Latest Top Scoops Headlines
Concerns over secret fisheries donations to NZ First Foundation
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 4:06 pm | RNZ
One of the country's biggest fishing companies, Talley's, and its managing director donated nearly $27,000 to the New Zealand First Foundation. More >>
Y2K bug has a 2020 echo
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:44 pm | Digitl
The millennium bug is back with a vengeance, after programmers in the 1990s simply pushed the problem back by 20 years. Source: A lazy fix 20 years ago means the Y2K bug is taking down computers now | New Scientist More >>
What Spark thinks about its fixed wireless broadband
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:38 pm | Digitl
Last week Spark announced its first half results for the six months to December 31. It is a solid report showing strong revenue growth. More >>
Galaxy Z Flip brings notification relief
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:25 pm | Digitl
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip is a another take on the emerging foldable phone format. More >>
Galaxy Z Flip brings notification relief
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:25 pm | Digitl
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip is a another take on the emerging foldable phone format. More >>
Galaxy Z Flip brings notification relief
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:25 pm | Digitl
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip is a another take on the emerging foldable phone format. More >>
New Zealand's game developers exporting photons, not atoms
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 1:19 pm | Digitl
New Zealand interactive game developers earned $203.4 million dollars during the 2019 financial year – double the $99.9m earned only two years earlier in 2017. The success comes from targeting audiences around the world and 96% of the industry’s ... More >>
Not The Promised Land
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 11:58 am | Max Rashbrooke
Reviewer: Max Rashbrooke Talk about highs and lows: after the stunning success of the Lemi Ponifasio-created opening night work Chosen and Beloved, the same director presented us with a piece that, despite containing moments of real beauty, was wildly ... More >>
On Bernie Sanders’ Presidential Bid
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 11:15 am | Gordon Campbell
Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic nomination is taking on an air of inevitability, and that likelihood has been met with elation by some people, and feelings of dread in others. Is the Vermont senator the party’s best hope of motivating ... More >>
Coronavirus: Is NZ Ready For A Worst-case Economic Scenario?
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 11:04 am | RNZ
Click a link to play audio (or right-click to download) in MP3 format . Hundreds of North Island forestry workers could be relocated to conservation jobs in Southland to soften the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. A Treasury advisory group ... More >>
Shelly Bay development: Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh threaten legal action
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 10:57 am | RNZ
Filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh have threatened high court action over decisions about the contentious Shelly Bay development in Wellington. More >>
PM not interested in tit-for-tat deportation policy with Australia
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 10:47 am | RNZ
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is brushing off pressure from National to take a tougher stance on deporting Australian criminals. More >>
Extra $25 million cost for dam construction not stopping Tasman council going ahead
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 10:35 am | RNZ
The Tasman District mayor is vowing to press on with a large irrigation project, despite a 25 percent jump in its cost. More >>
Four men facing charges over National Party donations case to appear in court
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 10:30 am | RNZ
The four men facing charges over National Party electoral donations - including Jami-Lee Ross - have their first appearance at court today. More >>
Universities make case for ability to handle students arriving from China amid Covid-19 outbreak
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 10:20 am | RNZ
As universities argue for a Covid-19 travel ban exemption, they're trying to convince officials they can handle an influx of students from China. More >>
Covid-19: Travel Restrictions For Those Coming From China Extended
Tuesday, 25 February 2020, 9:35 am | RNZ
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed the country's China travel ban will be extended for another eight days. Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas The restrictions were put in place in early February as part of precautionary measures to try to keep the ... More >>
Mixed Returns For The Huawei Bashing Tour
Monday, 24 February 2020, 3:51 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The US imperium is rattled, so much so it’s letting everyone else know about it. Move over the trade war with its bitchy insistence on redressing imbalances, surpluses and deficits; the next phase of conflict with China is being waged in matters of ... More >>
We’re Asking One Question In Assange’s Case: Should Journalists Be Punished For Exposing War Crimes?
