I was thinking of a really dull and tedious weekend. ..no real estate speculation or tax avoidance calculus. No getting ticketed at 200 in the Mazeratti. No fine dining with oodles of fine Otago pinot noir. Tutukaka game fishing or similar. None of that nonsense for Ennui. No………………… …..For some bizarre February reason Super Rugby starts tonight.
Mrs Ennui will yawn and run a bath…my cup will floweth over.
“I only drink champagne when Iâm happy, and when Iâm sad. Sometimes I drink it when Iâm alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it â unless Iâm thirsty.
– Lily Bollinger”
She of course had the advantage of not having to pay for it.
After having my wallet stolen while I was pissed as a parrot I had such rage and hatred of myself that it was enough to get me through the first 2 months (not really an incentive I guess)
Chilled water on a hot day. Delicious. You can feel it flowing inside your body cooling all over. Water is your friend. I’ve been reading that it gives muscles a boost, keeps away cramps, releases the prickly feelings from calcium spurs in your elbows when you are older.
Big weekend down in the King Country the A’N’P shows on in Taumarunui as well as the classic gliders turning up for a week at the airport.
But of most interest to me is the king country center champs dog trail at mahihi otarohanga it the best chance for a easy entry to the north island/new Zealand champs in may. Is Bess the mighty good enough.
I will be carrying on with my efforts to rear an endangered species – monarch butterflies. I keep wondering which group of brassica growers convinced who in which government department to ask some idiotic minister to permit the importing of a caterpillar eating wasp. Even caterpillars left outside that are less than a cm long are being eaten by the very efficient wasps and all that is left is black blood.
P.S. There are lots of white butterflies around, are they not as tasty as the colourful monarch?
I don’t think they were deliberately introduced, just someone not being careful enough with imports. Bloody things make a mess of monarch caterpillars.
White butterfly’s are destroyers of brassicas, monarchs eat the swan plant as far as I know. The whiteys are menaces and seem to be around awhile whereas the monarch had a very short life cycle.
We hate them with a passion as they monster the winter crops coming up now.
I have 17 swanplants growing but have sighted only one monarch butterfly. Those leg trailing paper wasps seem to patrol the plants looking for caterpillars. same last year. Monarchs Nil.
I live rurally. I have paddocks for neighbours. Recently the property was refenced to stop the cows from coming in. Before the fencing, i had a bit of a wild garden thing growing. Lots of flowers, colour, insect life and even a rat nesting under the harakeke.
Well, the fencing contractor, whom I know very well, unilaterally decided to have his workers ‘clean up the place’ and had them remove every plant and every bit of colour from the section. This happened last week and my blood is still boiling.
The fencing contractor is a good person and runs a crew of youths who otherwise would be in prison. He is also a Tuhoe bushman. I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.
So I really do get the wild garden thing. And on a final note, Bob, the rat, is now trying to store his nuts in my ceiling. I need to really think about that one.
“I said to the dude âhow the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. â Thatâs how badly violated I feel.”
Makes sense to me. Lots of people socialised into tidy is best and the beauty and abundance of wilderness in our backyards is lost on them. I’ve been in that situation a few times where people thought they were doing something useful or kind but were in fact destroying something essential. It’s hard. Did the man get it when you pointed it out?
Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.
“Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, thatâs a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 oâclock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.”
I know exactly what you are saying. So far I think it still is just Bob, the solitary rat. I have yet to see or hear evidence of the whanau or mokopuna. He is already in the ceiling space rattling his nuts about.
I have had endless discussions with the locals on how to remove rats, which generally involves trapping or poisoning. I am at an impasse. I don’t want to kill but I also don’t want to come home to a horde of rats arguing over the remote.
Can you cover the swan plant bush with fine netting – dress material type? Or fine muslin? Monarchs are beautiful. Do you belong to the Trust? I am sorry about the demise of the NZ preying mantis and the way that the South African has swamped it. But I feel that wasp may be getting into the preying mantis too.
@Janine
Naa the white ones only eat the tougher green stuff, Cabbage and my Silverbeet (out with the dust again) so must be bitter compared to the Swan Plant eating butterfly. . I have a friend here in Levin who’s house has hundreds of chrysalis mainly empty now and butterfly’s everywhere. Oh if they eat the plants too quick or too far She put Cucumber out for them. The forum Second link should elp with your wasp problem.
