On first hearing of the latest scandal to hit politics my first thought (as I’m sure it was with everyone else) was with the victims however I also admit that after hearing about pony tail pulling that this might make that go away (like in a MAD sort of way) and thats not how it should work
It’d certainly be easy enough to lay into the Labour party for this and if the shoe was on the other foot then National would be copping it and rightly so
Is everything so political these days that anything goes in trying to score points off the other side
Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed and if there is what is the line and who decides it?
I don’t want to sound paranoid or anything but I can’t help feeling the media have to lot to answer for in all this
Ignore the politics – imagine this was a university or similar event.
Plentiful and freely available alcohol and minors at the same event – stupid.
Lack of communication to attendees and caregivers about what had occurred – stupid.
Lack of notification of the police of the alleged assaults- stupid.
Hushing up what had gone on in the hope it would not reach the media – stupid.
Like its not like I want incidences hushed up but I wonder if the medias delight in reporting this is part of the blame, meaning theres different ways of reporting
Indeed, DNFTT=do not feed this thread. Instead, post a comment that builds, helps, or transcends rather than one that aims to drag you down to shady sewers of fake outrage and disinformation from which no escape is possible and where slow suffocation and despair are the inevitable outcomes.
Tighten the messaging discipline? Is that your best?
How about accept the party acknowledge it was essentially complicit in four sexual assaults and admitting that, rather than focusing on how to spin their way out of it.
[lprent: How about admitting you are making that up and it is simply you lying. Banned 1 month for trolling. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: You aren’t reading it right. “…sexually assaulted four teenagers, all aged 16…”. What is the age of consent? Duh! 16. It has been even when you and I were kids. It is their choice about reporting anything to parents or police.
Banned 3 months for asking a leading question in a troll-like fashion. I’d suggest that you desist from this style of question because I’m likely to just reduce our workload for a few years next time. ]
With the roast busters case, the kids were kids 13 years or so, and attackers on Facebook boasting (that could have been evidence in court). But don’t remember any police prosecutions under the National government.
Interesting to compare the reaction from the Left regarding the condemnation of Chris Bishop and the ‘nothing to see’ approach from the Labour general secretary Andrew Kirton .
Underage attendees, sexually assaulted (alleged) and plied with alcohol, surely a police matter?
[lprent: Age of consent is 16. Drinking alcohol is unfortunately only really controlled for kids and adults in certain kinds of public and non-public places and for being sold to kids – none of which is alleged at the camp..
Banned 3 months for stupid trolling and lying with dumbarse ‘questions’. ]
1. Because I like educating trolls. If they get educated, then they are often worth listening to. If they remain trolls, then all they do is destroy any forum that they come into.
2. After 43 years on the nets, it isn’t exactly hard to spot the fuckwits trying to be smart. After all I probably first saw whatever tactic they are using before they were born.
3. And besides, this is our site and those are the rules. Read the policy. Give me an excuse by exceeding the bounds and I will excise my right to have ‘fun’ with sentencing
4. I find that calling a stupid dickhead a dickhead and then arbitrarily and capriciously banning them for a semi-random substantive period of time makes them more careful in the future. It isn’t like they are short of other places to go and crap on in the net. It just means that they can’t easily dump crap here.
5. And really I couldn’t give a damn about your opinion until you give me some reason to be so. So far you look like just about another ignorant and lazy Mrs Grundy trying to interfere in things that you fail to comprehend.
*sigh* Always nice to see dimwits repeating their own myths. I think that you forgot the one about the “worlds best sysop”. Finally figured out that I never have never said it huh?
I have both of those degrees and have been known to explain why I think something based on that experience. In the same way that I have been writing code for exporting for decades and use that to explain certain opinions. Or have been involved in left politics for decades. Or like apartment living after living in one for 20 years. Or my favouritism attitudes towards the military as a result of being a territorial for years.
Being stupidly envious (or whatever your problem is) of verifiable experience is just amusing (as I assess your general credibility downwards).
All of the above and which you missed – pretty smart, well educated, highly experienced and quite opinionated and able to explain those opinions as well. It isn’t exactly the first time those observations have been made about me. And by people with better credibility levels.