Monday, 24 February 2020, 12:28 pm | Caitlin Johnstone
We’re Asking One Question In Assange’s Case: Should Journalists Be Punished For Exposing War Crimes? This is a speech I gave yesterday at a demonstration for Assange with the Socialist Equality Party Australia. Tomorrow in the UK a judge ... More >>
Council’s Protest Vote On Wetlands Leaves Some Land In Limbo
Monday, 24 February 2020, 11:11 am | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
Wetlands that are not in fact wetlands remain in limbo after the West Coast Regional Council yesterday rejected a plan change that would have freed them from looming restrictions. The council's Resource Management Committee voted 5-4 yesterday against ... More >>
Support swells for Lake Rotorua personhood petition
Monday, 24 February 2020, 11:08 am | Felix Desmarais - Local Democracy Reporter
Since Tuesday last week, Renee Kiriona’s petition had ballooned from 2150 signatures to 4078 signatures. More >>
Precautionary Controls Against GMOs Into Northland Under Spotlight Next Week
Monday, 24 February 2020, 11:01 am | Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will be under the spotlight in Northland next week at an Environment Court mediation. NAD0558242414 - GMOs for Northland farming - in or out of Proposed Northland Regional Plan? (Photo Northern Advocate, supplied ... More >>
Chorus Wins Court Costs After ‘grossly Misleading Flattery’ Case
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:52 am | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
A high court judge has awarded Chorus costs. CREDIT: MONIQUE FORD/STUFF/SUPPLIED – SINGLE USE ONLY A telecommunication giant that used "grossly misleading flattery" in a bid to secure a broadband contract with a council has won back ... More >>
PM's Fiji, Aus visits highlight differing climate change approaches
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:41 am | RNZ
Climate change will be a hot topic in Jacinda Ardern's meeting with the Fijian PM this week, but an elephant in the room for her talk with the Australian PM. More >>
National considers reciprocal deportations for Australians
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:32 am | RNZ
Opposition leader Simon Bridges says a National government will look at amending the law to allow Australians convicted of serious crimes in New Zealand to be deported. More >>
Coronavirus Travel Ban Likely To Be Extended, PM Says
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:29 am | RNZ
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern anticipates cabinet ministers will decide to extend the ban on foreign travellers arriving from mainland China - which is due to expire tonight. (file photo) Passengers at Beijing Airport last month. Photo: AFP An initial ... More >>
Trucking boss Stan Semenoff says NZTA crackdown fuelled by a vendetta
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:20 am | RNZ
Northland's biggest trucking operator has accused the Transport Agency of letting an employee wage a personal vendetta against him that's cost him millions of dollars. More >>
The City That Soaks Up Water - Can Auckland Cope?
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:17 am | RNZ
Mangatangi Dam (Watercare’s largest dam), showing low water levels, in the Hunua Ranges. Photo: Supplied / Watercare Auckland's water use has gone through the roof this summer, breaking records of 560 million litres per day. This when there's been ... More >>
Coronavirus could cut Air New Zealand earnings by $35m-75m
Monday, 24 February 2020, 10:04 am | RNZ
The airline says it has been hit by reduced demand for travel to and from Asia and it expects a downturn in earnings. More >>
Nonviolent Action For Peace
Monday, 24 February 2020, 8:47 am | David Swanson
George Lakey’s new book is called How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning . On its cover is a drawing of a hand holding up two fingers in what is more often considered a peace sign than a victory sign, but I suppose it is meant ... More >>
Draft Report 2 Of The NZ Productivity Commission Is Wrong About Universal Basic Income
Sunday, 23 February 2020, 4:13 pm | Perce Harpham
by Perce Harpham The discussion appears to be a shallow justification to reach a preconceived conclusion that " The Commission does not see merit in further investigating this option as a means of improving income smoothing ". Two quotations ... More >>
Govt Vehicle Fleet Emissions Heading In Wrong Direction
Sunday, 23 February 2020, 2:00 pm | NZ Energy and Environment Business Week
First published in Energy and Environment on February 13, 2020. The latest data shows the Government’s attempts to electrify its vehicle fleet and cut its emissions are not making much ground. While the average emissions per vehicle have dropped ... More >>
Beloved Indeed
Saturday, 22 February 2020, 5:49 pm | Max Rashbrooke
Chosen and Beloved MAU/NZSO Friday 21 February Reviewer: Max Rashbrooke The Festival of the Arts is a prime opportunity to boldly experiment, to push the boundaries. And that’s just what Chosen and Beloved did on the festival’s opening night, ... More >>
Seeing Through The Lies – US Edition
Friday, 21 February 2020, 11:28 am | Craig Murray
The Guardian newspaper has taken the art of obfuscation , false implication and the subtler forms of journalistic lying to new heights in its very extensive coverage of the Roger Stone sentencing saga. It has now devoted fourteen articles in the last ... More >>
Who's in the running for New Zealander of the year 2020?
