Technology and the law – and going after Hager

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:12 am, October 29th, 2015 - 214 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Dirty Politics, law, science - Tags: bytes, law, nicky hager, poperty, technology

Technology moves much more quickly than the law, throwing up all sorts of questions about privacy, intellectual property, consent, responsibility, ownership, and more. We have one interesting case in point developing in NZ right now, with the recent supreme court ruling that a computer file is “property”. As always, Andrew Geddis is required reading:

Dixon v R: An easy case that raises hard questions

The story of Jonathan Dixon doesn’t raise much sympathy. He was a bouncer at a Queenstown bar back in 2011. While working there, he observed the English rugby player Mike Tindall – who had just married the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips – “cavorting” with a woman on the dance floor. So Dixon went into the bar’s computer system, copied a file containing the video footage of Tindall’s escapades (which he then deleted from the bar’s computer) and tried to shop it to the UK tabloids (who, in an unexpected fit of ethics, refused to pay him).
…
This case then managed to wend its way up to the Supreme Court on a seemingly narrow point of law; did Dixon “obtain[] any property” when he copied the file containing footage of Tindall from his employer’s computer system?
…
Certainly what Dixon did looks a lot like the sort of thing we think of as being “theft”. … And, in a nutshell, that’s what the Supreme Court thinks about the matter (judgment available here). The digital file that Dixon took was something that his employer wanted, that his employer didn’t want Tindall to have, and which had an economic value. If something looks like property, sounds like property and gets treated like property, it should be considered property. … And so the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s previous decision that the files weren’t “property”.
…
Remember what the Court is saying in Dixon (at least, in relation to s.249(1)(a)). A digital file – the “stored sequence of bytes” – constitutes “property”. So if you make a copy of that stored system of bytes in order to remove it from someone’s computer system, then you obtain that property. Meaning there are now two instances of the same property – the original file and the copied file, as both contain the same “stored sequence of bytes”.
…
Whereas, if Dixon were to have taken printed still photos from the bar’s video camera, scanned them into electronic form and put them up on the internet, it would not be a breach of s.246(1) for anyone to view, print, download or otherwise access them. Why not? Because you would not be receiving the stolen property – the printed still photos – but rather a copy of them that contains the same information. And the Supreme Court is very careful to say that “information, even confidential information, is not property” (at paras [23]-[24]).

Well now there’s an interesting can of worms. There are all sorts of technical questions and legal hypotheticals arising. The rest of Geddis’ post and the comments that follow explore many of them. Keith Ng also has a brief go at some of the technical absurdities. Seems that if you zip any file you’re copying you’re probably in the clear because it isn’t the same “stored sequence of bytes”. I’m not a file system expert [and I am not speaking in ANY professional capacity here], but it seems likely that in many cases simply copying from one file system to another results in a somewhat different sequence of bytes (because of varying file system attributes / tags / pointers / metadata).

All good sport for lawyers of course, but here’s a case of immediate relevance:

Court decision puts Hager back in frame

Ruling that hacked files used for book are property means charges possible

Dirty Politics author Nicky Hager may face criminal charges over accepting the hacked material used to write the bombshell book, according to documents obtained by the Herald.

Police will not say whether the investigative journalist is again a suspect, instead of simply a witness, after a pivotal Supreme Court decision which ruled computer files were property.

Documents show the new definition from the court puts Hager back in the frame over the computer files he was given by a hacker which he used as the basis for his book.
…
Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis said the Supreme Court decision was focused on one small part of the Crimes Act. But he said the logic behind the court’s decision would likely “follow through” to the way the courts handled other parts of the law – including receiving stolen goods.

“Rawshark will have obtained property in breach of [the law]. If Rawshark obtained property it’s hard to see those files are not still property when they get passed on to Mr Hager.”

Any shift in Hager’s status as a suspect or a witness could also impact the decision on his High Court challenge to the search warrant executed on his home in October 2014. Hager’s lawyers had insisted there was a higher hurdle to get a search warrant against somebody who was a witness – as Hager was on the day of the search – than for a suspect.

While Cameron Slater and the rest of the Dirty Politics crew carry on as usual, the Police really do seem determined to make life difficult for a whistle-blowing journalist in a case of significant public interest. Remember yesterday’s post on “A creeping authoritarianism from the current government”?

A question for legal types – how can this recent decision be applied retroactively to Hager? If to him, then surely to everyone, e.g. Slater’s taking of files from Labour’s server?

214 comments on “Technology and the law – and going after Hager ”

Comments are now closed

One Anonymous Bloke 1

29 October 2015 at 10:29 am

How can it be applied retroactively? It isn’t a law change – it’s an interpretation of existing law, so I don’t think it would be “retroactive”.

Of course it also means that the Prime Minister’s office received stolen property, if interpreted that way.
Andrew Geddis 2

29 October 2015 at 10:58 am

A question for legal types – how can this recent decision be applied retroactively to Hager? If to him, then surely to everyone, e.g. Slater’s taking of files from Labour’s server?

In relation to the first question, the law works under a fiction. That fiction is that the law always has one true meaning, with the courts just “discovering” or “uncovering” this. So, when the Supreme Court says “computer files are property (at least in relation to s.249(1) of the Crimes Act)”, then this means that they ALWAYS were property (in relation to that section, at least). It doesn’t matter that the Court of Appeal said different. And it doesn’t matter if anyone relied on what the Court of Appeal said. Once the Supreme Court speaks, then that’s what the law both is and was.

(Note how ridiculous this fiction is – the Supreme Court clearly is creating a meaning for the legislation in question … meaning that if you (or anyone else) want to know what the Crimes Act permits/prohibits at any point in time, you need to guess what it’s going to decide on the matter irrespective of what lower courts have said.)

In relation to the second question, the question would be whether Slater “dishonestly or by deception, and without claim of right” took any files from Labour’s servers. As I understand it, his argument was that he simply copied information that was left available for the public to view. I’d guess he’d also argue that even if this was “obtaining property” on the Dixon test, he didn’t have the necessary mental intention for the offence.
- Naturesong 2.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:03 am
  
  “In relation to the second question, the question would be whether Slater “dishonestly or by deception, and without claim of right” took any files from Labour’s servers. As I understand it, his argument was that he simply copied information that was left available for the public to view. I’d guess he’d also argue that even if this was “obtaining property” on the Dixon test, he didn’t have the necessary mental intention for the offence.”
  
  Would that still be true if documentation, say in the form of PM’s or SMS between Slater and Ede, showed guilty intent?
  
  Speaking as a fan of calculas, I’ve quite comfortable with the idea of the legal fiction you describe. Our understanding of the law will always approach (but never quite get to) the true meaning.
  
  However it does raise the following:
  Can decisions made with a previous understanding of the newly uncovered/clarified point now be appealed by defendants or prosecutors of previous cases?
- One Anonymous Bloke 2.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:04 am
  
  Could the court rely on his conversations at the time of the offending (as reported in Dirty Politics) as evidence of intent? Where would this leave Mr. Ede?
  
  What is the significance of the fact that Dixon deleted the material he stole, whereas Slater/Ede did not?
  - Tracey 2.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:33 am
    
    did slater or ede use the info in any way?
    
    slater published personal stuff about blomfeld didnt he?
    - dukeofurl 2.2.1.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:51 am
      
      Slater did publish snippets of Labours data on his website, with identities blurred – just to show he had it.
      From memory, it included credit card payment details ?
      
      Not only that, Labours data was in the form of a backup of payment system files. Slater had to pay someone ( Reagan Cunliffe his website developer?) to reverse engineer the scrambled data to make it readable.
      
      This is important, it wasnt in a form easily readable by a browser or standard document viewer.
      - dukeofurl 2.2.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:16 pm
        
        Watching Slaters video of what he did, its clear that the personal data was in SQL backup format. This needed some skill to make readable
        Other data formats were used an example is csv ( which is easily readable though)
        
        infused 2.2.1.1.1.1
        
        30 October 2015 at 1:09 am
        
        It was plain text. No comp sci degree needed.
- Tracey 2.3
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:12 am
  
  and his receipt of the blomfeld files?
- john 2.4
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:15 am
  
  Except Slater didn’t take anything that wasn’t publically available.
  A bit like putting a naked photo of yourself in your front window and then complaining that someone saw it.
  In this case EMails were taken via breaking into Slater’s computer, then distributed (for profit, a book).
  A similar case would be someone breaking into your house taking photos of you in the shower and posting them on the internet.
  - Tracey 2.4.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:19 am
    
    but even if the data was sitting there… slater using it in someway to breach privacy is sti a srong unless he got peoples permission first? eg credit card info? someone leaving docs on a bench and them being found doesnt change who can give permission to use them?
    - infused 2.4.1.1
      
      30 October 2015 at 1:11 am
      
      Technically labour breached privacy by having it there publically in the first place
  - Tracey 2.4.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:21 am
    
    and it wasnt availa le to the public per se… LP fucked up everyones privacy… which is slightly different to what you are saying… not a public record like a phone book
  - One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.3
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:24 am
    
    You shouldn’t have left the window open: when you did that your whole house became publicly available. And the video of you induced vomiting in internet users.
    - dukeofurl 2.4.3.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:58 am
      
      Strictly speaking the same test could apply to accessing Slaters computer.
      
      The poor security on Labours website let him in and the poor security of his work computer let someone it.
      - Tracey 2.4.3.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:23 pm
        
        BUT if you are coreect above, even with the useless security, not everyone could use the information, only those prepared to research (or already knew) how to decode/translate?
  - Naturesong 2.4.4
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:35 am
    
    Slaters video of how he obtained the information is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnOAeVaU5xM
    
    It’s when the video gets to 4m10s the directory listing is revealed.
    At that point, there are two thoughts that pop up in most people’s heads (and most likely Slater himself given his later conversations with Ede about not wanting to get caught accessing the information).
    1. I’m not supposed to be seeing this. And …
    2. what a bunch of incompetents!
    
    Just because something is easy, or because the idiot who set up the site forgot to set permissions does not mean that anyone has a right to access that information.
    
    And that’s before any privacy considerations (membership lists, credit card details etc)
    
    You could argue that once he had stumbled upon it and realised what it was, he believed there was a public interest in the information, but that clearly is not the case here.
    
    That said, I’ll defer to Geddis and Edgler on the matter.
    - Tracey 2.4.4.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:54 am
      
      i would love to hear from them on this too naturesong.
      
      just cos i leave my phone in a room doesnt mean i am giving it away or giving permission to use my data
      - Naturesong 2.4.4.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:17 pm
        
        I understand from the twitter that Edgler is thinking about doing a blog post explicitly covering the property aspect of this.
        
        https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/659229423208562688
        
        It runs along the lines of the file (container) being property but the information contained therein not being (although privacy issues may apply).
        
        So if Rawshark had altered the files by (as a for instance) by adding a *space* (or anything else that would result in a different hash) then the files (the containers of the information) would not be considered the same and so are no longer the property that was stolen.
        
        This obviously is not a defence of Rawshark who I think everyone understands broke the law by accessing information he had no right to, but as semantic as it appears to me, might be abough to protect journalists.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.4.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:32 pm
        
        Why would journalists need such semantic games when the public interest is a much stronger defence?
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:34 pm
        
        I asked Andrew Geddes (up there ) to confirm if public interest is a defence to receiving stolen goods? I don’t think he saw it.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:02 pm
        
        I suspect you’d first have to establish that the by-products of the Rawshark hack constitute property rather than information.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 6:30 pm
        
        yes that wld be first to establish a crime under the act
    - dukeofurl 2.4.4.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:59 am
      
      Remember the “data” he was after wasnt normally readable, he had to get it ‘unscrambled’ to be able to see names.
      - Naturesong 2.4.4.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:26 pm
        
        I would expect that could be a hurdle if he ever has to argue that he believed he had (implicit) permission to access the data.
  - George Hendry 2.4.5
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:57 am
    
    Sorry, John. Totally dissimilar. One runs into trouble like this when trying to misrepresent truth.
    
    Anyone who broke into my house, took photos of me naked in the shower (how would they do this without my knowing, this gets more ridiculous by the moment) then posted said photos on internet would quickly find they had not been doing so for profit. People would be demanding their money back even before they had paid any.
    
    “A bit like putting a naked photo of yourself in your front window and then complaining that someone saw it.”
    
    No. Nothing like it.
    
    The Labour party did not put their confidential files in their office window and then complain about people seeing them.
    
    You have indeed set yourself a hard task, explaining why Rawshark taking Slater’s files without his permission was illegal, and Ede taking Labour’s files without their permission was legal.
    