But really – so what is your problem with that? Just being incapable of explaining anything yourself apart from your inability to do so? Unable to deal with it and actually say something worth listening to rather than snivelling like a fool?
God it is always so boring talking down to dimwitted trolls.
If you look at all my posts here you’ll see I’ve never trolled but I think this is the first time I have ever engaged you and I’m rather taken aback at how highly you think of yourself despite being, you know, just an average person
If those children were affected by alcohol they could not consent. A crime was committed against each of the victims and knowledge that they had been the victims of crime was carefully withheld from the parents.
What’s best for my child gets decided by her parents, not the general secretary.
I got this off the Sexual Assault thread but there is not the place to comment.
“On the same day you have Jenny Salesa’s office giving a different line to the media on her travel expenses to the PM’s comments at Jacinda’s post cabinet news conference…
Both these stories are grist for the mill for our lazy, underfunded, gotcha! MSM.
Labour needs to tighten the messaging discipline big time.”
A beat up started on Jenny Salesa for her expenses. Were the expenses warranted? Was she working hard to do what she was supposed to do and the expenses were legitimate?
It’s just a sign of targeting anything to create bad impressions. The lessons for Salesa? Learn how to play the game to minimise costs? That’s down to office people surely. Don’t travel anywhere so when the lists come out you don’t feature?
Does tightening the message discipline include learning to say “Fuck off” to neanderthals out to create mischief? And being confident about front footing bullshit knowing whichever Minister or MP is being done over is doing a good job and will defended strongly.
Andrew Kirton General Secretary to Labour Party – quote from Nigel Haworth President:
Labour Party President Nigel Haworth said Kirton would bring broad and senior experience from his previous roles in the private sector and government.
“Andrew has the attributes of energy and dynamism, coupled with a firm commitment to Labour’s values, which equip him ideally for this demanding role.”
What are those Labour values? Does that include supporting and respecting your leader, the PM, by ensuring that all matters are advised in brief ensuring there are no gaps of information?
Is Kirton more into being a corporate smoothie than supporting a good democratic progressive political party as I think most people want for Labour? https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/75921165/andrew-kirton-appointed-as-labour-partys-new-general-secretary
I
It’s interesting that their Wikipedia bios show that Kirton and Haworth have both studied economics. It seems that economics and the law are a good basis for getting into politics, so any young people thinking of doing some other topic would be wise to take a double degree.
With the rise is ‘private’ educational facilities offering Micky mouse degrees and qualifications (Trump comes to mind in US), and it sounds like NZ is getting in on the act too and luring students in, with the governments help to get the residency afterwards onto of the fake cafe job, sounds like students are starting to fight back in other countries.
It doesn’t help the rise in low salaries some institutions seem to be offering these days. Can’t remember if it was Harvard but it was some Ivy League uni in the US, and the part time tutors were on minimal contract type wages and could barely survive even though they loved working there.
Woman sues university for $100K after claiming degree hasn’t helped her career
What a disgrace. This could bring down the government, as the media are really digging. Alcohol and minors. No parents told about anything, police not involved. There will be resignations over this and possibly a snap election. Winston must be outraged. I remember the scandal with Darren Hughes also. Sure makes Chris Bishop look like small fry. Something very rotten at the core of Labour, screams coverup and scandal. Not telling the parents. I almost felt sorry for Ardern, being dropped into this mess.
[3 month ban for politicising sexual assault and using it as an excuse to Labour-bash, and for ignoring moderation – weka]
[another 3 for telling lies about moderation in DR – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Weka keeps banning anyone who dissents. What a surprise.
[You seem pretty keen on getting banned, so I’ve just doubled your ban in the other thread for telling lies about moderation. – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: There were some pretty clear warnings by both weka and myself about tight moderation on a post today (probably the one you commented on) because it was likely to attract stupidity from trolls not wanting to discuss the topic posted. And so it proceeded. I think 7 or 8 people today for months as I have limited toleration for ignorant morons ignoring warnings. If you choose to ignore warnings, then it is your own damn fault. ]
One problem in confronting the global warming issue is participation, by whom and to what extent? Scientists such as James G. Anderson of Harvard states it takes a WWII type of effort to overcome the global warming problem, which implies all hands on deck, as well as within 5 years in a substantive way.
