Press release from the Green Party. _____________________________________________________________________________ The Greens are highlighting fast intercity rail improvements as the type of climate-friendly, job-creating project that should be prioritised for post-COVID-19 economic stimulus investment. The proposal would mean significant intercity rail investment over ten years to roll out…
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There is a reason why there haven't been any human based vaccines for corona viruses. Planning on an effective COVID-19 vaccine without excessive human side-effects being produced in the next five years looks pretty unrealistic. I'm concentrating in this post on giving accessible overviews in…
Any serious attempt to halt global warming would involve a winding down of economic activity that relies on burning fossil and other carbon generating sources of energy. We've taken a small initial step in that direction through our attempts to stop the spread of Covid…
Even if New Zealand gets out of the immediate Covid-19 infection better than most other countries, the result is still a wrecked world and a slow recovery. What we face is something like an Australian firefighter with a hose and a tanker facing an onrushing…
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The initial Green Party list was posted on twitter last week by Henry Cooke. This is its first form. Next it goes through a member ranking process, and then is adjusted for balance of Māori, gender, region, and age. The list is then reviewed by…
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In recent days I've been thinking it would be good if the government allowed for a certain "stretching" of bubbles so that people could be reasonably social. I'm glad to see that the outline for what Level 3 will be allows for bubbles to be…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
5 9 49 31 6 No, not next Saturday's Lotto numbers, but Matthew Hooton's twitter teaser. It's either left to right (Gov't v Opposition) or alphabetical. Or maybe something else. I reckon the key number is 49. That's an outright win for the first time…
According to Stephen Mills on Nine to Noon yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn's resignation as Labour leader will only be mourned by "the microscopic Rosa Luxemburg-worshipping far left sect in New Zealand." His outburst was deliberate, gratuitous and way over the top. His vehemence reminded me of…
Here in Aotearoa we are heading towards the pointy political fulcrum of decision making regarding Covid-19. And it looks like there will be a pronounced public debate about what we should do. Matthew Hooton gave it away. For a while he has been adulatory about…
No Right Turn wrote yesterday: ______________________________________________________________________________ This morning, Treasury released some truly terrifying scenarios for the economic impact of the pandemic - a major recession and 13.5% unemployment in the best case. The government is going to try and counteract that and get people back…
Scholarly Debate A couple of weeks ago, an Auckland epidemiologist wrote an opinion piece in which he argued that our lockdown measures were overkill [pardon the pun]. He finished his piece with these memorable words: We don't want to squash a flea with a sledgehammer…
After the lockdown, it is tempting to try and go back to what we had before. To the familiar and comfortable, especially for us that were comfortable. Forgetting that for so many, things were anything but, comfortable. That won't be happening. "Before" no longer exists.…
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By us, I mean New Zealand. We respond well to good leadership I’m not going to wax on about the politicians. But the leading public servants have been shown to be people we can trust and rely upon. We have been reassured. We have frankly…
Siri please show me the dumbest right wing take from the past few days. Despite the bedlam that is happening in the US and in the UK the winner is a local entry, Simon O'Connor complaining about Julie Anne Genter announcing a relatively modest fund…
We are all in the same boat now, rich and poor, more or less. We must not flout, we cannot flaunt, except online. A common sentiment expressed is that we are all beneficiaries now. I know what they mean by it, but I think it…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …