Labour's progressive agenda is primarily in the hands of this one Minister: all those big ticket items like Minimum Wage, Living Wage, $55b wage guarantee that kept unemployment under 4%, PGF, industry loans, sectoral wage increases, choking the banks, joining up ACC NZSuper and Govt Super funds together, increasing welfare, increasing tax on the very rich – that's on Robertson like no other.
I am sure it is very tiresome for you Ad to be challenged.
I'll let you know.
No, that is not accurate Ad. "That's how she got there'.
Robertson chose her as his running mate in the Labour Party Election of a new Leader. Andrew Little won that and worked with the advice of Annette King, who suggested they train up Ardern as his deputy as Annette was retiring. When Andrew Little realised he lacked that special spark of "cut through" he nominated Jacinda Ardern to take the Party into the election, believing they would lose less seats that way. She was nominated by Little and was elected unanimously 6 weeks out from the election.
Ardern brought sparkle and wit to the campaign, and showed NZ a different political style. Her first test were the negotiations with Winston Peters. Bill English was a staid person and Winston accepted Jacinda Ardern as the PM, Winston as Deputy and Grant Robertson as Treasurer plus Jacinda gave Andrew Little a front row role and trust. He swallowed his pride and has served NZ well ever since as she knew he would.
She led the Labour Party to an historic second term win in an MMP Election and replaced a losing Winston with Grant Robertson as her Deputy. She has had loyalty from the 6th Labour Government consisting of 65 members. Real men are not threatened by her qualities.
You've only added minor colouring on my description of her reliance on Robertson and King from the outset.
There's plenty of books and articles describing the same thing in more detail.
Reliance? Ability to work with others?
I can’t vote for a party who I believe are throwing women and girls under a bus. Not to mention all children who have been taught it is possible to change your sex and had medical transitioning enabled by the adults in their lives
Anker, I am sorry that has caused you to consider cutting ties. All the best.
Have you looked into Social Credit?
They will probably never get in but their policies are all good. They've been around a long long time
i think its too early for congratulations….when Auckland/nth island hits the country i expect to see a surge in cases…just how high/how bad that will get is the question and what will more coming waves bring us? we have fared well through good govt and team play mostly and one can hope that we will be spared the mayhem that occurred overseas with opening up….the best of luck to us all.
Indeed – all beginning to sound like deliberate infection of the South for political gain in the North?
Seems like Morgan Godfery (writing* an opinion piece in the Guardian) agrees with you, Micky. He's not usually that complimentary. I'm in Queensland, where the Premier is a woman. The Covid response (unlike JA the only crisis that Annastacia Palaszczuk has had to deal with) has been exemplary so far, with only 7 deaths, and each small Delta outbreak comeptently squashed. No real male/female pattern here, though. Gladys Berejiklian pursued a dangerous strategy in NSW, while Dan Andrews in Victoria did his best with Delta. All other states and territories have done a relatively good job – as good as Queensland all with male Premiers/First Ministers, Labor and Tory. Maybe the women worldwide who do make it to the top job are all by necessity exemplary, but not necessarily empathetic (Thatcher?)
* https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/nov/24/in-a-crisis-you-want-jacinda-ardern-thats-why-her-poll-numbers-will-remain-robust
Labour and Ardern will probably get their third term just on crisis management.
At some point the country will realise we need a wee bit more than crisis management.
Crisis is where we are at!
Climate change is a rolling crisis that will require real time actions and long term plans.
Covid also will be a rolling crisis in the same manner, affecting all humanity.
We will seldom be free of this pressure now, as weather bombs rivers in the sky cyclones and easterly swells bring problems compounded with supply shortages caused by covid waves in our trading partners. Insurrection will be common, and as we have seen strange beliefs common. Security will be precious.
Insurance underwriters will have nightmares, policy planners need to be flexible and ready to meet the challenge of changing conditions.
Humans have caused such damage that we are all on runaway systems which could fail at any time. NZ has never faced food security challenges, how lucky are we, but with all these problems shopping online from overseas will get more difficult, and many treats may not be available.
Think that I am exaggerating? The second hand car market has been affected, building and construction also. Risk and reward behaviours will impact, as people live in denial. Jacinda Ardern has been honed by all these crises.
Good comment. I should have gotten to saying something similar myself – this narrative of man bad, women good skates on some pretty thin ice.
Don't worry. Chris Hipkins has just blown a massive hole in the first two points.
Hmm – if only it were that simple. I remember when Shipley was in charge – they were not halcyon days, and were Judith Collins in power I suspect the qualities of gynocracy might garner a much less sympathetic hearing.
It might be something to do with being a mature and decent human being – qualities that it seems parliament does not reliably cultivate. Then again our whole society has pretty much dropped the ball on that.
What?…logic!…are you lost?
Against all odds, I still cherish the ideal of an enlightened society. It doesn't seem particularly realistic, nor does there seem to be much support for one. Nevertheless, I persist, because, although pessimists are always right, optimists have more fun.
lol…or believe they do
Every day you're still alive is a good day, every meal – a feast, every paycheck – a fortune.
And every asshole is just another obstacle to level up overcoming.
A great sci-fi/horror/action movie with both a strong feminist and family values message
Every formation – a parade.
One of the rare instances where Hollywood did a bit of research on military culture – worked for Avatar too, though not as well.
I really don't get how you go from Aliens to Avatar…I thought Alita was a decent little movie, well worth a sequel I'd have thought
Marines PR – Aliens & Avatar had a bunch of them and their sassy banter.
Fear not, Alita is returning. Let's hope they do not make of it what the fans are saying about Cowboy Bebop.
Not going to watch it, I'll stick with the original
We need more women: https://imgur.com/gallery/P0jYWyt
Sweden's first female PM resigns hours after getting the job.
Sweden's first female PM resigns, hours after getting the job | Stuff.co.nz
What happens when you put a women in charge who can't count.
Yup . Our blessed Mickey's luck ran out with his timing on this one.