Thanks for the links DH. It is good to see that some people have living caterpillars. I got some net to cover my two mature trees greywarsharrk, but the wasps managed to get underneath the cover and there was carnage! Of the 22 caterpillars that I knew of only 4 remained. One was hanging ready to turn and only half of it was left. I live in the Franklin district so if there was a deliberate release of wasps I guess it would have been here. We are also close (as the crow flies) to the Auckland Airport, so I suppose if something came in there it would head for this area as a good source of food. Now I go over the trees at least twice a day and any branches with eggs on I bring inside.
@ Janice
Good luck with raising them inside. Perhaps a trend could be started for people to adopt the ones ready to change, bringing them inside when they went into their J shape. And then viewing them as living works of art – I find them beautiful with their cases of light green with gold spots. Watching the amazing work of the nature as their wings form and colours deepen till they can be seen through their thin cover is interesting. The beautiful end comes as they emerge and slowly waft their wings to dry and circulate their blood. Set them high enough so the cat won’t get them would be a rule!
Monarchs! I used to see them all the time at my parents (Chch) growing up. Haven’t seen one for many years. I had forgotten. Thank you for your efforts…
Flying home to winter after 4 fabulous weeks with friends and family in Aotearoa. Highlights included family wedding, Abel Tasman track and several visits to Raglan. Best.holiday.ever.
Only rained while we were on the track – reckon it was Puck paying us back for a dry Milford walk some years ago.
This is where Facebook could come in handy. A group with transport and revolving and reliable sober driver task could contact each other and set up trips like this Contrarian.
Writing this, I have the wonderful Dick Gaughan playing in the background. Militant working class folk music as its sinewy, caustic best.
One of the things I like most about Dick is that, like a string of singer-songwriters of his time, he is a very accomplished guitar player. Back in the 60s and 70s being a guitar-playing singer-songwriter you had to be a really good guitarist. Like Dick, or like Bert Jansch or John Renbourn or Davy Graham. Or NZ’s own wonderful Chris Thompson (‘Echoes from the Pit’ and ‘Minstrelsy’ are wonderful albums).
The Gaughan album I have on is ‘Gaughan Live!’, recorded at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club in the north of England.
Gaughan is a Cot, but he has a couple of nice songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists, pointing out that the Scottish landowners and capitalists ruthlessly exploited the working people of Scotland and also emphasising the solidarity between Scottish and English workers: “No Gods” is a powerful, raucous number, while “Both Sides the Tweed” is just beautiful as a song, even if you didn’t follow the lyrics.
“Tom Paine’s Bones” is another great track, sinewy and emotional.
“Whatever happened?” is magnificent; it’s a rollicking, biting condemnation of all those who espoused revolutionary views in their youth but moved right as they climbed the socio-economic ladder (but might have kept the odd Che Guevara t-shirt).
He also has some wonderful guitar-playing on two instrumental medleys.
Gaughan first came to my attention at the time of the 1981 hunger strikes in the H-Blocks. He does a beautiful version (my favourite) of an old Irish republican movement song, “The Galtee Mountain Boy” and it was on a fund-raising album put out by the POW Dept of Sinn Fein. The live album contains my favourite version of “Both sides the Tweed” but there’s a nice version of it by Dick with Emmylou Harris at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlDijR0Y60Q
One of my favourite tracks on that great album was “Back Home in Derry”, written by Bobby Sands (although Sands was from Belfast). But my favourite version of that song is by the wonderful Gary Og, however his best vid of it seems to have disappeared from youtube. But he does a nice version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song: here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iP7r0cg7Oc&list=PLDC4C4612C68C0D55&index=16
One of my favourite Irish songs is “James Connolly” and my favourite version is this one, which accompanies one of the annual Easter Rebellion commemorations organised by the Belfast branches of the socialist-republican movement eirigi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EghEkVe80e0
and I’ll be digging out some of the old magnificent Van der Graaf Generator; this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, “Arrow” (from 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLv2f3QKzs
I share your admiration for Gaughan. Fine guitar player and also a voice which I find very rich with an expressive warmth. “Kist of Gold” is my favourite album. Great political songs and also a way with a love ballad. He’s one of my “Gee, I wish I could play/sing like Gaughan.”
“…songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists…”
you seem to infer that Scottish nationalist were (are?) on the side of the landowners and capitalist and they they were fellow travellers in ther attitudes towards working people.
Can you expand? I don’t see the current SNP in that light.
Blew the head gasket on the Commodore last week! Off to buy a bicycle this arvo.
Starting a new job on Monday. Will need the $$$ to pay for the Holden dramas. Arrgh
On Radionz. I thought this was a breakthrough in social understanding and the Joy of Mathematics. It is not airy fairy ideas, really factual and provable and repeatable.
And can be applied to NZs as a democratic people if trying to understand why our democracy and we are going down the plughole. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167277
Hannah Fry – Love and Mathematics (â21â˛â27âłâ)
09:40 Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend – Dr Hannah Fry tells Wallace the
mathematical equation for love. Her new book The Mathematics of Love offers a unique perspective on matters of the heart. As a mathematician, Dr Fry answers such burning questions as: What is the chance of finding love? How long will it last? And what are your chances of divorce?
âSelma, the stunning new film based on Paul Webbâs screenplay and directed by the previously unheralded African-American Ava DuVernay, makes for an interesting side-by-side comparison with Stephen Spielbergâs Lincoln. Both films revolve around the circumstances attending the passage of key legislation affecting Black America: in the first instance, the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and in the second the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that sealed the doom of Jim Crow, a legacy of white Americaâs abandonment of Reconstruction. . .â
Another film. – Edward Snowden and how it feel to be really unpopular in a pseudo-democracy.
Citizenfour â A panel discussion (â19â˛â19âłâ) http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167273
08:40 The Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning documentary Citizenfour tells the story of Edward Snowden – a former NSA employee turned whistle-blower.
Radio New Zealand National held a screening of the film in Auckland earlier this week and followed it with a panel hosted by Wallace Chapman and featuring: Mediawatch’s Colin Peacock; former Listener editor Finlay McDonald; documentary filmmaker Annie Goldson; and, Sandra Kailahi – a freelance journalist and director.
Also be aware of something lighter – Alan Davies UK Jonathan Creek QI etc is coming.
10:40 Alan Davies â Telling Stories
Alan Davies is a standup veteran of 25 years. He starred in the crime show Jonathan Creek which ran for 14 years, and is a permanent panelist of the QI show hosted by Stephen Fry. Alan Davies is bringing his new show Little Victories to NZ for a series of gigs across the country in July. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167279
I met an honest-to-God Alex Jones 911 truther today who told me that “God’s judgment is upon America”, that “Obama can kill anybody he wants”, and that “FEMA is constructing death camps around the nation”.
This guy is around 65 and very overweight, has renounced his U.S citizenship and emigrated to New Zealand. He also said “the church in America is corrupt” and “America is the whore of Babylon” and something about Revelation chapter 16.
Tried injecting a little bit of sanity into the conversation but soon realised I was wasting my time and looked for an exit strategy. But on reflection I pretty much agree with his criticism of US militarism, although his logic and religious rhetoric was totally insane. I think he got NZ citizenship because of his Australian wife.
No doubt he will pull a NZ pension while complaining about big government and voting NACT
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
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“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
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Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
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“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
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1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
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As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
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Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
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There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
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Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
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Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the second part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
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Things That Make You Go - Hmmmm: “All right. Let me come at this another way. I’m guessing that what you’ve got in that box contains names, dates, bank account numbers – all the details you need to put Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern squarely in the cross-hairs. So, the first ...
Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
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Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Stag At Bay: Twelve years ago, Winston Peters was still robust enough to come back from the political crucifixion which his political and media enemies had prepared for him. In his seventies now, the chances of a second resurrection are slim. We should, therefore, prepare for the last gasp of ...
Satellites pass over NZ all the time (literally). Here I focus on the 187 Planet Labs ‘Dove’ Earth-imaging satellites, and I show that one can determine in advance where they will be, enabling scientists on the ground to correlate their environmental and other data collection with opportunities to get imaging ...
The Council of Disobedient Women has learned that the Prefect of Aro Valley has been promoted to a new role with the blessing of the Pope of Wellington. Softy Jejune Parson has been appointed Mother Superior of Woke Wellington for the work she has been doing calling out heretics, ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further support to Samoa in the wake of an ongoing measles outbreak in the country. Additional medical supplies and personnel, including a third rotation of New Zealand’s emergency medical assistance team (NZMAT), further nurse vaccinators, intensive care (ICU) specialists and Samoan-speaking medical professionals, will ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new data showing a sharp drop in the number of people who can’t afford to visit their GP is a sign of real progress. One year after the Government made it cheaper for about 600,000 Kiwis to visit their doctor, results of the New ...
The Trade for All Advisory Board has released its recommendations for making New Zealand’s trade policy deliver for all New Zealanders. The report was today welcomed by Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker. “Trade is crucial to this country’s economy and well-being, and the benefits need to flow to all ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison said it with a straight face, and repetition for emphasis. “I’m very pleased, very pleased, with the performance of all of my ministers,” he declared on Thursday. This ringing if unconvincing universal endorsement ...
PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD PLEA FOR URGENT CLIMATE ACTION 222 parents groups from 27 countries have released a heartfelt joint plea calling on negotiators at this year’s UN climate summit – COP25 – in Madrid to push for ambitious and urgent ...
Government proposals to overhaul insurance contract laws should make the whole process of taking out insurance easier and simpler to understand for consumers, says Financial Advice New Zealand. ...
Despite New Zealand First lobbying hard at the Cabinet table, the Finance Minister says the case to move Auckland's port operations north has not yet been made. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Tomnay, Assoc. Professor / Director of Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health, University of Melbourne Around one in six Australian women have had an abortion by their mid-30s. These women come from all age groups and demographics: some are mothers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland Reports this week about the demise of the Apostrophe Protection Society may have been greatly exaggerated. The Apostrophe Protection Society was set up in 2001 in the UK by retired journalist John Richards with ...
Today the Court of Appeal released their decision to allow Helen Milner (The Black Widow) to have the last remaining body samples of the husband she murdered, in an attempt to prove her innocence by trying to see if he had an underlying heart condition. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Pearse, Lecturer, Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney Federal Labor this week commemorated a dubious anniversary – a decade of climate policy failure. And it pointed the finger of blame squarely at the Greens. Labor claimed that had the Greens ...
The recent statement by Simon Tyler on behalf of the National Provident Fund and the Government Superannuation Fund, that environmental and social goals must be balanced with financial risk and reward, displays conceptual confusion about the role of ethical ...
A bill designed to deal with terrorists returning from overseas has hit its latest speed bump as human rights groups raise concerns that it could be used to stifle press freedom. ...
by David Barber “To read,” says Jim Flynn, Emeritus Professor of Politics at Otago University, “is to enter a magic realm in which people are more interesting, informed, amusing and intelligent than anyone you encounter in everyday life.” It is a realm that half of New Zealand 15-year-olds never enter, ...
Democracy in New Zealand is suffering from a Parliament which under-performs in its scrutiny of human rights. A new report says human rights oversight by select committees examining potential legislation is weak and ad hoc. Human rights obligations and ...
Children’s Commissioner, Judge Andrew Becroft, calls the Breaking Down Porn report, released today by the Chief Censor, a ‘wake-up call’ for all New Zealanders. “I welcome today’s report. It’s a wake-up call and a catalyst for a national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has announced a dramatic overhaul of the federal public service, cutting the number of departments and creating several new mega ones, while removing five secretaries. The departments will be reduced from 18 to ...
Weekend social 13/02/2015 
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...12 hours ago
Newshub last night reported that Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi had apparently promised to help out a mate with an immigration issue. While its normal for people to approach MPs for assistance in this area, when you're a Minister, the rules are different: as the Cabinet Manual says, Ministers must "at ...16 hours ago
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...21 hours ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...1 day ago
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...1 day ago
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...2 days ago
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...2 days ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...4 days ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...5 days ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 6 days ago
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...7 days ago
The Council of Disobedient Women has learned that the Prefect of Aro Valley has been promoted to a new role with the blessing of the Pope of Wellington. Softy Jejune Parson has been appointed Mother Superior of Woke Wellington for the work she has been doing calling out heretics, ...2 weeks ago
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...2 days ago
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...4 days ago
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...12 hours ago
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...9 hours ago
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...11 hours ago
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...12 hours ago
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...12 hours ago
The Government is investing up to $9 million in a project that it says will help Southland farmers use their land more sustainably. ...16 hours ago
Donation legislation, the infinite monkey theory and the angriest man in NZ politics. Not to mention Paula Bennett's black-market oregano. ...16 hours ago
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoff recorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...17 hours ago
You do not have to sacrifice short term returns in order to invest sustainably. ...18 hours ago
Winston Peters says the NZ First foundation is similar to the National Party’s foundation. Here’s how it isn’t. ...20 hours ago
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...20 hours ago
The Finance Minister Grant Robertson won’t be drawn on how much new capital requirements for banks will hit consumers. ...20 hours ago
Yet again, NZ schools have received a 'fail' when it comes to bullying but there could be an evidence-based solution. ...21 hours ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...23 hours ago
A handy guide to all you need to know about impeachment. ...23 hours ago
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...23 hours ago
Sky Sport News presenter Kate King previews a massive weekend for Kiwi sportswomen ...23 hours ago
NZ is seeing an increasing number of retail 'events' imported from overseas - how long before our spending is exhausted? ...24 hours ago
German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...1 day ago
Despite New Zealand First lobbying hard at the Cabinet table, the Finance Minister says the case to move Auckland's port operations north has not yet been made. ...1 day ago
The year has provided tests for the PM's party, government, and the country as a whole - but she is confident 2020 will bring success. ...1 day ago
ACC is failing to live by the climate principles it proclaims. ...1 day ago
A bill designed to deal with terrorists returning from overseas has hit its latest speed bump as human rights groups raise concerns that it could be used to stifle press freedom. ...1 day ago
The final version of the Commerce Commission's report says both the retail and wholesale fuel markets are dysfunctional. ...1 day ago
by David Barber “To read,” says Jim Flynn, Emeritus Professor of Politics at Otago University, “is to enter a magic realm in which people are more interesting, informed, amusing and intelligent than anyone you encounter in everyday life.” It is a realm that half of New Zealand 15-year-olds never enter, ...2 days ago
I was thinking of a really dull and tedious weekend. ..no real estate speculation or tax avoidance calculus. No getting ticketed at 200 in the Mazeratti. No fine dining with oodles of fine Otago pinot noir. Tutukaka game fishing or similar. None of that nonsense for Ennui. No………………… …..For some bizarre February reason Super Rugby starts tonight.
