Posts Tagged ‘i-Rex’
Luxon & Willis Double Down on Ferries Debacle
Written By: - Date published: 6:46 am, December 13th, 2024 - 15 comments
Government sneakily shifts the numbers on the cancelled Kiwirail i-Rex project from $3b to $4b as Luxon and Willis defend their plan for a plan.
Nicola Willis Deflects As National Splurge On Roads
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, November 10th, 2024 - 10 comments
Nicola Willis deflects a question on why National are spending billions on roads without a business case – after cancelling the 2026 i-Rex – which had a strong business case and required $1.4bn more to complete seismic upgraded ports and next generation ferries.
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- Handbags and Gladrags
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...2 hours ago - Weekly Roundup 17-January-2025
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...3 hours ago - How the Far Right Weaponised the Grooming Gangs Story
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...6 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #3 2025
Open access notables Long-term trends in heat wave gaps for the New York City metropolitan area, Lin & Colle, Urban Climate: Heat waves occurring in close succession to one another are hazardous because of the prolonged stress on the human body and energy demand. A heat wave gap metric, the ...14 hours ago - NZ: The Final Atlas Network Puzzle Piece Has Arrived
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...17 hours ago - Not getting any younger
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...19 hours ago - Political societies and economic preferences.
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...20 hours ago - Submission on Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...22 hours ago - The Ol’ Switcheroo
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...1 day ago - Nobody’s insurance rates are safe from climate change
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...1 day ago
- Gordon Campbell On More Threats To Democracy From David Seymour
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...1 day ago - Choosing your fights
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...2 days ago - Hit The Road Jack
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...2 days ago - Review: The Narnia books, by C.S. Lewis (1950-1956) – Part One
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...3 days ago - Sabin 33 #11 – Is solar energy more expensive than energy from fossil fuels?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...3 days ago
- Our Health Isn’t Your Wealth, Shane Reti & Lester Levy
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...3 days ago - No one could save me but you
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...3 days ago - The disinformation grift in NZ.
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...3 days ago
- Anna Wilding, Bullshit Master
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...3 days ago - Summertime in Aotearoa
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...3 days ago - 2024 sets some new road safety records
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...3 days ago
- The role of climate change in the catastrophic 2025 Los Angeles fires
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...3 days ago
- Submission on Regulatory Standards Bill
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...4 days ago - There’s a solution in there, there really is
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...4 days ago - Hamilton Central Station: Britomart 2.0
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...4 days ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Christopher Luxon’s important trip to the Middle East
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...4 days ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #02
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The History Of Doo Wop Music
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...5 days ago
- If You Tolerate This
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...5 days ago - Elon Musk Adores Chris Luxon
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...5 days ago - American Carnage
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...5 days ago
- Careless Memories
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...6 days ago - A Bully of Billionaires
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...7 days ago - Weekly Roundup 10-January-2025
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...1 week ago
- L.A. Burns
1 week ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2 2025
Open access notables Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications: Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...1 week ago
- Local government in Wellington – what’s been achieved
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...1 week ago - 300,000!
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...1 week ago - Who’s Getting Annexed?
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...1 week ago - Exploring the drivers of modern global warming
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink Global surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time. These include CO2, which is the primary ...1 week ago
- Wayne Wright Jr Celebrates His Increasing Political Fortunes with Sean Plunket – Who Does Your...
1 week ago
- Missive from the Fires
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...1 week ago
- Mood of the Workforce Survey 2025
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...1 week ago
- Pumpkin Day
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...1 week ago - How Do We Fight Back?
Hi,New Zealand multi-billionaire Nick Mowbray continues to tweet at me, seemingly still unhappy about my Webworm story covering his apparent enthusiasm for far right, anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson.Mowbray can be a bit hard to follow at the best of times, but I think this is a billionaire sort of dangling ...1 week ago - Submission on Treaty Principles Bill
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...1 week ago - Sabin 33 #10 – Will utility-scale solar farms destroy the value of nearby homes?
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...1 week ago
- Q&A with Nick
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...1 week ago - 2025 – The Year Ahead
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...1 week ago
- Gordon Campbell On Justin Trudeau’s Demise, In A Global Context
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...1 week ago
- Climate news to watch in 2025
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...2 weeks ago
- Submitted!
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...2 weeks ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill
My submission - made at the last moment because I'm a neurodivergent millennial - on David Seymour's terrible legislation. ...2 weeks ago - Rich Opinions
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...2 weeks ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #01
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...2 weeks ago
- “It’s Sad Watching Desperate Dave”
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...2 weeks ago - RIP Dame Tariana Turia
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...2 weeks ago - Quality Ministers
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...2 weeks ago - Tennis Court
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...2 weeks ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #1 2025
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist: Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...2 weeks ago
- My Year In Recall
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...2 weeks ago - The forgotten story of Jimmy Carter’s White House solar panels
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...2 weeks ago
- Medley
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...2 weeks ago - 2024 Reading Summary: The List
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...2 weeks ago - New Year Resolution: 2025 cannot simply be a repeat of what made 2024 an intolerable farce.