Friday, 21 February 2020, 11:18 am | RNZ
The 2020 New Zealander of the Year Award winner will be revealed tonight and the finalists are Peter Beck, Jane Harding, and Jennifer Ward-Lealand Te Atamira. More >>
Number of teens trying cannabis drops, new figures show
Friday, 21 February 2020, 11:01 am | RNZ
The number of 14 and 15 year olds who have tried cannabis has fallen by more than a quarter. More >>
Access To Healthy Food Is A ‘Human Rights’ Issue.
Friday, 21 February 2020, 10:58 am | Marco Fantham
Chris Woodney tells his side of the story Yes, I’d like to think that I saved my sister's life, and my best friend's life, but I can’t take the credit, because they really saved themselves. I'm just the one that enabled them to regain a healthy ... More >>
Further changes to firearms bill likely before becoming law
Friday, 21 February 2020, 10:56 am | RNZ
The legislation setting up a firearms register and introducing tougher licensing controls is a step closer to becoming law, but negotiations with New Zealand First are still ongoing. More >>
Education Ministry announces changes to NCEA
Friday, 21 February 2020, 10:50 am | RNZ
The government has dropped controversial plans to let primary and intermediate school children sit NCEA literacy and numeracy tests. More >>
Doctors fear coronavirus will hit NZ at same time as winter flu season
Friday, 21 February 2020, 10:47 am | RNZ
Travel restrictions may delay coronavirus arriving in New Zealand until the winter flu season, further straining the health sector, a new report says. More >>
The New Organisation Helping Finance Environmental Action
Friday, 21 February 2020, 8:46 am | RNZ
As concerns about the risks of climate change ramp up, there are many ways that action is being taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the future. Photo: 123rf.com Some efforts are tangible - drive less, cycle more, shift towards ... More >>
Auckland Council tells govt it is 'strongly opposed' to its planned model for the housing crisis
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 1:00 pm | RNZ
The council is warning government officials of the risks of disastrous housing developments like some seen in the United Kingdom. More >>
Govt Department Spends Almost $100m On Contractors And Consultants In One Year
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:45 am | RNZ
A major government department has failed to rein in its spending on contractors and consultants. Photo: 123RF New figures show the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) spent almost $100 million this way in the last financial year, ... More >>
Fletcher Building Growing Impatient For Ihumātao Solution
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:34 am | RNZ
The owners of the disputed land at Ihumātao say for seven months they've halted development at the request of the Prime Minister, but that can't continue indefinitely. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly Fletcher Building owns the land in South Auckland ... More >>
National Party Donations Case: 'I Am Now Being Painted As The Scapegoat' - Jami-Lee Ross
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:31 am | RNZ
Jami-Lee Ross is once again proclaiming his innocence, as he heads off to court next week - along with three others - to face Serious Fraud Office charges. Independent MP for Botany Jami-Lee Ross says he's now being painted as the scapegoat. Photo: ... More >>
Jacinda Ardern Tries To Soothe Virus Rift With China
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:28 am | RNZ
The Prime Minister has tried to relieve mounting pressure on China and New Zealand's bilateral relationship at a Chinese New Year Celebration at Parliament. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a Chinese New Year event. Photo: RNZ / Charlie Dreaver China's ... More >>
UN Special Rapporteur Calls On NZ For Bold Human-rights Approach To Housing Crisis
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:17 am | RNZ
A visiting United Nations representative has called the country's housing crisis a "significant human rights crisis" and says it is time the right to housing was wrenched from the hands of the private market. An aerial view of housing in Auckland. ... More >>
Coronavirus: Expert Warns More Flights Could Be Cancelled
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 11:07 am | RNZ
An industry analyst is predicting more international flights will be cancelled if the coronavirus and consumer uncertainty it has created is not contained. Air New Zealand, China Southern, Sichuan Airlines, Air China, Hainan Airlines, Singapore ... More >>
Meeting Over Wellington's Sewerage Upgrade Gets Heated
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 10:53 am | RNZ
