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href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/how_annoyed_would_nzers_be_if_nz_news_media_were_no_longer_findable_on_search_engines_and_social_media.html">How annoyed would NZers be if NZ news media were no longer findable on search engines and social media?</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>Readers will be aware that the Government’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill has seen both Meta and Google warn that rather than pay a levy under the proposed law for links to news stories, they would block NZ news stories from Google and Facebook.</p> <p>Curia was asked to poll 1,000 New Zealanders on:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p><strong>The government is considering a scheme to levy fees on search engines and social media sites, that display links to NZ news stories. In response sites such as Google and Facebook may stop showing you NZ news stories. How annoyed would you be if you could no longer find NZ news stories through search engines or social media sites</strong>?</p> </blockquote> <p>The <a href="https://www.curia.co.nz/2024/11/access-to-news-poll-results-november-2024/" title="">full results are at Curia</a>.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="560" height="138" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=560%2C138&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-142578" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=560%2C138&ssl=1 560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=500%2C123&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=150%2C37&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=768%2C189&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-25-at-11.10.13%E2%80%AFAM.png?w=950&ssl=1 950w" sizes="(max-width: 580px) calc(100vw - 20px), 560px" /></figure> <p>So 65% of respondents said they would be very or somewhat annoyed if they could no longer find NZ news stories through search engines or social media sites. </p> <p>There is quite a bit of variation by demographics. The percentage who said they would be very or somewhat annoyed by demographics was:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Under 40s 75%</li> <li>Green voters 70%</li> <li>Women 69%</li> <li>Labour voters 69%<br />NZ First voters 67%</li> <li>40 – 59s 64%</li> <li>National voters 62%</li> <li>Men 60%</li> <li>ACT voters 57%</li> <li>Overs 60s 52%</li> </ul> <p>It is interesting that it started life as a Labour bill and now is a National bill, yet Labour and National voters will be considerably upset if it passes and causes them to lose access to NZ news sites via social media and search engines.</p> <p>Of course there is a chance Google and Meta are bluffing, and won’t block news access. We may find out, if the Government proceeds. 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href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/mallory_keaton_joins_alex.html">Mallory Keaton joins Alex</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>It will surprise few that I loved and grew up on Family Ties which starred Michael J Fox (I even started calling myself David P Farrar to emulate him) as Alex P Keaton – the conservative son to liberal parents.</p> <p>His sister, Mallory, was played by Justine Bateman. It seems Mallory (Justine) has joined Alex. The FP reports:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>Three days after the election, Justine Bateman, the former <em>Family Ties </em>star, catapulted herself into the political muck with a <a href="https://x.com/JustineBateman/status/1854911656289071200" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweetstorm</a> to her 140,000 followers that began: “Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years.” </p> <p><a href="https://x.com/JustineBateman/status/1854918491461034338" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">She continued</a>: “Common sense was discarded, intellectual discussion was demonized. . . Complete intolerance became almost a religion and one’s professional and social life was threatened almost constantly. Those that spoke otherwise were ruined as a warning to others. Their destruction was displayed in the ‘town square’ of social media for all to see.”</p> <p>In other words, she said out loud the thing everyone has been thinking.</p> <p>The tweetstorm went viral, and her followers more than doubled. People responded on X with tweets like: “<a href="https://x.com/KeenanPeachy/status/1854922422820258046" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A long war just ended and I’m finally home</a>” and “<a href="https://x.com/hear4tucker/status/1854911894358048827" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">It’s okay to be normal</a>.”</p> </blockquote> <p>The intolerant left is the best recruiting mechanism for the right.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>Then came 2020: the pandemic, George Floyd, the riots, the groupthink—“these people necessitating that I think like them, and policing what people say, and what they tweet, and what they like on a social media post.”</p> <p>She hated the rise of the progressive mob. It was antithetical to everything she believed in. “The only way you get that kind of momentum behind destroying peoples’ lives is when you have a mob mentality,” Bateman said. “I felt like the fact that Trump won cut the momentum of that mob mentality.”</p> </blockquote> <p>It was, and still is, a mob.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>But as recently as a few weeks ago and definitely a year or two ago, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to produce a show like <em>Family Ties</em>, Bateman told me. The progressive scolds would have called Alex a white supremacist, and they would have loathed the ex-hippie parents for accommodating their kids’ shallow, capitalist, racist, sexist, xenophobic values rather than banishing them from their home. </p> </blockquote> <p>Sadly, this is probably correct.</p> <p>Think how many of our favourite shows could never be made today – Family Ties, Friends, Faulty Towers etc</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142519" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/mallory_keaton_joins_alex.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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<p>A guest post by Peter Lynn:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>In the 1980’s and 1990’s there were sporadic hysterias about paedophile rings and satanic abuse in various western countries.</p> <p>In 1993, 35-year-old homosexual Peter Ellis, who had been working at the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre was tried for offenses against children and found guilty.  Four female workers were discharged.</p> <p>The problem with the trial was that the children’s evidence had been contaminated by questioning that directed them towards what the prosecution wanted.  But even worse, when their testimony strayed into absurd fantasies, this was kept from the jury.  If these fantasies had been exposed, there’s zero chance the children’s other evidence would have been taken as credible.</p> <p>Straight away, this case was widely regarded as a failure of our justice system.  Even officers of the court who were polled anonymously in the aftermath of the trial overwhelmingly considered it a miscarriage.</p> <p>Appeals were made, petitions lodged, and a best-selling book written on the travesty, but still the justice industry could not bring itself to admit to error.  Not doing so brought our justice system into disrepute.  Their reasons for being so obdurate can only have been institutional ego and protecting their own.</p> <p>Eventually when the policemen, prosecutors and various judges involved had either died or retired, and one of the child witnesses had re-canted, in 2022, Ellis was exonerated.</p> <p>One immediate effect of the Ellis saga was a clear message to males that working in childcare and teaching was unsafe.  Consequently, from this and other such signals, the male share of childcare and teaching professions fell off the cliff.   At primary school, I had male teachers in every standards class.  Now they are exceeding rare with 85% of primary school teachers being female (2022). </p> <p>This matters because boys need male role models- even more so because approaching 20% of NZ boys now live in female only households.  Consequences are societal dysfunction and rising crime.</p> <p>It matters even more because female teachers are interested in art, music and other soft subjects, while males tend to be more interested in science, technology, engineering and math.  This difference is inherent and observable in all cultures, as evidenced by the proportion of women who qualify in STEM subjects being higher in countries where women are repressed (Pakistan and Iran for example), and lowest in countries where women have the greatest equality (like Norway and Denmark).  Where women are shackled to domesticity, STEM careers provide an escape.  Where women have more equality, they’re less likely to choose STEM subjects because this is not where their interests lie.</p> <p> Female domination of the teaching profession is not only contributing to the widening educational gap between girls and boys (because boys are not being taught what they are interested in) but is damaging our economy by constraining the supply of STEM educated boys. </p> <p>Fewer engineers and scientists- and rising crime- are not the only consequences of the Ellis case, nor necessarily the worst.  