    All it clarifies is whose side you are on.
  - mpledger 2.4.6
    
    29 October 2015 at 12:11 pm
    
    IIRC The Labour database had virtually no security other than the complexity of access that would take IT expertise in order to get at the data (IIRC Slater & co needed an IT expert to do the dirty work). Apparently, Slater had virtually no security other than an easily guessable password. In both cases, the security of the data was poor, the owners of the data did not wish the information to be publicly available and the people taking it knew that.
    
    Even if Slater’s access was not legally an offense, it was definitely felt to be an ethical and moral offense as a written apology was proffered by the National Party via it’s chairman (?).
    - One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.6.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 12:21 pm
      
      Your door was open, so I walked in and took photographs of everything in your house including copies of all documents. I’m in the clear because the Prime Minister’s office did it too.
      - Naturesong 2.4.6.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:28 pm
        
        You might find it’s a poor defence to the breaking and entering you’d be charged with 😆
        
        But, you could do it during an open home.
        Be sure to keep us all updated as your trial progresses.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.6.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:29 pm
        
        I forgot to mention I got paid to do it, through a trust run by my mate Jordan. He says if I get busted he’ll call the client and I’ll be taken care of. It’s all a bit hush hush, but the best thing is, we’re in the digital age, so they haven’t even got plausible deniability.
        
        Mum’s the word.
    - john 2.4.6.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 3:30 pm
      
      Openly accessable..in fact, the labour party encourage you to look, how far is irrelevant. Therefore there is an implication of invitation…no “locked doors here”.
      Slater had a password….like having a lock on your front door, if it is a poor lock….it’s still breaking and entering with NO invitation either stated or implied.
      - One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.6.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:36 pm
        
        Which is why the thief in the PM’s office masked his IP address, because he knew he was doing nothing wrong.
        
        Do you have to repeatedly smash your head against a wall to achieve this level of cognitive dissonance? Or is it genetic?
        
        Naturesong 2.4.6.2.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:50 pm
        
        It is an interesting question though.
        
        If you have a guilty mind, believe you are committing a crime, but are in actual fact not.
        
        In this case however, it’s clear that information was accessed without authorisation (the nature of the information copied together with Slater and Ede’s relationship to the Labour Party requires a monumential leap of faith to come to any other conclusion), but until Dirty Politics came out there was no way to prove mens rea.
        
        Andrew 2.4.6.2.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:07 pm
        
        “Which is why the thief in the PM’s office masked his IP address”
        
        No he didn’t, i believe it was referred to as a “dynamic IP address”, which is what 95% of all people connected to the internet have. In particular anyone working for a company will generally have a dynamic IP address. try tying ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew and see what happens. You might just get a new one.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:18 pm
        
        My bad. Jason “Dynamic” Ede offered “a hearty sigh of relief” that his prints weren’t on file, ‘cos had they been he’d’ve been “bang to rights, it’s a fair cop guv”.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        29 October 2015 at 7:54 pm
        
        And a dynamic IP address can be traced by the simple expedient of asking the ISP and/or the network admin who was logged on and using that IP address at that time.
      - Tracey 2.4.6.2.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:25 pm
        
        Feel free to argue it in court, should it come to that, I hope Slater has a better defence than you would affford him.
  - weizguy 2.4.7
    
    29 October 2015 at 1:01 pm
    
    “A bit like putting a naked photo of yourself in your front window and then complaining that someone saw it.”
    
    Or, a better analogy, someone walking into your house through an open door (because you left the ranch-slider open on a summer’s day) proceeding to your bathroom and taking, and publishing, photos of you in the bath.
  - Draco T Bastard 2.4.8
    
    29 October 2015 at 3:08 pm
    
    Except Slater didn’t take anything that wasn’t publically available.
    
    If I leave my door open you can’t wander in and use everything in the house as you choose. If you do so you are committing a crime. This is what Slater did and thus, IMO, still committed a crime.
    
    In this case EMails were taken via breaking into Slater’s computer, then distributed (for profit, a book).
    
    But they weren’t taken – they were still there and profit from the book has nothing to do with it. Unless you’re arguing that nobody should ever get paid for their work?
    - john 2.4.8.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 3:34 pm
      
      So theft is work, now.
      The labour party’s door was open….because they wanted it open, they invite everyone in.
      Slater did not invite anyone in, in fact he had password protect, no matter how poor, it is still NOT an invitation.
      - Draco T Bastard 2.4.8.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:41 pm
        
        So theft is work, now.
        
        No, journalism is and it often skirts if not outright breaks the law which is why journalists have protection for doing so written into the law.
        
        The labour party’s door was open….because they wanted it open, they invite everyone in.
        
        That’s not how it works as you would know if you’d bothered to read the law.
        
        Slater did not invite anyone in, in fact he had password protect, no matter how poor, it is still NOT an invitation.
        
        Accessing Slater’s data was, as a matter of fact, a crime. Doing so exposed immoral and possibly illegal behaviour which is why Hager publishing a book is not a crime and nor is him receiving that information.
        
        john 2.4.8.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:15 pm
        
        Receiving that info., by hager, if data is property (supreme court)..then he has received stolen goods….a crime!!!!
        Searching through an OPEN web site (Labour’s, at the time) is not.
        Labour want you to explore their web site, don’t put anything on there you don’t want people to see, down load or copy.
        I don’t put my customer list or set of accounts on my web site. But you can see the products and services I supply…in fact I welcome people to look……… just like Labour….and all the other political parties.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:20 pm
        
        John the Bellman. What he tells you three times is true!!!!!! !!!! !!!!!!!!!
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:26 pm
        
        You need to read the actual decision rather than taking your knowledge on this from Mr Slater’s website.
        
        if you aren’t prepared to read the actual decision, then don’t be surprised if you get ridiculed.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:34 pm
        
        Receiving that info., by hager, if data is property (supreme court)..then he has received stolen goods….a crime!!!!
        
        Well, the SC went to a great deal of effort to say that it usually isn’t.
        
        Searching through an OPEN web site (Labour’s, at the time) is not.
        
        It wasn’t a website. If anybody had just explored Labour’s website they would not have found it. To access the files that Slater and Ede did required that they go looking for them and that shows intent to access data that they weren’t entitled to.
        
        I don’t put my customer list or set of accounts on my web site.
        
        And neither did Labour.
        
        john …
        
        29 October 2015 at 7:58 pm
        
        labour put this on their web site open and accessible!! Even they admit it.
        So..they searched the web site…so what. They could not have known it was there until they found it.
        Maybe someone in the Labour party told them where to look?
        As for the SC…usually isn’t does not mean never!!!
      - maui 2.4.8.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:46 pm
        
        If you found a wallet would you just help yourself would you?
        
        john 2.4.8.1.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:19 pm
        
        The law says that it is the property of the person who lost, you should make all reasonable attempts to return it.
        NOT the same here, the Labour party INVITES you in to look around their web site, just like ALL other political parties. If they leave, in plain view, something in there that they don’t want seen…more fool them. You can’t unsee something!!
        Hager used STOLEN Emails from a person that BROKE INTO someone’s property…. Not the same at all.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:21 pm
        
        Just the place for a snark.
        
        Poor John, he believes it so hard he wants to spread the word.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:28 pm
        
        and yet to make sense of the data Slater had to alter it from its original state (according to someone up there ^^^), therefore if you are right, then labour only wanted those who knew when they saw it how to “translate” it.
        
        Just in case you want to aquaint yourself with the actual decision
        
        http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/cases/jonathan-dixon-v-r-1/at_download/fileDecision
  - travellerev 2.4.9
    
    29 October 2015 at 4:31 pm
    
    Ah, the old they left the door open and therefore it’s not stealing argument!
    - john 2.4.9.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 5:02 pm
      
      They didn’t leave the door open, …they invited everyone in to look around!
      - Draco T Bastard 2.4.9.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:06 pm
        
        No they didn’t.
        
        john 2.4.9.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:02 pm
        
        Childish but……having a web site (such as all political parties do) is an invitation for people to look around it. Otherwise why isn’t it password protected and why does it actively encourage you to click on all the links on the front page, and as you go further in it encourages you to click on more links etc etc?
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:10 pm
        
        If that’s how you see it your moral compass is due for a service.
        
        lprent …
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:28 pm
        
        No it isn’t. Read the crimes act and privacy acts for the actual law rather than talking out of your area with stupid shit like that. Most networked computers have both public and private areas. Even computers on internal networks have public streams.
        
        If anyone breaks into the areas that are not meant to be public, then they have committed a crime. I will lay a complaint, and If the police don’t take action then I will probably prosecute them one way or another.
        
        john …
        
        30 October 2015 at 9:49 am
        
        Not the case here …it was publically accessible and the Labour party have already admitted and apologised for that!!
        
        weka …
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:51 pm
        
        the pages that Slater and Ede accessed weren’t clickable off the main site. You had to know how to access them, and most people wouldn’t. That’s not a definition of public.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        29 October 2015 at 9:34 pm
        
        +1
        
        john of course knows this but acts to hide the truth of what happened even from himself.
        
        Mike Bond …
        
        30 October 2015 at 9:34 am
        
        @John. You are wasting your time trying to explain to the Anonymous Bloke. He is stuck in his thinking and thinks he is very smart to ridicule others who disagree with him. We have to wait and see what comes out of the court case. What I do find funny is all the support given to Hager, yet those very same people had heaps to say about their own privacy and the powers of the GCCB. They don’t want their privacy breached, but it is OK to hack someone’s e mails and then write a book based on these e mails. We did say hypocrisy is ripe on the left.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        31 October 2015 at 8:58 am
        
        Who said it’s ok to hack emails?
        
        Nobody. Not even the hacker. Once again your ‘argument’ has no foundation.
        
        Has The Herald coming out for Hager not given you a little clue yet? My view is the majority one and you still haven’t read Dixon v R, have you.
        
        Very very feeble.
      - One Anonymous Bloke 2.4.9.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:10 pm
        
        John hasn’t realised that an open door isn’t an invitation. So if you find John in your house just looking around, don’t call the police, take it as an invitation to teach John better manners by some appropriate method.
        
        John. Cuddling up to crims since forever.
        
        BM 2.4.9.1.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:18 pm
        
        John would be trespassing as he wasn’t invited in and anything he took would be considered stealing.
        
        My take is the way Labour set up their server it basically meant to was an invite to all to come on in , check it out and take what you want.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:21 pm
        
        Like John’s, your take is woefully lacking in sense and sincerity.
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:31 pm
        
        It’s why it’s quite hard to prosecute a friend,family or flatmate who’s stolen your stuff.
        
        Normally it’s a civil matter, not a police matter.
        
        McFlock …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:48 pm
        
        Slater isn’t any of those to the Labour party though, is he?
        
        He’s the halfwitted thug from down the road who sees you left your door ajar and wanders all over your home, sniffing the dirty laundry. Sure, they try “the door was open” as a defence, and the judge/jury still finds them guilty.
        
        He knew he wasn’t supposed to have access to the information he was reading. That’s why it was a story. In my opinion (not tested in court) that’s also why he committed a crime.
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:54 pm
        
        Nah, it was about the incompetence of the Labour party.
        
        Can’t even run a website yet think they can run a country, lol, lol, what a bunch of tools.
        
        That was the story.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:58 pm
        
        Tools with nine surpluses in a row, the lowest unemployment rate since the 1970s, and all this without Oravida bleach attacks.
        
        McFlock …
        
        29 October 2015 at 6:00 pm
        
        You really do love to blame the victim.
        
        The story was “door left open, see a buffoon walk through the house and sniff the panties“.
        
        Stuart Munro …
        
        30 October 2015 at 3:25 am
        
        Yeah but he’s a Gnat thug – like a certain prominent individual who a corrupt judiciary has determined shall remain nameless – and like the Masons were once purported to, Gnats enjoy inappropriate and disproportionate police and court cooperation.
        
        So Hager will be prosecuted and Slater will probably get a knighthood – for services to the suppurating mass of corruption that is the Key administration.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 6:03 pm
        
        BM, cuddling up to crims since forever.
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 6:10 pm
        
        I must be a natural lefty and just haven’t realized it.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 6:12 pm
        
        I think of you as more the Capill-Garret-Sabin type.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        29 October 2015 at 7:50 pm
        
        Oh, BM’s not the Capill-Garret-Sabin type at all. He’s the type that will support that type come what may because they’re on his team.
        
        john 2.4.9.1.2.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:03 pm
        
        But unlike rawshark, I won’t be in your house uninvited.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:20 pm
        
        You said having the door open was an invitation. Slater left the door open, or Rawshark wouldn’t have gained entry. According to you, John, that means Slater invited Rawshark in.
        
        Relax, crims and their cuddlers (that’s you, John), have been running this line since Cain was a tacker. The law rejected it eons ago.
        
