Why we cannot afford to tolerate fascists

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, April 4th, 2019 - 130 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Christchurch Attack, International, law, law and "order", Politics, terrorism, uk politics - Tags:

In the UK a trial has just finished where a neo nazi conspired with others to kill his local MP who happened to be a female Labour MP.

Hope not Hate was behind the protection of a member of the neo nazi’s gang who turned whistle blower on his plan.

The Guardian has more detail:

A neo-Nazi who admitted plotting the murder of the Labour MP Rosie Cooper will not face a second retrial for membership of the banned group National Action.

Jack Renshaw, 23, bought a 48cm (19in) gladius knife to kill the West Lancashire MP and a female police officer against whom he had a grudge, the Old Bailey heard. The plan was scuppered by Robbie Mullen, who was at a meeting in a pub when Renshaw announced he was going to kill Cooper.

It happened just a year after the Labour MP Jo Cox was fatally stabbed and shot by the far-right extremist Thomas Mair.

Renshaw, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, had admitted making preparations to kill his local MP in 2017 and making a threat to kill the police officer Victoria Henderson, who was investigating him.

However, he denied membership of the banned extreme rightwing group National Action, as did Andrew Clarke, 34, and Michael Trubini, 36, from Warrington.

The jury deliberated for more than 48 hours but were unable to reach majority verdicts on any of the defendants following the retrial. The judge, Mrs Justice McGowan, discharged the jury after being told there was no prospect of them reaching verdicts if given more time.

The Free Speech coalition would have us believe that discourse and discussion of people like Renshaw’s world views is the best way to deal with him.

But I am not so sure.  I must admit I am heading towards the approach advocated by comedian Aamer Rahman:

Or at least active humiliation of those with strange views like the humiliation egg boy inflicted on Fraser Anning.

For a more esoteric theoretical analysis of the problem this graphic usinng the thoughts of philosopher Karl Popper provides one.

And I wonder what the UK Security service was doing.  After all it took a dedicated peace group and a whistle blower to alert the authorities what was happening.

But maybe I am being too harsh. Maybe they are repenting and changing their ways.

Maybe we just need to talk to them about the harm they are causing.

But somehow I am not so sure.

130 comments on “Why we cannot afford to tolerate fascists ”

  1. Ad 1

    Pretty much the perfect debate to be having in this country as well.
    Well timed Mickey.

  2. Stuart Munro. 2

    It seems to me that dealing with fascism is not an area in which we need to reinvent the wheel. We, and our related nations, have dealt with the threat before.

    Neo-Nazis are characteristically paramilitary. They form cells. They conspire and incite in ways that are covered by existing laws. Locally, they buy guns from a person manifestly unfit to retain a license to sell them. All of these matters can be addressed by existing laws and agencies if they get their act together. Sites like 8Chan can be subjected to international police action – a more productive use of those powers than pursuing the likes of Assange.

    What I wouldn’t recommend is a crude postmodern broadbrush assault on white guys. Quite a lot of us aren’t neo-Nazis. New hate speech laws are probably unnecessary – most of the powers required to suppress a violent fifth column have been on the books since Massey was using them to crush unions.

    Some kind of press regulation discouraging vagrant opinion writing and requiring some degree of truth would not go amiss however.

    • arkie 2.1

      It seems to me that dealing with fascism is not an area in which we need to reinvent the wheel. We, and our related nations, have dealt with the threat before.

      Except we’ve failed to stop neo-nazis killing people. We’ve failed to stop neo-nazi’s from running insulation businesses with white power symbols all over their branding. We’ve turned a blind eye to neo-nazis and they’ve seen that inaction as a kind of apathetic approval.

      What I wouldn’t recommend is a crude postmodern broadbrush assault on white guys. Quite a lot of us aren’t neo-Nazis.

      I don’t understand what a postmodern broadbrush assault is so I wouldn’t recommend it either. It should be remembered; neo-nazis are an admittedly tiny subset of white guys, but it is very rare for a white supremacist to not be white and male. That means white guys need to be the most vocal in their condemnation of neo-nazis.

      • Stuart Munro. 2.1.1

        “That means white guys need to be the most vocal in their condemnation of neo-nazis.”

        Actually they don’t have much to do with us. It’s a job for police and security services, whose culture has reached the point that someone like Tipple can get a gun sellers license, and an AR15 can be passed off as not being military style.

        It’s sufficient for the public to point out agent provocateurs like Southern, or recruitment/radicalization forums.

        If you haven’t been attacked by postmodern assholes, good for you – you must be one of the only ones left.

        • arkie 2.1.1.1

          If you haven’t been attacked by postmodern assholes, good for you – you must be one of the only ones left.

          See I still have no idea how I would even recognise that I was being attacked by postmodern assholes? And i’m not sure it would significantly affect my life.

          People I know routinely have abuse yelled at them from passing vehicles, some have been egged. They’re being called terrorists, being told to ‘go back to where you came from’. They have been receiving death and rape threats online. My friend is a former refugee, a Muslim and a woman and this abuse has increased since the 15th.

          What would you call those who have been attacking her? Does it matter how they justified it to themselves? Do you think the police and security services should doing something about this everyday casual bigotry?

          What is important that we say that that behaviour is unacceptable, and that we stand together against people think that it is.

          • Stuart Munro. 2.1.1.1.1

            Postmodern assholes are readily recognizable, Arkie.

            They launch ill-conceived attacks on their bugbears – white straight males – without troubling to determine whether they are a) members of the patriarchy, b) possessors or benefactors of stolen indigenous lands, or c) LGBTphobes.
            Being none of the above, I am intolerant of their intolerance, which, far from assuring me of restrained and polite treatment, singles me out for increased abuse.

            I am sorry for your friend, I’ve taught a number of Muslims myself. Some of my Korean friends also met drive by abuse. It is hard to know what substance there might be to such people’s processes of self justification.

            Everyday casual bigotry is a complicated question, as are police responses. One of the justices in Donahue v Stephenson said something along the lines of ‘the bible calls upon us to love our neighbours, but the law demands something less, that we don’t injure our neighbours’. Police resources are not infinite, but in the current climate it seems that racist trolling, which is often traceable to some degree, might be followed up.

            • RedLogix 2.1.1.1.1.1

              My adopted Chinese son encountered the same casual drive by racism when visiting a nearby town on his own, but in the 18 months he was in Australia it was the only incident. It certainly didn’t put him off the place; toward the end he was pretty reluctant to go home and was thinking about ways to stay in Australia.