It has also changed our legal system.</p> <p>Sitting on top of the legal system are Judges.  They are protected, privileged and highly paid- but have a difficult job: fenced in by laws, rules and precedent- and intensely scrutinised. </p> <p>Only in the higher courts is there some freedom of action, a chance to make law, not just apply it, and these rare opportunities are where reputations are made.  I recall the rock star status that UK High Court judge Lord Denning acquired by establishing a small change in the law with his “High Trees” judgement.</p> <p>Zealand has no written constitution, but it has various unwritten constitutional conventions.  These provide a fertile field for judges to make their mark.  This is useful when it keeps law relevant in a changing society but requires that judge’s views are representative of broader society.  Unfortunately, in NZ over the last 20 or so years they have diverged sharply.  Our judicature, especially its upper echelons, have become agents of the Wellington centred progressive urban elite with views far to the Left of the wider population.  Wellingtonians live in a bubble, either unaware of how much their values differ from those of wider NZ, or fully aware but on a crusade.</p> <p>Our senior justices have taken up a particular Left cause: Māori underperformance.  Rather than address the reason for this (dysfunctional aspects of Māori culture), they are attempting to level the field by elevating Māori to a position of legal privilege, </p> <p>Justice Cooke’s novel 1987 description of the Māori Crown relationship as “something akin to a partnership” was a significant step in this direction.  It has since been lifted to a full partnership and become established usage in government departments (also in the Wellington bubble).</p> <p>But where does Peter Ellis come into this?</p> <p>Peter died in 2019 while NZ’s Supreme Court was considering a final appeal.  When deciding whether to allow the appeal to continue, the justices turned to Tikanga (Māori custom), creatively declaring it to be “<em>—the first law of New Zealand and not secondary to the colonial common law—”</em>    This became a factor in enabling the appeal to proceed, even though Peter Ellis was not a Māori.  </p> <p>In their 2022 decision Peter was finally cleared, his convictions quashed.</p> <p>But this strengthening of Tikanga is ominous for New Zealand.  Although the Justices were careful to contextualise their decision, it is increasingly quoted as established law and is being used to advance Māori supremacy. </p> <p>Which will further fuel an inevitable destructive backlash from the non-Māori majority whose citizenship is being downgraded as Māori are elevated.</p> <p>Not a hopeful future for any of us unless parliament can soon find the courage to rein in this activist judiciary.</p> </blockquote> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142440" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/guest_post_peter_ellis_case_blows_up_new_zealand_twice.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142440" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/guest_post_peter_ellis_case_blows_up_new_zealand_twice.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" 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href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/small_but_promising_change.html">Small but promising change</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>Mark Mitchell released data on crime. The summary was:</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="560" height="555" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?resize=560%2C555&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-142517" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?resize=560%2C555&ssl=1 560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?resize=500%2C495&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?resize=768%2C761&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tempImage3eSu2I.jpg?w=1232&ssl=1 1232w" sizes="(max-width: 580px) calc(100vw - 20px), 560px" /></figure> <p>So a huge reduction in ram raids and modest reductions in violent crimes. Change takes time, and hopefully next year will see larger drops.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142516" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/small_but_promising_change.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142516" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/small_but_promising_change.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-142516" 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Begonia House. The kids enjoying looking at the fish there. It is nice to see the plants.</p> <p>But $25 million is an obscene amount to spend on a greenhouse. It is a nice to have, and with rates increasing 20%, can’t be justified.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142514" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/a_25_million_glasshouse.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142514" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/a_25_million_glasshouse.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-142514" 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href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/guest_post_response_to_max_harris.html">Guest Post: Response to Max Harris</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p><strong>A guest post by Lucy Rogers:</strong></p> <p>On 8 November 2024 Max Harris wrote an op ed for The Dominion Post on the Israel – Lebanon conflict. Harris’ article was profoundly misleading in numerous respects and I immediately wrote a response which was submitted to the editor of the Post on 9 November. To that email I have received no reply. This concerns me as The Dominion Post is not only publishing very one-sided coverage of the conflict but intentionally not publishing responses to that material or alternate points of view.</p> <p>My response is below. I invite the reader to judge for yourselves whether in the interests of balance it ought to have been published. Harris’ article by the way is here: <a href="https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360476520/glimpse-life-lebanon-and-what-more-nz-should-do">https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360476520/glimpse-life-lebanon-and-what-more-nz-should-do</a></p> <p><em>The Israel – Lebanon conflict is far more complex than Max Harris acknowledges</em></p> <p>By Lucy Rogers</p> <p>In Max Harris’ recent opinion item <em>A glimpse of life in Lebanon, and what more NZ should do</em> a number of criticisms were made of Israel. While I am also critical of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, to my mind his article omits some important facts and necessitates a response. </p> <p>Harris says: “In September Israel launched a series of heavy air attacks on Lebanon, following almost a year of sustained and widespread bombardments of Gaza. Then, on 1 October, Israel initiated a ground invasion of Lebanon.” He concedes that this was in response to “rockets fired into Israel” by Hezbollah. However, the only target he identifies is the Shebaa Farms, stating that it was “land held by Israel under military occupation that Israel annexed in 1981, but considered part of South Lebanon by Lebanon.”</p> <p>One might be forgiven on Harris’ account in mistaking Hezbollah for a legitimate organisation which abides by humanitarian law and the rules of war, especially given Harris’ focus on Israel’s violations of the same. This is reinforced by Harris’ reference to Hezbollah’s “social services” in Lebanon (are suicide bombings a social service?) and representation in Lebanon’s Parliament. In fact 18 countries recognise Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation including <em>inter alia </em>the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. </p> <p>Nowhere does Harris acknowledge that over 8000 rockets were fired into Israel by Hezbollah daily over the course of the past year at civilian targets, which has forced 80,000 civilians to evacuate their homes in northern Israel, including Arabs. Nor does he acknowledge that victims of Hezbollah’s missile attacks have included Druze Arab children in the Golan Heights.</p> <p>Nor does he explain that Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy organisation, or that Iran funded and co-ordinated the pogrom of Israeli civilians on October 7. Rather, he says that Hezbollah said that it was acting in solidarity with the people of Palestine in response to Israeli bombardments of Gaza. This is false: Hezbollah started firing missiles at Israel on October 8, well prior to Israeli bombardment of Gaza. It acted in concert with Hamas at Iran’s behest.</p> <p>I also take issue with Harris stating as fact that over 43,000 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza and that over half of these are women and children. He does not provide the caveat that his source is Hamas, which is not a reliable source given that it is a terrorist organisation responsible for the genocide of Israeli civilians on October 7 2023. </p> <p>I do not purport to know precisely what is happening in Gaza. Sources I trust provide contradictory accounts. However, one item of data is the report of former NATO general Sir John McColl, who observed the operations of the Israeli military in Gaza firsthand. Although he arrived a sceptic, he concluded that Israel is doing “all it can” to protect civilians in Gaza and that the IDF’s rules of engagement in Gaza “are at least as rigorous as those of the British Army.” </p> <p>The most troubling aspect of Harris’ article is that it minimises Hamas’ genocide of Israelis on October 7. Muslim physician Qanta Ahmed wrote an eyewitness account of the aftermath of that horrific day: over 1200 Israelis a majority of whom were civilians were murdered. Bodies were ripped apart. Children were killed in front of their parents. Entire families were burned alive. Hamas engaged in gang rape of civilians. Men, women and children were sodomised. People were tortured. Civilians were gunned down at a music festival and grenades were thrown into a bomb shelter.