If anyone is keen on us having a 90s revival – ASAP – it would have to be Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler. Back in the 1990s, central bankers were like kings...
Around the world, it is now seen to be central governments with their neo- Keynesian economic policies and their quantitative easing and their massive infrastructural spending projects who have to try and restore some life to the economy, and thereby undo the damage done by central bankers of yore. More>>
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Labour On Member's Bills: Lost Luggage Law Shows National’s Lost The Plot
“A Statutes Amendment Bill has just gone through the Select Committee stage and Labour will support the proposed change in this waste-of-time Bill to be added... If National doesn’t take up this offer it is proof that they are abusing the Members’ Ballot to prevent other issues from being debated." More>>
Auckland: Unitary Plan Recommendations Before Council
[10/8] Auckland Council has made good progress with its final decisions on the Auckland Unitary Plan today with many Independent Hearings Panel recommendations adopted by the council’s Governing Body. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Our China Cringe
So we have a new round of revelations about the Key government’s handling of the threats to our exports by China – if we should proceed to investigate the reports of them dumping their excess steel in this country. More>>
'Global Funding': Educators Join Forces Over Govt Plans
Educators from early childhood to secondary schooling are uniting to respond to the government’s latest funding proposal, saying it could result in fewer teachers and larger class sizes. More>>
Communicating: Parliament Captioning Increasing Accessibility
The captioning of all Parliament TV’s broadcasts will provide better access for deaf and hearing impaired New Zealanders... “It’s been a great year for captioning in New Zealand. In February, Prime began broadcasting with captions and the coverage of the Olympic Games in Rio also on Prime has substantial live captioning each day.” More>>
Post Cabinet Press Conference: Try Asking Someone Else
Prime Minister John Key opened the first Post Cabinet Presser in over a month by listing the policy announcements the Government had made over the Parliamentary recess... More>>
Going Dutch: Dutch King And Queen To Visit NZ In November
“Our close relationship with the Netherlands dates back to Abel Tasman’s sighting of New Zealand in 1642, and we are lucky to have many Dutch migrants living here who greatly enhance our society and economy.” More>>
Wellington: Celia Wade-Brown Not Standing For Mayoralty
“After 20 years of successful local government service, 6 years as Mayor and 14 years as a councillor prior to that, I am ready to move on and contribute to the community in a different capacity,” said Ms Wade-Brown. More>>
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(Past $1.5mil Now): ParrotDog Raises $1.2million In 12 Hours
Wellington-based craft brewers ParrotDog launched their equity crowdfunding campaign yesterday, and raised their minimum goal of $1,200,000 in less than 12 hours. More>>
Biodiversity: Collaborative Group To Improve Nature Protection
A new collaborative group involving environmental and landowner organisations has come together to improve national policy on protecting nature on private land, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced today at the Environmental Defence Society’s ‘Wild Places’ conference in Auckland. More>>
Taking Stock: NZ Sheep Numbers Lowest Since The 1930s Depression
New Zealand now has about seven sheep for every person, down from 22 per person in 1982 when there were more than 70 million sheep… The number of breeding ewes fell 3.1 percent, the 10th consecutive annual decline. More>>
Various Fraud Cases: Transport Ministry Manager Charged Over $726,000 Fraud
A former senior manager at the Ministry of Transport has appeared in the Manukau District Court charged with three counts of dishonestly taking or using a document in relation to a $726,000 fraud. More>>
Supplementary Questions: Landcorp Ditches Palm Kernel Feed
Landcorp Farming, the state-owned farmer, will stop using palm kernel expeller on its farms in the current financial year to shore up its environmental sustainability credentials. More>>
Broader Bands: Rural Broadband Initiative Phase One Complete
The first phase of the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) is now complete, benefitting 300,000 homes and businesses, says Communications Minister Amy Adams. More>>
Kiwifruit: Zespri Suspends Shipments To China
Aug. 5 (BusinessDesk) - Zespri International has temporarily halted exports to China while it puts in place new checking protocols after Chinese authorities tagged the fruit marketer when four containers of kiwifruit were found with a fruit-rotting ... More>>
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Binoy Kampmark: Kevin Rudd’s Failed UN Secretary General Bid
Few sights are sadder in international diplomacy than seeing an aging figure desperate for honours. In a desperate effort to net them, he scurries around, cultivating, prodding, wishing to be noted. Finally, such an honour is netted, in all likelihood just to shut that overly keen individual up. More>>
Open Source / Open Society: The Scoop Foundation - An Open Model For NZ Media
Access to accurate, relevant and timely information is a crucial aspect of an open and transparent society. However, in our digital society information is in a state of flux with every aspect of its creation, delivery and consumption undergoing profound redefinition... More>>
Keeping Out The Vote: Gordon Campbell On The US Elections
I’ll focus here on just two ways that dis-enfranchisement is currently occurring in the US: (a) by the rigging of the boundary lines for voter districts and (b) by demanding elaborate photo IDs before people are allowed to cast their vote. More>>
Ramzy Baroud: Being Black Palestinian - Solidarity As A Welcome Pathology