              On the same day he was taking some innocent pics of kids playing in a public playground and was mightily baffled to be accused by a woman charging up to him of being a ‘pedo’. We had to explain that word to him.

              It’s my experience that most people are nowhere near as good as they think they are. Almost none of us have been in a situation where we could be evil and get away with it, and many people when given a bit of social license or perceived moral authority quickly go about proving how unfit they are to wield it.

              That’s the lesson Milgram taught us.

              • Stuart Munro.

                I am not a member of the patriarchy, and thus I cannot claim to be expert on them. However, the defining trait of this body (or alleged body), is the exercise of authority in such a fashion as to disadvantage women. I don’t hold any position of authority, and thus, even were I a second Gilles de Rais, I could not do so.

                Positions of authority are indeed often somewhat determined by birth, the inglorious political career of Don Brash might never have occurred were he not descended from the well known Thomas Brash, for example.

                I am sure some people become members, the sclerification of people as they age is well attested.

                The number of post modern assholes who have tried to hang the epithet on me suggests that the thrusting does happen, though in genuine cases it would be by appointment to a position of invidious authority, like the appointment of Carter as Speaker, for example. I’m not presently in imminent danger of such an elevation.

                • mpledger

                  According to wikipedia
                  “Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. ”

                  Nowadays, Patriarchy tends to benefit only those at the top so the middle and working classes don’t get much benefit (compared to when men controlled the money and property of their wives).

                  To get to the top, it helps to be born to it (Trump) or have the right skills (Obama).

                  • Stuart Munro.

                    There are two patriarchies of course. One is the sociopolitical structure of deeply conservative, often religious societies.

                    The other is a chimera, the bete noire of contemporary feminism. Like the Elders of Zion or the Masons, it may exist to some degree, but the degree of concordance between the claims and the actual influence is less readily judged. Like Orientalism it is a flawed premise that nevertheless contains a few insights.

                    • Maggie

                      Hate to break it to ya Stuart but you’re part of a patriarchal system, so am I. You can pretend it isn’t so all you like but in the end you’re only fooling yourself.

                      Your own beliefs fall in line with patriarchal ideology and whilst you had no choice about being born into it you do have a choice as to whether you further the broken narrative of an oppressive societal ideology.

                    • marty mars

                      As a privileged male within the patriarchy you dont see it because you’re totally immersed within it as we all are. Big worded sentences dont change that mate sorry.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      Maggie, I wish you joy of your certainty, but I don’t subscribe to that particular fantasy.

                      I know who my oppressors are, and I’ve copped plenty of racist abuse in my time, as well as the infinitely more serious prejudicial actions.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      @ Marty

                      “As a privileged white male”

                      You have NFI what you’re talking about.

                    • marty mars

                      @ stuart – yeah this is a blog. If you’ve got context and want to share go ahead. If not don’t. But don’t bleat when you get comment in response to your words.

                      Btw I called you a priviledged male not a privileged WHITE Male as you quoted – get your fucken facts right doofus.

                    • Maggie

                      My certainty is always being torn down and rebuilt to better fit the things I learn. It is total ignorance and arrogance to assume truth and I have learned the hard way that holding on to personal beliefs as though they are representative of my core being is foolish and ultimately invites a painful separation when they’re shown to be false.

                      I have been wrong and no doubt am wrong about many things which is why I challenge those beliefs and demand proofs.

                      What I suggest to you is that you open your mind to the fact that our minds deceive us all the time. Learn to love the discomfort of cognitive dissonance because it is proof you’re on the verge of seeing a different perspective. If you choose to live one-eyed and accepting of any poorly thought out article that supports your beliefs then get comfortable with having your position challenged because you’re inviting it. You can’t complain of being run over when you lie down on railway tracks.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      @ Maggie

                      I have seen what passes for contemporary intellectualism and most of it is contemptable nonsense.

                      I had to pay to listen to that crap, but I would not have done so willingly, nor do I endorse it.

                      Putting low replicability crap like Derrida on a par with Kant shows an inability to deal with the material, and goes a fair way to explain the death of the Arts.

                      The upshot of Kuhn, a debased form of Popperian falsifiability, asserts that ‘anything goes’, so long as an academic community endorses it. Thus we get a triumph of form over content, and the destruction of core academic values. I reject arguments based on that crap out of hand – as do large sections of our society.

                      If there is to be a social consensus on rolling up the neo-Nazi presence, which I consider reasonably desirable, it will proceed on the basis of what is known and can be discovered about such groups.

                      The unverified presumptions of the self-styled ‘woke’ Left will contribute no light, but an abundance of heat to such an endeavor.

                    • Maggie

                      @ Stuart

                      “The unverified presumptions of the self-styled ‘woke’ Left will contribute no light, but an abundance of heat to such an endeavor.”

                      This from the guy who offered the unverified presumptions of Stove with his ‘The Intellectual Capacity of Women’ as a serious rebuttal.

                • Gabby

                  You didn’t get ‘postmodern’ in there stuey.

                  • Stuart Munro.

                    Forgive me – postmodernism – also called “terrorist obscurantism” is not worthy of examination by the illustrious readers of this site.

                    • Gabby

                      How achingly badly do you want to be jawdie pootyson stuey?

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      I read a bit of one of his books – until he started making assertions that exceeded his evidence. He’s a little like Marx, though an order of magnitude or two inferior – better at explaining a problem than conceiving of a solution.

                    • RedLogix

                      Inferior to Marx maybe, but less likely to be associated with 10’s millions of dead bodies.

                  • Chris

                    No, he didn’t, but if he did and the term was used in the same way as he’s tried to use it in earlier comments it would’ve been used wrongly, again. The only thing anyone here’s said that resembles postmodernity of any kind is Maggie when she said “My certainty is always being torn down and rebuilt to better fit the things I learn.” What’s a postmodern asshole, anyway?

        • Anthony Rimell 2.1.1.2

          See, you got me Stuart. There I was all set to have a reasoned discussion, ensuring that in a considered way we look at the key fact that when the offenders are from the dominant group it behooves the rest of us from that group to actively call it out…

          And then you reveal where your thinking really comes from:

          “If you haven’t been attacked by postmodern assholes, good for you – you must be one of the only ones left.”