</p> <p>250 hostages were taken into Gaza causing indescribable agony for their families. Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s body and those of several other hostages were recovered from a tunnel with no light, no air vents and no toilets which was not high enough to stand up in. Its only entrance was located in the floor of a children’s bedroom with Mickey Mouse and Snow White wallpaper. The hostages were human skeletons who had been brutally murdered at close quarters.It is hypocritical for Harris to omit these details in an article which quotes a Lebanese friend of his who said that it was “insulting, hypocritical, and dehumanising” to describe the Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a humanitarian catastrophe on the grounds that it does not do justice to the severity of Israeli atrocities. I do not accuse Harris of antisemitism. 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why I had resigned from the Research Association of New Zealand. By coincidence, the last three months have been the busiest period ever for Curia (outside pre-election periods). </p> <p>There’s three items I want to update people on.</p> <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>RANZ decided (as per their rules) to still consider the recommendation from the Professional Standards Group, and an independent review group did not endorse suspension</li> <li>The independent review group considered the PSG findings with regard to question design and did not uphold three of them, but <a href="https://cdn.wildapricot.com/179283/resources/Documents/Subcommittee%20summary%2022%20Nov%202024.pdf?version=1732330376000&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOiBbeyJSZXNvdXJjZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY2RuLndpbGRhcHJpY290LmNvbS8xNzkyODMvcmVzb3VyY2VzL0RvY3VtZW50cy9TdWJjb21taXR0ZWUlMjBzdW1tYXJ5JTIwMjIlMjBOb3YlMjAyMDI0LnBkZj92ZXJzaW9uPTE3MzIzMzAzNzYwMDAiLCJDb25kaXRpb24iOnsiRGF0ZUxlc3NUaGFuIjp7IkFXUzpFcG9jaFRpbWUiOjE3MzIzMzcxNzh9LCJJcEFkZHJlc3MiOnsiQVdTOlNvdXJjZUlwIjoiMC4wLjAuMC8wIn19fV19&Signature=rrVkpqcF~~2A~MRqLiU6DT5C76HWKJ81sHyyKeBNpDtPiAz8OCNwq4BxfK85n7dFnBYnMjdCRnLIJGP1fFKwX077zwKgk2pR7Pff2l58DPPlXgzOYR7YxTbMPjumujjfLT5~Uj-dWGKp3gbIw0~IFRKX0O9RedXsweN~WoKJvLw0b9EvCx7lYzFxb2lYB1yU3YjFltbuB-hdwWDbxCSFNFSsEozvQjZ-1mHzbM9D05JouGJzEHJdfLI6ZrireQCh-FrM9fNrSibBeQLxHmIM4~6b~NhWg57Py1lPwgsbL1OK-8hbLvgtVUhjIeULR9In-cZXV9ZcGPGej20QGmwDrw__&Key-Pair-Id=K27MGQSHTHAGGF" title="">did uphold one of them</a>.</li> <li>RANZ is <a href="https://cdn.wildapricot.com/179283/resources/Documents/Note%20from%20Chair%2022%20Nov%202024.pdf?version=1732329769000&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOiBbeyJSZXNvdXJjZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY2RuLndpbGRhcHJpY290LmNvbS8xNzkyODMvcmVzb3VyY2VzL0RvY3VtZW50cy9Ob3RlJTIwZnJvbSUyMENoYWlyJTIwMjIlMjBOb3YlMjAyMDI0LnBkZj92ZXJzaW9uPTE3MzIzMjk3NjkwMDAiLCJDb25kaXRpb24iOnsiRGF0ZUxlc3NUaGFuIjp7IkFXUzpFcG9jaFRpbWUiOjE3MzIzMzcxNzl9LCJJcEFkZHJlc3MiOnsiQVdTOlNvdXJjZUlwIjoiMC4wLjAuMC8wIn19fV19&Signature=Tq-AaFrhNNsaRH81y5EcTRH9rWnzB1B8-FJGddxoh~bnbl88WglYjZS7sntc5ASLj75ntsatU6vShZN2RCzbteLJTar1UAJb3bInyewrJAsS9wyfGnq6-4zovFAFHmJa3zqFbWVkszIvEq3sRAFaGkyAPXFZqapakr01Bhr3Otc81piOfuvaK7vqajOedcjhc9MXA4ksgQm9YXmK6QZ3JwjujCnVLeRN7xiKeQiNzjiAbq-jfUKeDU5Ud9H0APMFJGeD2twJv7FTo8ne9xlLTyq5LopClFvCDdzzDtyHZ6TsasC0oBCIMSKvl9AnFcKElCkPs0xpUAioSSkdSlXEmg__&Key-Pair-Id=K27MGQSHTHAGGF" title="">reviewing their procedures</a>, as they were found to be significantly lacking. I will submit to that review (even though not a member) and I may even rejoin RANZ in a couple of years if I have confidence in the process. But this is far from assured, as I think it is very hard to prevent the weaponisation of complaints processes. I am still exploring membership options for overseas based professional bodies and have established our <a href="https://www.curia.co.nz/faq/" title="">own complaints process</a>.</li> </ol> <p>When I resigned from RANZ, I had not yet received a copy of the PSG decision – just that they were recommending suspension or expulsion. In October I finally received a copy, and I am going to detail some of it here, so people can see for themselves what I have been battling.</p> <p>First I want to go back to an earlier complaint the PSG upheld, over a question on the proposed Golden Mile redevelopment in Wellington. The PSG found the question was in breach of the RANZ Polling Code (and the general RANZ code) and cited a provision of the RANZ Political Polling Code it breached.</p> <p>The PSG failed to even understand that the Political Polling Code does not apply to issue polling. The <a href="https://cdn.wildapricot.com/179283/resources/Documents/RANZ%20Political%20Polling%20Code%202020%20FINAL.pdf?version=1592366630000&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOiBbeyJSZXNvdXJjZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY2RuLndpbGRhcHJpY290LmNvbS8xNzkyODMvcmVzb3VyY2VzL0RvY3VtZW50cy9SQU5aJTIwUG9saXRpY2FsJTIwUG9sbGluZyUyMENvZGUlMjAyMDIwJTIwRklOQUwucGRmP3ZlcnNpb249MTU5MjM2NjYzMDAwMCIsIkNvbmRpdGlvbiI6eyJEYXRlTGVzc1RoYW4iOnsiQVdTOkVwb2NoVGltZSI6MTczMjIzMjQxNH0sIklwQWRkcmVzcyI6eyJBV1M6U291cmNlSXAiOiIwLjAuMC4wLzAifX19XX0_&Signature=YLIQfsPvxlaDaLbRhOOxm4bw1FBgAayJdaRGFJsnWZuNUzRj9ERwpGPs7YSLkDB7LLYI-q9xibKHkofLT7qWFHkx2WNPJz3g~Z95PUaxyKHqtxJCTCJ8JtwkZxqnxTge59mwKOCNZLlltfg8ppzaNJG9TMLiOytunfgHtK~un8rRtTDq4-HqRxBI2~v-WcFHrB4RVtDgxA4tkDXa2Sx9lGmP5o9rIhe1fpSMB4DGUPftoeL2~~HCMGr~BcxtOvBipx32PSqX3qaZTh1x~Oz8E2cf2bJLxgRma3Bq4Hj3q2p1Vc-ptXOs0MauY7gNyjL3qUbU-JY1a-k2D-9pxxVdtQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K27MGQSHTHAGGF" title="">Code clearly states</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The code only covers “political polls”, which for the purpose of the code are <strong>polls that relate to<br />public votes </strong>such as national elections, local body elections and parliamentary referenda.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>The PSG found breach of a code that doesn’t even apply to the poll in question</strong>. Such a failure of basic comprehension and interpretation should give warning bells about how much good faith was involved. The political polling code is a prescriptive code (which I helped write) designed only for polls which are about electoral outcomes.</p> <p>So in the Golden Mile complaint, the PSG failed to properly comprehend the Political Polling Code they said it breached. I can’t recall an error of a similar magnitude by a professional complaints body. There is no shades of grey here. The code is black and white about its scope, and the PSG either ignored it or didn’t;t even understand a code they sit in judgment on.</p> <p>Then we have the final complaint, about this poll question:</p> <p><em>The UK health service (the NHS) has stopped the use of puberty blockers, which begin the gender transition process, for children under 16 as it deemed they are too young to consent. Do you support or oppose a similar ban in New Zealand on the use of puberty blockers for young people 16 or younger?</em></p> <p>The PSG stated it breached the RANZ Code in the following ways:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>• Includes more than one concept.</p> <p>• Is long and complex.</p> <p>• Uses emotive language that pushes the respondent to answer in a certain way.</p> <p>• Uses context to influence the responses.</p> </blockquote> </blockquote> <p>The independent panel <strong>disagreed on the first three points</strong> (and agreed on the last). I want to look closely at the first three, as I think it shows how biased the PSG was.</p> <p>The question clearly did not have more than one concept. The only concept is should puberty blockers be banned for under 16s. I can’t understand how the PSG could think that (but I have a theory, detailed later).</p> <p>It is not a long or complex question. I have written thousands of questions and this is relatively simple and short.</p> <p>There is no emotive language in the question. So why did the PSG state it had more than one concept, it was long and complex, and used emotive language? Note that these were not even issues the complainant raised, or ones I was asked to submit on. These just appeared in their decision. <strong>They did not even ask me for input on these issues</strong>, which was a breach of natural justice.</p> <p>If we go back to the Golden Mile decision, the PSG there found the question <em>Do you think the Wellington City Council should commit to spending $139 million, (of which the outgoing Government pledged $71 million) on the Golden Mile project considering the blowout in the Town Hall renovation and growing Council debt?</em> :</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Includes more than one concept.</li> <li>Is long and complex.