There is a consensus on climate change from the 2 superpowers, America and Russia.
But, there are major obstacles: One year ago President Sauli Niinistö of the Republic of Finland met with President Putin of Russia at the International Arctic forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, March 29-31, 2017.
In his opening remarks, President Niinistö stated: “My starting point today is the growing threat of climate change. Tackling this challenge is crucial if we want to ensure that the Arctic remains the place it is today. But the issue is of global significance: If we lose the Arctic, we lose the whole world.”
Thereafter, President Putin’s speech at the same forum emphasized: “Russia, which makes up almost a third of the Arctic zone… includes over 150 projects with estimated investment of trillions of roubles… and creation of so-called development support zones… and the development of offshore deposits… we devoted special attention to the Northern Sea Route… almost a year-round artery….” (Source: Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ International Arctic Forum, About the Forum, International Arctic Forum, March 2017).
No mention of global warming. However, Russia can’t wait for open blue waters in the Arctic for development of fossil fuels and open sea routes over the North Pole for transportation purposes.
Furthermore, in interviews following the forum, Putin stated his opinion that humans are not responsible for climate change: “Icebergs have been melting for decades, started in the 1930s” when, according to him, “there were no serious anthropological factors at work.” He says global warming cannot be stopped because “it’s tied to global cycles on Earth. The issue is to adapt to it.”
Russia adapts by spending trillions of rubles to explore for fossil fuels. Similarly, the United States follows in lockstep by opening up national parks all across the country to big oil, including Arctic Wilderness refuges.
What will it take to break the Russian and US consensus on climate change and fossil fuel consolidation and expansion?
Currently there appears to be no practical move towards such a global mobilisation.
And in my opinion, the Paris Accord and the Kyoto Accord and all the other international high profile talking head climate change meetings and resolutions don’t count.
To my mind they are like all the high profile meetings and resolutions passed by the League Of Nations against fascism before WWII, completely ineffectual.
What it took in the end, was for one country to go out on a limb and take a lead.
And all the rest had to decide what side they were on.
In my opinion this time, that country could be us.
[You need to stop posting this every day. Shifting to bottom of thread and hoping you stop doing it] – Bill
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Ka pai Kite ano
Good morning The AM Show what wrong with the Hamilton mayor wanting to lift Maori culture the reo I think its a good thing everyone benefits when maori Mana is lifted . Labour has inherited a BIG MESS from the shonky lead national government and they don’t have a magic wand to fix this mess in a instances .Its going to take a bit of time to clean up shonky mess he made over 9 years Ana to kai ka kite ano
Eco Maori is still getting under armed boles by the system I have tried to higher a Laywer and every time no one replies to my request the police are using the courts to block every move I make. I have started a new Email account to Appeal to a Lawyer to help me stop this miss use of powers by the NZ police here is the address below . mamataonga1969@gmail.com if you have the Mana to help me it would be much appreciated .kia kaha ka kite ano P.S I have a lot of nice big jucy orginations in my sights Ana to kai
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 30 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash University Shutterstock/Brian A. Jackson “Charlie” is an eight-year-old child with autism. Her parents are worried because she often responds to requests with insults, aggression and refusal. Simple demands, such ...
A rare opportunity to join our team of award-winning journalists. The Spinoff is advertising for a staff writer for the first time in… maybe ever? This is an extremely rare opportunity to join our small team of award-winning writers, covering a range of topics and tones, from the most serious ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hendri Yulius Wijaya, PhD Student in Political Science (Joint Supervision with Business School), The University of Melbourne witsarut sakorn/Shutterstock Around the world, more and more companies are publishing sustainability reports – public scorecards detailing their impacts on society and the environment. ...
