The flag diversion
Open mike 31/01/2014
What do you value?
Written By: Guest post - Date published: 10:16 pm, January 30th, 2014 - 53 comments
Categories: Deep stuff - Tags: Best Start, pundit.co.nz
Tim Watkins has written a piece on Labour's Best Start policy.
Down in the comments were the most incredible remarks I have read in support of the policies.
They cut through all of criticism of the policy in way which I had not seen before and well, basically, they blew my little mind. The comments were written by Ian Hassall, New Zealand's first Children's Commisioner. Here is the exchange between Tim and Ian…
Ian:Tim, one of the arguments for universalism you missed was that it places a value directly on children and the people who care for them, whatever their financial circumstances. Since Labour's policy announcement the arguments for and against that I have seen have been mainly economic, incentive, political and moral. The signal that children are valued and can be central to a new politics whose values differ from those of the last thirty years is central to what I understood David Cunliffe to be saying.
Tim: Ian, I'd be interested in your take on this, especially as you mention morality. Is it economically and morally sound to simply give money to almost all parents who have a baby?
You mention incentives, but there are no incentives involved in this, no quid pro quo the recipients have to offer in return for the rest of us offering them financial support. So presumably the argument is simply that $60 a week – or to be less cynical, some form of state support – should be the right of every citizen? Because otherwise you'd target it, wouldn't you? Really, why not target this?
And what values from 30 years ago are you refering to? The value of the same for all?
Ian: No, I think the argument goes that children are of value to society and that the time, love and material investment made by parents and others in the early years has a payoff for society as Heckman has shown. A cash subsidy acknowledges this. The values system that denies these things is encapsulated in the saying, 'There is no such thing as society'. This values system which has held sway in public policy for thirty years and contributed to the atomisation of a generation is not capable of sustaining our civilisation and needs to be replaced as the dominant driver by an alternative set of values.An alternative set of values which includes compassion, selflessness and a longer term perspective is typically what is evoked by caring for children, and can be encouraged by a public policy in which children's needs and
interests are central. A society that looks after its children is an agreeable society and one that has a future.
This is not to deny that rampant greed and selfishness is one, possibly essential, driver of our society, which you will have been reminded of if you saw the movie, 'The Wolf of Wall Street', or if you read the 'Alex' cartoons in the Herald but it should be put back in its box and not contaminate public discourse and public policy.
From this perspective, the criticisms of Labour from John Key are irrelevant and petty and the true motivations of Nationals policies can be seen for what they are: election year concessions from a party that no longer believes in society.
The Labour party is slowly becoming old school again. Not 1984 old school…proper old school. It started With the membership's victory last year and now the policies are starting to come out. They may be fumbling the ball a bit, they may not have the slickness of Key but what they are doing…is the right thing.
53 comments on "What do you value?"
Comments are now closed
Lionel 1
What a super post would love it if Mr Hassalls comments were more universally broadcast
Chooky 1.1
geoff 2
The 2nd last paragraph is my words, not part of the quote as presently shown. Could someone with superpowers please fix? Thanks.
Anne 3
Splendid stuff and it really encapsulates what most have been trying to say here at the Standard.
I give Tim Watkins credit for a reasoned and intelligent summation of the Best Start programme. He may have reservations about aspects of the policy, but compared to certain other journalists – who shall remain unnamed – it is refreshingly fair.
Surely someone like Ian Hassall is a far more appropriate person to be seeking an opinion from, than the RWNJs that are usually wheeled out by the media for comment.
xtasy 4
I value a HUMAN and humane, fair, just and democratic society!
I feel we do no longer have this under this government, for various reasons!
For instance we have welfare "reforms" that are to me an abomination, as they indicate the first signs of a society, that will favour eugenics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Darwin_to_Hitler
We have a 'Principal Health Advisor' working for MSD and WINZ, who thinks that benefit dependence is like "drug dependence", and he also believes that most suffering mental illness and musculo skeletal conditions suffer merely from "illness belief". He, and his master "educator", Professor Mansel Aylward, from the UK (formerly DWP, working with ATOS, and being paid by corrupt UNUM insurance to develop suitably biased "research" on disabled and sick), have come to the conclusion that work is the best "therapy", is generally "good for your health", and that sick and disabled should be challenged and pushed into work, to contribute.
The logical conclusion is, if they cannot, they are not "worthy". It sounds a bit like the "work will set you free" cry by the NAZIs.
We have further signs of this ideology taking a foot hold in the medical profession in NZ:
"Overcoming and Challenging Adversity – the Prequel (Social Welfare in NZ 2013)" – a presentation by Dr Bratt, similar to others, and it is found here:
http://www.conference.co.nz/files/docs/pmaanz13/speaker%20presentation/1610%20david.pdf
On page 10 of 20 it says:
"Long Acting Reversible Contraception
• Commonly known as LARCs
• All female beneficiaries and female
dependents of beneficiaries over the age of
16yrs are eligible to have the costs associated
with the consultation, assessment , insertion
and if required the removal of LARC covered
by a Special Needs Grant from Work & Income
• This only applies to Subsidised LARCs
• And this means it does not normally cover
Mirena IUCD insertion."
It suggests that women on benefits get such LARCs, to stop "breeding", as their "breeding" is unwelcome and does not contribute to societal wellbeing!
Hey, that is just part of it, he also likens benefit dependence to "drug dependence", in many other presentations.
Now this happens here right in NZ, why is nobody standing up against it? Some are, but most are silent, ignore it, or even support this. How "NAZI" are some Kiwis, I ask?
It is time to take a bloody stand, and this is important, the question here is: "What do you value?"
There is more to it, but think, take some time, do some reading, please:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15264-welfare-reform-the-health-and-disability-panel-msd-the-truth-behind-the-agenda/
This is a long distance away from what David Cunliffe was proposing with Best Start, and of course, the critics like to shoot it to pieces, to justify what I just mentioned above. Shame on Key, National, ACT AND the mainstream media, selectively criticising Labour and Greens, but never looking at lies and manipulations or failings by Key and the government we have!
SHG (not Colonial Viper) 4.1
Thank god someone has finally seen the truth! Yes, it's all about eugenics!
PapaMike 4.1.1
Eugenics is Selective Breeding – no ?
poem 4.2
+1 Xtasy !!!
Psycho Milt 4.3
My God, these eugenicist Nazis are making beneficiaries… er… eligible for free contraception. Oh, the humanity!
xtasy 4.3.1
Yes, what was that saying or song again? "They started with the unionists, but hey, I was not a unionist. Then they started with …" .. and so it goes on.
This is about unacceptable expectations placed on beneficiaries only, not the wider population. It may be presented as "voluntary", but in reality there is more to it than the wording suggests!
And much of what the Nazis did, was initially also brought in with a "moderate" approach, like the work camps to supposedly "reform" the "antisocial elements", and teach them "work habits" – which later were turned into mass murder camps.
This measure by WINZ may be "promoted" for females of child bearing age on benefits, as a "voluntary" measure, but the consequence of having another baby while being on a benefit is already, that the mother will be forced to work after the baby turns only 1 year of age. If a "client" does not cooperate and look for work the sanctions of cutting or stopping the benefit will be applied. So how can this be "voluntary" then?
Anything unreasonable, unjust, inhumane, even while the perpetrators claim it to be only "voluntary", while it is combined with harsh, punitive sanctions, must be STOPPED right in ITS BEGINNINGS.
If the German people had in sufficient numbers adhered to that civic task, Hitler may never have been able to do half the evil he was later able to do!
Psycho Milt!
What about your claim that this is "free"?
Do you not know that most Special Needs Grants are repayable?
Too many in the public still believe that beneficiaries get free fridges, washing machines and so forth, same as other necessities, but that is a lie. They have to repay advances that WINZ give them, from their usual and standard benefits, which are actually meant to cover other basic necessities, not including such purchases.
People are expected to repay these things by saving it out of their food money, so to say.
Only food grants and a few other grants are not recoverable, and I have myself had to pay for dental and other treatment by cutting down on other spending for food and basic necessities, repaying Special Needs Grants that WINZ paid to the dentist.
And getting a food grant is not that easy, you must prove that you had other essential costs to cover, before you get one, and it is capped at an amount per annum. After that it is only food banks that help out, and even they expect a letter from WiNZ saying that no SNG is available. Even food banks scrutinise people coming to them!
Get real and HONEST, thanks!
Psycho Milt 4.3.2.1
They're just giving them a fucking loan for long-term contraception, not offering it for free? OK, I agree that really isn't very good. They should be making it way more attractive than that.