</li> <li>Uses emotive language</li> </ul> <p>Now in the Golden Mile case you can make an argument for there being two concepts (spending and debt) and emotive language (blowout), but these do not apply to the puberty blockers question.</p> <p><strong>So the only conclusion I can reach is that the PSG simply did a copy and paste of their findings in an earlier complaint into the later complaint.</strong> </p> <p>If this is not the case, then please point out to me which words in the question were emotive? And point out what the second concept was? </p> <p>This is why I have no confidence that the PSG has acted in a fair or impartial basis towards me. And again I note the independent panel did not uphold their findings on those aspects.</p> <p>The independent panel did uphold one aspect of the PSG decision. They agreed that the question was leading, as it didn’t mention countries that have continued the use of puberty blockers.</p> <p>I respect their interpretation there, but also respectfully have to agree to disagree. The question wasn’t about picking out a country at random that has blocked them. The UK was used because they had a world leading three year review of the science behind them, which led to the ban. </p> <p>The review was seen as so influential, that the NZ Government itself said that it would influence their policy, and in fact just this week the <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/news/additional-safeguards-for-puberty-blockers" title="">Ministry of Health announced</a> a new precautionary approach in NZ towards puberty blockers. This new position took the best part of a year to develop, and many other countries are also reviewing their policies in light of the UK Cass Review. </p> <p>The question was about a country that had changed its position, and if NZ should do the same. Naming a country that has not (yet) changed its position is not balancing the question because changes take years to occur – it is apples and oranges in my opinion. I guess you could argue that a balance to the UK example would be a country that did have a ban on puberty blockers and recently got rid of the ban. But I’m genuinely not aware of any country that say had a ban on puberty blockers three years ago and has now unbanned them. Let me know if there is one.</p> <p>Anyway this is the update. I appreciate the work of the independent panel (even though they upheld one aspect of the complaint) and the work of RANZ Board who are starting a review of the complaints process. 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class="count">11</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 23, 2024 3:00pm by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/who_are_the_major_emitters.html">Who are the major emitters?</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?time=1990..latest&country=CHN~USA~IND~OWID_EU27&hideControls=true&Gas+or+Warming=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel+or+Land+Use+Change=All+fossil+emissions&Count=Per+country&tab=chart" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;" allow="web-share; clipboard-write"></iframe> <p>This chart shows greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. The changes have been:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>China +9,500 MT, +216%</li> <li>India +2.525 MT, +166%</li> <li>NZ -11MT, -14%</li> <li>US -99MT, -2%</li> <li>EU -2,196 MT, -40%</li> </ul> <p>The change by continent is:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Africa +1,808MT, +62%</li> <li>Asia +17,202 MT, +134%</li> <li>Europe -3,.659 MT, -36%</li> <li>North America +277MT, +4%</li> <li>Oceania +34MT, +5%</li> <li>South America +672MT, +22%</li> </ul> <p>It is very clear that limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees is impossible to achieve just with US and EU. There needs to be more focus on China and India.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142495" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/who_are_the_major_emitters.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142495" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/who_are_the_major_emitters.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-142495" class="share-linkedin 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href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/who_are_the_major_emitters.html#comments"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Comment</span></span><span class="count">53</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 23, 2024 11:32am by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/a_whale_on_a_prediction_market.html">A whale on a prediction market</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>Alex Taborrak <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/11/prediction-markets-for-the-win.html" title="">writes</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The prediction markets predicted the election outcome more accurately and more quickly than polls or other forecasting methods, just as expected from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169207008000320">decades of research</a>. In this election, however, many people discounted the prediction markets because of large trades on <a href="https://polymarket.com/">Polymarket</a>.</p> </blockquote> <p>He quotes Paul Krugman:</p> <p>Never mind the prediction markets, which are thin and easily manipulated.</p> <p>But Taborrak points out:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The idea seems to be that whales shifted market odds from 50:50 to 40:60, hoping this would drive more people to vote for Trump. Really? Were voters in Pennsylvania watching <a href="https://polymarket.com/">Polymarket</a> to decide who to vote for? In a decision market, manipulation might be desirable to a whale (albeit <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0895330041371321">unlikely to succeed</a>), but in prediction markets, this scenario seems dubious: a) people would need to know about these markets, b) they’d need to care about probability shifts on these markets (as opposed to voting say the way their family and neighbors were voting), and c) this would have to be an effective way to spend money to influence votes compared to the myriad other ways of influencing voting. Each step seems dubious.</p> </blockquote> <p>Very dubious.</p> <p>But here is the interesting part:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The mystery trader known as the “Trump whale” is set to reap almost $50 million in profit after running the table on a series of bold <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/betting-election-pro-trump-ad74aa71?mod=article_inline">bets tied to the presidential election</a>. …</p> <p>Polls failed to account for the “shy Trump voter effect,” Théo said. Either Trump backers were reluctant to tell pollsters that they supported the former president, or they didn’t want to participate in polls, Théo wrote.</p> <p>To solve this problem, Théo argued that pollsters should use what are known as neighbor polls that ask respondents which candidates they expect their neighbors to support. The idea is that people might not want to reveal their own preferences, but will indirectly reveal them when asked to guess who their neighbors plan to vote for.</p> <p>…In an email, he told the Journal that he had commissioned his own surveys to measure the neighbor effect, using a major pollster whom he declined to name. The results, he wrote, “were mind blowing to the favor of Trump!”</p> <p>Théo declined to share those surveys, saying his agreement with the pollster required him to keep the results private. But he argued that U.S. pollsters should use the neighbor method in future surveys to avoid another embarrassing miss.</p> </blockquote> <p>I’ve had a few people ask me about the value of neighbour surveys. They can hold value if there is a reason to believe people are shy to say whom they actually support. But they have a real flaw.</p> <p>Let’s say the country is 51.5% Trump and 48.5% Harris. But 30% of the population live in heavily blue areas (80% Harris) and 70% live in purple to red areas (65% Trump).</p> <p>The 30% in heavily blue areas would almost all say their neighbours are boring Harris (even if they are Trump voters) and the 70% in purple to red areas would say a mixture. Basically neighbour polls don’t take account of how heavily a neighbour leans.</p> <p>In NZ I doubt they would work because I think we have far less idea how our neighbours would vote. 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class="screen-reader-text">Comment</span></span><span class="count">168</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 23, 2024 7:00am by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/can_we_afford_such_generous_research_leave.html">Can we afford such generous research leave?</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>A reader writes in:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>Having just spent 3 months* in New Zealand, and with a concern for what I believe is substantive waste across the University sector, I call your attention to the contractual Research and Study leave entitlements in NZ:</p> <p>The financial impact of New Zealand’s academic research and study leave appear unique to our little nation. Across my time in Australia, neither myself nor any other member of academic staff had entitlements such as in NZ.</p> <p>Eligible academics in New Zealand <strong>accrue roughly one extra day of leave per week under research leave policies</strong>. They can accrue this up to a maximum of 365 days over seven years. NOTE: this is <strong>in addition to annual and other leave</strong>.