Women and male violence

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, March 15th, 2021 - 37 comments
Categories: feminism, violence against women - Tags:

https://twitter.com/suzanne_moore/status/1371042972050067456

Sarah Everard was a 33 year old UK woman who went missing while walking home in early March. Her body was found last week, and a London policeman has been charged with her murder. While abductions and murder of women is relatively rare in places like the UK (not so much in other parts of the world), Everard’s death has been a touchpaper that has ignited the ever present anger in women at having to live in a world that is fundamentally unsafe for them simply on the basis of their sex.

That men seem largely unaware of the daily reality for women, or largely unconcerned, is part of the fuel for the anger. In case it’s not clear, it’s not that women generally believe we will be murdered, it’s that the widespread violence against women in society on many levels keeps us in a state of apprehension that directly affects how we behave and how we live our lives. For some women it’s direct, for some women it’s background, but the ground we live on is a society that sanctions violence against us.

Women organised a vigil for Sarah Everard this weekend, and were denied permission by the police on covid grounds. Women went anyway. The vigil turned into a showcase of the dynamics of male violence, with men protestors centering themselves, and the police overreacting to the vigil and taking direct, violent action against the women.

https://twitter.com/sophie_mzy/status/1370821033905815552

https://twitter.com/jessicaelgot/status/1370831945349926914

@_ChloeGreen_ 9:22 am · 14 Mar 2021

Just left #ReclaimTheseStreets vigil. I went to connect with women in our shared grief but it was ruined by men’s behaviour — the man who occupied stage with megaphone who wouldn’t leave, photographers + cameramen inches away, refusing to stop and chatting through minute silence.

At an event to honour murdered women and stand against male harassment and violence, men *still* managed to centre themselves, ignore our demands for space and boundaries, and ogle us as we cried and laid flowers. Staggered by the arrogance and disrespect. Just fucking grim.

There’s a lot to understand here, including the underlying dynamic of a white woman’s death getting so much attention when the deaths of women of colour often remain ignored. The background tensions of a year of the pandemic where women are losing ground across society in terms of employment/income and increased violence from men, are fusing into the increasing stressors of a world on the brink of multiple crises. There’s always a thin veneer between the gains we have made in the past and the largely unresolved male violence that some men do and most men won’t stop. Women know what’s coming and we know what will happen to us, is already happening to us.

Liberal feminism, for all the reprieves it gives us, won’t save us, and neither will male dominated left wing politics. If you’re pissed, or scared, or both, please find other women to talk to and organise with. Women hold many solutions to what is happening in the world, and we’re at our best when we come together, talk about women’s business, and then find the ways to power that enable us to act in the world.

Mod note: comments open to women only under this post. If you don’t understand why, reread the post. If you still don’t understand, then sit this one out and listen.

37 comments on “Women and male violence ”

  1. weka 1

    Mod note: comments open to women only under this post. If you don’t understand why, reread the post. If you still don’t understand, then sit this one out and listen.

  2. Visubversa 2

    Every 3 days a woman is killed in Britain. Usually in her own home and by an intimate partner. No candles or vigils for them. 40 years ago women were protesting the inaction of Police over violent crimes by men against women. Here we are again. The problem is – as it always has been – male violence. It needs to be named so it can be addressed.

    • weka 2.1

      I agree. There's been some movement in the UK around getting MSM reporting to focus on and use the language of naming male violence (rather women was victims or contributors to their own abuse), small gains. Something else bigger needs to happen.

  3. Lucy 3

    It doesn't matter what we say – how many vigils we have. Stopped going to protests when i realised if it was a rally against male violence – white men took centre stage, if it was a rally for people of colour – white men took centre stage, if it was a student rally for equality – white men took centre stage. It's as if white men think theirs is the only voice worth hearing – except when you're in the office and the off colour jokes happen or a women is harrassed by your boss, or you're on the street and call for help – watch how fast women run and how reluctant men are to get involved in "a domestic", or a child is threatened by a parent – men never involve themselves in parenting issues!

  4. Sabine 4

    my father used to play a game with us kids with match sticks.

    short looses, long pays.

    And that is the life of women.

    Shortchanged all our lives, women the biggest minority of them all. But i guess if she would have worn sneakers she could have outrun the cop who killed her. Right, cause that is what the coppers told the women of England after her abduction.

    • weka 4.1

      running shoes and street lights vs an interim curfew for men (until they sort themselves out). Because it's not just the women that get murdered and raped, it's all the women that have to even think about this each time they walk home at night on their own. Why is that even acceptable?