Mrs Ennui will yawn and run a bath…my cup will floweth over.
Valentine’s day on saturday – sponteneity doesn’t usually go too far wrong đ
I’m “celebrating” 192 days sober…with another water /sigh
It is a celebration – good for you!
I used to work in a brewery, long (long) ago. So much alcoholism. It put me off alcohol for my early life, and even now I very seldom drink.
Might be time to change your handle to barfree đ
Over 3 years for me. It was easier than I’d expected.
But you will miss out on this view of life
“I only drink champagne when Iâm happy, and when Iâm sad. Sometimes I drink it when Iâm alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it â unless Iâm thirsty.
– Lily Bollinger”
She of course had the advantage of not having to pay for it.
Good on you Barfly. What a massive effort. I hope you’ve been well supported through out and continue to be. Take care and enjoy your achievements.
I’ve heard it’s better than the alternative. Congrats on your willpower
Barfly. Great news. What was your greatest incentive to choose this hard row?
After having my wallet stolen while I was pissed as a parrot I had such rage and hatred of myself that it was enough to get me through the first 2 months (not really an incentive I guess)
There are some ratbags out there. But using that trigger to recognise a problem and deal with it is the best response you could have made.
Chilled water on a hot day. Delicious. You can feel it flowing inside your body cooling all over. Water is your friend. I’ve been reading that it gives muscles a boost, keeps away cramps, releases the prickly feelings from calcium spurs in your elbows when you are older.
Grime Music time..
Well OK Only Dizzy Rascal
But hoping other’s can offer up some Grime Tunes.
Big weekend down in the King Country the A’N’P shows on in Taumarunui as well as the classic gliders turning up for a week at the airport.
But of most interest to me is the king country center champs dog trail at mahihi otarohanga it the best chance for a easy entry to the north island/new Zealand champs in may. Is Bess the mighty good enough.
May the inside of your gumboots stay dry.
Not sure if that’s a curse or a blessing could do with a drop of rain or two , might even leave the coat at home to temp mother n into getting me:-)
Well, if it’s real dry, you won’t be needing your gumboots to keep you out of the hospital or infirmary đ
I tell you the next time I see mud I may strip off and roll in it.
Mud wrestling?? CAn we watch???
The only thing I wrestle with is the implications of being human and if you read my posts you’re already watching. đ
Dang an event I was prepared to travel to. ” put in chuckle icon”
I’m a slightly chubby hairy in all the wrong places middle aged man you would be better to watch the “borat” fight scene.
you are a ‘bear’..
..and you do have yr own fan sub-set..
..so nude-wrestling shouldn’t be ruled out for those ‘bear’-like reasons..
Not quite a bear but gravity is shifting the follicles from my head to all sorts of odd places.
“You don’t walk around Muddy puddles. You jump in them.
Peppa Pig.
Oh the joys of having a 3 year old đ
There’s nothing more satisfying than jumping in a muddy puddle & getting your mates soaked……lol
I will be carrying on with my efforts to rear an endangered species – monarch butterflies. I keep wondering which group of brassica growers convinced who in which government department to ask some idiotic minister to permit the importing of a caterpillar eating wasp. Even caterpillars left outside that are less than a cm long are being eaten by the very efficient wasps and all that is left is black blood.
P.S. There are lots of white butterflies around, are they not as tasty as the colourful monarch?