It should come as no surprise that the loudest international solidarity that accompanied the continued spate of the killing of Black Americans comes from Palestine; that books have already been written and published by Palestinians about the plight of their Black brethren. In fact, that solidarity is mutual. More>>
Max Rashbrooke: Why The New British Conservative PM Is Talking Inequality
In a major speech, May honed in on one key theme: an economy “that works for everyone”. It was strikingly like the language that the former British Labour leader, Ed Miliband, used in last year’s election campaign, as he put inequality front and centre of his – unsuccessful – political pitch. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Tony Blair And The Chilcot Report
Alongside this litany of criticisms of Blair’s style of government and decision-making, Chilcot has also given Blair a remarkable amount of wiggle room. More>>
Lets imagine an industry that prides itself on its modern technology. Yet its basic service is a chronic source of anxiety to many of its customers, partly because (very occasionally) this industry suffers catastrophic accidents that kill everyone who is using a particular instance of its service at the time. More>>
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Amnesty/Human Rights Watch: Appalling Abuse, Neglect Of Refugees On Nauru
Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, most of whom have been held there for three years, routinely face neglect by health workers and other service providers who have been hired by the Australian government, as well as frequent unpunished assaults by local Nauruans. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The Censorship Havoc In South Africa’s State Broadcaster
Demands have included an order to staff that there should be no further negative news about the country’s President Jacob Zuma, and SABC camera operators responsible for choosing camera angles that have allegedly made the President ‘look shorter’ were to be retrained... More>>
Gordon Campbell: On A Bad Week For Malcolm Turnbull, And The Queen
Malcolm Turnbull’s immediate goal – mere survival – is still within his grasp... In every other respect though, this election has been a total disaster for the Liberals. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Bidding Bye Bye To Boris
Boris Johnson’s exit from the contest for Conservative Party leadership supports the conspiracy theory that he never really expected the “Leave” option to win the referendum – and he has no intention now of picking up the poisoned chalice that managing the outcome will entail... More>>
Mexico: Violence And Repression Of Teachers
The member organizations of Network for Peace express our indignation over the acts of repression that the Mexican State has carried out, through the police forces... In Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca, the conflict has resulted in murders of teachers and civilians as well as hundreds of wounded and dozens of people arrested. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Britain's Pleas For Mercy
So… Boris Johnson is promising that he won't be holding a snap general election, if he's chosen as the next UK Conservative Party leader. Reportedly, he is even making that promise a feature of his leadership campaign, since a vote for Boris would therefore mean (wink wink) that his colleagues wouldn't have to risk their jobs and face the wrath of the British public until 2020. More>>
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Book Awards: ANZAC Heroes Wins Margaret Mahy Book Of The Year
“Simply stunning, with gold-standard production values,” say the judges of the winner of this year’s Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award in the prestigious New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. ANZAC Heroes is also the winner of the Elsie Locke Award for the Best Book in the Non-Fiction category. More>>
Baby Animals: Hamilton Zoo Rhino Calf Named
Hamilton Zoo’s latest rhino calf has been named Samburu and he's being celebrated with a unique zoo experience... Samburu arrived after his mother Kito’s 16-month pregnancy and the calf brings the number of white rhinos at Hamilton Zoo to six. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The Rio Olympics
Were you pretty excited earlier this week when Vietnam won its first ever Olympic gold medal? Hanoi, reportedly, went wild... Perhaps we should keep Vietnam’s golden moment in mind as we gear up for saturation media coverage of New Zealand’s medal achievements in Rio. More>>
Super Rugby Champions: Hurricanes Victory Parade On Tuesday [9/8]
The parade will leave Parliament on Tuesday (9 August) at 12 noon in open-topped vehicles, travelling along Lambton Quay to Willis Street and on to Mercer Street before arriving in Civic Square about 12.30pm and the presentations will conclude around 1pm. More>>
NZSO Review: Strauss, Sweetness And Steel
Max Rashbrooke: There was a diminished audience for this New Zealand Symphony Orchestra performance, a fact probably explicable by its clash with the Super Rugby final that evening, which was being played just down the road and which featured the (ultimately victorious) local team, the Hurricanes. ... More>>
Official Government Stats: Pokémon Per Person Peaks In Dunedin
New Zealand’s Pokémon population is currently in excess of 446,000 a day, according to Statistics New Zealand. Around 6,200 Pokémon are active across the country at any given moment. More>>
Howard Davis: Orson Welles' Masterpiece - 'Chimes At Midnight'
Never widely distributed in the US, but Welles' own personal favorite and hugely influential on directors as diverse as Kenneth Branagh and Mel Gibson, a restored 50th anniversary print has now reached the New Zealand Film Festival. More>>
Off To Leeds: Wellington’s Local Naked Girl Spreads Her Wings
Wellington born, bred and based live artist Virginia Kennard, self confessed “local naked girl”, has earned a place on the MA in Performance programme at Leeds Beckett University and flies away in 2 months time. More>>
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Werewolf: Flying Blind