        Any chance of you getting up to speed this century?
        
        john …
        
        30 October 2015 at 9:52 am
        
        No…read again….Rawshark Broke in by breaking past the password, there was no such block on the Labour party website and all comers are invited to explore ALL political party web sites.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        30 October 2015 at 12:18 pm
        
        Slater even tried to have The Standard hacked.
        
        Rawshark admits his offending. John’s cuddling up to crims. No wonder Hager wants to disinfect your dirty little schemes with the sunlight of public exposure.
- r0b 2.5
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:42 am
  
  Andrew – many thanks for your contributions. That description of “legal fiction” is one of the most interesting things I have read (and clearly never understood!) about the law.
  
  Seems to me that the legal fiction must fall over in the case of interpreting new technology? If the technology didn’t exist at the time a law was written there is no way it can have a “true meaning” that covers new developments.
  - dukeofurl 2.5.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 12:01 pm
    
    Ist it a throwback to medieval Kings, who were sole arbiters of the law, and could never be wrong, even when they changed their mind, or more commonly changed Kings ?
  - Andrew Geddis 2.5.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 12:32 pm
    
    @rOb,
    
    Well – it can! For example, the law on theft didn’t need to be rewritten to deal with the development of internet banking … if you get access to someone’s account on-line (say, they walk away from their computer without logging out of it) and transfer money into your account, you’ve “stolen” that money just as much as if you took $50 from their wallet. The question is, can existing concepts/definitions in the law stretch to encompass the new technology. If so, then the law can apply to it just as much as if it were around when the law was written.
    
    The REAL problem we have is that s.249 of the Crimes Act was written specifically to deal with a new technology (computers). What doesn’t seem to have been considered is how applying existing legal concepts (such as property) in the context of those sections (i.e. in relation to computers) might then flow through into other bits of the Crimes Act not written with computers in mind (i.e. the bits about receiving dishonestly obtained (stolen) “property”). Now the Supreme Court has forced us all to start thinking about that … and none of us really know!
    - r0b 2.5.2.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 1:12 pm
      
      The law / technology interface is a really fascinating place to be right now (potential students take note!).
    - One Anonymous Bloke 2.5.2.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 1:24 pm
      
      none of us really know!
      
      It can’t be that hard to figure out: the rule of law requires that governments and other dodgy types be held to account: freedom of expression is vital to that goal.
      
      What about precedents?
      
      Daniel Ellsberg springs to mind…
      - Tracey 2.5.2.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:38 pm
        
        perhaps rule of law is now a
        
        nice to have
        
        Pat 2.5.2.2.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 9:33 pm
        
        perhaps rule of law is now ability to afford?….and wasnt it always so if to a lesser degree in the recent past?
      - Naturesong 2.5.2.2.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:55 pm
        
        I don’t think it’s a matter of just finding out.
        This does appear to be new territory.
        
        It’ll be tested in court, and as each point is addressed and presidents are set, they become the true meaning of the law as indicated by Geddis above.
        
        Ellsberg was subject to the US judicial system so the precedent set there will not apply here (though judges do sometimes reference overseas rulings when setting precedents here)
        And, he was charged with theft, conspiracy and espionage. They threw the book at him.
        
        The issues these cases address (Dirty Politics, Blomfield and Labour website) appear to be:
        * Privacy
        * Defamation
        * The meaning of Property as it relates to information, or containers of information.
        * Unauthorised access of computer systems
        
        The issue that does overlap with Ellsberg is the public interest angle.
        The publishing of information which highlights abuse of power.
        Remember Ellsberg was a whistle-blower, Hager is a journalist.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 2.5.2.2.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:51 pm
        
        They threw the book at him, and the judge caught it and threw it (and their case) out of court.
        
        The SC ruling cites plenty of US law.
        
        They also refer to public interest and freedom of speech issues, which clearly covers Hager, The Herald, Paddy Gower et al,
        
        Naturesong …
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:33 pm
        
        Glad we agree.
        
        Or rather, I’m assuming we agree and you’re not left thinking that a lawyer representing a whistleblower in a New Zealand court could argue that a US ruling has any legal weight here.
        
        That’s not to say that a NZ Judge would not look to how judges overseas approached similar cases when setting precedent here.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:09 pm
        
        If they carry no legal weight, why cite them at all?
        
        What emerges from our brief discussion of the United States authorities is that although they differ as to whether software is tangible or intangible, they are in general agreement that software is “property”. There seems no reason to treat data files differently from software in this respect. Even though the English Court of Appeal considered that an electronic database was not tangible property capable of being converted, it acknowledged that it might be property.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:30 pm
        
        the precedent system can allow a court to consider a case from the USA but they do not HAVE to follow it, ergo, they are not bound by its ruling on a particular principle. The SC would have more latitude in this regard?
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:37 pm
        
        They also cite case law from the UK which takes a different view. Obviously that carried less weight than the US rulings in this case.
        
        What the RWNJs are ignoring is that the word “property” does not have a fixed, technical meaning but must be interpreted in context.
    - McFlock 2.5.2.3
      
      29 October 2015 at 3:26 pm
      
      Funnily enough, I would have said that what Dixon obtained wasn’t “property”, but rather he obtained a “benefit”: the information he got was then able to be used by him to gain notoriety and attention.
      
      Although the justices obviously know better than me…
- yabby 2.6
  
  29 October 2015 at 1:22 pm
  
  If I remember rightly Slater showed people how to go into the Labour website and access the open files.
weka 3

29 October 2015 at 11:02 am

What’s the problem with information being property?
- One Anonymous Bloke 3.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:05 am
  
  Receiving it is a crime.
  - Tracey 3.1.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:13 am
    
    which has implications for slater in tge blomfeld case?
  - weka 3.1.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:33 am
    
    “Receiving it is a crime.”
    
    Why is that a problem?
    - Tracey 3.1.2.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:41 am
      
      because receiving stolen goods is a criminal offence under the crimes act 1961
      - dukeofurl 3.1.2.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:01 pm
        
        Especially when you know ‘its stolen’
    - One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.2.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 11:44 am
      
      It’s a problem because of the way it affects for eg: journalism – the Intercept, for instance.
      - weka 3.1.2.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:01 pm
        
        ok, so apart from journalism, any other reasons why information being regarded as property is a problem?
        
        mpledger 3.1.2.2.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:17 pm
        
        Because there is no real way of knowing what information on the internet is stolen or not.
        
        Just look at youtube – if there is a video gone viral then there are often lots of copies on youtube where people have stolen the original video and uploaded it as if it was their own in order to get advertising revenue from the huge interest in it. If you look at the wrong one (i.e. one stolen from someone else) then you could be done for receiving under this new definition.
        
        weka …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:19 pm
        
        So the problems with internet usage should dictate whether information in general is property or not?
        
        AFAIK, if a video is copyrighted then uploading or downloading it without permission is illegal. That’s because the law grants ownership.
        
        dukeofurl …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:34 pm
        
        Thats really an intellectual property situation, completely different. The copyright , which is a license not real property, is about using someone elses IP ( usually without paying!)
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:26 pm
        
        Bollocks
        
        http://www.netlaw.co.nz/crime.cfm?PageID=328
        
        Hager knew the data was stolen, the person watching the you tube video does not.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:49 pm
        
        Right wing bush lawyer arguing that Jason Ede stole property while working in the PM’s office.
        
        The judgement makes it very clear that one of the reasons Dixon’s actions are considered theft is because he deleted the video footage. It also makes much of Parliament’s intent with regard to these matters and points out that the orthodox view is that information is not property.
        
        Your narrow self-serving interpretation ignores Parliament’s intent with regard to journalism. The courts will not.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:41 pm
        
        what is becoming apparent is at least 3 of our rightwing commenters have not read the decision despite it being available and have settled on a newspaper article as the basis of their assertions.
        
        dukeofurl …
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:46 pm
        
        Not quite.
        
        What happened was a “compliation” was made of the raw data – mostly showing the rugby player, this was copied onto Dixons USB, and then the COMPILATION WAS DELETED from desktop.
        
        Now where does it say the raw data was deleted. (BTW sounds like they were experienced as this editing task)
        
        “While the files from which the compilation was constructed REMAINED on the CCTV system, the compilation contained what was valuable in the full files.”
        Supreme Court judgement [39]
        http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/from/decisions/judgments
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:55 pm
        
        Thanks – I hadn’t picked up on that.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 3.1.2.2.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:18 pm
        
        Do you have any material on your computer in breach of copyright? It just got upgraded to a whole new level of criminality.
        
        weka …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:21 pm
        
        my original question (“What’s the problem with information being property?”) isn’t about the current situation, it’s about the underlying issue of why information is not considered property (some information, other information already is).
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:45 pm
        
        The judgement considers the question in exhaustive detail, including plenty of existing case law. It lays out the Court of Appeal’s reasoning, and its own reasons for overturning their judgement.
        
        In doing so, the SC departs from what it terms the “orthodox” view – that information is not property. It’s clear from Prof. Geddis’ article that significant questions arise.
        
        The accompanying media release says that the word “property” does not have a fixed, technical meaning but must be interpreted in context.
        
        With regard to property, the court also makes reference to Parliament’s intent. It’s clear from other legislation that Parliament also “intends” to allow journalists to protect their sources.
        
        Somewhere there’s a balance.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:36 pm
        
        nicely put
        
        RJL 3.1.2.2.1.3
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:00 pm
        
        It radically changes the penalties associated with activities like Copyright Infringement.
        
        Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.2.1.4
        
        29 October 2015 at 3:21 pm
        
        Knowing how to do maths is information.
        Knowing how to read is information.
        Your genetic code is information.
        
        It goes on and on and on. They’d be huge problems for society if information became property.
- Andrew Geddis 3.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:20 am
  
  @Weka,
  
  If information is property in the same way as, say, your toothbrush or shoes are, then some free speech problems start to emerge.
  
  Consider. I am an evil entity (a company, or a union, if you prefer). I have been up to no-good. I write down my no-good deeds on a bit of paper. That information (the details of my no-good actions – not the bit of paper) then gets taken by a third party (an employee, or a cleaner, or whomever) and repeated to a campaigning journalist, who then broadcasts it to the world.
  
  Has the third party “stolen” my property (in the same way as taking your toothbrush or shoes would be)? Has the journalist then “received” that stolen property? In which case, hasn’t campaigning journalism just been criminalised? Is that then a good thing (from a societal point of view)?
  - Tracey 3.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:24 am
    
    thanks andrew.
    
    does public interest operate as a defence in this situation? Or is that what you mean about campaigning jouralism being criminalised? investigative too
  - weka 3.2.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:32 am
    
    what is campaigning journalism?
    
    Wouldn’t the scenario you describe be better covered by whistleblower/public interest legislation?
    
    But compare that to say someone making a copy of my computer’s HDD and sharing things from there that I don’t want shared. Nothing evil, just personal stuff or stuff that is confidential. Why should the information on my computer not be considered property?
    
    Conversely, how come my medical notes are the property of the medical practice I go to? Yes I am entitled to copies, but the originals are deemed to belong to the practice and I have limited control over the information I have shared. That information now belongs to other people.
    - Andrew Geddis 3.2.2.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 12:41 pm
      
      @Weka,
      
      Why should the information on my computer not be considered property?
      
      Well, it is a form of property, in that you have copyright over it and so can take civil action against anyone doing the sharing. What you’re asking is, why shouldn’t the Police be able to charge and the courts convict someone for what they’ve done. And the answer to that is the one I gave above … we should be very careful about extending the extensive criminal law protection we give to tangible property (shoes/toothbrushes/etc) to intangible “information” as the latter is so closely intertwined with free speech that we risk making public discussion/talking about things an illegal act.
      
      Case in point – if the person who is “sharing things from your HDD” has “taken property”, then everyone who they share with is “receiving it” and also has committed an offence. As would anyone that they>/i> share the information with. And so on. And so on.
      - BM 3.2.2.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:46 pm
        
        Only if they know it’s stolen.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.2.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:53 pm
        
        Not when they are a journalist working in the public interest.
        
        If they’re Jason Ede working in the Prime Minister’s office…you just dug yourself a big hole.
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 12:58 pm
        
        I can’t find it, but didn’t Hagar admit on radio that he knew the data he used for dirty politics was stolen.
        
        Sure it was on Hoskings show.
        
        Also if Slater and Eade broke the law they should be prosecuted
        
        Naturesong …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:01 pm
        
        “If Slater and Eade broke the law they should be done like Hagar.”
        
        By which you mean slandered by the PM and harassed but police?
        
        Or do you mean charged with a crime, like Hager has not been?
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:07 pm
        
        Even though I edited my comment.
        
        What I meant was that if Hager got done and Eade and Slater were guilty of the same sort of thing they should get done as well.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:09 pm
        
        Slater’s situation is unclear. Ede has no defence though, because he isn’t a journalist.
        