News that the great writer Vincent O’Sullivan has died has spurred a wave of tributes. Here, fellow writer Emma Neale remembers her friend and colleague. I have a bright string of memories of Vince. The earliest moments are of sitting as a young student in his lectures on Katherine Mansfield, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natali Pearson, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney Hence Kertajaya/Shutterstock A lot of the recent talk about maritime issues in Southeast Asia has focused on issues such as security, the Blue Economy, law enforcement and climate change. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Ziegler, Collection Manager, Vertebrate Palaeontology, Museums Victoria Research Institute The fossil skeleton in a secluded alcove of the cave.Rob French/Museums Victoria Pitch-black darkness. Crushing squeezes, muddy passages, icy waterfalls. Bats and spiders. Abseiling over ledges into the unknown. How far ...
We remember one of Aotearoa’s towering literary figures, who died on Sunday 28 April. Sir Vincent O’Sullivan, one of Aotearoa’s most prolific writers, has died in Dunedin at the age of 87. His son, Dominic O’Sullivan, shared the news on social media on Sunday 28 April: “Hei aitua hoki, kua ...
Ariana Stevens founded Reo Māori Mai in 2018 to help people connect with te ao Māori through the reo. On Friday she was awarded Tū Rangatira, the supreme award at the Ngā Tohu Reo Māori awards.Te Tai Poutini (the South Island’s West Coast) is often characterised by its remote ...
Bad, bad records are going to be broken this year, and it’s time for business leaders to accept that the transition to a low-carbon economy is going to be spiky, writes business leader Dame Therese Walsh. When I was on the board of the stock exchange, the NZX, a gentleman ...
1 May marks a year since New Zealand’s world-leading ban on live exports by sea came into effect. Instead of it being cause for celebration the anniversary is marred by the Government’s plan to restart the unpopular trade. ...
More than a thousand claims have been lodged with ACC over children, some younger than a year old, being injured by shopping trolleys in the last five years. Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at why.Madeleine Holden was at her local Countdown when she heard something no mother wants to hear: her ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nalini Joshi, Professor of Mathematics, University of Sydney Tavrius / Shutterstock Imagine the tap of a card that bought you a cup of coffee this morning also let a hacker halfway across the world access your bank account and buy themselves ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brigid McCarthy, Lecturer in Journalism, La Trobe University Sports media misogyny was alive and well this month. In just the few short weeks it took for star United States basketball players Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to shoot their way from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacob Crouse, Research Fellow in Youth Mental Health, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock The core experiences of depression – changes in energy, activity, thinking and mood – have been described for more than 10,000 years. The word “depression” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Wilson, PhD Candidate in Quantum Technology & Innovation Governance, Institue for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney EdBelkin/Shutterstock A landmark legal settlement has once again focused our attention on the dangers of “forever chemicals”. This class of chemicals, technically ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Davies, Professor and Head of School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Australians are having fewer babies, so many fewer that without international migration our population would be on track to decline in just over a decade. In most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Oscar, Senior Lecturer, Visual Communication, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney /imagine a photograph of a Thai woman, pregnant in a green and white dress with luggage at an airport departure terminal in Bangkok in 1974 with her eyes closed ...
The justice minister will be grilled on NZ’s human rights record at the UN later today, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. NZ’s turn in front of the class At 7pm ...
This week marks the return of Newsroom’s chart-topping investigative podcast, The Boy in the Water, when investigations editor Melanie Reid will take listeners inside the courtroom during the coronial inquest into the death of three-and-a-half year old Lachlan Jones. Lachie was found floating face up in an oxidation pond on the ...
It took Act’s arts spokesman Todd Stephenson 20 minutes to think of a single New Zealand author and a single New Zealand book. The only artistic experience he could think of is that he went to see Hamilton in New York. His only press release on the arts has been ...
If the council isn’t sure if it wants a bigger airport, it probably shouldn’t own hundreds of millions of dollars worth of airport shares. Any fan of a professional sports team, especially in the big-money US and European leagues, knows how much team success relies on the right owner. Good ...
Plagued by industry lobbying and design flaws, the system may be on the chopping block under National. Is it delivering what it says on the box?At the supermarket, a woman with a baby strapped to her front pushes a trolley piled high with groceries, and two young children sit ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 29 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s entirely possible that President Trump will get all the accolades for getting a meeting with the President of North Korea. Sad.