Zorr 5
I love those comments – they are fabulous
Every day there are opinion pieces written espousing the virtues of decades gone by when the writers themselves were children, stating that the way they were raised turned them in to the people they are today and that the results speak for themselves because they've turned in to very fine upstanding citizens. These same people then go on to criticize the current generation for not showing enough respect to their elders and becoming materialistic and disconnected in the modern consumer culture. I personally feel that this is all because the new generations raised in the neo-liberal era are being told by society that they are worth nothing unless they are capable of consumption and that unless they consume, then society has nothing for them. You reap what you sow.
I hope to raise my children as whole individuals who are capable of integrating with society in the ways they find most beneficial to themselves and others and not for personal gain. To encourage them to think outside of consuming and to ask not what is best for them but what is best for us. Saying to all new parents "here, have this small token of cash per week to assist with the difficult task of raising the new generation that is the future of our country" is the least we can do and we should do more. Saying it's too hard is for the likes of John Key who, when presented with such a problem, can only muse about changing the flag. Or reading My Pet Goat.
Re Nazism and history, watch this:
A must watch history documentary!!!
What do Bennett and Key???
Camryn 7
I think Ian might be forcing too strong of a dichotomy here. It is possible to believe that well raised children are a benefit to wider society and to not believe that universal cash payments are the best way to achieve that or demonstrate that children are valued. In fact, I'd say that everyone believes that well raised children are a long-term benefit to wider society!
Ian appears to be counterpointing to Margaret Thatcher's "no society" statement which, unsurprisingly, was also a very "black and white" statement where shades of grey clearly exist.
Long story short… it might feel nice to believe that your particular course of action is most strongly associated with compassion and respect for all people, and that others are uncaring and cruel, but it's closer to the truth that all people are compassionate and respectful and that different political views arise from that common base. Those who think they have a monopoly on compassion risk blinding themselves and/or just come across as simplistic, smug and self-congratulatory.
Ad 7.1
Agreed. Unhelpful to imply John Key equates to Margaret Thatcher.
Labour, or anyone, will not win this poorly presented argument unless they can do retail politics into the media better than they have over the last week.
Apart from red meat to the base, it's a poor start to campaign year.
felix 7.1.1
When has John Key ever said anything about society that wasn't a disparaging remark?
Ad 7.1.1.1
Oh please. Reams of social policy. Don't have to agree with it.
This ain't the moment for replaying We Are The World.
Key has thrown excellent chaff out the Hercules window.
Labour needed a counter-punch by yesterday, on tv, to get them back on track after the speech.
well I never 7.1.2
I am starting to believe that no matter how they present their policies, values etc. the National machine has thrown so much money at undermining ANY other voices, their power, corrupt as it is, will simply leave any opposition pissing into the wind. Would like to be proved wrong.
What defeatist crap.
The team needs to perform better; rehearsing the week more, not just the speech, would help.
miravox 7.2
"it's closer to the truth that all people are compassionate and respectful and that different political views arise from that common base."
I guess seeing as Whaleoil has been down for awhile you've not had much chance to see that this might not necessarily be the case.
Hamish 7.3
Puddleglum 7.4
Hi Camryn,
I think you've misunderstood what Ian appears to be saying. He is not saying that people who believe that 'There is no such thing as society' completely lack compassion, etc..
What he is saying is that when it comes to determining policy in relation to children the dominant 'driver' is 'individual responsibility' (i.e., roughly consistent with Thatcher's attempt to sideline compassion as a fundamental 'driver' of policy through discursive phrasing such as 'There is no such thing as society'). That is, the dominant 'driver' of such policy is not 'compassion'.
I think that personal responsibility (i.e., doing your best to look after yourself given your circumstances) is a fine virtue. But, when it comes to social policy – especially around families, children and poverty – I simply don't believe that that should be the dominant 'driver'.
I don't believe it's appropriate because (a) it assumes that the main cause of economic difficulties is personal (i.e., it gives a psychological explanation for a social issue), which completely falls into the fallacy of psychologism (e.g., saying that rising and falling levels of unemployment are caused by rising and falling levels of indolence in individuals Edit: individuals at the population level, i.e., more or fewer individuals being indolent); and, (b) it has the (unintended?) consequence of creating social division and conflict between those who see themselves as personally competent (as judged largely by economic survival) and those who come to be seen as personally incompetent.
As Hassall argues, that kind of 'driver' can't sustain a civilised society – that is, a society that fundamentally treats its citizens with civility. Instead we end up with an angry, bitter, hard society in which people are divided into the 'feral', on the one hand, and the 'hardworking Kiwi', on the other. That atmosphere I find utterly toxic to live in and see as highly regressive.
For clarity, in my view the argument has nothing to do with particular individuals (on the left or the right) being 'compassionate' or otherwise. It's all about whether or not the fundamental 'driver' ('underlying principle') of the policy (i.e., your "course of action") is one of compassion rather than invoking personal responsibility as punishment (i.e., 'you had the child so you look after it – don't come looking to me for help. That'll teach you.').
You might call what I've termed 'punishment' something like 'tough love' that still aims to achieve the end of "well raised children" and, ultimately, is based on 'compassion'. But, in the policy and its implementation' (e.g., National's recent welfare reforms) where is the 'love', the 'respect', the 'dignity', the compassion?
If it's there it is buried so deep that recipients are unlikely to notice it. And that is asking for trouble.
JK 8
My maths is not so good, so maybe someone on this thread could help me out.
We used to have a weekly Family Benefit for children. From memory, in the 1970s, I think it was $6 per week per child. I had two kids – so that was $12 per week per child. I've tried to find a comparison online, but the nearest I've managed is the Reserve Bank's inflation calculation for an item of clothing costing $12 in 1970. In 2013, this would have cost $103+
Here's the comparison and link.
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/inflation_calculator/
Clothing that cost $12.00 in quarter 1 of 1970
would have cost $103.85 in quarter 1 of 2013
This looks much more generous than Labour's Best Start but maybe someone else could do a better comparison.
millsy 8.1
I used wages (it seems to me that FB would count as wages), and I got $132.05.
bad12 8.2
JK, the real question i would like to ask, and this question is relevant to all those commenting here at the Standard who brought up families in the era of the Family Benefit,
Two kids was a small family back then so you didn't consider having more kids because of the Family Benefit incentive???,
My interest in the answer to this is obviously as a counter to the 'wing-nuts' whine of such programs promoting 'breeding for money'….
greywarbler 8.2.1
If wing-nuts use this sort of emotive term (breeding for money) then immediately discussion on policy relating to fertility should stop until reasonable, informed, experienced and humane people are involved. Which would preclude medical mercenaries with academic and/or business backgrounds. Nothing good can come from people who have that mindset. It is misogynist-laden and anyone using the term as a description of the situation indicates their unsuitability to pass reasoned opinion.
Good social policy cannot be introduced or critiqued by someone with that approach and attitude.
Naturesong 8.2.2
I am the second child of four born between 1967 and 1975.
The idea that someone would produce a child to gain an extra $6.00 pw was as laughable then as it is today for $60.00 pw.
Even so, for a middle class family in a well to do suburb, the family benefit was extremely helpful during times when things were tight – start of the school year, christmas, mortgage rate interest hikes, unexpected expenses etc.
Also remember that back in the days of the family benefit, there were low levels of unemployment (noting of course that one male earner per family was the norm). Kicking the shit out of the unemployed was not an ever constant meme.
DPB for single mothers had it's own stigma that probably owed more to a victorian mindset than it does these days. Though I do wonder if that theme of the immorality of a single mother is not a subtext to the constant attacks on women who receive it these days.
greywarbler 8.2.2.1
Naturesong
I have looked at actions of Jenny Shipley and her crew of pirates, and come to the conclusion that there is a deep morality prejudice and class disparagement and disdain in NACTs approach to single and solo mothers and fathers, that still now underlies the cry of cost, inefficiency, slackers, etc.
The fact that they can produce some figures that show this is a consideration in a small percentage sample is an excuse to blanket the lot. They might not bother with facts or figures though. We know from Margaret Bazley's attack on legal aid that they can just quote some anecdote or reference to some source.
A word in the ear or even in the air around the ear, of a sensitive National tuned and receiving instrument, is sufficient evidence to give gravitas to extensive law change and ploughing and turning of the policy soil by the good old farmers sons and daughters.
To Bad 12 – two kids were all we could afford at that time (despite receiving Family Benefit – and I had/have friends in a similar position in those days) so I'd say quite definitely that Govt grants to parents to help raise children is NOT an incentive to have more kids.
Btw, the Family Benefit went directly to the mothers ….. to ensure the money was spent on the kids !