        Naturesong …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:23 pm
        
        I don’t understand.
        
        What Hagar did by publishing Dirty Politics from the information he received from Rawshark opens him up to privacy concerns and potentially defamation from the main subjects
        
        Whereas what Slater/Ede did was accesses a computer system and download information they believed they did not have a right to. (This is on par with Rawshark’s behaviour, not Hagers)
        
        There are however similarities between Hagar receiving information and writing Dirty Politics and Slater obtaining Blomfield’s information. These relate to privacy issues.
        
        In addition, Slater has been taken to court by Blomfield for defamation.
        This is an avenue that Slater can take against Hager but I suspect he’s terrified of what might be made public during discovery.
        Additionally, Hager looks to have a pretty strong public interest defence should he end up in court.
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 4:32 pm
        
        I don’t think the police have ever raided Slater for either the Ede related information or the Blomfeld data.
        
        dukeofurl …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:09 pm
        
        Like this time ?
        
        “Right-wing blogger Cameron Slater has been accused of paying a man to hack into an opposition website( The Standard) for political gain.
        In a statement provided to NZME. News Service, police confirmed they were investigating the claims, saying they had “received a complaint regarding an alleged attempt to procure the hacking of a computer system”.
        
        Nothing came of that one ! Surprised not ?
        
        Tracey 3.2.2.1.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:01 pm
        
        do they have any obligation to ascertain that before using it BM
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:03 pm
        
        How does some one do that.
        
        Naturesong …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:07 pm
        
        That question is irrelevant if there is no obligation.
        
        Or by asking that question, is belief that there is an obligation implicit?
        
        Tracey …
        
        29 October 2015 at 1:36 pm
        
        so if i dont even ask where something came from i committed no crime?
        
        BM …
        
        29 October 2015 at 5:29 pm
        
        Why would you ask unless you thought the items were stolen in which case it would be advisable not to take them.
        
        JeevesPOnzi …
        
        30 October 2015 at 10:21 am
        
        Well- it’s not just ‘knowing’ they are stolen- it’s also being ‘reckless’ to the facts around their providence….
      - Jim in Tokyo 3.2.2.1.2
        
        30 October 2015 at 9:41 am
        
        I haven’t seen any indication that Slater’s computer was broken into / accessed. Nor have I seen any indication that files were moved or copied?
        
        Looking at Rawshark’s twitter feed, it looks like two hosted cloud computing services were accessed (Gmail and Facebook) and screenshots were made of the relevant messages then circulated.
        
        You can’t even “copy” a Facebook instant message on the byte level to my knowledge – the screenshot process is more akin to taking an iphone snap of the security monitor showing the dancing rugby blockhead and circulating that.
        
        That’s quite a different scenario from say receiving an illegally obtained physical harddrive or clone of a physical harddrive.
        
        JeevesPOnzi 3.2.2.1.2.1
        
        30 October 2015 at 10:35 am
        
        That’s a refreshing slant on things- because up until now- Slater’s story has gathered steam without anybody actually examining it in detail.
        
        He’s been saying it was stolen…. and most people are now accepting on a certain level that Rawshark is ‘guilty’…
        
        But what if it wasn’t stolen… what if it was just ‘found’. And just because “Rawshark ” has said he is culpable, it still needs to be proven.
        
        At some point- in a series of improbable events – a person in possession of someone else’s goods, may have an argument of distant proximity from the crime?
        I see my neighbours car held back by a brick beneath the wheel, so I steal the brick. The car rolls down the hill and through the open gates of the farmyard at the bottom. Farmer picks it up on tractor and drops it out past the back paddock, on a country road. It sits there for two months until other farmer puts it in his paddock for safe keeping. Eventually weeds grow through it and his kids start driving it around the paddock… etc etc.
        
        Given the complexity of the cloud storage world vis a vis the archaic law applied to it- it may well be the real Rawshark could present a defence that simply usurps the law to the point that he plays no bigger a part than the Farmers’ kids driving in the paddock.
  - RJL 3.2.3
    
    29 October 2015 at 2:03 pm
    
    If information is property of the “toothbrush kind”, can the police then seize it as “the proceeds of crime”?
  - Ross 3.2.4
    
    29 October 2015 at 3:06 pm
    
    “Has the third party “stolen” my property?”
    
    What if the answer was yes but it was necessary to steal in order to protect the public?
  - McFlock 3.2.5
    
    29 October 2015 at 3:33 pm
    
    Semantic point: I’m not sure “stolen” applies to the information (no ability to permanently deprive Slater of his texts or the bar owner of the security camera footage).
    
    But it’s only a semantic point:
    
    246 Receiving
    (1)
    Every one is guilty of receiving who receives any property stolen or obtained by any other imprisonable offence, knowing that property to have been stolen or so obtained, or being reckless as to whether or not the property had been stolen or so obtained.
    - One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.5.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 3:46 pm
      
      Dixon made a compilation which (apart from the copy he took) he deleted. The compilation is the property in question, not the raw footage. So yes, his employer was deprived of it.
  - nukefacts 3.2.6
    
    30 October 2015 at 10:06 am
    
    This idea that Information is Property is so very flawed. It seems based on a conflation of physical manifestations of information with information itself.
    
    Consider this. Historically, property was defined through several attributes:
    
    – it is tangible i.e. can be touched
    – it is immutable – i.e. generally, it can’t be significantly changed (think a car, boat, land, a book)
    – it is possible to determine it’s provenance i.e. who previously owned it and what has been done with it (think a car ownership and service history). Provenance thus defines ownership
    – it has a quantifiable cost to create and maintain, hence it’s loss through theft incurs real financial costs to the owner
    
    Information, while not well defined even by the ICT sector, has some different attributes:
    
    – it is intangible, being created and maintained within computer technology and hence can’t be touched and often not even seen
    – it is highly mutable i.e it can undergo change ranging from minor e.g. change a date, to extensive, e.g. re-write a novel
    – provenance is often completely unknowable, especially when information can be quickly assembled from a huge range of unattributed sources. This point is especially important when thinking of information as property – you frequently can’t prove who or what (e.g. machine, person) is responsible for creating an changing information. Thus ownership via Provenance breaks down (note that many Asian cultures don’t think of provenance and ownership as western cultures do, based on this understanding that in reality, all information passes through multiple hands and is built by many participants).
    – costs to create and maintain are often exceptionally low while the perceived value may be high (think a movie, e-book), but increasingly the value of digital information is being devalued as business models evolve. This makes it hard to prove loss of value
    
    Two examples nicely illustrate these issues:
    
    1. I steal someones car. The car is clearly tangible, immutable, with known provenance, and a high cost. It’s clearly someone’s property otherwise it would not have been purchased, used and have sufficient value to warrant being stolen.
    
    2. I steal someones digital medical record. This is not property as we understand it, and the theft has different consequences. The record is intangible, and highly mutable as it is continually modified until the patient is dead. Provenance is discoverable, but ownership is jointly held between the patient, doctor, hospital / GP, and other care providers. Costs to create are almost zero, and costs to maintain the record are very high for care provider labour, but almost nothing for the digital aspects of the record. There’s no financial cost to the theft of the record, and no physical asset is harmed or taken off someone. There are potential health and repetitional problems that can arise at different times (e.g. a mental health diagnosis may limit employment) but in no way can the record be considered ‘property’.
    
    To apply this thinking to the Dixon case. What was taken was a ‘mashup’ of existing footage. It was created by Dixon using his employers resources but it is unclear that he was actually forbidden from using these (e.g. computer, video footage). To conclude he stole property is clearly wrong. The employer owned the original CCTV footage, not the mashup, and the original footage was not deleted. The cost to produce the mashup was mostly Dixons labour, with some electricity etc from the employer. Dixon possibly breached privacy law by using the footage for a purpose it wasn’t intended for, but in no way did he steal property.
    
    In the case of Rawshark and Hager, Rawshark may have committed a crime. Hager however received a set of digital files that themselves are not the same as the original. To expand this point, any time you copy a file it’s not actually exactly the same as the original because the create/read/update metadata of the file is changed. You cannot make a digital copy of something and keep it on writable media (computer memory, hard disk, SSD etc) without this metadata being changed. Therefore it’s not the same file so he wasn’t receiving stolen property.
    - One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.6.1
      
      30 October 2015 at 3:22 pm
      
      Dixon used his employer’s computer to make the compilation. The compilation automatically belongs to the employer, no?
      
      Put it this way: the SC ruling clearly states that Dixon’s access of the computer was “unauthorised”.
      
      Have you read the judgement?
      - McFlock 3.2.6.1.1
        
        30 October 2015 at 3:41 pm
        
        The compilation automatically belongs to the employer, no?
        
        Well, there’s an interesting argument right there.
        
        E.g. what if the compilation used a small enough amount of the raw footage to count as “fair use” under the copyright act? Sure, it was obtained unlawfully, but if I steal a library book and write an article citing some of the contents, I own the article even if I can be done for theft. And aren’t Hager’s excerpts in the book a “compilation” of the hacked material?
        
        The entire issue is a dog’s breakfast.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.6.1.1.1
        
        31 October 2015 at 7:58 am
        
        I think it’s a bit of a leap between Dixon and Rawshark, and a far bigger one to Hager.
        
        As the SC points out, context is everything. Was Slater deprived of his information, for example? The ‘benefit’ from it was to the entire nation.
        
        I can sense many long bows being drawn 🙂
- ianmac 3.3
  
  29 October 2015 at 1:59 pm
  
  If you copy something and leave the original intact, then have you stolen anything? If I take say a cell phone it is gone. But Data on a computer is still there so has it been stolen?
  - john 3.3.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 8:14 pm
    
    If you steal a car, drive it around town and return exactly where you found it with exactly the same amount of petrol in the tank, without the owners knowledge.
    It is still stealing!!!!
    - One Anonymous Bloke 3.3.1.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 8:55 pm
      
      It’s possible that you’d be a worse choice for Cameron’s lawyer than he is.
    - JeevesPOnzi 3.3.1.2
      
      30 October 2015 at 10:40 am
      
      No its not stealing- its borrowing without the owners consent.
      Particularly if you bring it back with petrol in it.
Tory 4

29 October 2015 at 11:25 am

The good news is that this is sitting with the NZ Supreme Court and they will make a decision based on interpretation of the law. Personally I think Hager is in trouble.
- One Anonymous Bloke 4.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:27 am
  
  They’ve already made their decision and were at pains to point out that they intend a very narrow interpretation. Please try and keep up.
  - Tracey 4.1.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 11:31 am
    
    chuckle
- Tracey 4.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:30 am
  
  can you set out the legal basis for considering hager is in trouble?
  - dukeofurl 4.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 12:03 pm
    
    It didnt say “best wishes from Cam” on his package.
    
    Knowing you have received stolen goods ( and not returning them) is the problem
    - ianmac 4.2.1.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 2:01 pm
      
      So if Hager returned his data to Slater it is not stolen?
      - dukeofurl 4.2.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:39 pm
        
        No. But for the person who received the stolen property , its a way of indicating they didnt have the ‘required intent’
        
        Merely possession of someone elses property usually isnt enough for a conviction. If you knew it was stolen AND kept it would however most likely be.
        
        ianmac 4.2.1.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 2:43 pm
        
        If I bought a stolen car it can be taken off me even if I didn’t know it had been stolen. Not sure if I am guilty of a crime unless I knowingly received.
        
        john 4.2.1.1.1.2
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:17 pm
        
        But Hager didn’t merely possess it did he…profited from the writing of a book using info he was not entitled to have and he knew was stolen (he said so himself).
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:27 pm
        
        Slowly, you’re joining the dots. The dots that form the trivial part of your “case”.
        
        Now for the guts of it.
        
        When you’ve absorbed that information, and noticed that you have no case whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to ask questions.
  - Tory 4.2.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 12:46 pm
    
    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11535914
    
    “Rawshark will have obtained property in breach of [the law]. If Rawshark obtained property it’s hard to see those files are not still property when they get passed on to Mr Hager.”
    
    I am sure you can join the dots….
    - One Anonymous Bloke 4.2.2.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 12:56 pm
      
      I’m sure that you are ignoring Hager’s cast-iron public interest defence. Sadly for you, the SC makes direct reference to it, as does Parliament.
      
      Keep wishfully wishing all your political opponents were in prison. Perhaps you could be a guard, wearing a smart uniform with shiny buttons, to open and close the gate.
    - Tracey 4.2.2.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 1:02 pm
      
      so you read the herald articke and concluded hager was likely guilty? Cool. Fortunately the courts will delve deeper than the herald
- George Hendry 4.3
  
  29 October 2015 at 12:15 pm
  
  ‘Personally I think Hager is in trouble.’ 🙂 🙂 🙂
  
  He will have had no idea of this, and realising it will worry him greatly. Never yet having been in trouble with police, he naturally has no notion of what being harassed by them could be like.
  