**</p> <p>The link below is one example: Otago University study leave policy. I refer to cl. 8 herein (it should be noted these policies used to me readily posted for all Unis – many appear today to require employee login. That may be something to investigate on its own.</p> <p><a href="https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/295404/research-study-leave-policy-335801.pdf">https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/295404/research-study-leave-policy-335801.pdf</a></p> <p>In the seventh year, academics can pending management approval, take a full year of research at full pay. </p> <p>Academics who get this benefit are the research ranks such Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor. Stats NZ suggests there are approximately 10,400 academics eligible for this leave across these ranks in NZ.</p> <p>Remembering that academics are already paid to do research:</p> <p>I have roughly calculated 10,400 academics who get an extra 50 days per year that is over 500,000 days. As an example, using an average income of $130k indicates the cost per annum to the country is well in excess of $260 million dollars. In ten years that’s $2.6 billion dollars.</p> <p>Again, all of these figures require verification but this is difficult as many universities appear to have shifted public inspection of these entitlements as used to be reported on their websites.</p> <p>And again, in Australia, there are no similar contractual research/study leave entitlements. In the US, long-term paid research and study leave is contestable with few staff competing for small numbers of leave slots. At my university in US, 150 academics will complete for 2 extended paid leaves this year. 2. Teaching loads across NZ also appear lower than in AU (and much of the US).</p> </blockquote> <p>The rest of the taxpayer funded state sector is having to live within its means. What is the justification for NZ taxpayers to fund such amazingly generous research leave provisions? 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title="">ruled</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The application for name suppression of Mr Tarrant’s counsel is granted and an order made permanently prohibiting publication of Lawyer A and Lawyer B’s names, addresses, and identifying particulars under s 202 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011.</p> </blockquote> <p>This is a bad blow against open justice. Never before (to my knowledge has the identity of lawyers been suppressed). This sets a bad precedent.</p> <p>I could understand the decision if there had been very serious threats made against the lawyers in this case. But in fact there hasn’t been. Quite properly people understand it is a lawyer’s job to make sure a client gets a fair defence.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The essence of the evidence is that they, as senior criminal defence lawyers, have been subjected to extensive abuse and threats of harm because of acting for defendants in other cases who have attracted significant public opprobrium.</p> </blockquote> <p>So there have been threats in other cases, and this is used to justify suppression in this case where there were not significant threats. This now lowers the barrier for future cases.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The evidence before us does not identify specific risks of abuse or threats to Lawyer A and Lawyer B.</p> </blockquote> <p>This is why it is such a bad ruling. It was made on possibilities, rather than actual evidence.</p> <p>I hope the media and the crown appeal.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142510" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/secret_lawyers.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142510" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/secret_lawyers.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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class="screen-reader-text">Comment</span></span><span class="count">36</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 22, 2024 2:00pm by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/do_the_kcs_believe_in_democracy.html">Do the KCs believe in democracy</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>Liam Hehir <a href="https://thebluereview.substack.com/p/kcs-and-the-courtroom-bands?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=478996&post_id=151634519&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=g7ixc&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email" title="">points out</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>Forty-two senior lawyers, known as King’s Counsel, have written to the government with a scathing critique of the Treaty Principles Bill. Their letter raises a number of concerns with which I am in full agreement. However, they also make a statement about Parliament’s law-making authority that contains a fundamental and egregious error.</p> <p>This is not something I say lightly because these are very senior and respected members of the legal profession. They have likely forgotten more law, within their areas of expertise, than I will ever know. But on the topic of Parliament’s authority, there can be no questions.</p> <p>They assert that it is “uncertain” whether Parliament can legislate in the way the bill proposes, arguing that it is “not for the government of the day to retrospectively and unilaterally reinterpret constitutional treaties.”</p> </blockquote> <p>This is very significant. The 44 KCs are saying that they are unsure if Parliament is supreme.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>Arguments against Parliament’s authority to make law affecting anyone in New Zealand cannot succeed in our courts <em>currently</em>. Parliament’s power to legislate needs to extend to all matters within these islands. No treaty or statute is beyond its reach.</p> <p>So why would such eminent members of the legal profession make this erroneous claim? Well, there has been a long-standing desire within parts of the legal profession and associated academic fields in which judicial activism and scepticism of parliamentary sovereignty have been quietly cultivated for decades.</p> </blockquote> <p>Basically the KCs are suggesting that rather than Parliament being supreme, the lawyers should be supreme. They can over-ride Parliament.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The institutions of representative democracy are not infallible. Lawmakers with a mandate from the people will never be immune from the risks of poor legislation or misguided decisions. The same goes for judges, of course.</p> <p>Parliament carries an important self-correcting mechanism: if lawmakers go too far or lose touch with the public, they risk being voted out. Judges, however, enjoy long or even lifetime appointments, making them immune from the direct accountability that keeps elected leaders in check. This insulation from public opinion is problematic because it enables detachment from the consent of the governed.</p> </blockquote> <p>Judges should only get to over-ride Parliament, if there is a formal constitution that binds Parliament. However the key thing is that the constitution is amendable by either Parliament or the people – hence is democratic.</p> <p>The assertion that Judges can over-ride Parliament on the basis of their interpretation of common law is dangerous. 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class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe title="Benjamin Doyle Maiden Statement" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4K_DtDx1uFk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div></figure> <p> A great replacement for Darlene Tana.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142555" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/the_newest_green_mp.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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class="postsecs-top noborder"> <section class="postsec sharinglinks"><ul><li class="email"><a title="Click to share via email" href="mailto:?subject=The%20newest%20Green%20MP: Kiwiblog&body=I%20thought%20you%20might%20like%20this%20post%20from%20Kiwiblog%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwiblog.co.nz%2F2024%2F11%2Fthe_newest_green_mp.html"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Email</span></span></a></li><li class="facebook"><a title="Click to share on Facebook" onclick="return !window.open(this.href,'kbfacebook','menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400');" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwiblog.co.nz%2F2024%2F11%2Fthe_newest_green_mp.html&&t=The%20newest%20Green%20MP"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Facebook</span></span></a></li><li class="twitter"><a title="Click to share on Twitter" onclick="return !window.open(this.href,'kbtwitter','menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400');" 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is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The political wing of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350428921/what-hezbollah-group-battling-israel-lebanon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hezbollah</a> in Lebanon, as well as the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350150851/houthi-attacks-illegal-unacceptable-and-destabilising-nz-hasnt-classified-them">Houthi</a> militant group in Yemen, have been designated terrorist entities by the New Zealand Government.