Should also mention – we didn't have easy access to childcare either in those days. So very difficult for a mother to go out to work unless she had other supportive family to look after the kids
Thanks JK, it would be interesting to hear from other's commenting here that brought up their kids in the era of the Family Benefit,
Don't i know it, with regards to the difficulties of mums going out to work back then, with 4 of us mine had to and it's a wonder that the stress from the resulting 'mayhem' didn't give Her a coronary…
Tracey 9.1.1
Milk was 4 cents for a pint in 1971.
I got 5c a week for putting the milk out and bringing it back in. No danger money for taking on the boogieman my bros told me was waiting for me if I stopped at any time
Tracey 10
Interesting that main media outlets didnt seek comment from the commissioner for children about a policy about children.
With national now claiming its programme is respo sible for increased bc in chchch is a sign that this is going to be a long year.
greywarbler 11
This thread is about the Labour policy of helping with costs to families with young children unless they are in the wealthy group.
It is unpleasant to see the hostility to these families and their children by the self-centred, competitive and money-oriented, exclusive class. Anne points out that Tim Watkins does make an attempt to consider it in a reasoned way. Which is true, but he still seems more hostile to the policy than otherwise.
Watkins says that Peter Dunne calls Labour's social welfare a bribe
This is n example of how people's understandings are based on their prime approach and we know that Dunne's political position operates on bribes, so he sees them in everything. His attitude to his useful role in politics is less compromise in return for policy valued to him and more just staying in a role of Man of the People getting good pay.
Then Tim Watkins enters into the cheapshot comments – the money will be spent on the bloody bach added to someone else's 'cigs and lotto'.
Comment from another man,
'Every second feckless woman in Redfern produced a sprog for the cash. NOT a good way to start a life!'
Another man, who isn't ashamed to show his face above this incisive piece of analysis:
"I'm not sure if they should be classified as feckless or just cynical and manipulative"
There are other interpretations.
And then some needed analysis by Ian Hassall, previous Child Commissioner quoted by Geoff above, to which Tim Watkins replies and seems to be hostile to modern social policy with support for the wellbeing of young children and their families. He was Deputy Editor to NZListener wasn't he? How that once quality magazine deteriorated!
JK 11.1
Yes GreyWarbler I, too, thought Tim Watkins is hostile to the Best Start policy …. hence my attempt to find a comparison in earlier years when everyone got the Family Benefit and there were no snide
attempts about calling women who had babies feckless, cynical, manipulative.
Babies were once valued – people could see them as their future. Its really odd these days of falling birthrates that so many do not appreciate them, and are not willing to share in the cost of their upbringing. Maybe these people have just got to the stage where they do not really care about the future – of either their own families (if they have one) or of the rest of humankind.
greywarbler 11.1.1
I think it is 30 years of neo lib. Twenty to thirty years is a generation. That is enough time to forget, or overlook the important wisdom, culture and experience from previous years And also the forecasts of outcomes for proposed changes that should have been noted and acted to improve or alleviate straight away. Instead we were told by the neo libs that first there would be pain, but then gain, and we were so thick we thought they were wise, and cared about the country, and we could rely on their wise words and all would come right. Instead we have – this.
I seem to remember people warning about the effects of individualism being pushed. The competitive, me first, proud individualist stereotype being led to believe that they were funding themselves in all their endeavours, and then entitled to all the returns. And of course other people could do the same.
(But every step of the individualist was being supported, paid for, subsidised by someone else. But this is not apparent, or overlooked.
Paying for attending university – the state still pays about 70% of the cost for instance.) Schools are all subsidised by the state.
Any individual who manages to get on without assistance from the state, which should be with the good wishes of the vast majority of the citizens, is likely to be receiving isolationist and anti-social indoctrination, as in cults, controlling religious groups, military and aggression training establishments.
JK 11.1.1.1
greywarbler – yes, I agree with what you're saying totally but I cannot conceive of any individual managing to get anywhere without assistance from the state because from the very first day they're born – if born in NZ – they get state assistance. Free maternity care, free hospital care, immunisation – so all those neo-libs decrying a helping hand to parents with new bubs and toddlers are crying hypocritic tears. Shame on them ! As you say they have forgotten what came before . And they haven't learned their history ….. Shame again on them.
srylands 12
From the Labour Party website, Labour Best Start Payment Fact Sheet –
Will the Best Start Payment help to address child poverty?
Yes. There are about 50,000 children under the age of three living in poverty in New Zealand households. The parents of these children will all receive the full $60 per week Best Start Payment.
When will families become eligible for the Best Start Payment?
Funding for the Best Start Payment will be introduced via Budget 2015 and it will come into effect for children born on or after 1 April 2016.
https://www.labour.org.nz/sites/default/files/issues/labour_best_start_-_best_start_payment_factsheet.pdf
"… it will come into effect for children born on or after 1 April 2016"
How does the first statement – "The parents of THESE children – the ones currently in "poverty"" reconcile to the last statement – it will only apply to children born after 2016?
Looks like the current 50,000 poor kids will need to rely on mum and dad giving them a new sibling in April 2016 (just the opposite of what we should be trying to achieve – the last thing we need is more kids to poor parents.)
Aside from the lie, the policy will provide most benefits to two groups – (1) Welfare families (who mostly vote Labour anyway) or families on incomes of more than $100,000, who are unlikely to be swayed to vote labour.
The ones in the middle will be royally fucked off.
Then there is the 25 Hours free ECE which (like its predecessor) will be very poorly targeted, and, again benefit families on high incomes. The Pasifika families in South Auckland need more ECE centres, and they need high, targeted subsidies (or better 50 hours of quality, free ECE per week). That won't be possible if you are giving money away to rich people!
It has been some time since I have seen a political party have a week as bad as Labour has had this week.
mickysavage 12.1
Really weak srylands. There has to be a start date and the complexity of the system means that there will be a delay in implementation.
Of course if Labour and the Greens win you can submit on the bill and say the scheme should start early because of the urgent need to address poverty and I will agree with you then.
On your analysis no change should ever be made because someone might miss out.
Strange, really strange.
Hayden 12.2
You could always* refer to David Cunliffe's speech:
Alongside this, we need to expand access to early childhood centres, because free hours aren't enough if you don't have a centre in your neighbourhood, or if all the rolls are full.
In partnership with communities, Labour will fund the development of early childhood centres in lower income communities to ensure there are places for every kid.
But quantity is no good without quality. This Government has cut funding for qualified teachers in our early childhood centres.
We think our kids deserve better. That's why we are restoring those funding cuts, starting with a downpayment in our first year.
Source: /a-nation-of-opportunity-cunliffes-speech/
* if you weren't working from a script
bad12 12.3
SSLands, if the last thing we need is more children being born to poor people that is easily fixed by taxing brainless wankers like you and redistributing the proceeds into the hands of those poor people, an act of Capitalist Redistribution,
Your brainless whine has been well answered previously and 'Best Start' as it should gives to those with the least the most along with Labour announcing more ECE centers will be core to the policy with an emphasis on the provision of these as a priority in South Auckland,
Just to follow up on another of your whining pieces of bullshit surrounding a comment made in 'Open Mike' yesterday where i pointed out quite specifically the bullshit inherent in your "voters run from Socialism" mistake, besides the voters NOT running from the Working for Families scheme, the opposite occurred in fact and Slippery the Prime Minister who decried Working for Families as Communism like the rat and Liar He is once in Government kept the policy in place,
The Australian 'Baby Bonus' and if anyone was going to 'breed for money' the $5000 lump sum payment for having a baby would have had them doing just that is simply more of your bullshit as it has been shown that the Australian birth rate didn't rise by any abnormal rate,
What happened when the Labour Government cancelled it's own 'Baby Bonus' scheme, who would have thunk it, voted out of office at the following election, hardly the tale of the voter running 'from' Capitalist Redistribution that you whine on about, more like the people demanding more of it…
srylands 12.3.1
You think Australians voted for Tony Abbott because they wanted "Capitalist Redistribution"? Good grief.
Your posts become increasingly ridiculous. You come across as an unemployed 1950s style socialist.
You can whine all you want about the Government. They are looking increasingly likely to be reelected. Who would have thunk that a few months ago, eh?
"the Australian birth rate didn't rise by any abnormal rate"
Good grief of course it didn't. Why on earth would a payment of $5,000 influence the birth rate in a country as rich as Australia? Is that your measure of policy failure? What drugs (apart from tobacco) are you on in your State house all day?
srylands 12.3.2.1
BTW the $5,000 payment in Australia was a response to the GFC. It was used to buy TVs, boats and stamp duty on houses.