But according to The Atlantic, the real skill in getting this together lies with the President of South Korea, Moon Jae.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/moon-jae-in-south-korea-north-korea/555338/
All those much-derided diplomatic moves at the Winter Olympics seem to be paying off massive dividends so far.
Here’s hoping …
Meanwhile back in the USA……
Distraction events for the Donald away from the fillet and gutting job he’s doing back home oh and that pesky mueller/Russia thing.
On first hearing of the latest scandal to hit politics my first thought (as I’m sure it was with everyone else) was with the victims however I also admit that after hearing about pony tail pulling that this might make that go away (like in a MAD sort of way) and thats not how it should work
It’d certainly be easy enough to lay into the Labour party for this and if the shoe was on the other foot then National would be copping it and rightly so
Is everything so political these days that anything goes in trying to score points off the other side
Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed and if there is what is the line and who decides it?
I don’t want to sound paranoid or anything but I can’t help feeling the media have to lot to answer for in all this
Buggered if I know…
Ignore the politics – imagine this was a university or similar event.
Plentiful and freely available alcohol and minors at the same event – stupid.
Lack of communication to attendees and caregivers about what had occurred – stupid.
Lack of notification of the police of the alleged assaults- stupid.
Hushing up what had gone on in the hope it would not reach the media – stupid.
Like its not like I want incidences hushed up but I wonder if the medias delight in reporting this is part of the blame, meaning theres different ways of reporting
Concern trolling – DNFTT(s)
Indeed, DNFTT=do not feed this thread. Instead, post a comment that builds, helps, or transcends rather than one that aims to drag you down to shady sewers of fake outrage and disinformation from which no escape is possible and where slow suffocation and despair are the inevitable outcomes.
🙄
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Tighten the messaging discipline? Is that your best?
How about accept the party acknowledge it was essentially complicit in four sexual assaults and admitting that, rather than focusing on how to spin their way out of it.
[lprent: How about admitting you are making that up and it is simply you lying. Banned 1 month for trolling. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Labour summer camp, cyfs, Police, Court – the due process
[lprent: The age of consent is 16. The due process is to first ask the victims what they want to do.
Banned for 2 months for being a lying troll. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Not sure If I’m reading this right but shouldn’t the police be dealing the alleged offender?
“It is understood the alleged offender has also been offered counselling and support.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102207447/minister-told-about-alleged-sexual-assault-at-young-labour-summer-camp-by-dissatisfied-victim
[lprent: You aren’t reading it right. “…sexually assaulted four teenagers, all aged 16…”. What is the age of consent? Duh! 16. It has been even when you and I were kids. It is their choice about reporting anything to parents or police.
Banned 3 months for asking a leading question in a troll-like fashion. I’d suggest that you desist from this style of question because I’m likely to just reduce our workload for a few years next time. ]
With the roast busters case, the kids were kids 13 years or so, and attackers on Facebook boasting (that could have been evidence in court). But don’t remember any police prosecutions under the National government.
What has the age of consent got to do with the issue. The 4 teenagers did not give their consent.
Lynn is referring to the consent needed to lay a complaint with the police. See here https://thestandard.org.nz/talking-about-sexual-assault/#comment-1460166
Interesting to compare the reaction from the Left regarding the condemnation of Chris Bishop and the ‘nothing to see’ approach from the Labour general secretary Andrew Kirton .
Underage attendees, sexually assaulted (alleged) and plied with alcohol, surely a police matter?
‘The attendees, some of who were underage, should never have been around alcohol..’
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102207447/minister-told-about-alleged-sexual-assault-at-young-labour-summer-camp-by-dissatisfied-victim
[lprent: Age of consent is 16. Drinking alcohol is unfortunately only really controlled for kids and adults in certain kinds of public and non-public places and for being sold to kids – none of which is alleged at the camp..
Banned 3 months for stupid trolling and lying with dumbarse ‘questions’. ]
Wow – why are you being such an asshole?
Yes I am asking the mod. Perhaps I’ll cop a ban in which case…shrug. I’m just calling it as I see it
1. Because I like educating trolls. If they get educated, then they are often worth listening to. If they remain trolls, then all they do is destroy any forum that they come into.
2. After 43 years on the nets, it isn’t exactly hard to spot the fuckwits trying to be smart. After all I probably first saw whatever tactic they are using before they were born.