</p> <p>Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group that has been involved in a protracted conflict with Israel.</p> <p>The paramilitary wing of the group was already designated a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/300258540/new-zealands-terror-list-needs-to-be-expanded--experts">terrorist entity</a> by New Zealand.</p> </blockquote> <p>Glad we are realising that drawing a distinction between a political and military wing is stupid, as they are all the same people with the same aim.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The decision to grant the new designations have been called “wrong at every level” by pro-Palestine activist group the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa.</p> </blockquote> <p>No surprise, as they probably fundraise for them.</p> <p>Well done to the Government for calling a spade a spade. </p> <p>Maybe one day UNRWA will be designated also!</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142506" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/about_time-9.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li 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noborder"> <section class="postsec sharinglinks"><ul><li class="email"><a title="Click to share via email" href="mailto:?subject=About%20time: Kiwiblog&body=I%20thought%20you%20might%20like%20this%20post%20from%20Kiwiblog%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwiblog.co.nz%2F2024%2F11%2Fabout_time-9.html"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Email</span></span></a></li><li class="facebook"><a title="Click to share on Facebook" onclick="return !window.open(this.href,'kbfacebook','menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400');" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwiblog.co.nz%2F2024%2F11%2Fabout_time-9.html&&t=About%20time"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Facebook</span></span></a></li><li class="twitter"><a title="Click to share on Twitter" onclick="return !window.open(this.href,'kbtwitter','menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400');" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=dpfdpf&text=About%20time&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kiwiblog.co.nz%2F2024%2F11%2Fabout_time-9.html"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Twitter</span></span></a></li><li class="comment"><a title="Click to add a comment" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/about_time-9.html#comments"><span class="icon"><span class="screen-reader-text">Comment</span></span><span class="count">11</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 22, 2024 10:00am by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/the_800000_lotto_draw_for_researchers.html">The $800,000 lotto draw for researchers</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>I <a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/royal_society_tells_asian_and_european_male_researchers_to_stuff_off.html" title="">blogged a few days ago</a> on how the Royal Society on behalf of MBIE (taxpayers) gets paid to hand out 40 fellowships with $800,000 each. They of course do it through identity politics eyes, so their criteria are 20% must go to Māori, 10% to Pacific and 50% to women. </p> <p>Now you would have thought that even with those criteria, the 10 women, 8 Māori and 4 Pacific researchers selected for these fellowships are the best of the best within their grouping.</p> <p>But no. The Royal Society selects them through the equivalent of a random lotto draw!!!</p> <p>I understand that of the 300+ applications they get, they merely reject 2% of them, and the other 98% then just <a href="https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/tawhia-te-mana/mana-tuapapa/information-for-applicants/" title="">go into a random ballot</a>.</p> <p>Why do we pay the Royal Society to allocate $32 million of fellowships, when all they do is divide them into ethnic and gender groups – and then conduct a random ballot.</p> <p>Time for the Government to act!</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142501" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" 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<p>There could be a fascinating constitutional stand-off, with Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks. There are three ways they can be appointed.</p> <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>They get confirmed by the Senate, with at least 50 votes in favour. This appears very unlikely at this stage for Gaetz (who has just withdrawn) and may be difficult for Gabbard and RFK Jr.</li> <li>The Senate agrees to go into recess, so Trump can do recess appointment for up to two years. But Senators won’t be keen to give up their role to consent.</li> <li>Trump and the House force the Senate to adjourn against the will of the Senate, and then makes a recess appointment.</li> </ol> <p>The third option is one being talked about. It relies on the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-3/" title="">clause in the constitution</a> that says:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; <strong>he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>So how this would work is Trump convenes both Houses for an issue, and then asks them to adjourn. The House agrees to adjourn and the Senate doesn’t. This then allows the President to adjourn them both.</p> <p>Such a move would be unprecedented – the President and the House working together to force the Senate out of session, so they can’t perform their advice and consent role. It would require the entire GOP House to vote for it, and courts would have to rule on if it is constitutional. But it can’t be ruled out.</p> <p>It would also be short-sighted, because it would mean a future Democratic President who has a Democratic House but not a Democratic Senate (which is often the case) could use this procedure to bypass a Republican Senate for all their appointments. </p> <p>Current Polymarket odds for Senate confirmations are:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Mike Huckabee as Israel Ambassador 96%</li> <li>Elise Stefanik as UN Ambassador 96%</li> <li>Lee Zledin as EPA 94%</li> <li>Kristi Noem as Homeland Secretary 94%</li> <li>John Ratcliffe as CIA Director 93%</li> <li>Tulsi Gabbard as DNI 80%</li> <li>RFK Jr as HHS 75%</li> <li>Pete Hesgeth as Defence 74%</li> <li>Matt Gaetz at Attorney-General 31% (just withdrawn)</li> </ul> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener 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it was 39.5%</li> <li>For High Equity Index (formerly low decile) it was 35%.<br /></li> </ul> <p>David Seymour is the Associate Minister of Education and has barely moved the dial on what is a genuine crisis. Given the reponse of Maori to his Treaty Bill and the authoritarian manner with which he is addressing attendance in general, and specifically around the Hikoi, he is now clearly the wrong person for the role and should relinquish it. People may argue that there is a point to some of what he is saying. Never-the-less if NZ is trying to improve Maori attendance he is exactly the wrong person at present.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>Update on Education 710+ Charter School Applications</strong></p> <p>At present all four applications have been turned down. All four got through the filtering stage but the Authorisation Board chose not to interview us or ask a single question. To avoid confusion – for approval it was not “four or nothing” – each was to stand on merit – but there are major researched advantages on a single provider for multiple schools. We applied for:<br /></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>A Year 1 – 8 Primary School in Central Auckland that has 57,000 households and not a single school.</li> <li>A Year 11 – 13 School in Central Auckland focussed only on UE and looking to bring in South Auckland students.</li> <li>A Year 7 – 10 School in Epsom/Ellerslie for 240 students who do not fit in the normal State system.</li> <li>A Year 7 – 10 School in Warkworth where people are very keen to have more choice for their children.<br /><br /></li> </ul> <p>Given my record, havng started 6 successful schools, and the remarkable Board we have – plus the support of people such as John Hattie, Dame Wendy Pye, Mike King, Simon Bridges, etc – we have been very disappointed (to say the least) in both the process and the outcomes. </p> <p>As least five other applicants are equally as bemused and we are seeking – at least – a fully independent review.</p> <p>While having a crack at Dame Jenny Shipley, Chris Finlayson and myself (for having divorced my wife) on Mike Hosking’s show earlier this week David Seymour told a porkie that there is only funding for 15 schools. There is funding for 50 schools and we have it in writing from the Charter School Agency that the ratio of new schools to State conversions is not fixed at the 15/35 announced. It also looks as if very few State schools are interested in converting and none of the preious Charters have returned – preferring to remain as Designated Character Schools.</p> <p>Seymour clearly implied to Hosking that 15 schools have been chosen to start in Term 1 2025. It will be most interesting to see who they are when the list is finally announced.</p> <p>My charitable company (Education 710+) has a very good option to begin the Central Auckland Primary School as a Year 7 – 10 Private School. We would need some initial investment. I would welcome any interest.