The Labour Policy will benefit very poor people and rich people. It will fuck off the middle = vote loser. Watch the next polls for the 2% drop in the combined Green-Left vote. Were you looking for that?
If you want to help poor people give decent ECE care to people in South Auckland and take it off people in Kandallah. Why isn't Labour doingt that if it cares about "poor" people.
Instead it is pissing away a fortune on a near universal $60 for kids not even born yet!!
That leaves you bad12 to defend it when you know it is crap and then to wheel out your 1950s socialist class warfare crap.
Keep going by all means. Bring it on and you can have another three years of national.
You are like the English cricket team dressing room – you say "yeah we can do it" but there is no heart.
Go have another smoke out the back and smile at the neighbours. Maybe read your electricity meter for entertainment.
Colonial Viper 12.3.2.1.1
Oh look a foreign based foreigner all wise on matters NZ. Go away.
hamish 12.3.2.1.2
Fuck you're a useless gimp sslands the baby bonus began in austrailia in 2002!
I think wee wankers like you hate the labour policy cos it reminds you that no one would ever want to breed with you. And thank christ for that!
I think it is 30 years of neo lib. Twenty to thirty years is a generation. That is enough time to forget, or overlook the important wisdom, culture and experience from previous years, and forecasts of outcomes for proposed changes. I seem to remember people warning about the effects of individualism being pushed. The competitive, me first, proud individualist stereotype being led to believe that they were funding themselves in all their endeavours, and then entitled to all the returns. And of course other people could do the same.
Colonial Viper 13.1
Correct. A critical part of the success of neoliberalism is the starving out of cultural memory and the creation of social amnesia, replacing societal and historical depth with superficial commercial and corporate values of consumption and hedonism.
The destruction and impoverishment of the arts and humanities as well as public broadcasting is all part and parcel of this.
captain hook 14
Tim Watkins is typical of the NEW New Zealand in the process of creation by crosby textor who have a policy of denying anything in the media that is any good and which has been proposed by anyone in opposition to their client.
Democracy in New Zealand is under attack from payed flunkeys and nobody can do anything about it because of the grip they have on the media.
Sorry folks. I put a comment at 11.24 which went into moderation, I then lost it, F5 and Home did
not bring it to light. But I had copied it so have just put it up again 11.45, with a few add ons, and I looked for it and found my 11.24am one. Betcha the new one will come up again soon, near JKs, to whom I was trying to reply before. So sorry I'm at a loss to know what I did, except my computer is going slow, and may be getting out of sync somehow.
[lprent: Saw that. Released it. I'll have a look as I do this sweep.
One thing to try these days with sluggish machines is to close and start browsers. I've noticed that webkit in particular tends to soak up a lot of RAM and CPU when it has frequent javascript running on a page. Seen it on both chrome and safari. ]
alloytoo 16
A good way to ensure that babies grow up to be constructive members of society is to encourage the current generation of productive hard workers to have children and instill those values in them.
Labour's policy should exclude beneficiaries and be part of extended parental leave policies.
(That would of course exclude most of labour's support base 🙂
Just pathetic – alloytoo. To be expected from a Nat ….
Polish Pride 16.2
Or instead we coulde redesign the society and system that we live in to have the goal of making people happy and putting in place the things that are required for that to happen…
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Daily review 16/01/2020
Why UK Labour lost? Part 8: What it takes to win
Why UK Labour lost? Part 7: Momentum and the Corbynistas
Why UK Labour lost? Part 6: New Labour & Blairism
Housing consents at highest level since 1974
National politicises police by claiming Government is politicising police
Why UK Labour lost? Part 4: Ooooh Jeremy Corbyn
Why UK Labour lost? Part 3: Its Brexit innit
Why UK Labour lost? Part 2: UK Labour's Strange loyalty to First Past the Post.
Why UK Labour lost? Part 1: historical context
How fast can we transition off fossil fuels?
by weka
How To Get There 12/01/20
Guest Post – What is wrong with the left?
Royal Move
by advantage
A message for conservatives about climate change and nuclear power
Iran attacks US bases in Iraq
Simon Bridges went to China
Qasem Soleimani murdered by the United States.
Australian fires and the climate crisis everybody wanted to ignore
LBJ Redux
Get out now
Australia is no longer the lucky country
He wasn't here to help us, was he
Known Knowns and All the Other Ones
by Incognito
That 1914 Feeling
OPCW Scandal.
New book reveals Le Carré's bleak view of post-Brexit world
by Simon Louisson
How To Get There: New Years Day edition
The power of positive campaigning
Bridges and the Robertson trial
Why the Tories won the UK election?
What if Trump wins again?
It Is the Thought That Counts
T'was the day of Christmas
MMP Mark II*
Democratisation by Social Media and the Internet Is Just Meaningless Waffle
Protection from the climate crisis ruled a fundamental human right
Gender Identity Ideology – A Partial Bibliography of Online Coverage
This great resource has been contributed to Redline by Janie Doebuck. Janie made some notes on the bibliography: 1) It is by no means exhaustive. There are tons more gender critical posts, essays, articles, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. online. 2) There are links in the bibliography that are behind paywalls. There ...
RedlineBy Daphna
About those biased Oscar Nominations
There's been a lot written about the 2020 Oscar Nominations and their apparent lack of diversity. It's true, there are in fact no women nominated for the Best Director and very few nominees of colour across the board. But is this a result of a biased process or a symptom ...
How New Zealand media reports chronic pain
Hemakumar Devan Around three million New Zealanders access news media (both paper and online) every week. Yes, you heard that right! So, the potential for news media to shape public health beliefs is common sense. As chronic pain affects one in five New Zealanders, we wanted to find out how ...
SciBlogsBy Guest Author
Still Waiting For American Democracy.
Unfinished Republic: Though the United States' crimes against democracy are legion, most Americans are blissfully unaware of them. The brutal realities of American life: the officially sanctioned violence; the refusal to hold racists accountable for their actions; the seemingly endless tragedy of African-American suffering; of which White America is the ...
Bowalley Road
In Outrage Over Its Bunk Science, Goop Finds Fuel for Growth
Michael Schulson For years, experts have said that Goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand founded by the actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, markets pseudoscience and overblown cures. And for years, despite the criticism, Goop has just kept growing. Now the company, which was valued at $250 million in 2018, ...
Tobacco Excise Taxes and the Smokefree 2025 Goal: Some Ways Forward
Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, George Thomson, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson Debate over tobacco tax increases has intensified as research indicates potentially conflicting policy directions. On the one hand, excise tax increases continue to stimulate quit attempts among smokers yet, on the other hand, they may lead to financial hardship for ...
SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2, 2020
Conflation and how to fix it VIa AMS, Raul Lejano looks at what in a layperson's thinking would be called conflation— confusion and blending of entirely different topics— when people think about climate change. Ideology and the Narrative of Skepticism (open access) starts with some arguably frightening false connections between the science and ...
'Cranky Uncle' smart phone game will show you how to disarm climate deniers
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bud Ward (Image: Courtesy of John Cook) When it comes to climate change, it seems every family has its own version of the proverbial Cranky Uncle. An uncle, cousin, grandparent, in-law, neighbor, whatever. Just think back to the recent holiday season's large ...
Science in the '20s – part 1
Outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. That's a description of the lifestyle of women "flappers" in the 1920s. Could it apply to science (and scientists) in the 2020s? Actually, you could look back at the past decade and see those, or similar terms, used about some science and scientists. Sometimes ...
SciBlogsBy Robert Hickson
Postscript: Citizenship Granted.
I am pleased to say that I have been granted NZ citizenship. I need to do the ceremony for things to be official, but the application was a success. I now join my son as a dual NZ-US citizen. To be fair, very little will change other than the fact ...
KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
Hard News: Music: Morales is coming
It will be no secret to longtime readers that I, Russell Brown, love the disco. So I'm pretty excited by the fact that one of the greats of the game is returning this summer – and also pleased to say I have tickets to give away.Legendary mixer and DJ ...
The WHO Vaccine Safety Summit – from someone who was actually there
The conspiracy I saw a new conspiracy theory flying around the other day. According to the conspiracy (that seems to originate from Del Bigtree), the World Health Organization have been 'caught on camera' questioning the safety of vaccines. Gosh this sounds as though someone was a mole at a ...
SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
The timely death of the British Labour Party
Below is an article submitted to Redline by Alec Abbott At its inception, the British Labour Party was a vehicle for the propagation of racist and imperialist views within the working-class. Such views are still widespread in the party, as they are in Europe's Social-Democratic parties, though, in the case of ...
Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirus
Connor Bamford, Queen's University Belfast Since December 2019, there has been a cluster of 59 cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, eastern China. The pneumonia is associated with a previously unidentified coronavirus related to the deadly SARS virus. Seven of those cases are thought to be serious, and one person – ...
Yes, koalas are cute – but should we bring them to NZ? Errm, no
It's been hard to miss the extreme fires raging across Australia and the tragic plight of the animals – human and otherwise – affected by the fires' insatiable spread. I know I've been captivated and concerned by the tales of how Australia's famous wildlife has been coping. Koalas approaching cyclists ...
SciBlogsBy Sarah-Jane O'Connor
National's negative campaigning
Anybody who looked into the Dirty Politics saga knows all too well that honesty is often in short supply within the National Party. You would think that after the exposure the John Key government received over their untruthful attack politics, the National Party would learn from its "mistakes" and leave ...
Ending the government's charade over water
For the past decade, the government has been responding to the obvious Treaty issues raised by water allocation with the mantra that "no-one owns water". But last year, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled that actually, Māori owned it, and that those rights had never been extinguished. They recommended that iwi bring ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
Northern Ireland joins the civilised world
Same-sex marriage has finally become legal in Northern Ireland. But not through any decision of the Northern Irish Executive or Assembly, which has only just reformed after a three year walkout by the DUP; instead, Westminster made that decision for them. I've talked before about the constitutional impropriety of this, ...
I had an intense conversation at work today.
Claire Cohen-Norris volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby as a chapter founder and leader in rural New York. Her climate advocacy sprung from her drive to provide a secure, joyful and fulfilling life for her two wonderful children. It has become a life's mission, shared with her like-minded husband and partner. Claire ...
French transport workers take on Macron over pension reform
by John Edmundson Starting on December 5th, 2019 workers in the Parisian rail network commenced an open-ended strike in opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposed changes to their pension scheme. Rail workers in the Metro Underground have, for decades, had retirement conditions that compensate them for the low wages, ...
RedlineBy Admin
What a difference the decimal point makes
I'm back at work following a nearly three-week break over Christmas. We were fortunate to be offered a house to stay in for a week over Christmas, which enabled us to have a holiday in Dunedin and see the extended family reasonably cheaply. But the house came with a catch: ...
SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
Who's Going To Stop Him?
Blank And Pitiless: Having ordered the assassination of the Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump promised to reduce the cultural monuments of Iran's 3,000 year-old civilisation to rubble if a revenge attack was mounted. A breach of international law? Certainly. A war crime? Indisputably. Who's going to stop him? Nobody.WHAT ...
A worker's story
This interview is from Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) and is the first of an ongoing series of interviews they plan to do with workers from various sectors who are having their well being and livelihoods damaged. They begin with an educator in Southland. Due to the attitude and actions ...
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 5, 2020 through Sat, Jan 11, 2020 Editor's Pick Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media As unusually intense and widespread bushfires have ...
J.K. Rowling, the Seattle Library, and the Issue That Must Not Be Named
This article was submitted to Redline by Seattle-based activist Lucinda Stoan J.K. Rowling recognizes repression when she sees it. That's why the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books recently tweeted in defense of Maya Forstater. Forstater lost her job for stating that sex is real and immutable. A judge ...
Rules of Empire: Laws simply do not apply and "National Security" excuses all else.
Empires rise and fall, and the American Empire is absolutely no different. But while an Empire, in order to further the footprint, it seems to pay to do one primary thing above all else: project that everything – everything – is "simply for the good of the world" at large, ...
exhALANtBy exhalantblog
Indian lessons for NZ workers – the January 8 general strike
by Phil Duncan On Wednesday (January 8) another massive general strike took place in India. Some 250 million industrial workers, white-collar workers, agricultural labourers struck against the government's economic policies and attacks on the Muslim population through new proposed citizenship rules. This ...
Climate Change: The action that counts
Over on Newsroom, Professor Jacqueline Beggs writes about the action she is taking on climate change. Its the usual list: reduce meat, don't fly, consume less. I'm doing some of this myself, and none of it hurts - but the way our economic system is constructed means the impact of ...
Fossil fuel political giving outdistances renewables 13 to one
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Corporations, special interest groups, and individuals inject billions of dollars into the American political system every year. Much of the financial support in politics is concealed from public view, as some rules – and loopholes – allow "dark money" and ...
Should I ditch my fossil-fueled car?
Yes. Reducing the number of cars in your household, or switching from petrol/diesel to electric, will dramatically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. It's one of the easiest and highest-impact climate steps you can take. New Zealand is being flooded with cars The New Zealand vehicle fleet is increasing rapidly. In ...
Speaker: Planet History: Taking Tea with Quentin
This interview with Quentin Crisp is part of a series of articles republished from Planet, the independent magazine I edited in the early 90s from a base at 309 Karangahape Road, along with Grant Fell, Rachael Churchward, Fiona Rae, David Teehan, Mere Ngailevu and others.Inevitably, you forget things, and over ...
Supply Side How are we doing with CO2 emissions? It's an important question, increasingly posed to a mixed bag of CO2 contributors who may or may not provide accurate reportage. Liu et al present a new, additional means of measurement based on satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide co-emitted from ...
Is the prostitute the seller or the sold?
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the third part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna Whitmore. Part 1 was ...
The climate crisis is also a biodiversity crisis
Dr Andrea Byrom Like many of us, the summer break has seen me transfixed with horror at the scale and magnitude of the bushfire crisis in Australia. As an ecologist, I can't help but be appalled at the loss of some of Australia's most beautiful ecosystems and landscapes. And ...
Labour opposes leisure
Finland's new Prime Minister has made headlines by pushing for a 4-day week. So what does new Zealand's "centre-left" government think? Nope. They'd rather people kept working themselves into misery and death:The Government does not plan to follow Finland's lead to encourage businesses to offer staff a four-day week. [...] ...
Who's afraid of the non-native accent? Everyone … unless you tell them about it
As someone who learnt English late-ish in life, I was always on the look-out for signs which betray my foreignness, afraid that my clumsy mispronunciation or syntactic misalignment will give away my outsider status. And for once, sadly, my worries were well-founded it seems. It's bad, prejudice is rife! In ...
SciBlogsBy Andreea Calude
Donald Trump's strategic gamble
There's a meme going around the Internet at the moment claiming that Donald Trump is a bit of an idiot. To outside eyes it does seem as though the President of the United States thumbs his nose at his own countries laws and administration far too often to be taken ...
Back in December, the European Court of Justice ruled that jailed Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras was a Member of the European Parliament and therefore had immunity from prosecution. In a democratic state under the rule of law, he would have been immediately released from prison (and compensated for his illegal ...
Doubling down: Researchers investigate compound climate risks
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daniel Grossman It was a grim day in Moscow on July 25, 2010. The English-language Moscow Times reported that the Russian capital had broken the 1936 temperature record for July: 98 degrees Fahrenheit. That month, the city, where air conditioning was (and still is) ...
Everyone, we must be united and work together (now we've got rid of the Corbyn)
Yvette Cooper has written a piece in the Guardian outlinig 'Seven things Labour Must Do To Win The Next Election'.I'll overlook the absurd headline - no-one is talking about Labour winning the next election and I assume that Cooper didn't write the headline (she doesn't mention winning the next election anywhere ...
Left hand palmBy lurgee
"A common interest in war with Iran" say those who will NOT be in the firing line
Well, things have certainly escalated. Brent Crude hits $70 in light of recent geopolitical incidents. There's a British nuclear sub on its way to thump Iran if needed, and Netenyahu says "everyone" is keen on war with Iran. Of course in terms of the oil prices, that'll have downstream ...
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #1
Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... The signal of human-caused climate change has emerged in everyday weather, study finds ...
New Fisk
Trump is starting a war with Iran – whether it is by accident or design ...
Climate Change: Complementary measures
For the past twenty-five years, climate change policy in New Zealand has been all about emissions pricing. Policy makers thought that all you needed to do was make people pay for their pollution via a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme, and the problem would be solved. This mechanism was ...
Jeremy Clarkson – God is an arsonist
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We are no longer welcome in Iraq
Last Friday, the US murdered a high-ranking Iranian general, ostensibly as retaliation for Iraqi militias attacking US troops in Iraq. It was a stupid move, a mistake as well as a crime (to misquote Talleyrand), and it is already having the expected effects: the Iranian nuclear deal is now completely ...
Miscalculation, escalation and the law of unintended consequences.
Note: I penned a series of tweets on the consultancy page offering my thoughts on the Soleimani assassination. I have decided to gather them together, add some more material, and edit them into a blogpost. Here it is. The US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian Quds force commander ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Dec 29, 2019 through Sat, Jan 4, 2020 Editor's Pick There Is No Safe Global Warming Australia Bushfire - Shutterstock Safety is something we all crave. It's human nature. ...