  5. Anne 5

    … it’s not that women generally believe we will be murdered, it’s that the widespread violence against women in society on many levels keeps us in a state of apprehension that directly affects how we behave and how we live our lives.

    Absolutely! And some of us had to endure the consequences for many years afterwards.

    The desire to hurt a woman , be it physically, psychologically or by way of destroying their reputation – or all three – is often far more about power, the need to dominate an individual, group or society as a whole, and what is perceived as a threat to their individual or collective ambitions.

    It is particularly prevalent in the world of politics.

    In my case it was covert breaking and entering… hoaxes, set ups and other activities of an illegal nature. It was an extreme response, and it happened many years ago at a time when Cold War paranoia was rampant throughout society.

    A woman who was strong enough to stand up and talk about her beliefs – no matter how moderate they would be considered today – was always a prime target for persecution. A good example was Marilyn Waring who had to run the gauntlet of a vindictive Prime Minister who was, of course, afraid of her.

    Not a lot has really changed.

  6. Rosemary McDonald 6

    There’s always a thin veneer between the gains we have made in the past and the largely unresolved male violence that some men do and most men won’t stop. Women know what’s coming and we know what will happen to us, is already happening to us.

    Thanks for posting this Weka. I too watched in horror as tone deaf and blind cops dragged away handcuffed mourning women mourning a woman murdered by a cop.

    You really couldn't make this shit up….until the last few years anyway.

    Also, yesterday, I was reading how there has been a commitment made to ensure that the mothballed gender self-ID law gets passed this year.

    Yippee. Now men who identify as women will have the right to simply call themselves women and access women's spaces if that is how they feel at this or that particular time.

    "Woman" as a class of person based on biological sex…which is, despite protestations to the contrary, an actual thing for the vast majority of mammals…will cease to exist.

    I think we all should think about that for a moment or two. The potential ramifications of this bill are profound.

    (On the upside…I was cheering on Jackie Edmond this morning as she spoke about improving access for abortion services. She kept using the words "woman" and "women"…almost an act of outright defiance in these strange and troubling times.)

    • Dawn Trenberth 6.1

      Yes I have real concerns about this bill. There are protected spaces for women such as womens sports womens refuges shelters womens toilets because of male violence. This legislation will set us back many years. We need to fight gender stereotypes. A woman should be able to do things reserved for males be a "tom boy" or whatever and a man should be able to wear dresses and high heels. Then no need to change genders.

  7. Matiri 7

    I grew up just south of London and moved to New Zealand when I was in my late 30s. My mother grew up in Tulse Hill and I still have family in Clapham, Brixton, Tulse Hill so I know this area very well. I never felt quite safe walking on my own in the UK, night or day, and would always take the longer safer route, keep looking over my shoulder etc. I have never felt this way in New Zealand and I am 60 now.

    It is horrifying what has happened in London, but they are still in complete lockdown and laws have just been passed requiring the police to enforce the rules. It seems to me that the protesters were breaking the rules and the police were just doing their job but the optics are absolutely terrible. Also the poor girl that was murdered probably should not have been out visiting during lock down. But to be murdered by a police man, the very person you should be able to trust….

    • weka 7.1

      the problem there is that the police have been allowing other protests and rallies.

    • Sabine 7.2

      Also the poor girl that was murdered probably should not have been out visiting during lock down

      And we have so internalised to being the reason of our demise, that even here we almost subconsiously again put the onus on the women for a. not being out there visiting _during lockdown, or at night, at this time a day, dressed the way she was, etc etc

      But to be murdered by a police man, the very person you should be able to trust

      most of the women/persons who get murdered get murdered by people they know or trusts such as a police man

      and that is inherently the problem, the victim blaming, all the while not admitting that no one knows how a murderer or abuser looks like until they meet them.

      short you lose, long you pay

    • Brigid 7.3

      If she shouldn't have been out visiting during lockdown, it was to prevent the transmission of covid either from or to her.

      Not to save her from being murdered.

  8. Mika 8

    Thank you for posting this Weka. We seem to have entered an era where it is fashionable in progressive circles to deny the reality of women's struggle for liberation, rebranding feminism as a quest for equality for "all genders".

    We are losing the language we need to describe ourselves as a sex class. I particularly dislike the dewomanising of language relating to pregnancy, motherhood and reproduction.

    By OECD standards, New Zealand has appalling rates of male violence against women and girls, and yet woman centric language is being purged from our lexicon. How can we fight for our rights if we cannot name ourselves and our bodies?

    • weka 8.1

      I am very concerned about this too, and the fact that it is happening without wide consultation with women.