          You may not be a neo-nazi, but your language reveals that you actually have far more in common with them than you will admit (or perhaps realise). You’re using the same language of ‘but Im the real victim here’ that stirs up the angry hearts of these thugs, who crush kill and destroy in the name of ‘a fair go for white people’.

          So from one white guy to another: we arent the victims. We’re the group the perpetrators come from. And it absolutely must stop. Now.

          • Stuart Munro. 2.1.1.2.1

            Okay full points as a qualifying postmodern asshole.

            I did not shoot up a mosque full of innocents. Take it up with those who did.

            You want a go at me? I will ridicule your pretention till the cows come home.

          • Maggie 2.1.1.2.2

            Thank you Anthony. Your attitude really gives me hope. I fully believe that most white men want to do the right thing, that they didn’t choose the culture they were born into and, once shown how and where the problems flourish they act to set things right.

            I used to be a very angry feminist who refused to see women as anything but victims of a patriarchal evil but the more I read about feminism the more I realised that today’s men weren’t “the bad guys”.

            It’s really hard for white guys to figure out a new way of thinking and seeing the world and because I understand that I’m a lot less angry and have learned to trust that most men want to get this right.

            I still consider myself a feminist because I have a deep yearning for women to be free to make choices in their lives but I no longer look at white men as “the enemy”. I save that designation for ignorance.

            • ianmac 2.1.1.2.2.1

              As a mere male I declared myself as a feminist but some local feminists told me that I could not be one. As a concession they said I could be a Feminist Supporter. Gee thanks but what is in a label? Actions speak louder.

              • Maggie

                You can be whatever you want to be Ian. And yes, you can be a feminist.

                Actions all the way 🙂

          • marty mars 2.1.1.2.3

            + 1

            I agree that it must stop now too. No more excuses.

        • Maggie 2.1.1.3

          “It’s a job for police and security services, ”

          Wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty aye. Silence condones behaviour.

          “It’s sufficient for the public to point out agent provocateurs like Southern, or recruitment/radicalization forums.”

          No it isn’t enough. We have a collective responsibility to maintain social order and the most effective way to do that is by challenging the behaviour as soon as you see it. And I’m not suggesting getting into a full on confrontation with skin heads but simply not sitting in silence while a mate makes a racist joke or comment.

          • Stuart Munro. 2.1.1.3.1

            “Wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty aye. Silence condones behaviour.”

            Oh, you want me to indulge in some form of vigilantism against them? I wouldn’t object, but the police might.

            But this post modern shaming crap of unconnected people? No. Hell no.

            The idea that racism drives everything, and needs to be punished is prurience – the same vice that seems to have brought about the demise of western religions. Racism will always be with us.

            https://archive.org/details/RacialAndOtherAntagonisms

            We are obliged to discriminate between harmful and harmless expressions of it.

            • arkie 2.1.1.3.1.1

              In his essay “Why You Should be A Conservative”, Stove argued that actions can have unforeseen and unwelcome consequences; that just because something is wrong or evil, it does not follow that the world would be better off without it; and that a decline in respect for life and property had led to a decline in quality of life.

              In “Racial and Other Antagonisms” (1989) Stove asserted that racism is not a form of prejudice but common sense: “Almost everyone unites in declaring ‘racism’ false and detestable. Yet absolutely everyone knows it is true”.

              In “The Intellectual Capacity of Women” (1990) stated his belief that “the intellectual capacity of women is on the whole inferior to that of men”.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stove

              hmm.

              • Stuart Munro.

                You should read the essay, Arkie, it is pretty solid as it happens, and offers no comfort to chauvinists whatsoever.

              • Maggie

                I think Stuart has just been ‘outed’. Mind you, I’m just a lil woman, what would I know. 😁😁😁

                • Stuart Munro.

                  I have heard the assertion before. But only from bigots 😀

                  • Maggie

                    Good on you for owning it Stuey. Admitting it is the first step.

                  • Maggie

                    No prob, I’ll read it now.

                  • Maggie

                    Oh boy, now that was fun! Are you pulling my leg with this article? It’s a joke right?

                    I thought the article would at least be challenging. I’m very disappointed Stuart. If this is your go-to piece of scientific research it’s no wonder your head is full of silly ideas.

                    Stove says this of intelligence: “achievement is both a good indicator and the only available indicator of ability. Similarly, lack of achievement is both a good indicator and the only available indicator of absence of ability, other things being equal.”

                    Whoa there! So here we have a basic logical flaw. He’s saying that achievement is evidence of ability therefore a lack of achievement is evidence of a lack of ability. Ummm, no.

                    The rule of inference says:
                    It is true, and proves itself, that if something occurs, it CAN occur but impossibility can’t be inferred from non-existence. That’s like saying an explosion didn’t occur therefore explosions can’t occur.
                    Or put another way – an explosion is evidence of bombs therefore no explosion means no bombs
                    That’s totally illogical.

                    You’ll have to do way better than that my friend. D minus for you.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      You finished it then? The point that makes his argument valid is that of a total sample. The feminist straw man he is debunking is that male dominance repressed them throughout history, and that, due to these circumstances, women necessarily appear to underperform.

                      His argument is that, being present for the totality of history, women had equal opportunity to compete for the dominant status, but real world examples of that are comparatively rare.

                      As with most sweep of history arguments it offers little or nothing on the contemporary intelligence or otherwise of women except to weaken the presumption of millennia of oppression.

                  • Maggie

                    Stuart, the whole article is built on a false premise therefore anything he draws from that is tainted by the first error. It’s like maths in that if you get the first bit of a calculation wrong the error is carried through the entire thing.

                    “The feminist straw man he is debunking is that male dominance repressed them throughout history, and that, due to these circumstances, women necessarily appear to underperform.

                    His argument is that, being present for the totality of history, women had equal opportunity to compete for the dominant status, but real world examples of that are comparatively rare.”

                    Yet he offers no such proof of equal opportunity. He “supposes” there must have been equal opportunity. Again, very flawed logic that is built entirely on imagination.

                    It seems like you’ve grabbed the nearest confirmation and said to just ignore the fact that it’s illogical. I think I’ll stick with science thanks.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      Having a total sample he need not correct for selectivity. Never mind.

                    • McFlock

                      Stuart, that’s not even relevant to what Maggie said.

                      The assumption is that women started out equal and were therefore equally placed to achieve dominance over men as men were to achieve dominance over women.

                      Equal status as hunter-gatherers doesn’t necessarily translate to equal opportunity to dominate in an agrarian society.

