“Deliberate nuclear use
in a war over Taiwan” is the title of an Atlantic Council paper produced last September. They mean nuclear weapons. These are serious people; Undersecretary Bonnie Jenkins addressed them last year about AUKUS.
Social issues
Open letter to Judge Glubb
… the assault had the very real potential to cause serious, possibly fatal injuries.
That fact should have featured in your sentencing, if only to use the opportunity to send a message to all men who punch women, and to young men who punch anyone in the head but especially old women, that it is an extremely dangerous act.
Let them eat cake
David Seymour has stated that funding for free school lunches will be cut by up to half.
Dune 2 and Gaza
What if life followed fiction and Gaza was explained by Dune 2? Sigh. It isn’t.
What does the Government have against Maori health?
National spent much of yesterday ramming through under urgency and without a select committee process two measures which will have detrimental effects on Māori health.
Guns and gangs
The Government has announced yet another tough on gangs policy involving a severe restriction on the rights of freedom of expression at the same time that gun ownership laws will be liberalised.
What’s Left?
From Election 2023’s result through to February 2024 there has been massive loss and damage to the Parliamentary capacity of Labour and Greens. Who still has the capacity to lead? What’s left?
RIP Efeso Collins
Very sad news today with news of Fa’anana Efeso Collins’ untimely death.
Get ready for your water to be privatised
The National Government’s repeal of the Three Waters Legislation and its pursuit of “new forms of infrastructure funding and financing” suggests that privatisation of water is on the drawing board.
Laura Norda strikes again
National has announced the cancellation of funding for Cultural Reports because of the cost and the abandonment of Labour’s plan to decrease the muster despite the cost.
The “New Zealand model” for prostitution liberalisation doesn’t work
The Women’s Rights Party New Zealand and the Women’s Declaration International – New Zealand recently made a joint submission to Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls
Coffee and Cigarettes
Coffee and Cigarettes is an in-depth study of the human condition by Jim Jarmusch.
Which party are “we” bringing food to, Judith?
War with China? Or cocktails with the Colonels? I haven’t got the invitations, but I’m a no for both.
The Apparatus behind the Curtain
The release from the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa around tobacco industry interference was a glimpse behind the curtain into a troubling reality.
It has been a long week for Casey Costello
Recent disclosure of the actions of associate Minister of Health Casey Costello raises the extraordinary possibility that British American Tobacco may be having an undue influence on the setting of the Government’s smoking policies.
ACT’s performative FedFoke virtual signalling
Take your dirty boots off at the door ya numpties.
Does the Western World really want to starve Palestine?
Western Nations including New Zealand have suspended urgently needed aid for Palestine after revelations that a tiny minority of UNRHA workers may have been involved in Hamas raids and despite the UNHRA taking immediate action to address issues arising.
Economy improves dramatically thanks to Labour
This week there were two pieces of economic news showing a dramatic improvement credit for which should be given to the last Labour Government.
The Government is planning to cut tobacco excise duty
Hot on the heels of the Government’s walk back from the previous Government’s smoke free policies is the disclosure that the Government is considering halting increases to excise duties on tobacco. And the Government tried to hide this.
Which side are you on?
The Act Party is seeking to undermine te Tiriti o Waitangi and ferment racial hatred and division while nominally seeking unity. And National clearly has no idea what to do about the situation.
Labour and the Democrats
Both the US Democrats and NZ Labour need to take hard looks at themselves. Failure is not inevitable. But there is now only one English-speaking centre-left democracy left in the world: that is the state of where we are now.
Mood of the smokoroom – fearful
The Council of Trade Unions has completed its annual survey of workers and the mood is grim.
Dirty Politics 2024?
Some of the usual suspects… how would we know what is really going on?
Our Resistance
There are still groups of people in New Zealand who can and do organise to resist the damage of the right.
Genocide in Gaza
South Africa has taken a case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice. A group of prominent New Zealand lawyers have asked the New Zealand Government to join South Africa in support of their application. I think we should.
Darkness Towards Peace
Can Israel lose a moral battle in Gaza and yet still win?
The Useful Rich
New Zealand’s rich are endlessly fascinating, but as wealth concentrates ever tighter we are poorer.
Repealing the Tax Principles Reporting Act is performative nonsense
National’s 100 days of action is frankly performative nonsense. But it did not include the repeal of the Tax Principles Reporting Act which National smashed through under urgency in the last sitting day of Parliament. What was it trying to hide?
Wanaka Has No Crime
The purpose of everyone in New Zealand is to keep Wanaka pure.
The Pogues wrote the best Christmas song ever
It is Christmas time and the eternal debate about who wrote the best Christmas song ever is being debated yet again. For me there is only one possible contender.
NZ policy is consistent about Russian invasion
Unlike Mike Smith and other noisy members of the imperialist cohort, I applaud that NZ foreign policy has remained consistent in upholding UN and ICC policies against invasions and forced annexations. Ardern, Hipkins and now Luxon have all said the same thing.Supporting the UN charter has massively reduced war casualties over the last 70 years. Clearly the Russian Federation finds this constraining.
Peak NZ Liberal
As National dismantles with speed some of the institutional reforms made by the last Labour Government the concern is that we may have witnessed the peak in progressive influence.
Is the Coalition Government Back Jabbing Māori?
The coalition government robs Pita to pay Paora to appease its voter base.
Be very afraid for Kainga Ora
So National’s shock and awe campaign is under way. And the first target is Kainga Ora.
National’s complete indifference to climate change
This is the only possible explanation. As well as celebrating all things car National has a pathological hatred of cycleways and walkways and public transport.
Why was Judith Collins appointed as a KC?
Judith Collins has been appointed a Kings Counsel even before she has had time to show her performance as Attorney General and even though previous highly respected lawyers such as David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer and Margaret Wilson were not appointed while serving as Attorneys General.