</p> <p>Alwyn Poole<br />alwyn.poole@gmail.com</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142529" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/hot_off_the_press_term_3_school_attendance_data.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142529" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/hot_off_the_press_term_3_school_attendance_data.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener 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href="https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/11/19/whitewashing-te-tiriti-out-of-education/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=85748ada16-Daily_Briefing+20.11.2024&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-85748ada16-97955668&mc_cid=85748ada16&mc_eid=3b248efa5f" title="">complains</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The words<em> “Te Mātaiaho is designed to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and be inclusive of all ākonga”</em> have been removed from the introductory statement. Under the guiding kaupapa, the words “<em>the centrality of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles” </em>are insultingly replaced with “<em>based on the science of learning”</em>.</p> </blockquote> <p>So the curriculum is now based on the science of learning, rather than the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. This is great news – for all kids, including Maori.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>In fact, the word ‘Tiriti’ doesn’t feature in either of the refreshed English and Maths learning areas of the NZ Curriculum.</p> </blockquote> <p>Oh my God. 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<article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 21, 2024 3:36pm by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/judge_gets_it_right.html">Judge gets it right</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <p>The Herald <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/transgender-activist-eli-rubashkyn-loses-appeal-for-dousing-posie-parker-with-tomato-juice/ZNZTRBKOKRA7BNKINYLQOVGF54/" title="">reports</a>:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>The <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/transgender-refugee-says-nz-paradise/FOX7DUD3XTF4K6OWN72OH2FWPE/">transgender refugee</a> who <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/eli-rubashkyn-convicted-of-tomato-juice-assault-on-posie-parker-appeals-sentence-in-auckland-high-court/ZMW6J6V72ZC5XEJGMZZFBN4TUI/">poured tomato juice over the head</a> of controversial <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kellie-jay-keen-minshull-who-is-anti-transgender-activist-posie-parker-and-why-is-she-so-controversial/GKB2MF4J65D33MBKZM3YF4G5JM/">British activist Posie Parker</a> during a raucous rally at <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/auckland-central/">Auckland Central’s</a> Albert Park, had previously been the victim of serious assaults spurred by discrimination. …</p> <p>But despite his at-times sympathetic tone, Justice David Johnstone said he couldn’t overturn a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/district-court/">district court</a> decision denying the 36-year-old pharmacist a discharge without conviction because of the message it would send to others.</p> <p>“…It is important that those who wish to oppose, by protesting against, views they consider abhorrent, do so without engaging in physical attacks,” he wrote near the conclusion of his 11-page decision.</p> </blockquote> <p>It’s not a difficult line to draw. Protest yes. Assault no.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>“The courts should be seen to denounce, and in that way generally to deter, that form of protest, because of the risk it will be copied, perhaps more harmfully, and because of its inherent tendency to undermine rather than facilitate the rule of law.”</p> </blockquote> <p>If this activist had got off, then of ourselves it would have been copied.</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>“She has filed an affidavit in which she says she ‘felt compelled to act’,” Johnstone wrote. “Of course, it was entirely improper for Ms Golberstein to offend as she did. </p> <p>“Her actions blatantly crossed a line that must be maintained, between the legitimate verbal or written expression of contrary opinion on one side, and physical conduct that risks provoking violence or harm to individuals, communities and institutions on the other.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Good to see the Judge gets such an important distinction.</p> <p></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-142484" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/judge_gets_it_right.html?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span>Facebook</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-142484" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon" href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/judge_gets_it_right.html?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span>Twitter</span></a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-linkedin-142484" 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class="screen-reader-text">Comment</span></span><span class="count">18</span></a></li></ul></section> </div> </footer> </article> <article class="post"> <header class="post-header"> <div class="postmeta">November 21, 2024 1:47pm by David Farrar</div> <h2 class="title"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/imagine_a_different_scenario.html">Imagine a different scenario</a></h2> </header> <div class="content clearfix notop nobot"> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NZ's Parliament Speaker is all of us. Wait for his reaction. Trust me, it's worth it. <a href="https://t.co/e6Nux7Lcje">pic.twitter.com/e6Nux7Lcje</a></p>— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1857222931765436739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div></figure> <p>This tweet has had around one million views around the world.</p> <p>Many on the left have celebrated what Te Pati Maori and other opposition parties did. But I wonder what the reaction would have been in say a couple of different scenarios.</p> <p>Imagine the Destiny Church Party had got some MPs into Parliament and the House was voting on the first reading of a bill to legalise abortion – an issue Destiny MPs regard as fundamental to their identity. And imagine as the vote was occurring the Destiny MPs didn’t just get up and do a haha, but they crossed the floor to face Jacinda Ardern and did the haka opposite her, while the entire public gallery full of her supporters joined in.</p> <p>I suspect those cheering on what TPM did, would be demanding they be arrested if it had been the other way around. They would have been denounced by every media outlet. Government MPs would have been interviewed about how they fared for their safety. 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class="sectitle">Highlights</h2><ul><li><div class="li-a"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/health_target_5_-_elective_treatments.html"><span class="himage"><img width="140" height="120" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-9.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-9.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 140w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-9.png?resize=280%2C240&ssl=1 280w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-9.png?zoom=3&resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 420w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 160px) calc(100vw - 20px), 140px" /></span><span class="htitle">Health Target 5 – elective treatments</span></a></div></li><li><div class="li-a"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/health_target_4_-_specialist_appointments.html"><span class="himage"><img width="140" height="120" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-8.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-8.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 140w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-8.png?resize=280%2C240&ssl=1 280w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-8.png?zoom=3&resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 420w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 160px) calc(100vw - 20px), 140px" /></span><span class="htitle">Health Target 4 – Specialist appointments</span></a></div></li><li><div class="li-a"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/health_target_3_-_emergency_dept_waiting_times.html"><span class="himage"><img width="140" height="120" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-7.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-7.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 140w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-7.png?resize=280%2C240&ssl=1 280w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-7.png?zoom=3&resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 420w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 160px) calc(100vw - 20px), 140px" /></span><span class="htitle">Health Target 3 – Emergency Dept Waiting Times</span></a></div></li><li><div class="li-a"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/health_target_2_-_immunisations.html"><span class="himage"><img width="140" height="120" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-6.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-6.png?resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 140w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-6.png?resize=280%2C240&ssl=1 280w, https://i0.wp.com/www.kiwiblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-6.png?zoom=3&resize=140%2C120&ssl=1 420w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 160px) calc(100vw - 20px), 140px" /></span><span class="htitle">Health Target 2 – Immunisations</span></a></div></li></ul></section><section id="custom_html-5" class="widget_text section notop nobot widget_custom_html"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><iframe width="300" height="371" src="https://www.curia.co.nz/embed/poll/large/" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></section><section id="custom_html-10" class="widget_text section notop nobot widget_custom_html"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"> <div 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/><span class="comment-author-link">peterwn</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/how_annoyed_would_nzers_be_if_nz_news_media_were_no_longer_findable_on_search_engines_and_social_media.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649247">How annoyed would NZers be if NZ news media were no longer findable on search engines and social media?</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">peterwn</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649246">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">MCōs</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/how_annoyed_would_nzers_be_if_nz_news_media_were_no_longer_findable_on_search_engines_and_social_media.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649245">How annoyed would NZers be if NZ news media were no longer findable on search engines and social media?</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">Benedict Yu</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649243">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">MCōs</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649233">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">Maggy Wassilieff</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/mallory_keaton_joins_alex.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649229">Mallory Keaton joins Alex</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">pdm</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/mallory_keaton_joins_alex.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649228">Mallory Keaton joins Alex</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">pdm</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/guest_post_peter_ellis_case_blows_up_new_zealand_twice.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649226">Guest Post: Peter Ellis Case Blows Up New Zealand – Twice</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link"><a href="https://www.nominister.blogspot.com" class="url" rel="ugc external nofollow">NK</a></span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/pennsylvania_democrats_think_they_are_above_the_law.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649224">Pennsylvania Democrats think they are above the law</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">Don Beckett</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649222">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">cmm</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649220">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">cmm</span></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href="https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/11/general_debate_25_november_2024.html/comment-page-1#comment-3649219">General Debate 25 November 2024</a><br /><span class="comment-author-link">Ian Boag</span></li></ul></section><section id="what_others_are_saying" class="section notop nobot widget_woas"><h2 class="sectitle">Links</h2><ul> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2024/11/caleb-anderson-emergence-of-new.html'>Caleb Anderson: The Emergence of a New Religion and the Deification of the Treaty</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.co.nz/'>Breaking Views</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://utopiayouarestandinginit.com/2024/11/25/try-as-they-might-the-australian-green-party-cant-make-university-education-free/'>Try as they might, the Australian Green party can’t make university education free</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://utopiayouarestandinginit.com/'>Utopia</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://pc.blogspot.com/2024/11/property-rights-for-sesame-street.html'>Property Rights for “Sesame Street”</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://pc.blogspot.com/'>Not PC</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://nominister.wordpress.com/?p=109124'>My Complaint to The New Zealand Rugby Union Re The Haka and Flag Incidents on Sunday</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://nominister.blogspot.com/'>No Minister</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://thestandard.org.nz/?p=3579485'>Daily review 25/11/2024</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://thestandard.org.nz/'>The Standard</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://www.statschat.org.nz/?p=20196'>Top 14 Predictions for Round 11</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://www.statschat.org.nz/'>Stats Chat</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/?p=174646'>Word of the day</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/'>Hompaddock</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/?p=33910'>Watts will be bracing for the cold in Antarctica while Luxon is bracing for a White House change (and Trump’s taste for tariffs)</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/'>Point of Order</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://nopunchespulled.com/?p=6399'>BISHOP BRIAN TAMAKI</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://nopunchespulled.com'>No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://thedailyblog.co.nz/?p=195804'>Green Party out of the woke frying pan into the woke fire</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://thedailyblog.co.nz/'>The Daily Blog</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://www.nzcpr.com/?p=40178'>Treaty Principles Debate</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://www.nzcpr.com/'>NZCPR</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2024/11/justice-in-brazil.html'>Justice in Brazil</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://norightturn.blogspot.com/'>No Right Turn</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://bobmccoskrie.com/?p=29927'>The transgender agenda sunk Kamala</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://bobmccoskrie.com/'>Bob McCoskrie's McBlog</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://croakingcassandra.com/?p=72205'>What does “reciprocity” mean in New Zealand laws?</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://croakingcassandra.com/'>Croaking Cassandra</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://www.kiwipolitico.com/?p=19735'>Media Link: “A View from Afar” on the US elections.</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://www.kiwipolitico.com/'>Kiwipolitico</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2024/11/this-will-not-end-well.html'>This will not end well</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.co.nz/'>Offsetting Behaviour</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://thecivilian.co.nz/?p=357'>Tory Whanau may have to sell Wellington mayoralty to make ends meet</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/'>The Civilian</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://imperatorfish.com/?p=20514'>The Accidental Engagement</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://www.imperatorfish.com/'>Imperator Fish</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/election-23-the-special-votes/'>Legal Beagle: Election '23: The Special Votes</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='http://publicaddress.net/'>Public Address</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://medium.com/p/1fceb11ec17c'>Making this movie might have been a mistake</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://medium.com/@_hehir_'>Liam Hehir</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='https://thekiwifirewalker.blogspot.com/2019/05/why-i-am-retiring-from-political.html'>Why I am retiring from political blogging</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://thekiwifirewalker.blogspot.co.nz/'>Kiwi FireWalker</a></li> <li><a class='postlink' href='http://dan.moskovitz.co.nz/?p=144'>Angie Warren-Clark: Meet the Newbies</a><br /> <a class='sitelink' href='https://dan.moskovitz.co.nz'>Dan Moskovitz</a></li> </ul> </section><section id="custom_html-2" class="widget_text section notop nobot widget_custom_html"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><script src="https://glimp.co.nz/assets/widget_power.js.erb"></script> <script> function loadScript() { console.log('loadScript') var script = document.createElement('script'); script.type = 'text/javascript'; script.src = 'https://glimp.co.nz/assets/widget_power_google.js.erb'; document.body.appendChild(script); }; </script> <div id="demoId"></div> </div></section><section id="custom_html-9" class="widget_text section 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