The strike on Suleimani: a Neocon gambit for rolling the MIC onwards to a new chapter of global dest...
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Still feeling very kicked in the head. Took some time off over Christmas and New Year to think about stuff, contemplating the unthinkable idea that i might have been ... wrong. But, after a thorough deconstruction of my cerebellum and rigorous self examination, I conclude I was not, am not.Okay, ...
A standout example of Right-wing truth inversion: "debating" responsibility for the Aust...
Many people must have seen the copious amounts of emotive, highly charged blame being increasingly passed onto "the bloody environmentalists!" and "the bloody Greenies" for this absolute debacle. This blame has been fomented by the Rightwing press, and the Governing coalition under Scott Morrison, who it must be said never ...
Someone To Follow, Something To Blame.
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Skeptical Science New Research for Week #52, 2019
The other side of the coin Last week's New Research mentioned a New York Times article describing how academic researchers plow straight through holidays with work. On the publishing side: not so much. Argue about priorities but clearly there's a difference in attitudes between the input hopper and the output conveyor. ...
I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check ...
Open ParachuteBy Ken
2019 in Review: another busy year for the Skeptical Science team
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You thought 2019 was warped? Strap in, 2020 may make you nostalgic…
What a hard year 2019 was on so many fronts. In its wake, not a small amount of victims along the way. Dissembling reality really seems to have been Project #1 as far as can be seen from much of the basis of 2019's ups and downs…Culturally, politically, socially and ...
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year.
I hope that all readers have had a good festive season and are headed into a healthy, happy and productive New Year. 2019 was a relatively consistent and quiet year at KP, as befits a niche political blog. 39 posts this year, including three by Lew on the gun buy ...
Apathy in the face of disaster
Warning: This article contains topics that might trigger right wing snowflakes!Unless you've had your head buried in a billabong for the last four months you'd of heard about the Australian bushfires. The fires have been unprecedented, with approximately five million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land burned nationwide. More than ...
Two things you can guarantee at this time of the year. Predictions about the coming year, and days at the beach (only lightly polluted, hopefully). Futures thinking is often seen as identifying the "next big thing" – technology and consumer trends. But that's surface level futuring. Wave spotting. As ...
2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #52
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The Spinoff is pretty shit really
Call me old fashioned, but I like my sport to be played fair and on an even field. In fact there's nothing worse than a game where the ref fails to actually umpire properly and one team is flouting the damn rules.The same goes for politics. If journalists don't do ...
Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta joins te ao Māori in their sorrow as they learn of the loss of one of the great orators and spokespersons of a generation – Piri Sciascia. "The son of Pōrangahau was a staunch advocate for Māori development and served his people for over ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
Minister opens new ecosanctuary at Cape Farewell
A new ecosanctuary with a predator proof fence on Golden Bay's Cape Farewell, which will restore a safe home for sea birds, rare native plants, giant snails, and geckos, was officially opened today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. "There has been a fantastic community effort supported by the ...
Pacific partners work together to provide additional support to Australia
The NZDF continues to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles fires in Victoria and New South Wales, including by transporting Republic of Fiji Military engineers from Nadi to Australia, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. On Saturday morning a NZDF Boeing 757 will depart New Zealand to uplift ...
Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & business
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive PGF funding: A $9.88 million investment to begin the ...
Govt accounts in surplus, debt remains low
The Government's books are in good shape with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the five months to November. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above forecast by $0.7 billion resulting ...
Auckland focus for first Police graduation of 2020
The number of Police on the Auckland frontline is increasing with the graduation today of a special locally-trained wing of new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of eighteen officers from Recruit Wing 333-5 means that more than 1900 new Police have been deployed since the Coalition Government ...
Wairarapa gets $7.11m PGF water boost
The Provincial Growth Fund is putting $7.11 million into creating a sustainable water supply for Wairarapa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The following two projects will receive Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding: A $7 million investment in Wairarapa Water Limited for the pre-construction development of ...
Community safety and crime prevention in the East Coast community of Mahia has moved forward with the opening of a new Police station to serve the growing coastal settlement. Police Minister Stuart Nash has officially opened the new station, which was relocated almost 20 kilometres along the coast from the nearby ...
Plans to protect the future of whitebaiting announced
With several native whitebait species in decline the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has today released proposals to standardise and improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. "The need for action for a healthy whitebait fishery has never been greater," Eugenie Sage said. "Four of the six whitebait species are ...
New resource for schools to increase awareness and understanding of climate change
A new Ministry of Education resource available for schools in 2020 will increase awareness and understanding of climate change, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. "The resource, Climate Change – prepare today, live well tomorrow, will help students understand the effects of climate change at a local, national and global ...
Getting more out of our most productive firms
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has approved the terms of reference for an Inquiry into the economic contribution of New Zealand's frontier firms. Frontier firms are the most productive firms in the domestic economy within their own industry. "These firms are important as they diffuse new technologies and business practices into ...
NZDF sends more support to Australia
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is sending an Environmental Health Team, a Primary Health Care Team and a Chaplain to Australia, boosting New Zealand support for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles bush fires in Victoria and New South Wales, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. The ...
New Zealand joins partners in calling for full investigation into air crash in Iran
Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters says that developments suggesting a surface-to-air missile is responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines flight in Iran is disastrous news. "New Zealand offers its deepest sympathies to the families of the 176 victims. It is ...
Staying connected to Australian agriculture
Agriculture Minister, Damien O'Connor, says the Ministry for Primary Industries is continuing to stay connected to federal authorities in Australia as devastating fires affect the country. "The Ministry is using an existing trans-Tasman forum for discussions on the agricultural impact of the fires and the future recovery phase," says Damien ...
Investment in schools – a commitment to communities
Thousands of school-age children, their teachers and wider communities are benefiting from the Government's multi-million dollar investment upgrading and renewing schools, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. "We want New Zealand to be the best place to be a child and that means learning in warm, comfortable and modern classrooms," ...
New Zealand Defence Force sends support to Australia
Minister of Defence Ron Mark today announced New Zealand is sending three Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopters and crew, and two NZ Army Combat Engineer Sections as well as a command element to support the Australian Defence Force efforts in tackling the Australian fires. The New Zealand Defence Force ...
Better access to books for blind and low vision citizens on World Braille Day
"Today is World Braille Day and I am delighted to announce that an international treaty giving blind and low vision New Zealanders access to books and literary works comes into force today," Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. "Today the Marrakesh Treaty and the associated amendments to the ...
New Zealand to send further firefighter support to Australia
The New Zealand Government is sending a further 22 firefighters to help fight the Australian fires. "The devastation caused by these fires is taking a substantial toll on our Australian neighbours and we will continue to do what we can to assist as they deal with this extremely dynamic, dangerous ...
Reducing the cost of education
Twenty-two more schools have opted into the Government's policy of providing $150 per child to schools who don't ask parents for donations– bringing the total number of schools in the policy to 1,585. The Ministry of Education has accepted late opt ins past the November 14 deadline from schools that ...
Road deaths lower in 2019, but still more work to do
"As we enter the new decade, my thoughts are with the families, friends and communities of the 353 people who lost their lives in road crashes last year. While the number of deaths is lower than in 2018 (377), this is still a staggering loss of life," Duty Minister Iain ...
PM congratulates New Year 2020 Honours recipients
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated the diverse group of New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to the country and their communities in the New Year 2020 Honours List. The list of 180 honours recipients includes three Dames and three Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, ...
Justice Minister congratulates first Māori Supreme Court judge on New Year's Honour
Justice Minister Andrew Little has congratulated The Honourable Justice Joe Williams for receiving a knighthood for services to the state. Sir Joe Williams has been appointed as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year 2020 Honours List. "Sir Joe Williams has made an ...
New Year honours for top sportspeople
Twenty-one of New Zealand's top sportspeople, coaches and leaders in the sporting community have been recognised in the New Year 2020 Honours List. The Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua has been made a Dame Companion and the former All Blacks Steve Hansen has been made a Knight Companion of the ...
Leading architect of Zero Carbon Bill honoured
It's great to see ordinary New Zealanders doing extraordinary things, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw today said in response to the news that Lisa McLaren is included in the New Year 2020 Honours List for her exceptional work leading the campaign for the Zero Carbon Bill. Lisa McLaren was ...
Social entrepreneurs and innovation leads Pacific contribution
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year 2020 Honours List highlights the valuable contribution Pacific social entrepreneurs and innovators make to New Zealand, the Pacific region and the world. "The standout common factor that underlines their contribution to Aotearoa is the value they place in their ...