                      You don’t need a confidence interval to figure that one out.

            • Maggie 2.1.1.3.1.2

              Got your back against the wall there Stuart. Great way to polarise an argument.

              Here’s the bit you missed in your reactive state:
              “And I’m not suggesting getting into a full on confrontation with skin heads but simply not sitting in silence while a mate makes a racist joke or comment.”

              Tell me how that is condoning vigilantism?

              “Unconnected people” – so you are a white male? And who’s saying racism drives everything?

              Xenophobia is a hard-wired instinct in our brains that gave us a survival advantage. Back when we were cavemen, those that quickly distinguished between ‘us’ and ‘them’ with a mistrustful eye were more likely to survive, since doing so helped to protect our families from physical threats and resource competition coming from foreign tribes. We still see xenophobic instincts alive and well in stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, racism, violence, and warfare.
              But that doesn’t mean we are compelled to be racist. It simply means that we need to work at overcoming that instinctual mistrust of the unfamiliar.

              Why do we need to? Because we don’t live in bubbles. Get used to it.

              “The idea that racism drives everything, and needs to be punished is prurience – the same vice that seems to have brought about the demise of western religions. ” Hahaha, did you really just say that the desire to stamp out racisms is…lustful?? And sex ruined religion? Well, best you take that up with your “god”. He none too bright if he didn’t see that making sex fun would have toppled his house of cards now.

              • Stuart Munro.

                “the desire to stamp out racisms is…lustful??”

                No, it is merely the latest iteration of the social sneer. The churchmen of the 18th century who sneered at the nakedness of indigenous peoples while accepting the stipends from clothing manufacturers that gave them the title “Men of the Cloth” were no less hypocritical.

                It is notable that our new zealots are reluctant to pursue the actual instigators of racist violence – instead they want to crusade against their perceived class enemies.

                Any attempt to direct them to the militant cells, and away from their inoffensive preferred targets, is deeply resented.

                • McFlock

                  It’s a bit like convolvulus in a garden.

                  The militant cells are just the vines above the ground.
                  But unless you get the racist roots and stems in the soil, your garden will eventually be overgrown.

                  • RedLogix

                    Roundup or Tordon?

                    • arkie

                      We must to do the mahi and dig it out by hand, Red.

                    • Sabine

                      neither, you dig, you follow the root you pull, you burn, do not compost.

                      rinse repeat without end, as in the end weeds if not taken care of regularly and with dedication will always raise their ugly little heads and kill your garden.

                  • Dennis Frank

                    Good analogy.

                  • Stuart Munro.

                    Although we don’t have solid evidence of their activity locally, there are groups that like to fund extremism of this kind. One is the NRA. Bill Buford, in Among the Thugs (a study of British football hooliganism) was able to establish the existence, but not the identity, of funders of that violent subculture also.

                    • McFlock

                      Boycotting businesses with far-right symbols as their logos might be a start.

                      Part of the problem is that we forgot what these symbols were, while the fuckwits remembered. And when we did remember, we wrote it off as just an obscure connection – NASA naming an object “ultima thule” being a case in point.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      @McFlock – yes – let’s (following the convolvulus analogy) pull up the roots of some of these networks, before deciding about a broad spectrum weedkiller. They might lead somewhere interesting. The police would probably enjoy the challenge – a break from the banality of domestic violence and the like.

                    • McFlock

                      I’m not hippie, but I suspect trying to use weedkiller on convolvulus would be a bit like salting the earth, given the quantity needed and how far those bloody tendrils will snake around underground.

                • Maggie

                  “It is notable that our new zealots are reluctant to pursue the actual instigators of racist violence”

                  You make an interesting point. I’ve argued before that people tend to fight the overt signs of discrimination whilst denying their own complicity. For example, being vocal against child labour whilst continuing to buy chocolate from companies that use child labour.

                  This is why we must root out racist notions within ourselves and refuse to tolerate our own racial/gender bias because discrimination is a death by a thousand paper cuts. Attacking the militant cells is an overt gesture when the disease begins in the ignorance of those who believe themselves justified in their supremacy. And anyone who asserts that racism is justified, who believes that men are superior, who believes they have no culpability is the perfect breeding for such infections of ignorance.

                  • Stuart Munro.

                    I think your implicit premise is that this kind of violence is a natural outgrowth of ordinary domestic antagonism. I’m by no means convinced that that is the case. If it were, I don’t think we’d have had to wait for radicalizing offshore forums to generate this kind of violence.

                    “rooting out racist notions within ourselves” presupposes that they are present and/or irrational. It is not in introspection, but in interactions with others that partiality must be avoided.

                    It’s a fine generalization to suppose that you understand the logic of a contrarian philosopher without reading his work. But people like Stove can save you from the kind of dangerous groupthink that supposes one can label someone a racist simply because they do not endorse a new variant of thought policing.

                    • Maggie

                      I don’t do group think – on anything. The only thing Stove saves anyone from is reality.

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      @ Maggie

                      It must be said that you put up a much better argument than most.

                      “I don’t do group think”

                      We all do to some degree. A bit further up thread you thought I was outed. As what? A racist? A chauvinist? A skeptic? A troublemaker? – all loose synonyms for heretic.

                      In my generation we did not tamely agree with the authorities presented us – they had to be persuasive.

                    • Maggie

                      @Stuart

                      A heretic? You? Nah, not in the least.

                      To be frank, your thinking is exactly what I expect from someone who feels disenfranchised.

                      At every turn you reveal a little more of yourself and how you feel about the world.

                      I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m not that smart, just observant. I notice what people DON’T say, when they flinch, when they duck and dive around a topic. I watch how they react to words and who says them and weigh up the different responses. It’s in the silent gaps between the words that I find the unspoken truth of people.

                      Written media can be harder to read but it’s slower so there’s that advantage but watching people speak spills all the beans about them.

                      This is why I say to you that I know you’re angry, furious even, but you’re still wrong.

                      Why else would a highly intelligent man such as yourself fail to notice the glaring inconsistencies and basic logical flaws in Stove’s article?

                    • Stuart Munro.

                      @ Maggie

                      I’ll take Stove over wretched crap like Derrida, Barthes, Saussure and the rest any day of the week.

                      And you know, I’ve been told I was wrong before. I’ve gotten quite used to seeing those assertions swept away by the tide of history.