I don’t think they were deliberately introduced, just someone not being careful enough with imports. Bloody things make a mess of monarch caterpillars.
White butterfly’s are destroyers of brassicas, monarchs eat the swan plant as far as I know. The whiteys are menaces and seem to be around awhile whereas the monarch had a very short life cycle.
We hate them with a passion as they monster the winter crops coming up now.
I have 17 swanplants growing but have sighted only one monarch butterfly. Those leg trailing paper wasps seem to patrol the plants looking for caterpillars. same last year. Monarchs Nil.
i have six six foot high swanplants..
..and i have swarms of monarchs…
..birds and stuff love my yard..
..the lawns haven’t been mowed in five yrs..(i walk it down when it gets too high..)
..so there is a whole eco-system going on in there..
..and tho’ in suburbia..the fence/trees make it a green-cave of sorts..
..a safe haven for them all..
..and even wild birds like being whistled-at/talked to..
..my great grandfather taught/showed me that when i was a kid..
..he used to do it all the time..and i thought it was very cool..
..so also do it..
Kiaora Phil
I live rurally. I have paddocks for neighbours. Recently the property was refenced to stop the cows from coming in. Before the fencing, i had a bit of a wild garden thing growing. Lots of flowers, colour, insect life and even a rat nesting under the harakeke.
Well, the fencing contractor, whom I know very well, unilaterally decided to have his workers ‘clean up the place’ and had them remove every plant and every bit of colour from the section. This happened last week and my blood is still boiling.
The fencing contractor is a good person and runs a crew of youths who otherwise would be in prison. He is also a Tuhoe bushman. I said to the dude “how the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. ” That’s how badly violated I feel.
So I really do get the wild garden thing. And on a final note, Bob, the rat, is now trying to store his nuts in my ceiling. I need to really think about that one.
morena adele..
..i find if it gets too unruly/high..
..that walking it down is preferable to cutting..
..i did my backyard yesterday..
..and it is strangely satisfying to do..
(..much more so than clattering around with a lawn mower..
..faster..and no mountain of clippings to deal with after..)
..and freshly-tamped it all packs down to about 10cm high..
..and then the cycle starts again..
..and doing that i get a glimpse of the insect-life in the eco-system that has built up..
..and i really recommend growing some swan-plants..
..it is way cool to have monarch butterflies flying around the place..
Kiaora Adele,
“I said to the dude âhow the fuck would you like it if I went through Te Uruwera with a chainsaw. â Thatâs how badly violated I feel.”
Makes sense to me. Lots of people socialised into tidy is best and the beauty and abundance of wilderness in our backyards is lost on them. I’ve been in that situation a few times where people thought they were doing something useful or kind but were in fact destroying something essential. It’s hard. Did the man get it when you pointed it out?
Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, that’s a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 o’clock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.
Kiaora Weka
“Rats on the other hand, once they make it into the ceiling, thatâs a step too far. It was always the young males who would come in at 3 oâclock in the morning and run riot over my bedroom ceiling. That was the time for me to push back.”
I know exactly what you are saying. So far I think it still is just Bob, the solitary rat. I have yet to see or hear evidence of the whanau or mokopuna. He is already in the ceiling space rattling his nuts about.
I have had endless discussions with the locals on how to remove rats, which generally involves trapping or poisoning. I am at an impasse. I don’t want to kill but I also don’t want to come home to a horde of rats arguing over the remote.
Ben the movie springs to mind.
Can you cover the swan plant bush with fine netting – dress material type? Or fine muslin? Monarchs are beautiful. Do you belong to the Trust? I am sorry about the demise of the NZ preying mantis and the way that the South African has swamped it. But I feel that wasp may be getting into the preying mantis too.
@Janine
Naa the white ones only eat the tougher green stuff, Cabbage and my Silverbeet (out with the dust again) so must be bitter compared to the Swan Plant eating butterfly. . I have a friend here in Levin who’s house has hundreds of chrysalis mainly empty now and butterfly’s everywhere. Oh if they eat the plants too quick or too far She put Cucumber out for them. The forum Second link should elp with your wasp problem.
http://www.monarch.org.nz/monarch/species/monarchs/monarch-host-plants/feeding-monarch-larvae/
http://www.monarch.org.nz/monarch/forum/
Thanks for the links DH. It is good to see that some people have living caterpillars. I got some net to cover my two mature trees greywarsharrk, but the wasps managed to get underneath the cover and there was carnage! Of the 22 caterpillars that I knew of only 4 remained. One was hanging ready to turn and only half of it was left. I live in the Franklin district so if there was a deliberate release of wasps I guess it would have been here. We are also close (as the crow flies) to the Auckland Airport, so I suppose if something came in there it would head for this area as a good source of food. Now I go over the trees at least twice a day and any branches with eggs on I bring inside.