      • Sabine 8.1.1

        Women get yelled at for not doing it right from either side. Consultation with women? Good grief, what would the world come too. /s

    • Sabine 8.2

      Maybe this is were we as women need to actually say stop! I am a women. I have no issue with this identification.

      @Grumpy
      is it given away or is it rather taken away? And if it is not good for women how can it be good for anyone else?

  9. Mika 9

    On the other hand I have been really heartened by the resurgance of radical, socialist and Marxist feminism in recent years, especially from our UK sisters.

    There are some great articles on this UK Marxist feminist blog, which I heartily recommend.

    https://onthewomanquestion.com/

  10. Siobhan 10

    Grace Millane and Sarah Everard. Both victims of unspeakable male on female crime. Both tragedies.

    Both garnered world wide media attention and both had vigils attended by noteworthy persons…but it has to be said…not representative of the majority of victims of Male on Female crime.

    Not that its easy to find out the actual figures ..unbelievably "police recorded ethnicity in only a fifth of cases."*

    I fear that by making Grace and Sarah the focus of world wide media we will end up with another #metoo movement…a movement that fades away as it fails to "trickle down".

    To be honest the only time I recal reading (in the international media) about victims who are working class or (for want of a better term) Ethnic…is when they are the victims of a serial killer.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome#:~:text=Missing%20white%20woman%20syndrome%20is,middle%2Dclass%20women%20or%20girls.

    As the mother of boys, and as someone who has had male friends both murdered and violently assaulted, I also wonder at the lack of sympathetic media coverage all victims get. Seeing as we are talking about a UK crime, we must remember in England and Wales there were 429 male and 241 female murder victims in 2018-19. (Interestingly NZ figures seem more even..it would be interesting to know why..is it that we have more male on female violence or less random gang/knife street violence)

    *https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/22/if-im-not-in-on-friday-i-might-be-dead-chilling-facts-about-uk-femicide

    • Sabine 10.1

      But the question is not so much who gets killed rather then who does the killing. And i think we can agree that the majority of killing is done by men. The majority of killing in uniform – again men, but more and more including women (think soldiers, coppers), the majority of telling women how to prevent their killings is also coming from men.

      And as the images posted by Weka show, that protests/marches/celebrations by men were not met with the same violence by the police force then the vigil for another dead women by women. And i think that is really the issue that we – society – are seemingly having a hard time discussing. The violence by men to keep society in check.

    • weka 10.2

      the point is to focus on men as the majority of perpetrators of violent crime. Name that. The line about more men get murdered than women shifts the focus to the victim and away from male violence. So sure, talk about male violence against men too, but don't forget that male violence against women is quite specific to women and that society is largely in denial of it.

      • Siobhan 10.2.1

        Well, I can agree on that point.

        I'm not sure what you mean by 'Name That'. I think I called it 'Male on Female'.

        If you need a different name…The World Health Organisation call it Violence Against Women. Which I guess is not what you are talking about…Male Brutality seems pretty good.

        And if we are talking about dealing with, confronting or re educating the perpetrators ie Men…it makes no sense to exclude those very same men from the conversation…

        • weka 10.2.1.1

          Male brutality certainly sharpens the mind. Yes, I think the naming is about pointing directly to male violence and the urgent need for cultural and social change on that. VAWG is an important naming too. Parallel understandings and actions.

          I don't think men are excluded from the conversation (there's some discussion in OM for instance). It's useful to have spaces where women don't have to deal with male patterns of behaviour all the time, including online spaces. There's a whole set of complex dynamics in why that is, but on TS at least, it's clear that the macho politics dominant here puts women off (writing and commenting). Simply including men can have negative consequences.

          • Mika 10.2.1.1.1

            It's useful to have spaces where women don't have to deal with male patterns of behaviour all the time, including online spaces.

            Hear, hear, Weka. It's the age old difference between separatism and segregation. Separatism is when the oppressed class (eg women, Maori, black, disabled, gay & lesbian) organise their own spaces to gather away from their oppressors. Segregation is when the oppressor excludes the oppressed from spaces, such as in apartheid South Africa.

            I see many otherwise progressive people misunderstand the purpose of single-sex women's spaces and fora and describe them as segregation.

            • weka 10.2.1.1.1.1

              thanks for those definitions, I will definitely use that.

              People are afraid of separatism I think, some people want us to all be the same (eg the people that believe equality is when you pretend you can't see someone's ethnicity). So many positives to segregated spaces, not just about avoiding the negatives.