                      We’ll know if there’s anything in contemporary academia when they can produce a new synthesis. There is little to suggest one is coming.

                    • Maggie

                      @Stuart

                      Stove has other solid and reputable work. That article wasn’t one of them and I think he knew it. He didn’t want it published and it certainly isn’t put together like a well thought argument. So, I have to believe it was a bit of a rant more than a serious go at the topic.

                      He asserts that past non-achievement is good evidence that there won’t be achievement in the future and is therefore good evidence of innate lack of capacity. This is both logically flawed and ignores the fact that female IQ scores have increased at a greater rate than males over the last 100 years to the point there is no relevant difference between the sexes. This increase coincides with the changes western women have experienced, namely, access and participation in education, sport, religion and work environments.
                      But what is most important is that IQ tests are fundamentally flawed at measuring and defining intelligence which is evident in the plethora of variable results and to suggest inferiority because of these test scores is ultimately lazy and self-serving.

                      I don’t ascribe to anyone in their entirety. There are bits of Neitzche that are brilliant, other stuff I don’t agree with. I tend to be a bit arrogant in that I don’t consider any academic, philosopher, thinker, professor to be above reproach. I won’t accept information just because it came from a famous mind.

                      The beauty of opinion is that you get to think what you like. You can dismiss or embrace any ideas or theories you choose.

            • Gabby 2.1.1.3.1.3

              Is post modern the same as postmodern stuey?

              • Stuart Munro.

                In my experience postmodernism is infinitely fluid, and thus the answer would be no. But for practical purposes they are equivalent.

                • Dennis Frank

                  Minor technical correction: postmodernism is infinitely fluid as a cultural ecosystem. As belief system, I suspect it remains as originally agreed by those who defined it.

                  I’m open to proof to the contrary, just coming from how paradigms operate as social archetypes. Like a plan, they persist. Theories can be amended, but that’s rare – normally they tend to be surpassed by better theories. As per Kuhn, later generalised to other fields of knowledge in the eighties (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift).

      • Maggie 2.1.2

        “That means white guys need to be the most vocal in their condemnation of neo-nazis.”

        I agree with you. It’s about confronting bad behaviour way before it becomes extreme. And it’s not like women and minorities can do it because what we think is largely dismissed. Social shaming is a highly effective tool and curbing inappropriate behaviour and it doesn’t have to be a full on confrontation either. Simply saying “that’s not on, mate” when you hear racist comments or jokes can be powerful. The more often people get the message that it’s not ok the greater the influence.

        • Anne 2.1.2.1

          It’s about confronting bad behaviour way before it becomes extreme. And it’s not like women and minorities can do it because what we think is largely dismissed.

          On the button Maggie.

      • Chris 2.1.3

        Stuart’s using the term ‘postmodern’ incorrectly.

    • McFlock 2.2

      Us straight white guys are the ones neonazis don’t like to be judged by.

      • Stuart Munro. 2.2.1

        I don’t want to judge them – I just want them to go before a beak, and lose their arsenals. If I may generalize, these people’s experience of Islamic oppression is largely theoretical, and as such they can in fact lose it if they manage to join a community that does not amplify their hate.

        • McFlock 2.2.1.1

          As the latest fuckwit demonstrated, waiting for them to want to accrue an arsenal before intervening is too late. They have the intelligence and the will to improvise solutions that bypass regulations.

          We can’t restrict access to acetone and pressure cookers.

          • Stuart Munro. 2.2.1.1.1

            Quite. Or indeed trucks, or the components of dust charges.

            We need a multispectrum approach, one element of which ought to be addressing the elements of neo-liberalism Poisson quotes John Ralston Saul on down thread.

            The gross inequality generated by this economic mysticism generates a pervasive feeling of victimhood ripe for exploitation by those who mean to profit from social unrest.

            • McFlock 2.2.1.1.1.1

              Dunno about all that. But the more privileged amongst us have the greater responsibility to deny and condemn the philosophies of fuckwittism that benefit ourselves.

              Men should be strong allies for women’s rights against misogyny, and white guys should be strong allies against eurocentric insecure fuckwits.

              The most important store boycotts are from customers who would normally shop there. That’s what we need to do against fascism.

  3. Maggie 3

    I was reading yesterday that it used to take years to radicalise a racist but due to that marvelous thing called technology it’s happening in a matter of months if not weeks.

    I think tackling them once they’re radicalised is too late and that we need to be dealing with those that are simmering.

    People like Jordan Peterson aren’t helping. He feeds the belief that white males are being pushed out of some rightful position and validates their rage against minorities and women.

    Social media, well, media in general need to be held to account for monetising hate. Youtube will stop paying youtubers who promote hate but they keep the money for themselves.

    • Tuppence Shrewsbury 3.1

      It’s not technologies fault for making access to information easier for stupid and impressionable people. This is cause du jours way of continuing the abdication of personal responsibility, the lack of which allows arseholes like the Christchurch shitbag to feel resentful they’ve lost their place in the world and what Jordan Peterson precisely advocates against.

      Maybe what’s needed is an internet liscence. something to prove you can understand that vaccinations don’t cause autism, the earth isn’t flat, fluoride in drinking water isn’t harmful and that killing people to show your elite status amongst a sub culture of basement dwellers is a massive dick move full stop.

      Then society can restrict the access of stupid people while the worthies can roam free

      • Maggie 3.1.1

        Oh, I’m not blaming technology, just suggesting it was a faster car than snail mail for spreading information. You’ll see on my other posts I’m very in favour of personal responsibility.

        I totally agree on the internet licence but disagree about JP.

        Whilst he often says ‘take responsibility’ he also validates their fears and justifies their reactions.
        “He was angry at God because women were rejecting him,” Mr. Peterson says of the Toronto killer. “The cure for that is enforced monogamy. That’s actually why monogamy emerges.”

    • Muttonbird 3.2

      People like Jordan Peterson aren’t helping. He feeds the belief that white males are being pushed out of some rightful position and validates their rage against minorities and women.

      Yep. His business model is to encourage a victim mentality among under-educated white men. This of course contributed to the Christchurch massacre.

      • marty mars 3.2.1

        I dont think those under educated blokes are going to like that conclusion mate.

      • Maggie 3.2.2

        I’m not convinced education has a whole lot to do with it. I think he’s a bit like cult leaders in that he’s adept at exploiting vulnerabilities.