@ Janice
Good luck with raising them inside. Perhaps a trend could be started for people to adopt the ones ready to change, bringing them inside when they went into their J shape. And then viewing them as living works of art – I find them beautiful with their cases of light green with gold spots. Watching the amazing work of the nature as their wings form and colours deepen till they can be seen through their thin cover is interesting. The beautiful end comes as they emerge and slowly waft their wings to dry and circulate their blood. Set them high enough so the cat won’t get them would be a rule!
Monarchs! I used to see them all the time at my parents (Chch) growing up. Haven’t seen one for many years. I had forgotten. Thank you for your efforts…
Flying home to winter after 4 fabulous weeks with friends and family in Aotearoa. Highlights included family wedding, Abel Tasman track and several visits to Raglan. Best.holiday.ever.
Only rained while we were on the track – reckon it was Puck paying us back for a dry Milford walk some years ago.
Leaving the land of intense cold for Auckland tomorrow. Yay, warmth!
There’s a Wellington/Wairarapa outdoor dj and laser party this weekend.
Although I’m not going to it I usually enjoy these type of events.
https://www.facebook.com/events/448976005256415/
I know a number of the DJ’s and lighting guys – quite friendly with the organisers too. They always do good work so will be fun I am sure.
I was thinking of going but the problem is the drive back the next day. There would be no way I would be sober enough to drive.
This is where Facebook could come in handy. A group with transport and revolving and reliable sober driver task could contact each other and set up trips like this Contrarian.
Writing this, I have the wonderful Dick Gaughan playing in the background. Militant working class folk music as its sinewy, caustic best.
One of the things I like most about Dick is that, like a string of singer-songwriters of his time, he is a very accomplished guitar player. Back in the 60s and 70s being a guitar-playing singer-songwriter you had to be a really good guitarist. Like Dick, or like Bert Jansch or John Renbourn or Davy Graham. Or NZ’s own wonderful Chris Thompson (‘Echoes from the Pit’ and ‘Minstrelsy’ are wonderful albums).
The Gaughan album I have on is ‘Gaughan Live!’, recorded at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club in the north of England.
Gaughan is a Cot, but he has a couple of nice songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists, pointing out that the Scottish landowners and capitalists ruthlessly exploited the working people of Scotland and also emphasising the solidarity between Scottish and English workers: “No Gods” is a powerful, raucous number, while “Both Sides the Tweed” is just beautiful as a song, even if you didn’t follow the lyrics.
“Tom Paine’s Bones” is another great track, sinewy and emotional.
“Whatever happened?” is magnificent; it’s a rollicking, biting condemnation of all those who espoused revolutionary views in their youth but moved right as they climbed the socio-economic ladder (but might have kept the odd Che Guevara t-shirt).
He also has some wonderful guitar-playing on two instrumental medleys.
Gaughan first came to my attention at the time of the 1981 hunger strikes in the H-Blocks. He does a beautiful version (my favourite) of an old Irish republican movement song, “The Galtee Mountain Boy” and it was on a fund-raising album put out by the POW Dept of Sinn Fein. The live album contains my favourite version of “Both sides the Tweed” but there’s a nice version of it by Dick with Emmylou Harris at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlDijR0Y60Q
One of my favourite tracks on that great album was “Back Home in Derry”, written by Bobby Sands (although Sands was from Belfast). But my favourite version of that song is by the wonderful Gary Og, however his best vid of it seems to have disappeared from youtube. But he does a nice version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song: here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iP7r0cg7Oc&list=PLDC4C4612C68C0D55&index=16
One of my favourite Irish songs is “James Connolly” and my favourite version is this one, which accompanies one of the annual Easter Rebellion commemorations organised by the Belfast branches of the socialist-republican movement eirigi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EghEkVe80e0
and, of course, lots of the wonderful Damien Dempsey: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/damo-does-the-dux-gig-review/
the wonderful Seth Lakeman: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/seth-lakemans-workers-lives-review-of-tales-from-the-barrelhouse-and-word-of-mouth/
and I’ll be digging out some of the old magnificent Van der Graaf Generator; this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, “Arrow” (from 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLv2f3QKzs
Phil
I share your admiration for Gaughan. Fine guitar player and also a voice which I find very rich with an expressive warmth. “Kist of Gold” is my favourite album. Great political songs and also a way with a love ballad. He’s one of my “Gee, I wish I could play/sing like Gaughan.”