Despite an urgent meeting about Wellington's ageing and leaking sewerage system it is still not clear when the problems are going to be fixed. Wellington Water CEO Colin Crampton apologised at the meeting. Photo: RNZ/ Michael Cropp The mayor and ... More >>
Damning New Report Says Every Nation Undermining Children
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 10:30 am | Common Dreams - Andrea Germanos
(Headline abbreviated, original headline: Damning New Report Says Every Nation Undermining Children's Hopes for a Livable Planet) More >>
On Our Unreal Optimism About The Economic Impact Of Coronavirus
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 10:05 am | Gordon Campbell
At this week’s Chinese New Year celebrations, PM Jacinda Ardern was resolutely upbeat that business with China would soon bounce back to normal – better than ever, even - once the coronavirus epidemic has been brought under control. To Ardern, ... More >>
Bloomberg’s Poll Numbers Show The Power Of Billionaire Narrative Control
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 9:23 am | Caitlin Johnstone
Back in November Mike Bloomberg was polling at four percent nationally and had the highest disapproval rating of any potential Democratic presidential candidate, and understandably so; the man has a uniquely horrible record and no redeeming traits ... More >>
‘And Then - Nothing. Silence’: The Deadly Facade Of ‘Democracy’
Thursday, 20 February 2020, 9:12 am | MediaLens
If you were mad enough to judge the state of the world by the daily outpourings of ‘mainstream’ media, you would have no real understanding of the perilous state of the human race. Or, if you had concerns on seeing the latest news on climate breakdown, ... More >>
Neighbours Rat Out ‘ugly’ Tiny Homes
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 4:54 pm | Chloe Ranford - Local Democracy Reporter
The Marlborough District Council receives more complaints for "ugly" tiny houses than it does resource consents for them. Marlborough District Council advocacy and practice integration manager Barbara Mead says tiny house owners often seek a ... More >>
Council Keeping Tabs On Water Use
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 4:48 pm | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
Gisborne’s water use has dropped in line with cooler temperatures in the past week. The district council introduced a total sprinkler ban on Wednesday, with demand for water exceeding the 22.2 million litres a day supplied by Waingake water treatment ... More >>
UPDATE: Elderly West Coast Man To Lose 70% Of Farm In SNA ‘landgrab’.
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 4:44 pm | Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter
An elderly West Coast man has appealed to the government not to take his land, after more than 70% of it was classed as a Significant Natural Area. 1/ Tony Barrett and Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson 86-year-old Tony Barrett lives alone on his 607ha block ... More >>
Funding Sought For Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 4:18 pm | Charlotte Jones - Local Democracy Reporter
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council will be making a second request to the Ministry for the Environment for funding to remediate the contaminated Kopeopeo canal after its first request was refused. NOT DONE YET: This sign on the Keepa Road bridge advises ... More >>
East Coast Projects Take Flight
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 4:02 pm | Aaron van Delden - Local Democracy Reporter
Commercial flights in and out of Ruatoria and Te Araroa are on the horizon, with aerodromes to be developed in both isolated East Coast communities. Funding from the Provincial Growth Fund’s Whenua Maori allocation for the two aerodrome projects ... More >>
Five O Wanderings; Return To Aotearoa
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 1:42 pm | Richard Major
A continued 501 story: Richard Major It’s my first New Year back in New Zealand since my forced early return from Australia September 2019. After 5 months I am beginning to settle in, find my ground and enjoy what is a truly beautiful country. Recently ... More >>
“Leave Our Bloke Alone”: A Little Mission For Julian Assange
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 1:32 pm | Binoy Kampmark
“I think that now it is time that the government I am a part of needs to be standing up and saying to both the UK and the US: ‘enough is enough, leave our bloke alone and let him come home.’” George Christensen, Australian conservative MP, Sydney ... More >>
On The Political Donations Scandals
Wednesday, 19 February 2020, 11:01 am | Gordon Campbell
Even paranoids have real enemies. While there has been something delusionary about the way New Zealand First has been living in denial about its donations scandal, one can sympathise with its indignation about Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges being ... More >>