  If they now have the law on their side, what might that give them the power to do?
  
  ‘It didnt say “best wishes from Cam” on his package.’
  
  There is no public evidence that Cam gives or has ever given best wishes to anybody, so to expect Rawshark to look for such a thing was unrealistic.
  - dukeofurl 4.3.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 2:35 pm
    
    Dont be silly, it was meant as a way of saying the files werent sent with Slaters blessing.
    - George Hendry 4.3.1.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 9:02 pm
      
      Indeed, I was hoping I could get you to say ‘…weren’t sent with Slater’s permission’, or even better, with his expressed agreement as a response to a specific request.
      
      His permission was not given. Nor was the Labour party’s permission given. So there was equal ‘theft’ (virtual theft?) in both cases.
      
      Our resident trolls have spent ages arguing on this long thread that Rawshark stole, because it was (more) difficult, and Ede didn’t steal, because it was easy. Totally beside the point.
      
      When in doubt, seek permission. Or run the risk of being charged with theft.
      - One Anonymous Bloke 4.3.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 9:09 pm
        
        There’s another difference between Slater/Ede and Rawshark – Rawshark admits personal responsibility for his crime.
        
        The lost sheep 4.3.1.1.1.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 11:18 pm
        
        Anonymous personal responsibility?
        
        Gee, now there’s a mind bending concept!
        
        So at first Personal Responsibility didn’t exist at all, then it did exist but only for those who were wealthy or of a Right Wing political persuasion, and now it has spread to a nebulous kind of half existence in an alternative universe where you can at the one and same time take it, without actually being answerable to it, because you can’t be identified….
        
        Progress. At this rate, some time in 2029 personal responsibility will have achieved that democratically Utopian state of applying to all citizens equally without discrimination.
        
        McFlock …
        
        30 October 2015 at 12:50 am
        
        Oh, you think that personal responsibility only applies to how other people treat you, rather than it being reated to some sort of internal characteristic of the person, like a conscience or other alien concept.
        
        My impression is that Rawshark knew perfectly well that what they were considering doing would be illegal, but made a rational choice to risk imprisonment and hack slater because they felt that would be the correct thing to do.
        
        My impression of Slater and Ede is that they think they are entitled to be repugnant without risk of any repercussion whatsoever, and that sense of entitlement extends to them being legally reckless.
        
        One case makes their choice and consciously takes their risks, minimising but accepting the possibility of punishment. The other case just assumes they’re legally, ethically and personally immune from any repercussions.
        
        I know which case I think comes closer to accepting “personal responsibility”.
        
        Draco T Bastard …
        
        30 October 2015 at 1:22 am
        
        Exactly.
        
        When it comes down to it, the right-wing never take responsibility for their actions unless they’re forced to by a court and even then they’ll deny blame.
        
        One Anonymous Bloke …
        
        30 October 2015 at 5:37 am
        
        Sheep correctly notes that the “personal responsibility” displayed by Rawshark is minimal. That’s still infinitely more than wingnuts display, despite the lip service they give.
        
        Still, my bad for not adding the smiley to indicate that I wasn’t being entirely serious, and confusing poor Sheep.
savenz 5

29 October 2015 at 11:27 am

Shocking. What about legal protection for journalists and whistle blowers for public good?
- savenz 5.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 11:34 am
  
  Quite different receiving incriminating data that shows evidence of corruption to a journalist than an employee copying security footage like in the UK case and trying to sell it for profit to breach somebodies privacy.
- whateva next? 5.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 7:10 pm
  
  or when “public good” is at odds with “good for government”???? it seems “good for government” wins every time these days
  - Draco T Bastard 5.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 7:56 pm
    
    We seem to need laws that prevent the police going after people just because they’ve proven the government corrupt.
    - whateva next? 5.2.1.1
      
      30 October 2015 at 10:53 am
      
      not under this government, slightly against the trend of the laws they are passing in their reign?
johnm 6

29 October 2015 at 11:39 am

I haven’t studied this deeply but my impression is this government led by Key the U$ lackey is copying what the fascist U$ is doing to Julian Assange the whistleblower. Hager has done the same here,but obviously on a much more micro level, exposed the venal small minded unprincipled corruption of this government. And they’re out to make him pay for it. JMO but this is fascist lite, certainly some Natsi mps seem to have a leadership cult for fuhrer Key! Some of them seem obsessed with saying… ” at the end of the day .” Are we looking at a 4 term Reich here? I hope not.
- john 6.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 8:20 pm
  
  Isn’t there some unwritten law of the internet…stating…as soon as you make reference to fascists/ n**i’s you have lost the debate?
  - Chooky 6.1.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 8:35 pm
    
    ?
  - One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 9:03 pm
    
    As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1
    
    As for the notion of an unwritten law of the internet, I suppose there must be a video of it somewhere.
  - George Hendry 6.1.3
    
    29 October 2015 at 9:18 pm
    
    “Isn’t there some unwritten law of the internet…”
    
    No, there isn’t. But there are those who believe there is. And that as long as they avoid such reference they can’t lose, no matter how faulty their arguments may be.
Gabby 7

29 October 2015 at 1:03 pm

If you receive a copy of the ‘property’, have you received the property itself? If you haven’t deleted the original as this fellow Dixon did, have you deprived the owner of anything except the exclusivity of the information?
- savenz 7.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 1:06 pm
  
  Good point!
- One Anonymous Bloke 7.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 1:07 pm
  
  Basically, if you aren’t a journalist and there is no public interest in the information, you’re on shaky ground.
  
  Think industrial espionage, for example.
  - ianmac 7.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 2:05 pm
    
    But industrial espionage would be for profit as was with the Queenstown barman.
    Neither Rawshark or Hager were taking for profit which is a distinction in the law – somewhere.
    - One Anonymous Bloke 7.2.1.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 2:47 pm
      
      Even when it is ‘for profit’ – as in the case of a newspaper, for example, it’s clear that public interest is an over-riding principle.
    - john 7.2.1.2
      
      29 October 2015 at 8:22 pm
      
      ????? are you suggesting that Hager gave the books away??? really???
      - One Anonymous Bloke 7.2.1.2.1
        
        29 October 2015 at 8:34 pm
        
        Are you suggesting that you still haven’t grasped the meaning of “public interest” – even though people have been so patient and polite with you? A less charitable observer might describe your behaviour as boorish, ungrateful, and completely lacking in any vestige of personal responsibility.
        
        You can lead a John to information but the poor wingnut can’t think.
  - Gabby 7.2.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 5:34 pm
    
    That would be ‘intellectual property’ though. Bit of a long shot to call a planned smear campaign intellectual property.
    - One Anonymous Bloke 7.2.2.1
      
      29 October 2015 at 6:02 pm
      
      I don’t think even the National Party would lay claim to Richard Nixon’s intellectual property. They probably owe enough in royalties as it is.
savenz 8

29 October 2015 at 3:24 pm

Imagine if individuals become criminalised for revealing information about criminal corruption or whatever by people in power.

Corruption and criminal acts or even lying and hypocrisy would sky rocket in particular with people in power. (and probably already are). The criminals and wrongdoers would know they will be unlikely to be caught if it was illegal to reveal their actions.

Goodbye transparency and justice.
- Chooky 8.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 3:31 pm
  
  +100 savenz …re “Imagine if individuals become criminalised for revealing information about criminal corruption or whatever by people in power”….and this could very well be the case with the persecution of Hager
  
  …not only because of what he revealed in ‘Dirty politics’ but also because of what he could further reveal on different issues and what he was working on
  
  this is not just a threat to investigative journalism , it is a threat to democracy and an open society and a civil society not riven with corruption
- john 8.2
  
  29 October 2015 at 8:24 pm
  
  ALL enquiries showed…no criminality and no corruption.
  So no public interest!!!
  
  [lprent: Are you talking about Nicky Hager and Rawshark? That was the topic of the post. But I’d agree. So far the police haven’t charged anyone and noone has taken a prosecution.
  
  Use the reply button or quote or reference the number of the comment you are replying to. Otherwise your opinion can be misconstrued.. ]
  - Chooky 8.2.1
    
    29 October 2015 at 8:41 pm
    
    on the contrary, there is a huge amount of PUBLIC INTEREST!… in what has happened to Hager!
    
    …why has he been treated this way?!
    
    ….what have Westpac and the police got to hide ?!
    
    …or whose orders are Westpac and the police acting on?!…jonkey nactional?
    
    ….if so what is being hidden ?….and why do they FEAR Hager so?!
  - One Anonymous Bloke 8.2.2
    
    29 October 2015 at 8:49 pm
    
    Gwynn Inquiry S.9, 10, 11, etc. don’t exist on Planet John. How will John manage to keep up with events on Earth?
  - George Hendry 8.2.3
    
    29 October 2015 at 9:07 pm
    
    Come on, john. Out with it.
    
    Are you trolling?
Tarquin 9

29 October 2015 at 4:37 pm

I was under the impression the public good defense as used in the plough shears case is no longer viable. Not 100% sure, anyone know?
- One Anonymous Bloke 9.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 4:41 pm
  
  They used the claim of right as a defence. Not the same thing.
NZJester 10

29 October 2015 at 4:44 pm

Why did they never go after a certain someone who had a physical hard drive and physical paper files stolen from the person he was writing about then?
- One Anonymous Bloke 10.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 4:48 pm
  
  Because the stories a certain someone made up were fashioned from whole cloth, not the stolen material?
reason 11

29 October 2015 at 4:53 pm

Its interesting to note that BM and srylands would both stand up and defend child abusers if they were caught on the basis of evidence of their crimes being taken from their computers without their permission …………….The spirit of sabin is strong in those two .

John Key is a dirty ………….. his mate Cam slater is a natural fit for team Key….. Although not suffering any real consequences yet ………… they have at least been exposed.

But that wont stop BM and Srylands from being their cheerleaders …………

Srylands has admitted to giving money to Slater …… which makes one wonder what type of shit he gets up to ………………….. creepy guy.

Nicky Hager has exposed the truth ……….. The police have already debased themselves aligning themselves with dirt and trying to criminalize him for it ………

This is our brighter future …………….
- Rodel 11.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 9:05 pm
  
  Christ this is boring. The facts are :
  Hager is a decent person and should be recognised as a genuine New Zealand whistle blower .
  Slater is an arsehole, a shame to New Zealand and should be locked away in a bin.
mikesh 12

29 October 2015 at 9:37 pm

I don’t think, Rawshark can be accused of theft, nor Hager accused of fencing, since Slater still has his files. Also Rawshark didn’t access the files for his own purposes but, rather, to alert the public, through the agency of Nicky Hager, to the existence of the files and their content. This is really more analogous of the situation where a detective sniffs out information for the purpose of solving a crime. Of course, if a detective obtains information in a dodgy manner that information may be inadmissible in a court of law, but that particular sanction hardly applies in this case.

The pair may of course stand accused of invading privacy but I would think that the “public interest” would in the these circumstances be considered a good defence.
- ianmac 12.1
  
  29 October 2015 at 10:18 pm
  
  That is true mikesh. There is no way that Rawshark could be accused of removing files for profit. Nor Hager. In both cases they took a great risk to themselves. Look what has happened in USA to whistleblowers who have annoyed the State. In our case I feel sure that even if the State here does not win the case against Hager, the State will be pleased that they have punished him and sent a message to all those other uppity journalists.
infused 13

30 October 2015 at 1:06 am

Of course its property. What a stupid question.
- One Anonymous Bloke 13.1
  
  30 October 2015 at 5:39 am
  
  Yes, the Supreme Court is being stupid. If only they had your wisdom, they’d be at war with North Korea 🙄
- North 13.2
  
  31 October 2015 at 8:07 am
  
  A repugnant infusion ! No knowledge just Boys’ Own Ponce-Key sucking.
Smilin 14

30 October 2015 at 1:44 am

Concerning copying property. In the machinery industry many people have copied designs without stealing the actual plans : ie; ploughs etc and built for their own use and sold at a later date either in or out of patent which in essence is the same as copyright and to sell is a breach of the law and who cares its only a plough.
Not being a lawyer or legal judge I am only talkin of common practise and the little I understand
But it appears to me Hager is in the position of someone being charged for receiving property from theft and not copying directly in the use of the information in its original form but used as in parts like a chop shop for cars even though it appears to be the bytes of information being in their original sequence, is it the same as “part or parts of”as in a copyright ?very confusing or is it all irrelevant .Or is the evidence being constructed in such away as to try and put treason into the case against Hager when it could be that is where the govt sits .