“…songs exposing the myths peddled by Scottish nationalists…”
you seem to infer that Scottish nationalist were (are?) on the side of the landowners and capitalist and they they were fellow travellers in ther attitudes towards working people.
Can you expand? I don’t see the current SNP in that light.
since the 10th feb i have posted/linked to 40 items in my music/ent/lit category..
http://whoar.co.nz/category/musicentlit/
..and there is some seriously good shit in there..
..ranging from one for joni mitchell fans..
..to lord of the rings in five minutes..
..(having tired of all the walking..i walked out of the first lord of the rings..
..so i found that one useful/a time-saver..)
..happy scrolling..!
Oceania Badminton Champs starts this weekend at North Harbour. Some good battles between Aussie and NZ. Pacific Island teams eliminated early đ
I asked a Cook Islander if he was going to play in his jandals, he said “I wish, it’s too bloody hot in here” đ
Quite a fun tournament, not too serious like the NZ Open…
Blew the head gasket on the Commodore last week! Off to buy a bicycle this arvo.
Starting a new job on Monday. Will need the $$$ to pay for the Holden dramas. Arrgh
A song just for Holden owners…….LMAO đ
Shuddup! Made myself feel better with these⌠đ
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ford+on+fire
On Radionz. I thought this was a breakthrough in social understanding and the Joy of Mathematics. It is not airy fairy ideas, really factual and provable and repeatable.
And can be applied to NZs as a democratic people if trying to understand why our democracy and we are going down the plughole.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167277
Hannah Fry – Love and Mathematics (â21â˛â27âłâ)
09:40 Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend – Dr Hannah Fry tells Wallace the
mathematical equation for love. Her new book The Mathematics of Love offers a unique perspective on matters of the heart. As a mathematician, Dr Fry answers such burning questions as: What is the chance of finding love? How long will it last? And what are your chances of divorce?
did she get to the bit about how many people are simply not suited to lifelong monogamy? đ
There was too much for my tiny brain to encompass weka. May have done. There’s something for everyone in the book it seems.
âSelma, the stunning new film based on Paul Webbâs screenplay and directed by the previously unheralded African-American Ava DuVernay, makes for an interesting side-by-side comparison with Stephen Spielbergâs Lincoln. Both films revolve around the circumstances attending the passage of key legislation affecting Black America: in the first instance, the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and in the second the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that sealed the doom of Jim Crow, a legacy of white Americaâs abandonment of Reconstruction. . .â
full review at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/selma-the-movie-the-history-and-its-relevance-today/
Another film. – Edward Snowden and how it feel to be really unpopular in a pseudo-democracy.
Citizenfour â A panel discussion (â19â˛â19âłâ)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167273
08:40 The Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning documentary Citizenfour tells the story of Edward Snowden – a former NSA employee turned whistle-blower.
Radio New Zealand National held a screening of the film in Auckland earlier this week and followed it with a panel hosted by Wallace Chapman and featuring: Mediawatch’s Colin Peacock; former Listener editor Finlay McDonald; documentary filmmaker Annie Goldson; and, Sandra Kailahi – a freelance journalist and director.
Film has been shown in auckland and Wellington.
Will be opening from Feb 19 in Christchurch and Dunedin.
Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwAvd5mvM
Also be aware of something lighter – Alan Davies UK Jonathan Creek QI etc is coming.
10:40 Alan Davies â Telling Stories
Alan Davies is a standup veteran of 25 years. He starred in the crime show Jonathan Creek which ran for 14 years, and is a permanent panelist of the QI show hosted by Stephen Fry. Alan Davies is bringing his new show Little Victories to NZ for a series of gigs across the country in July.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20167279
I met an honest-to-God Alex Jones 911 truther today who told me that “God’s judgment is upon America”, that “Obama can kill anybody he wants”, and that “FEMA is constructing death camps around the nation”.
This guy is around 65 and very overweight, has renounced his U.S citizenship and emigrated to New Zealand. He also said “the church in America is corrupt” and “America is the whore of Babylon” and something about Revelation chapter 16.
Tried injecting a little bit of sanity into the conversation but soon realised I was wasting my time and looked for an exit strategy. But on reflection I pretty much agree with his criticism of US militarism, although his logic and religious rhetoric was totally insane. I think he got NZ citizenship because of his Australian wife.
No doubt he will pull a NZ pension while complaining about big government and voting NACT