  4. ianmac 4

    Were the gun firers in the Tory Fibs clip from the Brit Armed Forces or were they some para military group?

  5. Dennis Frank 5

    Yes, the paradox is the important feature of the issue. I agree with Stuart that more competent targeting and enforcement is what the situation requires.

    Conflating the alt-right with the right is unhelpful, since it merely raises the confusion level in public debate. And look at Andrew Little, dancing his way around the elephant in the room, saying the current hate-speech law is inadequate without acknowledging who is responsible for implementing a law unfit for purpose!!

    I decided I would never vote National in 1970 because they were closet-fascists. I never have. I had filed my father and his father into that category after parting company with my generational zeitgeist (`apolitical is good’). I nowadays give the Nats credit for trending liberal since Muldoon, and him credit for merely pretending to be fascist.

    First credibility test for this govt will be the Mongrel Mob, apparently, and anyone else who refuses to abide by the incoming law. Will the armed-offenders squad suffice? If cops can’t cope, bring in the army! Useful anti-guerilla training.

    Aside from the real action, political responses to fascism will be conspicuous by their absence, so I endorse the anti-fascist sentiment by suggesting a cultural alternative.

    The Great Fascist Hunt. Everyone can play this game. It involves identifying the fascists in our midst and explaining why the identification is correct. The winner will be the one who finds the greatest number of fascists, with the most compelling rationale for identifying them. The judges will be our leading academic specialists on fascism, who will explain to the audience on the reality tv show precisely how to diagnose fascism, before evaluating the leading contenders for the prize.

    • Stuart Munro. 5.1

      The Mongrel Mob, for all its faults, cannot be mistaken for a neo-Nazi cell. It is therefore largely irrelevant to any Nazi hunting program, except as a source of intelligence.

      • Dennis Frank 5.1.1

        a source of intelligence

        Ah, but what kind of intelligence do the mongrels exhibit? Animal cunning? Emotional intelligence, as in providing community to the alienated? Would be a good topic for an academic dissertation in sociology, eh?

        • Stuart Munro. 5.1.1.1

          I’m sure there are some, though sociology would not be my frame of choice.

          Gangs are typically somewhat territorial, and are wont to skirmish with the pickets of competing groups. I imagine the Mongrels’ appraisal of neo-Nazi activity in their communities would help identify groups that might ‘help police with their enquiries’.

  6. solkta 6

    I’m not going to link to an act of violence but the video of Richard Spencer getting punched in the head is rather funny in a Batman kind of way. “It’s become kind of a symbol [POW]” and a symbol is created.

  7. New Zealand has been progressively destroyed by outside foreign influences, since the signing of the TOW, the country has been sold off to foreign interests by successive Governments who are not working in the interests of New Zealanders ?

    Maori were stripped of their lands by the Settlor Government’s, which decimated the Maori people in the 1800’s, we fought with the British in the 2nd Boer War, WW1 & WW2, Korea & Vietnam with the USA, many of these troops were Maori who got no thanks for their services. Especially in WW2 where the Maori people lost a lot of their leaders, subsequently many Maori women ended up marrying Europeans and there has been further alienation of Maori Land.

    With the urban drift to the Cities by Maori in the 1950’s on wards Maori were further alienated from their tribal homelands and we have had a breakdown in values hence the progression of the Maori Gangs, particularly Black Power & the Mongrel Mob.

    With the introduction of Rogernomics and the Neoliberal Experiment under the 1984 Lange Labour Government, the Government sold off highly profitable State Assets (Cash Cows) like the BNZ, Power Companies etc and failed to reinvest in the Country. Subsequent Governments have asset stripped the country, selling off State Houses and further Infrastructure to offshore merchant bankers without reinvesting in the country and our own people.

    One wonders why New Zealanders and fringe groups are getting pissed off with successive Governments Asset Stripping the country for the benefit of Offshore Investors.

    We are now ranked 30th in the World by the OECD when we were in the top 5 in the 1970’s b4 the Robert Muldoon National Government ?

    • Dennis Frank 7.1

      Cool, smoke a little more of that skunk weed, find the history of our economic relation to the empire. Explains why we ended up in the OECD top five. Economists call it market capture, generally.

      So the toffs told the colonials to use the new refrigeration system (1880s) to send frozen meat back to Britain for sale. Get rich quick via trickle-down was the theory that infested the psyche of the colonialists. Worked for some.

      Middlemen. Farmers got an end-cut, did okay. Govt got tax, so we got socialism, thus the top five status arrived via the natural synergy of the capitalist/socialist hybrid. As James Shaw reminded us in his campaign speeches for the Green leadership, this hybrid is the real-world economy. Politics framing the synergy as left vs right is mostly bullshit.

    • Michelle 7.2

      Well said skunk weed people need to know the dirty deeds and foul practises that formed this country and who benefitted the most from our governments colonial policies.

  8. Formerly Ross 8

    Karl Popper also said: “I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise.“

    Very wise because of course some religious groups are intolerant. Yet we don’t ban them because we value free speech and realise that we can hear and understand opposing views without the sky falling in.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance

  9. Sabine 9

    what really can’t be ignored and should have never is the fact that these guys are international, like true globalists even….gasp

    https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/tennessee/2019/04/03/christchurch-shooter-used-racist-symbol-found-at-highland-center-fire-iron-guard/3347678002/

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/385755/austrian-govt-confirms-accused-christchurch-gunman-gave-cash-to-far-right-group

    fun fact, while living in germany in the early 1980’s i few of my peers went punk, a few went goth and a few went neo nazi. And these neo nazis had their music come from the US, went to meetings in Austria, France and Italy and were very proud of the fact that they had ‘international ‘ following. And none of those in my group of people that i hung out were unemployed, uneducated, or from poor families. they were all fine upstanding german bourgeoisie and the internet did not exist at the time.

    We truly don’t have any idea just how connected these guys are, and hopefully the police in NZ will finally consider these fine upstanding white people the threat to society that they are.

  10. WeTheBleeple 11

    Denial and deflection from the perfect people section with their perfect pared repose of perfectly plausible prose relax now for there’s nought to see this empire’s nought to do with me.

  11. …we cannot afford to tolerate fascists

    No indeed. However, given the enthusiasm on the left for labeling “fascist” anything they don’t like (the flip side of 2017’s “She’s a pretty communist!”), definitions are likely to be a problem.

      • Gabby 12.1.1

        If you’re free to drive on whatever side of the road you feel like wozwoss, by all means continue to refer to the all wise frainy.