3. And besides, this is our site and those are the rules. Read the policy. Give me an excuse by exceeding the bounds and I will excise my right to have ‘fun’ with sentencing
4. I find that calling a stupid dickhead a dickhead and then arbitrarily and capriciously banning them for a semi-random substantive period of time makes them more careful in the future. It isn’t like they are short of other places to go and crap on in the net. It just means that they can’t easily dump crap here.
5. And really I couldn’t give a damn about your opinion until you give me some reason to be so. So far you look like just about another ignorant and lazy Mrs Grundy trying to interfere in things that you fail to comprehend.
Come on Lynn tell us about your MBA and degree in Earth sciences – you’re on a roll old boy.
*sigh* Always nice to see dimwits repeating their own myths. I think that you forgot the one about the “worlds best sysop”. Finally figured out that I never have never said it huh?
I have both of those degrees and have been known to explain why I think something based on that experience. In the same way that I have been writing code for exporting for decades and use that to explain certain opinions. Or have been involved in left politics for decades. Or like apartment living after living in one for 20 years. Or my favouritism attitudes towards the military as a result of being a territorial for years.
Being stupidly envious (or whatever your problem is) of verifiable experience is just amusing (as I assess your general credibility downwards).
Yeah – everyone is so envious of you
Wow. Self involved, arrogant and insulting.
You really are quite full of yourself for very little reason. You’re the nobodies nobody
Self involved, arrogant and insulting.
All of the above and which you missed – pretty smart, well educated, highly experienced and quite opinionated and able to explain those opinions as well. It isn’t exactly the first time those observations have been made about me. And by people with better credibility levels.
But really – so what is your problem with that? Just being incapable of explaining anything yourself apart from your inability to do so? Unable to deal with it and actually say something worth listening to rather than snivelling like a fool?
God it is always so boring talking down to dimwitted trolls.
Mocking you =\= trolling
If you look at all my posts here you’ll see I’ve never trolled but I think this is the first time I have ever engaged you and I’m rather taken aback at how highly you think of yourself despite being, you know, just an average person
“….average..”
Damn your eyes sir !
If those children were affected by alcohol they could not consent. A crime was committed against each of the victims and knowledge that they had been the victims of crime was carefully withheld from the parents.
What’s best for my child gets decided by her parents, not the general secretary.
Burn in hell Labour.
If is a big word. Changes everything often.
I got this off the Sexual Assault thread but there is not the place to comment.
“On the same day you have Jenny Salesa’s office giving a different line to the media on her travel expenses to the PM’s comments at Jacinda’s post cabinet news conference…
Both these stories are grist for the mill for our lazy, underfunded, gotcha! MSM.
Labour needs to tighten the messaging discipline big time.”
A beat up started on Jenny Salesa for her expenses. Were the expenses warranted? Was she working hard to do what she was supposed to do and the expenses were legitimate?
It’s just a sign of targeting anything to create bad impressions. The lessons for Salesa? Learn how to play the game to minimise costs? That’s down to office people surely. Don’t travel anywhere so when the lists come out you don’t feature?
Does tightening the message discipline include learning to say “Fuck off” to neanderthals out to create mischief? And being confident about front footing bullshit knowing whichever Minister or MP is being done over is doing a good job and will defended strongly.
Andrew Kirton General Secretary to Labour Party – quote from Nigel Haworth President:
Labour Party President Nigel Haworth said Kirton would bring broad and senior experience from his previous roles in the private sector and government.
“Andrew has the attributes of energy and dynamism, coupled with a firm commitment to Labour’s values, which equip him ideally for this demanding role.”
What are those Labour values? Does that include supporting and respecting your leader, the PM, by ensuring that all matters are advised in brief ensuring there are no gaps of information?
Is Kirton more into being a corporate smoothie than supporting a good democratic progressive political party as I think most people want for Labour?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/75921165/andrew-kirton-appointed-as-labour-partys-new-general-secretary
I
It’s interesting that their Wikipedia bios show that Kirton and Haworth have both studied economics. It seems that economics and the law are a good basis for getting into politics, so any young people thinking of doing some other topic would be wise to take a double degree.