    • maggieinnz 10.3

      Thank you for this comment. Both your key points are very well made and relevant here. I don't ever remember a vigil or public protest for victims who also happened to be sex workers or homeless. People of colour who are murdered are seldom held up as victims worthy of outrage. And what of our sons, our brothers?

      I truly believe that until we address violence without framing it in terms of gender we can't hope for a resolution.

    • Lucy 10.4

      Both not women of colour. Wonder if we will have vigils for the 8 women of Atlanta? Did we have vigils for the women killed by the Yorkshire Ripper? We do have an issue when vigils and outpourings of grief are mostly for young, pretty white women as if their murders are more important than the rest of the population. The grief seems to be another male driven thing – when a pretty girl is removed from the dating pool. I know it is not be it does appear that way – if we once had this grief for a woman who was not photogenic I might start believing that stranger grief is not based on looks but is based on a deeper anger about how women are treated.

  11. vto 11

    sorry, just seen the women-only allowed sign

  12. Foreign Waka 12

    There are many issues involved, be it male posturing or the notion that women are like cattle, owned and "protected" by those who with such ease would hit, bash to an inch to their lives, throw acid, maim and murder their "possession". Because no one else can have it, no one else can exercise power. This need for absolute power and domination comes from the glorification of owning land/cattle/buildings/money….and women. This male dominated world with the hunger for it and the illusion of ownership is a means of buying what is at the same time despised in the male dominated world: intimacy and emotion. As long as we want to amass more and more material things this will not change. May I add many women want their men to be top dog so that "their" future is secured. As a human race we truly have a long way to go.

    • Sabine 12.1

      so as long as the wellbeing for many women depend on the male providing women will want a 'top dog' and if it kills them. Cause that is their survival strategy and has been for the longest of time.

      Now look at NZ, women having a higher unemployment % but its not talked about, women losing their jobs faster with nothing to replace it and its not being talked about, women losting
      their benefits if they have a partner, women not even getting unemployment if they have a partner that stills earn a wage etc etc etc, all this is gendered violence by decree and lawfully so and not anyone in power is going to do anything more then paying lipservice. . Women being the poorest – only slightly above the poverty that is suffered b y kids, and our female leader can not see a single reason to increase benefits for these people. We talk a good deal about child poverty, all the while pretending that mothers are not the ones being poor. It is not forcibly men who consider women and children chattel, it is still our laws, our benefit system, our politics that choose women not because they are the best, but because the man can't win, that still refuses to elevate women to more then just the mamal humanity needs to reproduce.

      And i don't think we can just excuse the violence with 'hunter/top dog' theories. Some just like to kill. Some just like to maim. And generally those that do, do so often, unobstructed because all the women who complain about violence usually are neither listened too, or if someone pretends to listen they get told that if they just wear sneakers they could outrun the cop that will kill them. And stealing a car or growing a weed will get you longer prison terms then raping/killing/maiming a women or a child.

      A poster here once asked me if i think all men are rapists/murderers/violent, to which i answered that i don't think so. I believe the vast majority of men are not dangerous, but a good 5 – 10 % are, and becuase no one ever believes women – unless they identify them by their dental records – they can rape, kill, violate with impunity.

      I wonder how many women this particular cop has harmed over the years.

      • Foreign Waka 12.1.1

        In most cases the perpetrator has some sort of relationship or acquaintance with the victim. Add alcohol and psycho drugs, religious zealously etc. and the result is very very volatile.

        What is not talked about is the psychological effect of war and violence in a related setting. Not everybody reacts the same but many are grapple with some form of neurosis.

        Any person has a good core until…..hate is being thought in one form or another.

        https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds%5B%5D=citjournalarticle_284722_20

        • Sabine 12.1.1.1

          The killer in this case could have pulled the cop card. And if you can't trust a cop whom can you trust?

          And i am not going to find any excuses today that would minimize the deed.

          • Foreign waka 12.1.1.1.1

            All in all – not just a cop but maybe a boss, relative, even a parent if you look i.e. at honour killings. In most cases violence against women are perpetrated by someone they know and maybe even trust.

  13. weka 13

    Reminder: comments open to women only under this post. If you don’t understand why, reread the post. If you still don’t understand, then sit this one out and listen.

  14. RP Mcmurphy 14

    our society breeds inequality all over and the weak will always persecute the strong. every year our universities pour out anthropology graduates who never seem to get jobs analysing what is wrong with our society but in the meantime the same old crap gets turned over and over with no resolution and resentment and anger the only result.

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    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    2 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    2 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    3 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    3 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    4 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    6 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    7 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    7 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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