Service to birds and bush recognised in New Year Honours
Decades of dedication to Aotearoa's unique birds, landscapes, and native eels is recognised in the New Year 2020 Honours List said Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. "I'm delighted that the decades of dedication to conservation, and fantastic leadership in giving nature a helping hand is being acknowledged," said Eugenie Sage. ...
Closer Economic Partnership with Singapore comes into force on 1 January
New Zealanders will start to see the benefits of the upgraded Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) with Singapore from 1 January 2020, when the agreement comes into force. Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker said the agreement would open more opportunities for New Zealand companies looking to do business with ...
Death of Professor Piri Sciascia, Government House Kaumatua
The Governor-General, HE Dame Patsy Reddy and Sir David Gascoigne were deeply distressed to receive the news that Government House's Kaumatua, Professor Piri Sciascia died this morning. ...
Scoop politics
Media academic warns shutting key TV channel would be step to 'dictatorship'
By Camille Abiel H. Torres, Charm Ryanne C. Magpali, Laurd Menhard Salen of The Varsitarian in Manila A New Zealand media academic and freedom advocate has warned that shutting down the Philippines' largest and most popular media network would be a move toward dictatorship. Professor David Robie, director of ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
Ravensdown's Western Sahara story rebutted
Western Sahara Campaign-NZ enlisted the support of Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) to question and comment on Ravensdown's stated position in its press release of the 11th of December 2019, "Two sides to the Western Sahara story". https://www.ravensdown.co.nz/in-the-community/two-sides-to-the-western-sahara-story ...
Another New Year handout from the PGF nudges us to wonder: where's the Jones boy?
So where's Shane Jones, we wondered after the Point of Order Trough Monitor sounded its second alert of the week. Again, the alert was triggered by the sound of taxpayers' money being given away by the Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau. The ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
"Muscled, tattooed guys peel off their shirts...Voluptuous women curl and flex their fingers...Same sex couples smooch and purr": a short story, by writer Harley Hern. ...
On swampy ground: Painter and printmaker Brent Harris returns home
Palmerston North-born Brent Harris's considers himself an Australian artist, but his work is suffused with the unease and melancholia long associated with New Zealand art, cinema and music. Kiran Dass spoke to him about his monsters, and his solo exhibition on now in Christchurch.Brent Harris left New Zealand in 1981; ...
The SpinoffBy Kiran Dass
Please stop offering sober people orange juice
Embrace the many zero-alcohol drink options out there and stop bloody serving OJ.How many times have you been at home, or at work, or at a concert, or at a birthday party, or at a formal event, and thought, "What would go really well with this experience is some orange ...
The SpinoffBy Madeleine Chapman
'Monsters Inc' – Ampatuan massacre justice aftermath with more fear of warlords, corruption
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – [embedded content] The Rappler video feed on the Ampatuan convictions last month. For decades, the feared Ampatuan clan held sway in the impoverished province of Maguindanao in Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Through a ruthless private army and a ...
Evening ReportBy David Robie
Plunging DHB deficits prove the pie is too small
Reports that DHB deficits are set to plunge even further this year are yet more proof that underfunding is bringing hospitals to their knees, says the new Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Sarah Dalton. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Maund, PhD Candidate, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle A primary school in East Gippsland was burnt down in the current bushfire crisis. While Premier Daniel Andrews immediately committed to rebuilding the school as it was, media reported ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jarrod Hodgson, PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide Australian sea lions are in trouble. Their population has never recovered from the impact of the commercial sealing that occurred mainly in the 19th century. Low-lying rock islands and outcrops make important breeding sites for ...
With costs approaching $100 billion, the fires are Australia's costliest natural disaster
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Read, Climate Criminologist & Senior Instructor/Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University It's hard to estimate the eventual economic cost of Australia's 2019-20 megafires, partly because they are still underway, and partly because it is hard to know the cost to attribute ...
Anniversary of the War on Drugs – a young ACT statement
Today marks 100 years since America began waging a war on drugs. This war cannot be won; the effects of prohibition have long pointed this out. In fact, young ACT believes drug prohibition causes more harm than the precise drugs it aims to protect ...
Bernard Hickey looks at the second big question for 2020: Will Trump get re-elected? ...
An Auckland retail store owned by fashion designer Karen Walker is closing its doors permanently at the end of this month. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Lord, Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash University Each year more than 24,000 Australians experience a sudden cardiac arrest. This means their heart unexpectedly stops beating. A cardiac arrest leads to loss of consciousness and will result in death if not recognised and ...
Auckland Island pigs: 'It's a big call to eradicate them'
The Department of Conservation's efforts to cull Auckland Island pigs are being labelled a crime against humanity by the Rare Breeds Conservation Society. ...
Action needed to improve youth justice system
Children and adolescents detained in the youth justice system experience poor health across a range of complex physical and mental health disorders, according to new research . ...
Make-or-break year for Bridges – he must prove he is PM material without shouting down Ardern
Already it is shaping as the most challenging year for National since it lost the Treasury benches in 2017. For Simon Bridges, it's make-or-break for his leadership. Going head-to-head with the Jacinda phenomenon, he has little chance of monstering her in television broadcasts, and even if he did it could ...
Point of OrderBy tutere44
Westpac centralising 250 jobs in Auckland
Westpac plans to shift 250 jobs from Wellington to Auckland to consolidate its technology and product marketing team. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria O'Sullivan, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, and Deputy Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash University When Australians pay their income tax, they assume the money is going to areas of the community that need it, rather than being used ...
Manufacturing sector index falls
The manufacturing sector is back in the doldrums after a short-lived improvement. ...
Who the hell are the celebs on The X-Factor UK: Celebrity?
Tara Ward breaks down the full line-up for The X-Factor UK: Celebrity and we promise you'll recognise at least a few of them.What makes everything better in this rancid world of ours? Not trees, not cooler temperatures, not an unexpected Briscoes 'Monday Madness Sale'. It's celebrities. Celebrities make the world ...
The SpinoffBy Tara Ward
Kāinga Ora's borrowing limit lifted by $4b
Just quietly, the Government is gearing up to announce in an election year that it will borrow $4 billion more to almost double its plans for state house building. Bernard Hickey reports exclusively. ...
Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending January 17
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books' stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $23)WTAF Auckland2 The Truants by Kate Weinberg (Bloomsbury, $33)Agatha Christie + ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
Freight company's sales suffer, in talks with bank
Freight company TIL Logistics has cut its earnings expectations as its sales suffer. ...
Yesterdaze: Logging back in to reality without a password
Haven't been paying attention to the news over the holidays? Fret not, James Elliott has your water-cooler chat covered with his take on the news of the summer. ...
Remuneration Authority loses credibility with 41% pay hike
The 41 percent pay hike for West Coast regional councillors will further erode taxpayers' trust in the Remuneration Authority, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union . Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Pay rates for councillors should broadly ...
Government welcomes $100m surplus after predicting deficit
A Crown accounts surplus will be welcomed by the government today, given that a deficit had been forecast at the end of last year. ...
Radio NZ – political
$10.98 million of PGF funding announced
Kaikōura's bright future received a $10.98 million endorsement from the Provincial Growth Fund today at Kaikōura District Council. ...
The Friday Poem: Kae and the Tohorā by essa may ranapiri
A new poem by Kirikiriroa poet essa may ranapiri. Kae and the Tohorā did u think of the taste of his blubber even as u sat upon his great mammal form ? think of unmasking the slip of his great flippers that churn the salt troth of the sea to reveal the bones of ...
The SpinoffBy essa may ranapiri
All Take and No Give in the State Mismanagement of Care
Māori Party President Che Wilson is angry that yet another report has detailed "persistent and intergenerational" inequities in the treatment of Māori babies by the state. ...
Review: Netflix's Sex Education keeps it up for a charming second season
Is there a more empathetic show on television than the British teen comedy-drama Sex Education? Unlikely, writes Sam Brooks.If you had a Netflix subscription last January, chances are you're one of the reportedly 40 million people who watched Sex Education, the gentle British show about a teenager who gives sex ...
The SpinoffBy Sam Brooks
The Olympics have always been a platform for protest. Banning hand gestures and kneeling ignores the...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University It is the year of the Tokyo Olympics, and the International Olympic Committee was quickly out of the blocks with new guidelines regarding athlete protests. The IOC ...
Kaikōura to get $11m injection for tourism and business opportunities
Kaikōura is set to get a multi-million dollar tourism boost from the Provincial Growth Fund. ...