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...2 weeks ago - 2024 – Blog views by country
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...2 weeks ago
- 2024 Reading Summary: December (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...2 weeks ago
- 2024 – A Year in Review
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...2 weeks ago
- Nick’s Awards – 2024
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...2 weeks ago - Webworm’s 2024 Year In Review
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...2 weeks ago - Those Metal Motherfuckers: Cinema in the Year of AI
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...2 weeks ago - Xmas then and now.
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...3 weeks ago
- a/b/o and worldbuilding
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...3 weeks ago - YouTube’s Biggest Star “Mr Beast” Has Made a Massive Turd
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...3 weeks ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #52
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...3 weeks ago
- Greens welcome Gaza ceasefire, but say more work to do
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...23 hours ago - Release: Labour mourns passing of Dame Tariana Turia
Ka kohukohu te awa o Whanganui!Ka tau te kākahu taratara ki runga I te maunga o Whānau Ora!Ka tangi hotuhotu tō iwi Māori! ...4 days ago - Release: Labour acknowledges Lyn Fleming’s death
Labour expresses its shock and sadness at the death of widely respected Police Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming. ...4 days ago
- Greens welcome deadline extension but reiterate call for Bill to be binned
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...1 week ago
- Green Party pays respects to Dame Tariana Turia
The Green Party acknowledges the enormous life, contribution and passing of Dame Tariana (Kahurangi) Turia, the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori. ...2 weeks ago
- KO disruptive tenants’ easy ride over
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...1 week ago - 80% reduction in building determination wait times
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...1 week ago
- Top baby names for 2024
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...1 week ago
- Enabling works to begin on Westgate Bus Station
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...1 week ago
- A nationwide shift towards acting together to stop family and sexual violence
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...1 week ago
- He poroporoaki ki a Kahurangi Tariana Turia
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...2 weeks ago
- New qualification a step forward for diabetes care
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...2 weeks ago
- New year, new medicines
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...2 weeks ago
- Māori excel in New Year Honours 2025
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...2 weeks ago
- Stay fire safe this summer in 2025
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...3 weeks ago
- Move fast: The best TV show of the century so far returns today
Toby Manhire tells you everything you need to know ahead of season two of Severance. After an agonising wait – nearly three years between waffles, thanks to US actor and writer strikes and, some say, creative squabbles – Severance returns today, Friday January 17. For my money the first season ...44 minutes ago - Should we aim to bulk-bill everyone for GP visits? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth McHugh-Dillon, Assistant Health Editor Rose Marinelli/Shutterstock A new report by a GP listing company made headlines this week showing low rates of bulk billing for GP visits across Australia. Bulk billing means the consultation is free for the patient ...2 hours ago - From cod logs to frog bogs: we catalogued 400 ways to help species survive a warmer world
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jess Melbourne-Thomas, Transdisciplinary Researcher & Knowledge Broker, CSIRO ‘Cod logs’ placed in the Mary River can give fish a safe place to shelter. © Caitlin Jones, Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) Australia’s natural environment is changing rapidly as the world warms, and ...2 hours ago
- The cost of being: A ‘conscious and curious’ mum who works in insurance
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 32-year-old mother of a one-year-old shares her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 32. Ethnicity: East Asian – NZ ...2 hours ago
- Climate change is forcing us to rethink our sense
of ‘home’ – and what it means to lose it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talia Fell, PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland The Los Angeles wildfires are causing the devastating loss of people’s homes. From A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton to an Australian family living in LA, thousands ...2 hours ago - The specialist removing insects from ears at least once a week
When Marg Hunt heard there were hundreds of cockroach-linked ACC claims, she laughed: "That's bread and butter for me." ...3 hours ago - Union mulls stab-proof vests, personal alarms after nurse attacked
Mental health nurses are "so worried about their safety" and more needs to be done, union says. ...3 hours ago
- Biden prepares to leave the White House. Will Gaza ceasefire seal his legacy?
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: ...6 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...15 hours ago
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The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...16 hours ago - Beyond the Israel–Hamas ceasefire, the future looks unclear. Here are six key unanswered questions
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The agreement will ease Palestinians’ suffering, but international agencies will struggle to meet the massive need for humanitarian relief. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. We start the World Bulletin’s year with a rare piece of ...23 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne After 467 days of violence, a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has been reached and will come into effect on Sunday, pending Israeli government approval. This agreement will not end the ...23 hours ago
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Requests for official information involving potentially damning correspondence are totally legitimate – but have been put in the ‘too hard basket' by officials refusing to properly follow the Local Government Official Information and Meetings ...1 day ago
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With the local body elections in October, a long-awaited upgrade of Courtenay Place, and big changes for water, housing and the economy, it’s set to be another dramatic year for the capital city. The Golden Mile Conservative city councillors made a last-minute attempt in November to scrap the Golden Mile ...1 day ago
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