But when does the deliberate action of a govt to pervert democracy become a chargeable offence if evidence of their action to do that becomes public property by whatever means, and when in essence it is public property by the fact that it is known and possibly the responsibility of an elected parliamentarian who has knowledge of the action that has taken place .Or that all govt action is accountable to the people and not the discretion of the govt of the day to play legal games with or institute protectionism to cover their arse
A bit of a mishmash but I hope it brings some normality to the fact that this whole Dirty Politics thing is about an attack on democracy and ultimately there should be a people’s referendum to clear Mr Hager
French Revolution anyone. It is the Guillotine for someone who will it be, our precious possibly ………..
- Stuart Munro 14.1
  
  30 October 2015 at 3:36 am
  
  Yeah – you’re leaving out the bit that what Hager received and disseminated was evidence of crime or substantial wrongdoing. A public interest defence operates for genuine journalism disclosing inconvenient truths – not so much for Slater’s black publicly funded operation.
  
  But the police and courts have shown themselves to be completely corrupt and I have every confidence that injustice will prevail. NZ – is becoming a dystopian dream. Slater for PM next – like Trump, but even less savoury.
ropata 15

30 October 2015 at 7:55 am

The “stored sequence of bytes” will differ between filesystems (NTFS, FAT32), different media (CD, USB, HDD), different encoding (ASCII, EBCDIC, UTF-8), file type (dos, unix, txt, rtf), etc etc etc
- mikesh 15.1
  
  30 October 2015 at 9:39 am
  
  The exact form in which information is stored is surely irrelevant. The issue is whether copying information, and using that information, without the owner’s consent amounts to theft. Copying and selling copyrighted information would have to be considered theft because the culprit is effectively stealing income that belongs rightfully to someone else. Presumably though Slater’s emails were not copyrighted, though the Dixon case would seem to indicate that they don’t actually have to be in order that the information be considered “property”.
  
  The court in the Dixon case seems to be saying that while taking information is not theft, copying files, in which information is stored, is. It seems to me the courts are “bending over backwards” to find something that they can criminalize in these sorts of situations .
  - ropata 15.1.1
    
    30 October 2015 at 5:26 pm
    
    By saying a “stored sequence of bytes” the Supreme Court refers to an exact duplicate, so the storage format surely IS relevant. If Hager received the data in a zip file, then no breach occurred! (not to mention the fact that ALL files on the web are broken up into TCP/IP packets, encoded, turned into bitstreams, transmitted via copper and handy servers, then re-assembled by the recipient). The court needs a better definition of digital data…
    
    If possessing “the information” was a crime, everyone who bought a copy of Dirty Politics would also be liable.
Kev 16

30 October 2015 at 7:58 am

When selling digital goods sellers will often create a directory with an unguessable name and put the digital good (e.g. a video file, pdf file etc) in the directory. It’s low tech but simple. The problem is person A may buy the digital good and then give the url of the digital good to person B, who is then able to download the digital good for free by going directly to the url. In that case we have a clear case of theft. This is because the seller is being deprived of money and person B knows he is depriving the seller of money (act + guilty mind)

The last sentence is important.

Now let’s say someone puts up a spreadsheet on a website in a place where he thinks the public won’t look, because he wants to go home and view the spreadsheet on his home computer. He knows that provided they know the url anyone can view the spreadsheet. And instead of removing the spreadsheet after he’s finished he leaves it there. Someone comes along and somehow finds out the url of the spreadsheet, goes in, looks at it etc. It’s not theft because he’s not depriving the web site owner of anything. Arguably it’s unauthorised access provided the person knew he was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be – although whether or not the law was meant to be applied to folks wandering around a website I don’t know. IMHO the law was meant to be applied to “hackers” – people who use scripts and vulnerabilities to get access to file systems on remote computers etc. So in this case we have at most unauthorised access and not theft.

But wait, you say! What if the person not only looks at the spreadsheet but also downloads it? This is where I admit it gets murky. In this case we have the person taking something from someone. So we have an act of “theft”. Then we have to ask does the person know that he is doing wrong – that he knows that he is taking from another person something that he’s not supposed to? In that case I would say that arguably we have a case of theft. But if the person’s attitude is something like “tough luck, you left the spreadsheet in a publicly accessible place where anyone could look at it and download it” then arguably there’s no theft. Just at most unauthorised access (unlikely to stick) and or someone taking advantage of another’s negligence.
AsleepWhileWalking 17

30 October 2015 at 8:22 am

RFIDs (probably with biometric data) stored in the cloud, used in place of a passport, and probably linked with government and banking info….yikes
mikesh 18

30 October 2015 at 12:51 pm

I doubt there is much difference between viewing online and dowloading since one could photograph
something that one is viewing.

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In a manner of speakingI just want to sayThat I could never forget the wayYou told me everythingBy saying nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me everythingSongwriter: Winston TongNext Tuesday, the subscription price for Nick’s Kōrero will ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 day ago
Monday 18 November 2024

The NZNO have announced a nationwide strike for December over its pay dispute with Health NZ, who have put a 1 per cent cap on pay rises. The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti and Treaty Principles Bill remain front and centre in the media, with the impacts of the Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke-led ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

1 day ago
Shipley warns Seymour’s bill is ‘inviting civil war’

The divisive Treaty Principles Bill is not just a risk for the National Party, it’s a risk to civil order and unity, warns a National Party grandee. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

1 day ago
A clearer network for the City Rail Link?

This post was originally published on Linked In by Nicolas Reid. It is republished here with permission. Auckland is now just a year or so away from having the keystone of its urban rail network complete. As I wrote about here, the City Rail Link will be a literal game changer for ...

Greater AucklandBy Guest Post

1 day ago
National’s support base is wobbling

If ACT leader David Seymour intended the Treaty Principles Bill to drive a wedge into National’s support base, he may well already be succeeding. By midnight on Thursday after the Maori Party haka in Parliament, National MPs were being deluged with emails and messages from their members calling them out ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

1 day ago
2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #46

A listing of 33 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, November 10, 2024 thru Sat, November 16, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is completely "meta" (no, not that Meta). It's about our exploring how ...

Skeptical Science

2 days ago
Grifter Eftpos Tamaki at it again

..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Self-appointed “Bishop” and proto-fascist, Brian Tamaki was at it again on 16 November, blocking Auckland’s southern motorway, SH1.This time, the target of his ire wasn’t the Civil Unions Act; covid lock-downs; mask mandates; or ...

Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy

2 days ago
Rip up a bill, lead a haka are words to live by

I cannot stop grabbing people by the lapels, or shoulders, or similar, and raving at them about the tiny miracles in my ears.I can hear again! There could not be a more satisfied customer in all the world.In a noisy cafe I am even catching words that Karren cannot, she ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

2 days ago
Unintended Consequences

Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

3 days ago
Thank you, driver!

Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...

Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland

3 days ago
Totally Normal: Holiday Edition

Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

3 days ago
We Are Not Listening

The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...

PunditBy Brian Easton

4 days ago
More lawlessness from National

On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

4 days ago
National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law

Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

4 days ago
The Haka Represents The Best Of Us

A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

4 days ago
Adding up the climate cost

St Mary’s Bay housing left hanging: Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios used by central banks, and a new report warns 10,000 houses are set to become uninsurable in Aotearoa. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

4 days ago
Auckland chafing at Bishop’s housing intensification orders

One of the major problems the Government has in implementing its ‘going for housing growth’ strategy is that it isn’t giving much funding help to councils. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

4 days ago
Friday 15 November 2024

The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

4 days ago
Weekly Roundup 15-November-2024

Happy Friday, welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments! This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers ...

Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland

4 days ago
Are We The Waiting?

And screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingAnd screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingForget me nots, second thoughts live in isolationHeads or tails and fairy tales in my mindAre we we are, are we we are the waiting unknownThe rage and love, the ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

4 days ago
The Hoon around the week to November 15

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week; on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

4 days ago
First Tea and Toast, now Milo — why do NZ’s best beverages need so much defending?

Only two months ago, Nicola Willis had to step in to stop Health New Zealand cutting tea and toast for post-birth parents, and now Lester Levy is riding to the rescue with a welcome message for all: our health workers can once again drink Milo, and will no longer need ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

5 days ago
Gordon Campbell on the folly of making apologies in a social vacuum.

Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

5 days ago
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024

Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...

Skeptical Science

5 days ago
The PM gets some extremely valuable legal advice for free

You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

5 days ago
D-day for the government

The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

5 days ago
97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...

Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

5 days ago
Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

5 days ago
Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...

The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

5 days ago
The Weight of the World

As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

5 days ago
Thursday 14 November 2024

The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

5 days ago
Trump’s return to White House brings the climate’s ‘find out’ phase closer

As we absorb the news of Trump's victory in the US Presidential election, here’s a wrap compiled just before the result of what it might mean for climate action: The UN Secretary General says the prospective departure of the United States would cripple the Paris Agreement, likening it to the ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

5 days ago
Time and Space in the City Centre

Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel. The header image is from Walthamstow, London The city centre now has a few stretches of street where the space has been repurposed to a people and place focused design from full time traffic use. These are a great ...

Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds

5 days ago
An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch

As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

5 days ago
Dealing to the big Aussie banks

The big question hovering over the Select Committee Inquiry into banking is what the Government will do with its findings. If yesterday’s hearing is anything to go by there is a tidal wave of discontent about the four big Australian Banks crashing through the Committee which may force it to ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

5 days ago
20 fact briefs published in collaboration with Gigafact!

In April 2024 we announced the (renewed) collaboration between Gigafact and Skeptical Science to create fact briefs, short but credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. Our initial plan had been to publish one fact brief per week on Saturdays but - as happens ...

Skeptical Science

6 days ago
Instead of axing the HRC, ACT corruptly installed a racist, transphobic “Gay Human Rights Commissi...

On November 5th, the Spinoff published a very interesting article on Stephen Rainbow, the Human Rights Commission’s latest recruitment, and how he came to get the controversial appointment. Naturally because of the excitement of the US election, it’s flown a little below the radar. https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-11-2024/i-didnt-get-the-hrc-job-stephen-rainbows-human-rights-commission-appointment-just-got-weirderThe article details evidence of the ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

6 days ago
Injustice for torture

Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. Yesterday, following formal findings from a royal commission, it finally apologised for that abuse. The next step is redress and restitution - compensating the surviving victims for the appalling harm they ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

6 days ago
Voices echo

Back onto the harbour bridge I go, my happy place for protesting.And it truly is a happy place, this day.Protests can bristle a lot, but this one is all heart. The WOMAD of protest marches. Families are safe and happy and a little one is pushing the trolley her older ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

6 days ago
Hīkoi over the Harbour

Kia mau ra, kia mau raKi te mana motuhakeMe te arohaHold fast, hold fastTo your sovereigntyAnd to love and compassionLyrics: Hīrini Melbourne. “Ngā Iwi E passionately calls for unity among the peoples of the Pacific, a cause deeply cherished by Melbourne himself.”I sat at my desk this morning and thought ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

6 days ago
Western Express turns one in style

The Western Express, the precursor to a proper busway, and other changes to West Auckland bus services are now a year old and Auckland Transport says they’ve been a smashing success, with ridership up 45 per cent higher than what was expected. Auckland Transport’s (AT) new North West bus network ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

6 days ago
Victims of abuse want Una Jagose to go

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 13: The Lead: The Government and Opposition apologised yesterday for the abuse of hundreds of thousands of children in state care over decades. But PM Christopher ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

6 days ago
Sabin 33 #2 – Are toxic heavy metals from solar panels posing a threat to human health?

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 ...

Skeptical Science

7 days ago
Peaceful Māori Hikoi Advances – In Pictures

Today the Hikoi moves from Whangarei and makes its way to Auckland Flag: McKinley Rd Creatives ShareFor official updates and information, including schedules, go to:https://toitutetiriti.co.nz/The Waitangi Tribunal Cheat Sheet:When asked what the Treaty Principles Bill contravenes these are some of the points highlighted by our judiciary:The Crown's process to develop the Bill ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

7 days ago
Media Link: “A View from Afar” on the US elections.

The latest “A View from Afar” with Selwyn Manning and I follows the lines drawn in my most recent post here at KP. Because the podcast is basically a dialogue between Selwyn and I on the subject of the day, … Continue reading → ...