The overwhelming majority of human beings who construct an image of themselves which is far removed from ‘thy self’…
If one is not continually self evaluating and making adjustments where necessary, then one does not know ‘thy self’…
If one does not know ‘thy self’ then practicing respect, honesty and ‘truthfulness’ is not possible…
The sexual assault discussion is one which should be preceded by talking about self awareness, what it is and how to ‘live it’…
National have their own problem $1.3 million dollars in Donations from Chinese govt owned businesses
Problem ? I thought that was a standard feature of the national party, like cars have wheels and dogs wag tails.
With the rise is ‘private’ educational facilities offering Micky mouse degrees and qualifications (Trump comes to mind in US), and it sounds like NZ is getting in on the act too and luring students in, with the governments help to get the residency afterwards onto of the fake cafe job, sounds like students are starting to fight back in other countries.
It doesn’t help the rise in low salaries some institutions seem to be offering these days. Can’t remember if it was Harvard but it was some Ivy League uni in the US, and the part time tutors were on minimal contract type wages and could barely survive even though they loved working there.
Woman sues university for $100K after claiming degree hasn’t helped her career
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12011374
Interesting position from Bradbury.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/13/labour-have-no-choice-but-to-stand-andrew-kirton-down/
Paddy, is that you?
https://twitter.com/andrewrush/status/973275113121550343
Wow, you’re a dick.
Ban away
[lprent: Always nice to see a simpleton luser pleading to be banned.. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12011763
More disappointment for me, boys using cellphones to invade the privacy of a female teacher. These boys need to be taught that this is not ok….
What a disgrace. This could bring down the government, as the media are really digging. Alcohol and minors. No parents told about anything, police not involved. There will be resignations over this and possibly a snap election. Winston must be outraged. I remember the scandal with Darren Hughes also. Sure makes Chris Bishop look like small fry. Something very rotten at the core of Labour, screams coverup and scandal. Not telling the parents. I almost felt sorry for Ardern, being dropped into this mess.
[3 month ban for politicising sexual assault and using it as an excuse to Labour-bash, and for ignoring moderation – weka]
[another 3 for telling lies about moderation in DR – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
lols.
TANZ, are you a tabloid journalist? Or a salacious mini-series fiction script writer?
Weka keeps banning anyone who dissents. What a surprise.
[You seem pretty keen on getting banned, so I’ve just doubled your ban in the other thread for telling lies about moderation. – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: There were some pretty clear warnings by both weka and myself about tight moderation on a post today (probably the one you commented on) because it was likely to attract stupidity from trolls not wanting to discuss the topic posted. And so it proceeded. I think 7 or 8 people today for months as I have limited toleration for ignorant morons ignoring warnings. If you choose to ignore warnings, then it is your own damn fault. ]
Those who are gleefully reveling in the ‘scandal’ as a means of scoring political points are totally missing the fucking point.
“Fixing Global Warming is Bigger Than Paris ‘15”
ROBERT HUNZIKER, March 12, 2018
A point that I made Here.
There is a consensus on climate change from the 2 superpowers, America and Russia.
What will it take to break the Russian and US consensus on climate change and fossil fuel consolidation and expansion?
[You need to stop posting this every day. Shifting to bottom of thread and hoping you stop doing it] – Bill
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Ka pai Kite ano
Good morning The AM Show what wrong with the Hamilton mayor wanting to lift Maori culture the reo I think its a good thing everyone benefits when maori Mana is lifted . Labour has inherited a BIG MESS from the shonky lead national government and they don’t have a magic wand to fix this mess in a instances .Its going to take a bit of time to clean up shonky mess he made over 9 years Ana to kai ka kite ano
Eco Maori is still getting under armed boles by the system I have tried to higher a Laywer and every time no one replies to my request the police are using the courts to block every move I make. I have started a new Email account to Appeal to a Lawyer to help me stop this miss use of powers by the NZ police here is the address below .
mamataonga1969@gmail.com if you have the Mana to help me it would be much appreciated .kia kaha ka kite ano P.S I have a lot of nice big jucy orginations in my sights Ana to kai