Hell yes it's time for more pictures of New Zealand politicians' dogs
Inspired by Winston Peters' dog and muse, Beau, a range of other dogs have urged their politician owners to get them in the Spinoff gallery. Drool away.For the second time in a week, The Spinoff is bringing together New Zealand's politician and dog communities in celebration. On Tuesday we published ...
The SpinoffBy Toby Manhire
National happy Green Party's call for troop withdrawal not being acted on
The National Party says it's pleased Labour and New Zealand First haven't buckled to pressure from the Green Party over Iraq. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Barron, Professor, Macquarie University How did homosexuality in humans evolve? Typically, this question is posed as a paradox. The argument is this: gay sex alone can't produce children, and for traits to evolve, they have to be passed onto children, who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Cross, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology There's been an overwhelming outpouring of love and support around the world for those impacted by the bushfires, from social-media donation drives to music concerts to ...
To improve firefighters' mental health, we can't wait for them to reach out – we need to 're...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Smith, Associate Professor in Disaster and Emergency Response, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University Many firefighters will by now be exhausted, having been on the front line of Australia's bushfire crisis for weeks or months. This bushfire season ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Commander, Adjunct Lecturer, University of Western Australia In a fire-blackened landscape, signs of life are everywhere. A riot of red and green leaves erupt from an otherwise dead-looking tree trunk, and the beginnings of wildflowers and grasses peek from the crunchy ...
'What subjects do I choose for my last years of school?'
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susanne Gannon, Associate Professor, Western Sydney University We are being asked to do work experience this year, in a field we might like to work in. We are being asked to think about choosing electives that are directing us towards our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW There has already been a fair number of jobs lost to automation over recent decades – from factory workers to bank tellers. In the coming decade we might see radically larger numbers of jobs lost to ...
Take care when examining the economic impact of fires. GDP doesn't tell the full story
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janine Dixon, Economist at Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University Estimates of the economic damage caused by the bushfires are rolling in, some of them big and some unprecedented, as is the scale of the fires themselves. These types of estimates will ...
Hidden women of history: Catherine Hay Thomson, the Australian undercover journalist who went inside...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Davies, Lecturer, School of the Arts & Media, UNSW In this series, we look at under-acknowledged women through the ages. In 1886, a year before American journalist Nellie Bly feigned insanity to enter an asylum in New York and became a ...
Why DHBs should go on the chopping block
When no other nation copies New Zealand's district health board model, a rethink is needed. ...
Changing South: Overtourism
In the latest of our summer video series on the South Island: We've never been so popular. But how much tourism is too much? ...
How AI can help the move to a low-carbon future
There's a dire need to speed the planet's shift to clean energy - and the power of Artificial Intelligence can help. ...
Climate change adds to frog woes
Frog and lizard scientists add their voices to the call for climate change action to save species from extinction. ...
How to stop getting sunburnt without trashing the oceans
A Wellington startup is tapping into the worldwide move away from ocean-destroying chemical sunscreens with a natural product.Sailing fans got used to seeing helmsman Peter Burling's ghost-like face as he and the Emirates Team New Zealand crew battled to reclaim the America's Cup in 2017. Red-headed Burling clearly felt the ...
The SpinoffBy Maria Slade
Four new year's resolutions for Jacinda Ardern. And four for Simon Bridges
We're half a month into the year, and the political wheels are just beginning to turn. To celebrate, Brigitte Morton proffers some resolutions for the leaders of the two big parties.Like most people, for me the reality of the New Year and those shiny resolutions are starting to wear off. ...
The SpinoffBy Brigitte Morten
Ampatuan massacre justice aftermath with more fear of warlords, corruption
The Rappler video feed on the Ampatuan convictions last month. For decades, the feared Ampatuan clan held sway in the impoverished province of Maguindanao in Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Through a ruthless private army and a reported "propensity for beheadings", the clan cultivated a culture of impunity. Now, ...
Borrow, build, hold says Green co-leader
Break the Budget rules and borrow more for housing, Marama Davidson says. ...
Winston Peters defends decision to keep New Zealand troops in Iraq
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended the decision to keep New Zealand troops in Iraq, saying New Zealand won't be "cutting and running" in the face of heightening conflict. ...
Russian government resignation: what's just happened and what's in store for Putin beyond 2024?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Gill, Professor, Department of Government and Public Administration, University of Sydney News came from Moscow overnight that the Russian government had resigned, followed by the announcement that the current prime minister Dmitry Medvedev would be replaced by the head of the ...
How an Aussie invention could soon cut 5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University In the 1980s, a global race was underway: to find a more efficient way of converting energy from the sun into electricity. Some 30 years ago, our research team at the University of New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Harris, Research fellow, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Review: Black Drop Effect, directed by Felix Cross for Sydney Festival Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names of deceased people. Nardi Simpson's debut play Black ...
Searching for glimpses of a sustainable future
What I should focus on for the final five and a half years of my career as a business journalist? ...
Battlelines drawn as council backs latest dam project
Greater Wellington Regional Council is heralding a controversial dam project for Wairarapa as necessary protection against the threat of climate change. ...
On creating a great side hustle, with the founder of Thing Industries and Wrappy
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Bridie Picot, founder of Thing Industries and Wrappy. This week's podcast is ...
The SpinoffBy Simon Pound
Youth-led climate advocates fundraising for fire help
Youth-led climate advocates School Strike 4 Climate, Generation Zero and WYMO are holding a fun-focused, community organised, collaborative fundraiser towards aid for the Australian Bushfires. ...
Creditor calls for government to step in over Tamarind Taranaki collapse
A New Plymouth business owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by a failed oil and gas company is calling on the government to force the parent company to sell its remaining New Zealand assets. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Richards, Lecturer Sport Business Management, Western Sydney University In the past week, the Australian football players union has been pressuring the A-League to make a major change in the sport – shifting to a winter competition, instead of its current spot ...
Frustration over CRL hardship fund: 'They're playing God with our businesses'
Small businesses affected by delays to Auckland's City Rail Link (CRL) project say they have little faith that a hardship fund set up for them will be of much help. ...
Housing market heating up: What can we expect
The housing market is holding on to its renewed strength underpinned by a recovery in Auckland, and a three-year high in the number of house sales. ...
You can shop around for an affordable gluten-free sandwich – but being sure of what's in it is ...
One way to express dismay at the price being asked for the goods and services we want is to shop elsewhere. Another is to cough up, then grumble about being ripped off on social media. Taking the second course of action may well attract the mainstream media and soon an ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
Originair brings back Nelson to Wellington route
A Nelson-based commuter airline is re-introducing a Cook Strait service to its schedule. ...
Curious Kids: why does reading in the back seat make you feel sick?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wayne Wilson, Associate Professor in Audiology, The University of Queensland Why does reading in the back seat make you feel sick? – Jane, aged 10, from Coburg North, Australia. Hi Jane, your question about why reading in the back ...
Black Friday takes bite out of Christmas holiday sales
Black Friday retail sales could be changing the shopping habits of consumers ahead of traditional pre-Christmas and Boxing Day holiday sales. ...
Māori babies five times more likely to end up in state care – stats
Children's Commissioner Judge says the rate of urgent entries into state care for Māori babies had doubled since 2010. ...
Review: FOMO 2020 was more than just The Lizzo Show
Sam Brooks went to the FOMO 2020 festival in Auckland, and was relieved to find it was more than just the final time that Lizzo will ever perform at 7:20pm."Are you going to see Lizzo tonight?"That's the question a lot of people asked me rather than the more standard, correct ...
Mother, may I sleep with garbage: ThreeNow has a stash of the trashiest movies ever made
Tara Ward takes a deep dive into some of the most outrageous, cliched and batshit made-for-TV movies hiding away on ThreeNow. Sometimes things are so bad, they're good. At Christmas I ate a lot of ham that was probably past its due date, but did I regret it? Once the cramps ...
'Don't lose the bloody stuff': The simple philosophy that helped build Kiwi Wealth
From early beginnings as a boutique wealth management firm to being a major player in KiwiSaver, the journey of Kiwi Wealth has seen some things change and others stay the same. Alex Braae charts their history.A very simple sign once hung at Kiwi Wealth, the wealth management firm that emerged ...
The SpinoffBy Alex Braae
Corrections a whānau affair
The old adage of not mixing family and work could not be further from the truth for mother and daughter Corrections Officers, Sarai and Latisha Morris. ...
The Dish in Parkes is scanning the southern Milky Way, searching for alien signals
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sunanda Creagh, Head of Digital Storytelling For John Sarkissian, operations scientist at the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, astronomy has been his life's passion – starting from the age of six. "When I was six years old, I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...
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