KiwipoliticoBy Pablo

7 days ago
Jagose doesn’t get it

The government held a formal apology ceremony this morning to victims of child torture and abuse-in-care. One of those "apologising" was Solicitor-General Una Jagose, who had played a key role in devising and implementing the government's legal strategy of aggressively minimising its liabilities, slandering its victims, and waiting for them ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

7 days ago
Oranga Tamariki is beyond saving, and always has been

How do you continue an organisation widely known for the abuse and torture of children, for wrongfully separating them from their parents, for the neglect and death of actually vulnerable children they failed to support and uplift, and for creating a cycle of trauma that has led to multi-generational state ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

1 week ago
The Majority is Wrong

Freak outAnd give inDoesn't matter what you believe inStay coolAnd be somebody's fool this year'Cause they knowWho is righteous, what is boldSo I'm toldWho wants honey?As long as there's some moneyWho wants that, honey?Lyrics: Billy CorganJust because the majority support something doesn’t make it right. Yes, in a democracy, the ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 week ago
Tuesday 12 November 2024

Today Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will formally apologise to those who experienced abuse in state and faith-based care at Parliament. The apology is long overdue, and many are saying it’s not enough and are still waiting on the details of redress. There are also criticisms about the decision to give ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

1 week ago
3 Takeaways from Christopher Luxon’s Press Conference

Highlights of Chris Luxon press conference yesterday (video at end):1. Christopher Luxon maligns Newsroom’s investigative journalist Aaron Smale for what he called behavioural issues. Yesterday, it was revealed Speaker Gary Brownlee had withdrew Smale’s accreditation, preventing Smale from attending the Abuse in Care apology at Parliament today. Smale is an ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

1 week ago
The 30/30 fiscal rule that rules us all

Fonterra is selling off brands made up of decades of R&D and marketing spend. Why? Because farmers need to repay debt so banks can increase mortgage lending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

1 week ago
2024 will be the first year above 1.5°C

This is a re-post from The Climate Brink, and an excerpt from a much more detailed State of the Climate Q3 2024 report that I published over at Carbon Brief today. See that for more details on climate model/observation comparisons, sea ice extent, and other climate variables. The warmest year on record In my ...

Skeptical Science

1 week ago
150 days of rail disruption to come

Kiwirail and Auckland Transport have revealed that the rail network will be closed or partially closed for nearly 149 days between Christmas this year and the end of January 2026, almost 38% of the time, as part of what they’re calling the final push to get the rail network ready ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

1 week ago
How Netflix Got Cold Feet

Hi,I’m not sure if you’ve noticed recently, but discovering stuff on Netflix can be kind of hard.Sure — you’re presented with a bunch of categories like “Top 10” when you login, but outside of those initial lists, finding things that are compelling and worth your time seems close to impossible. ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

1 week ago
Seymour is only beginning

ACT Leader David Seymour is undeterred by the likelihood that his Treaty Principles Bill will die in the House when it returns from the Select Committee sometime in the first half of next year. He believes the debate has only just begun and will continue to eventual success even though ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

1 week ago
Gordon Campbell on the Crown’s sorry excuse for an apology

The world over, politicians are finding “sorry” to be the easiest word. Without disclosing the size and formula of the monetary compensation that the government is prepared to offer to those abused while in state care, a mere apology verges on being another form of abuse. It’s not as if ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

1 week ago
Let Aaron Smale take his rightful seat, you dismal dismal people

This is Aaron Smale.Journalist Aaron Smale appearing as a witness at the Royal Commission. Newsroom Screenshot.For eight years he has covered the abuse of children and others in state institutions.For eight years he has helped to bring to light the many lies and coverups by the Crown.He has written some ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

1 week ago
Monday 11 November 2024

Today the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti set off from Te Rerenga Wairua and is making its way through the North, stopping in Whangārei for the night. In union news, it has been announced that plastic factory Sistema is likely to cut up to 100 jobs. A new report written by ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

1 week ago
National suppresses the media

The government is doing its formal apology to victims of abuse-in-care at Parliament tomorrow, along with introducing a (still secret) bill addressing restitution. It will obviously be a big media event. But Newsroom's Aaron Smale, a journalist who has played a key role in exposing crown failure and wrongdoing in ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

1 week ago
Speeding toward a lethal legacy

A few weeks ago I wrote on how the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown had misrepresented cities overseas in his crusade to make our streets and roads more dangerous. Since then, his speed rule has been finalised and signed. Also, the summary of public feedback has been released after many ...

Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp

1 week ago
Dawn Chorus for Monday, November 11

Diabetes rates are rising, yet the government remains hyper-focused on short-term cost reduction and is not considering wider prevention measures. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, November 11: Diabetes rates are ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

1 week ago
New Zealand was the training ground for the 2024 US election

Much of the internet is bots.There are more bots every day. Every site that's in any way bot-trainable has bots scraping posts and chats.We have AI. It can auto-recognise voices. It can mine text for information which it can categorise and file, but cannot process it or use to further ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

1 week ago

Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions

Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

4 hours ago
Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament

Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

5 hours ago
Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons

Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...

Labour Blog

1 day ago
Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill

The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...

Labour Blog

2 days ago
Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope

The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...

Greens

4 days ago
Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill

The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...

Greens

5 days ago
Stand Up for Te Tiriti

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...

Labour Blog

5 days ago
Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon

As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Labour Blog

5 days ago
Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation

The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...

Greens

6 days ago
Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned

The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

6 days ago
Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors

...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors

Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care

Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill

The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect

The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Without action, an apology will be empty air

For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference

Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Urgent wake-up call on climate

The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world

Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies

Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill

The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...

The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
NZ must pursue independent foreign policy

The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Winston Peters must apologise

The Deputy Prime Minister should apologise to the public servant he named and blamed for something they did not do, and for misusing the rules of Parliament. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: Government continues to fail small business

The Government is leaving small businesses high and dry in difficult economic times, by letting big business get away with not paying their bills. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: Unemployment rising under National

Nicola Willis’ policies continue to slow the economy with more Kiwis out of work as a result. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Near four-year high unemployment reveals dire need for new direction

Today, Statistics New Zealand’s latest labour market report revealed that unemployment has reached 4.8 per cent, the highest rate since late 2020, during the COVID pandemic. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Shovels in the ground this term unlikely

National looks set to break another election promise, this time by not beginning construction on a second Mt Victoria tunnel this term, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Not too late to abandon the Bill, Christopher

The Green Party is urgently calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill following reports it will be introduced on Thursday. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Coalition Govt’s expensive tunnel vision for Wellington comes at the expense of the regions

A second Mount Victoria tunnel, a duplicate Terrace tunnel alongside highway widening will dump more traffic in the centre of Wellington and result in more pollution. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Release: Government’s disgrace for Christchurch homeowners

The Government is backtracking on existing commitments to do the right thing by homeowners let down by EQC (now the Natural Hazards Commission). ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: National’s FamilyBoost a colossal flop

Nicola Willis continues to over promise and under deliver, with most families receiving only $30 a week from National’s flagship FamilyBoost flop. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Ngarewa-Packer Demands Support for Palestine Ceasefire from New Plymouth Mayor

Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is calling on the Mayor for New Plymouth, Neil Holdom, to do the right thing. “I am shocked at his decision to disregard the petition presented by Palestine Solidarity Taranaki calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”, said ...

Māori Party

2 weeks ago
Release: Trade deal with Gulf states welcomed

Labour welcomes the conclusion of a trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that was restarted under a Labour government after languishing for many years. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: Labour welcomes OAG fast track inquiry

The Government should consider the outcome of an Auditor-General report into conflicts of interest before progressing the Fast track Approvals Bill through Parliament. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Greens reignite call for free dental

A new report detailing the enormous social and economic costs of our dental system has reignited the Greens' call for free dental care. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Greens call for bottom trawling ban and call out Minister for lacklustre response

The Green Party is urgently calling on the Government to ban bottom trawling, following news a New Zealand bottom trawler caught 37kg of coral in international waters, prompting the suspension of all fishing in the area until 2026. ...

Greens

3 weeks ago
Mark Patterson: Farmers understand we have their backs

Spring is here which means the start of the A&P show season. Those treasured community days where town meets country. There's no rural-urban divide here, just a chance to meet up with family and old friends and celebrate all things that make rural New Zealand so special. I'm embarking on ...

NZ First Press Release

3 weeks ago
Release: Funding for Gumboot Friday should pause

The National Government should review its support for Gumboot Friday after unacceptable comments by its leader and champion Mike King. ...

Labour Blog

3 weeks ago
Louise Upston cherry-picks data to punch down on the poor

The Government has very conveniently cherry-picked data from the latest MSD projections to justify its cruel agenda and punch-down policy when it comes to people living in poverty. ...

Greens

3 weeks ago

Health survey results to help drive change

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

41 minutes ago
Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025

A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

54 minutes ago
New diplomatic appointments

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 hours ago
Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill

Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

6 hours ago
Red Tape Tipline goes live

Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

6 hours ago
Youth Parliament 2025 announced

The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

23 hours ago
Police stats show promising change

After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

24 hours ago
Better coordination of anti-scam efforts

With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
Minister to consider 7AA select committee report

Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting

Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
Launching the White Ribbon Ride

The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, was on hand to wish riders well at the start of the North Island leg of the White Ribbon Ride in Whakatāne this morning. The ride helps mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Construction to begin on next stage of Papakura to Drury

Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
NZ signs trade deal with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland

Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has signed a pioneering trade agreement that prioritises New Zealand’s sustainable exports at a ceremony during APEC in Peru today. “The Agreement on Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), between Costa Rica, Iceland, and Switzerland was concluded in July of this year and opens up significant ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Government and iwi work together on aquaculture

Five new Aquaculture Settlement Areas will help ensure Ngāi Tahu shares in the opportunities aquaculture offers for Southland’s economy, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “The Aquaculture Settlement Areas (ASAs) I’m announcing today set aside space so the Crown and Ngāi Tahu can assess their potential for aquaculture development. ...

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4 days ago
Government launches review to ensure electricity market is fit-for-purpose

The terms of reference for a review of the performance of the electricity market have been released. The review, initiated by the Coalition Government during the power crisis in winter will look at whether current regulations and market design support economic growth and access to reliable and affordable electricity, Energy Minister ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Speech to Social Investment Hui: Jack and his whānau need our help

Kia ora koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai, piki mai. Ki te mihi atu ahau, ki te manwhenua nei, Te Atiawa, Ngāti toa rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you, Andy, for your introduction. Let me acknowledge you as the new Chief Executive of the Social Investment ...

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4 days ago
Minister of State for Trade heads to Brisbane for PACER Plus meeting

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4 days ago
Proposals to modernise conservation released

Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to modernise New Zealand’s conservation management system, aiming to protect relevant natural areas while supporting sustainable growth in tourism and regional economies, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is ...

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4 days ago
Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading

Associate Justice Minister David Seymour says all New Zealanders will now be able to have their say on the Treaty Principles Bill after it passed its first reading and was sent to the Justice Committee to be considered. “I look forward to seeing what Kiwis have to say on the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Antarctic cooperation at centre of Scott Base visit

Finance Minister and Associate Climate Change Minister Nicola Willis will travel to Antarctica next week to engage with international partners and scientists and to assess latest steps in the redevelopment of Scott Base. “New Zealand has important interests in Antarctica and our longstanding presence at Scott Base is a key ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Contactless payments launching on public transport in Auckland

The Government and Auckland Council are delivering contactless payments on Auckland’s public transport network later this month which will enable commuters to tag on and off public buses, trains, and ferries travelling across the region, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says.The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
RIF funding supports aquaculture development

The Coalition Government is backing the development of an aquaculture centre of excellence in Southland with an investment of $2.2 million, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. South Island Industrial Fund Ltd will use the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) loan towards its $6.3m project to upgrade infrastructure at the Ocean ...

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5 days ago
Safeguarding Kiwis with modern insurance law

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5 days ago
When the going gets tough ‘Get Through’ with Farmstrong

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5 days ago
Government exploring new energy source

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5 days ago
Pay Gap Calculator toolkit launched

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6 days ago
Government launches refreshed Public Private Partnership framework

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6 days ago
Further decisions taken on regulating online casino gambling

Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to further details of a new system to regulate online casino gambling. “A new Online Gambling Bill will be drafted with the purpose to regulate online casino gambling to facilitate a safer and compliant regulated online gambling market. More importantly, ...

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6 days ago
Tailored support for people in emergency housing

Ka mate kāinga tahi, ka ora kāinga rua. An innovative Government trial will tailor support to people with a diverse range of complex needs to move out of emergency housing and into more permanent housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “The Government has set a target of reducing the ...

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6 days ago
Getting ready for bird flu

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard is encouraging New Zealanders to take steps to be ready for the possible arrival of bird flu.“While high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) is still some distance from New Zealand and we’ve never had a case here, it’s important that we take a cautious approach. “If you’re one ...

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6 days ago
Harbour closure supports mussel reseeding

A two-year ban on the take of kuku/mussels from Ōhiwa Harbour in eastern Bay of Plenty will support local efforts to restore mussel beds in the area, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa requested the closure, Te rāhui kuku ki tua o Kanawa, to ...