    • Maggie 12.2

      That’s pretty much the case with all labeling isn’t it. Makes it easier to dismiss the opinions and ideas of others when you can discount the source by calling them marxist, feminazi, etc. Even using left/right blanket labeling does the same thing.

      I think the problem isn’t a simple one of definitions but of our lazy and self-protective thinking.

    • Sabine 12.3

      communist, socialist, femnazi, man hater, baby killer, abortionist. – just a few of the things that i have been called by so called christian conservative men and women. 🙂

      fact is
      if it walks like a duck, talk like duck it might just is a duck.

      and while you just blame that the ‘left’ calls everyone a fascist would you care to point to instance where someone was blamed a fascist but is not?

      definition from the mirriam webster
      fascism noun
      fas·​cism | \ ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm also ˈfa-ˌsi- \
      Definition of fascism
      1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
      2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
      early instances of army fascism and brutality
      — J. W. Aldridge

      so really there are some governments and or politicians and media men and women the world over that could very well be called fascist and it would be factually correct.

      • Poission 12.3.1

        Whilst it may be a literary fact,it is still an opinion..

        John raulston saul defined a dictionary as a book of opinions in alphabetical order.

        Here is his opinion on fascism.

        “Now listen to the first three aims of the corporatist movement in Germany, Italy and France during the 1920s. These were developed by the people who went on to become part of the Fascist experience:
        (1) shift power directly to economic and social interest groups;
        (2) push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies;
        (3) obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest — that is, challenge the idea of the public interest.
        This sounds like the official program of most contemporary Western governments.”

        • Anne 12.3.1.1

          No surprise then that the first stirring of fascist ideology began to take root in NZ 35 years ago. Yes,1984. How ironic.

          (1) shift power to economic and social interest groups;
          Bypass the government experts and set up (right wing) think tanks and private consultancy groups outside of the Public Service to advise on government policy?

          (2) push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies:
          Sell off government owned enterprises and infrastructure to local and global business consortiums?

          obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest – that is, challenge the idea of public interest.
          Question the over-arching power of the government and push the line that the government should get out of our lives?

          Yep, three ticks for NZ.

          We set up a cushy little number at the bottom of the Pacific where fascist type ideology could flourish under the radar with apparent impunity. Now we reap the consequences.

        • Sabine 12.3.1.2

          so some governments, politicians and media men and women could be called fascists and the caller would be correct? is that what you are saying? And might that be the reason that we were prepared for the attack by muslims (as we have been told over and over) but not for the attack by the well to do average white boy from OZ?

      • Psycho Milt 12.3.2

        …would you care to point to instance where someone was blamed a fascist but is not?

        Read just about any thread about Syria or Ukraine on this blog and you’re left wondering which side aren’t the fascists.

        so really there are some governments and or politicians and media men and women the world over that could very well be called fascist and it would be factually correct.

        Lots of them, in fact. By your Merriam Webster definition, fascism is everywhere, from totalitarian regimes like PRNK down through religious authoritarians like Iran and Saudi Arabia, to ordinary authoritarian nationalists in Egypt, Turkey or Russia. New Zealand will have heaps of them. That’s a shitload of punching we all have laid out for us – either that, or definitions are a problem and we should be more careful about chucking the word “fascist” about as though it were just a synonym for “fuckwit.”

        • Jenny - How to get there?The 12.3.2.1

          My definition of fascist is simple, but blunt; Those who commit genocide, or support the committing of genocide.

          (Genocide deniers and apologists for genocide also fall under the category of fascist.)

          Clearly the Christchurch terrorist, meets the first two definitions. So I have no hesitation recognising him and his actions as ‘fascist’

  12. SPC 13

    The argument, that we cannot tolerate intolerance, because if we did the intolerant would gain power to oppress us (a Tory determined Brexit and Trump liar in chief), is well known by those who have power and then choose to retain it and never cede it (back) to the people. Thus their intolerance to criticism from political opposition – via suppression of free speech and identification and persecution of all dissidents.

    The global capitalist regime prioritising corporate interest and its associated security (government departments included) apparatus already operates in our democracies on this basis.

    • KJT 13.1

      After seeing what happened to Hagar, and right now to Bradbury, I am not sure that we should give any more power to our Government, along these lines.

  13. Siobhan 14

    Fascists are the least of our problems in NZ.
    And if we are going to start worrying about them because of one Australian with Father issues then maybe we should think about the reasons ‘Fascism’, so called, (did you mean racism?)… rises, rather than crossing our arms and endlessly declaring our disapproval.

    Though its cool, because you get to put up lots of pictures of skinheads and things, which deep down people find more exciting than pictures of our Austerity worshiping World Leaders and dysfunctional Media Moguls with their entirely self interested agendas..but sometimes you have to just move on.

    • Andre 14.1

      What a surprise – a response saying the subject of the OP isn’t a real problem, and that people should think and talk about the real problem.

      There’s the whole of Open Mike for raising all those other ‘the real problem’ issues.

    • Sabine 14.2

      walking and chewing gum

      it can be done.

      • In vino 14.2.1

        Quite true. I have done it. I took each step as it came, and refrained from swearing when I bit my tongue.

    • left_forward 14.3

      ‘Fascists are the least of our problems in NZ’

      Huh? That will take a bit of explaining!
      I see you didn’t try.

      • mauī 14.3.1

        Child poverty, homelessness, rheumatic fever… I’ve heard of all those.

        Facism in New Zealand? Never hear of that one.

  14. Sabine 15

    a little bit of dehumanising here and there, right its all in good fun, right? Its just lack of vocabulary, nothing more. Right?

    leeches……..
    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/pacific/386314/breach-upheld-over-kiwi-talkback-host-heather-du-plessis-allan-s-pacific-leeches-comments?fbclid=IwAR0OkuCXJArkfTyigfEtxazcdaJp-1TTlssTU7Oh74Hdq8nM6Khha2VTH8Q

    “It found Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan’s comments were inflammatory, devalued the reputation of Pasifika people within New Zealand and had the potential to cause widespread harm.

    The Authority (BSA) ruled she breached the good taste and decency and discrimination and denigration standards.

    NZME Radio was ordered to pay $NZ3,000 in costs and to broadcast a statement during Wellington Mornings with Heather du Plessis-Allan, summarising the BSA’s decision.