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6 days ago
Government awards primary sector scholarships to tertiary students

The coalition Government has awarded scholarships to six tertiary students as part of efforts to boost on-the-ground support for farmers and growers Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard announced today. “We are reducing the regulatory burden on farmers and growers and providing support to adapt and innovate, ...

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6 days ago
Tax work programme focused on rebuilding the economy

Rebuilding the economy and improving fiscal sustainability is the key focus of the Government’s new Tax and Social Policy Work Programme for Inland Revenue, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “New Zealand has been grappling with significant economic challenges over the last few years with many businesses and households feeling the ...

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6 days ago
Omnibus Bill First Reading for Royal Commission of Inquiry National Apology

Mr Speaker, as the Minister for Children, it is my priority to ensure that children and young people in the care system are safe. The thousands of survivors who shared their experiences with the Royal Commission have been clear that the system must improve its protections against abuse and neglect. ...

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7 days ago
Clarifying the protection of disabled people in care

The Government is amending the Crimes Act to ensure the protection of disabled people in care is made more explicit, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As part of the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, the word ‘disability’ is being added to the definition ...

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7 days ago
Oranga Tamariki Act changes a step in the right direction

Changes to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 included in an Omnibus Bill are long overdue and a positive step in the right direction, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. As part of the National Apology today, the Responding to Abuse in Care Legislation Amendment Bill had its first reading. “I am ...

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7 days ago
Improvements to Government record-keeping in response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse ...

Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is making changes to the Public Records Act, to improve the record-keeping practices of government agencies. “These changes will allow the Chief Archivist to audit an agency more frequently where required and will also allow the Chief Archivist to work ...

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7 days ago
Minister Peters completes successful visit to Chile

New Zealand and Chile have reaffirmed their strong partnership, including on security, trade, Antarctic issues, and people-to-people links, says Foreign Minister Winston Peters. “Chile is one of New Zealand’s closest and most like-minded partners in Latin America, and it is the gateway to the region for many New Zealanders,” Mr ...

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1 week ago
‘Foreign policy views from an Indo-Pacific neighbour’ – Speech on New Zealand fore...

Kia ora. Tēnā koutou katoa. And greetings from New Zealand. Thank you to Rector Devés and the University of Chile for hosting us today, and to Undersecretary de la Fuente and Professor López for the warm welcome and introductions. When a much younger person, walking on a bridge ...

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1 week ago
Prime Minister apologises for abuse in care

Ngā kura mōrehu, Treasured survivors, kua ngaro, haere atu rā. those that have passed, farewell. Ngā kura mōrehu, Treasured survivors E whakawhaiti nei that have gathered here. Kei ngā rangatira To the esteemed leaders Tēnā koutou katoa. Greetings. I’d like to welcome you ...

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1 week ago

Livestream: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament

The Treaty Principles Bill's architect made a brief appearance, and was met with chanting, as 35,000 people protesting overflowed from Parliament's lawn. ...

Radio NZ – political

46 minutes ago
Public humiliation is still a common teaching tool in medical education. Here’s how it leaves pati...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolyn Heward, Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, James Cook University Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Imagine being questioned about complex technical knowledge in front of your peers, supervisors, and members of the public – knowing that a wrong answer could lead to public ridicule. ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

2 hours ago
Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti: The final day march to Parliament in photos

It was an early start for thousands as the hīkoi sets off for its final destination - the grounds of Parliament. ...

Radio NZ – political

2 hours ago
It’s clear footy has an Indigenous participation problem, and the AFL draft is only part of the so...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chelsey Taylor, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology From revolutionary Geelong ruckman Graham “Polly” Farmer, to the electrifying Krakouer brothers (Phil and Jim) at North Melbourne, through to modern stars such as Charlie Cameron, Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin and Eddie Betts, Indigenous ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

2 hours ago
What our politicians’ signatures tell us about their personalities

We asked a handwriting expert to analyse the scrawls of our elected officials. Here’s what they said. Recently I received a press release from the trio of ministers – Simeon Brown, Shane Jones and Chris Bishop – tasked with overseeing the government’s controversial fast-track consenting bill. The press release itself ...

The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund

2 hours ago
Livestream: 19,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament

'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags sorrounds the Beehive. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 hours ago
Education minister says kids should be in school instead of at hīkoi

But the son of a haka expert, travelling down with students from Huntly, says "this is all part of our learning, this is their school". ...

Radio NZ – political

3 hours ago
Basic rules for screen time at a young age can help reduce childhood obesity – new research

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Childhood obesity is a growing concern worldwide. But in New Zealand it’s a particularly pressing issue. With one of the highest rates in the OECD, about one ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

3 hours ago
Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi mō te Tiriti at Parliament

Thousands have marched through the streets of a capital and to the Beehive. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 hours ago
Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity Says “Toitū Te Tiriti!”

Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity supports te hikoi and says Toitū te Tiriti! Māori never ceded sovereignty! ...

Scoop politics

3 hours ago
Video: Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke reacts to haka heard around the world

In the face of criticism, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke says there was definitely a moment of 'what just happened?', after the House was suspended during voting. ...

Radio NZ – political

3 hours ago
Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi at Parliament

'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags makes its way to the Beehive and crowds line the streets. ...

Radio NZ – political

4 hours ago
Review: Camping is the hyper horny, extremely silly play we need right now

Almost a decade ago, Camping dazzled with four relative unknowns in a tiny venue. Now it returns, with an all-star cast on a bigger stage. Does it still deliver? The original run of Camping, on stage at The Basement, is the funniest and most kinetically bizarre show I’ve seen in ...

The SpinoffBy Duncan Greive

4 hours ago
‘We don’t even have a CT scan here’: Dunedin Hospital protesters rally

About 1000 people turned up to hear why building the hospital as planned, was important. ...

Radio NZ – political

4 hours ago
Biggest Ever Community Petition, With Over 200,000 Signatures, Opposes Treaty Principles Bill

The country has spoken. This Bill is a bad faith attempt to revoke the Government’s commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and it’s visible to not just Aotearoa, but the world. ...

Scoop politics

4 hours ago
Justice Committee Calls For Submissions On The Principles Of The Treaty Of Waitangi Bill

The committee is intending to complete hearings by the end of February 2025. Further decisions about hearings will be made and communicated in due course. ...

Scoop politics

4 hours ago
To build support, it might be time for the Greens to hang up their movement-style approach to politi...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Narelle Miragliotta, Associate Professor in Politics, Murdoch University State and territory elections held in 2024 have not delivered the electoral and legislative gains the Greens would have hoped for or expected. Of the elections conducted this year, the Greens’ performance was, ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

5 hours ago
Australia’s new anti-vaping program in schools is a good step – but education is only part of th...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonine Jancey, Academic and Director Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, Curtin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Last week, the federal government announced a plan to roll out an anti-vaping program in schools across the country. The education program, ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

5 hours ago
We pay less for houses in one-in-100 year flood zones – but overlook risks of more devastating flo...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Song Shi, Associate Professor, Property Economics, University of Technology Sydney If you’re buying a house near a river or on a floodplain, you will likely come up against the question of flood risk. We usually talk about this in terms of chance. ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

5 hours ago
What was the deal with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s ‘situationship’?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Dunn, Lecturer in Classics, University of Tasmania Carl Gottlieb Venig/Wikimedia The Egyptian queen Cleopatra is often associated with glamorous beauty routines, deadly snake bites, lavish banquets and torrid affairs with some of the most notorious men in Roman history. ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

5 hours ago
The cost of being: An ‘anti-capitalist’ barista and tutor renting in Wellington

As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 23-year-old explains why she’s been working since she was 11. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 23. Ethnicity: Cambodian Chinese. Role: Barista, tutor, campaigner, ...

The SpinoffBy The Cost of Being

5 hours ago
Regulations Ministry: Online tool can be used to share ‘red tape horror stories’

The Regulations minister wants to hear "from tradies, farmers, teachers, chefs, engineers - every person doing productive work". ...

Radio NZ – political

6 hours ago
Elon Musk’s new job will bring tech ‘disruption’ to the US government – and history says it ...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hallam Stevens, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, James Cook University On November 12, United States president-elect Donald Trump announced he would appoint Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to lead a newly constituted Department of Government Efficiency alongside fellow tech billionaire and former ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

6 hours ago
AI for life: how sovereign Wiradyuri ways of knowing can transform technology for good

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Russ-Smith, Associate Professor, Social Work and Assistant Deputy Head of School, School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University Philip Schubert/Shutterstock From climate change to geopolitical instability to health emergencies, we are entering a period of momentous change. The technology industry ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

6 hours ago
Live updates: Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi marches to parliament

Tens of thousands are expected to gather in Te Upoko-o-te-ika-a-Māui today, as the nationwide Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi prepares to arrive at parliament. Follow this blog for up-to-date coverage and reaction. Load more ...

The SpinoffBy Liam Rātana

6 hours ago
NZ media’s second wave of doom

MediaRoom: North & South magazine ‘suspending’ print publication is the latest in a wave of closures in our media, suffering from extended economic malaise and lower advertising The post NZ media’s second wave of doom appeared first on Newsroom. ...

NewsroomBy Tim Murphy

6 hours ago
Powered-up Regulatory Standards Bill removes role of courts

In his third attempt at constraining the drafting of new laws, David Seymour is seizing the controls The post Powered-up Regulatory Standards Bill removes role of courts appeared first on Newsroom. ...

NewsroomBy Jonathan Milne

7 hours ago
With 14 community newspapers due to close, too many parts of NZ are becoming ‘news deserts’

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Treadwell, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images When media company NZME proposed the closure of 14 community newspapers last week, the so-called “news desert” encroached a little further into the local information landscape. The term refers ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

7 hours ago
New Zealand’s new ‘anti-scam czar’ gets to work

Millions of dollars are lost to scams each year. Should more attention be on the social media giants that platform them? Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...

The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund

7 hours ago
Dunedin Hospital rebuild: Rally stirs more opposition to cutbacks

A sea of Southerners filled Dunedin's Town Hall last night in support of the Save Our Southern Hospital campaign. ...

Radio NZ – political

7 hours ago
Thousands expected at Parliament as hīkoi moves towards the capital

This article first appeared at rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission.Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather at Parliament today as the final leg of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti reaches its last destination – but organisers and participants are saying it will not end there.At Takupūwāhia Marae ...

NewsroomBy RNZ

7 hours ago
Treaty hīkoi: Commuter disruption expected as protest reaches Wellington

People on foot and in cars began making their way into central Wellington from the early hours of this morning. ...

Radio NZ – political

8 hours ago
Press Gallery 101: The House chats with Jason Walls

After an abuse apology kerfuffle in Parliament last week, The House spoke to Press Gallery chair Jason Walls about how the Press Gallery works, and who gets to join. ...

Radio NZ – political

8 hours ago
COP29: Surprise at lack of reaction to US elections

The first week of the global COP29 climate summit was remarkable for the wrong reasons, but with the second week now underway, a veteran NZ diplomat says the event is making constructive progress. ...

Radio NZ – political

8 hours ago
Pupils join hīkoi as te Tiriti is removed from curriculum framework

As a Wellington school leader takes 100 of his junior college pupils onto Parliament’s forecourt today alongside the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, he is freshly motivated to protest.The pupils are officially there to learn – the trip comes under ‘education outside the classroom’ – but Onslow College deputy principal Connor ...

NewsroomBy Jonathan Milne

8 hours ago
Hīkoi heads into Wellington: ‘This is a opportunity to stand up and have a voice’

Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather at Parliament today as the final leg of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti reaches its last destination - but organisers and participants are saying it will not end there. ...

Radio NZ – political

9 hours ago
Treaty hīkoi: Commuter disruption expected as huge protest reaches Wellington

People on foot and in cars began making their way into central Wellington from the early hours of this morning. ...

Radio NZ – political

9 hours ago
Live: Hīkoi mō te Tiriti sets off for capital, tens of thousands expected at Parliament

Tens of thousands are expected to congregate at Parliament this morning. Follow the latest with RNZ's live updates. ...

Radio NZ – political

9 hours ago
Windbag: On the City to Sea Bridge and the power of letting go

It’s a Wellington icon, but we must say goodbye. It is time to demolish the bridge, argues Joel MacManus. Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge is beautiful and weird. Its design says something about what Wellington is and the way the city sees itself. It’s been the home of many late ...

The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus

9 hours ago
Who gets to have an opinion on the hīkoi and who must remain ‘impartial’?

Newsrooms of old were apparently more impartial. But that’s only because everyone shared the same biases, argues Madeleine Chapman. Last week, the Herald’s Media Insider (AKA editor-at-large Shayne Currie) reported on some shocking news. Top TVNZ executive Nevak Rogers had taken annual leave from her job as chief content officer ...

The SpinoffBy Madeleine Chapman

9 hours ago

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Technology and the law – and going after Hager

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