    Her comments came during a discussion about the prime minister attending the Pacific Islands forum in Nauru, when she questioned the use of the visit.

    “I mean, it’s the Pacific Islands,” she said. “What are we going to get out of them? They are nothing but leeches on us. I mean, the Pacific Islands want money from us. We don’t need money from them.”

    In a follow-up broadcast, Ms du Plessis-Allan attempted to clarify her comments saying: “[some] chap … from the Green Party said I ‘casually dehumanised our Pacific peoples’. Oh my gosh. Did I? Or did I say the Pacific Islands? I don’t know, confusing people with islands?”

    Maybe we really just should start with our media. And those that pay and hire these guys and girls.

    • SPC 15.1

      Well she certainly has a very mercenary take on what foreign policy and international relations entails – she has some idea it’s about the PM as corporate leader in chief doing trade deals with those who the most coin. Trumpian mefirstism.

      And government here for the haves, hand out for income tax cuts, tax free CG, while we have the lowest paid teachers and nurses in the OECD and associated under understaffing, waiting lists (including for housing) Pharmac operating on petty cash – and we still wait for CSC dental and mental health, addiction and various rehabilitation to be widely available in the Public Health network …

    • WeTheBleeple 15.2

      Really can’t see why she has a platform. Sticks the boot in based on opinion… not a journalists butt wipe.

  15. Gabby 16

    Duplicity should try, ‘shuddup, oar wozzin talkin tew yew’. It’ more convincing.

  16. Jum 17

    This is so boring; in the end it’s always about men wanting to control women. Get over it! They’re so much better than ‘you’.

  17. Mark 18

    Great article. Zero tolerance for fascists.

    Sick of people comparing left ‘extremists’ to right ‘extremists’

    As a rule, communists and even splinter left terror cells rarely involve themselves in the cold-blooded execution of young children. They may assassinate rich businessmen, or politicians, or political opponents, etc, and their bombs may kill the completely innocent as a matter of collateral damage.

    But the type of violence perpetrated by the Christchurch gunman, and other neo-nazi far right types is of an altogether different nature altogether.

    Fascists and neo nazis are in a league of their own when it comes to being pure evil motherfuckers, and I would say they beat out even Islamist extremists —the latter are as much mad as bad, but at least they accept people of whatever colour – as long as you believe what they believe. For racists there is something cold, hard and unforgiving —-you die not because of what you believe what you do, but simply because of how you were born.

  18. Jenny - How to get there? 19

    ‘It happened just a year after the Labour MP Jo Cox was fatally stabbed and shot by the far-right extremist Thomas Mair.’

    Why we cannot afford to tolerate fascists
    MICKYSAVAGE

    It is worth noting why Cox was targeted.

    Jo Cox was a prominent and ‘relentless’ outspoken opponent of fascism and intolerance.

    Cox was a leading supporter of Hope Not Hate the antifascist group that exposed the plot to assassinate MP Rosie Cooper.
    Cox was a loyal friend of the Syrian people and a fierce opponent of Syrian fascism. Cox refused to accept the fascist slurs and lies spread by the Assad regime, taken up wholeheartedly and unquestionably by so many in the West.

    ….While the entire country grieves for Jo, for Syrians in the UK her death represents a double blow.

    In Jo we lost a voice for tolerance and inclusion, a voice to counter racism and xenophobia.

    Syrian refugees particularly appreciated her strong compassion, which lives on in the Jo Cox Foundation’s support for Hope Not Hate, and in the Great Get Together events marking this anniversary.

    But for Jo, supporting refugees was not enough. She also wanted to help those Syrians still inside Syria, the ones unable to escape….

    ….She supported Syria Civil Defence, the rescuers known as the White Helmets. In parliament, Jo made one central demand: protect civilians. She didn’t just sympathise with Syrians, she fought for their rights with relentless passion.

    Many on both the left and the right are content with the UK’s role in accepting refugees, delivering humanitarian aid, and fighting only ISIS.

    But Jo understood that the refugee crisis, the humanitarian crisis, and the terrorism threat all stemmed from a single atrocity: Bashar al-Assad’s war against those Syrian civilians who opposed his rule….

    …..She advocated a comprehensive approach to Syria involving humanitarian, diplomatic, and military measures.

    More than words
    Those three aspects of UK policy—diplomatic, military, humanitarian—remain out of sync. British diplomats demand an end to the killing, but have nothing to give force to their words.

    Britain’s military focuses only on ISIS, constrained from acting to stop Assad’s bombing, or even from acting when Assad uses chemical weapons.

    Britain’s aid workers deliver record amounts of aid, but don’t have the backing from government to do aid airdrops to besieged communities.

    An ever-worsening situation for civilians in Syria and refugees outside Syria is matched by a strengthening of pro-Assad forces dominated by militias, by Iran’s foreign fighters, and by Hezbollah, who are a growing terrorist threat.

    ISIS is pushed back, but there is no end to terror in sight.

    Jo’s analysis has proven true: fail to protect civilians and we fail by every other measure…..

    ……Jo would have been utterly disappointed to see that her calls for a no-bombing zone and aid drops, including in her last speech as an MP, were ignored.

    https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/football-opinion/jo-coxs-compassion-syria-no-borders/

    Jo Cox’s voice was silenced by a fascist killer acting on the lies and propaganda spread through the internet by the Assad regime and other fascist groups.

    Jo Cox’s voice was silenced by the fascists, but the voices of the ordinary Syrians are being silenced, not just by the regime’s ongoing genocide in Syria, but also by the useful idiots in the West, who dismiss, censor and block any narrative than that of the fascists.

    We cannot afford to tolerate fascists

    If we really don’t tolerate fascists this means we must allow the voice of the Syrian people to be heard.

    Not tolerating fascism is not just keeping silent.

    Syrian refugees and their supporters are again trying to organise a public meeting in Auckland to give a voice to the Syrian people and tell the truth about Syria.

    Once they decide on a venue and a new date and can start advertising it, I would expect this site to carry their notice.

    This site has not once allowed a post in support of the Syrian people in revolt, but has carried many frankly disgusting posts that have pushed a hostile one eyed pro regime narrative. Particularly around the myth of Western regime change. And the defaming of the civil society volunteers that act on the ground to rescue victims of regime bombings, exposing the regime’s atrocities.

    In the interests of journalistic balance and fairness the one sided narrative being given here needs to change.

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  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    14 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    16 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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