Archive for May, 2010

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  Bennett’s unhelpful benefit cliches - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett made a speech recently at the National Party Regional Conference in Oamaru, in which she talked about how terrible it is for children to see their parents on a long-term benefit. I must experience a more complex universe than the Minister. The worst experience for a child is [...] read more
  May 31, 2010 3:42 pm - 19 Comments
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  My latest Craccum article – What on earth is sustainability? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  What on earth is sustainability? I was recently asked to give a talk on sustainability to a group of architecture students and maybe it’s my fault that I wasn’t succinct enough, but it took nearly an hour to discuss. It must be one of the most common modern words used by politicians (Helen Clark, used it 33 times in a speech once), businesses, and environmentalists but is it just me, or are we all talking about the same thing? read more
  May 31, 2010 3:27 pm - 8 Comments
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  Mining Schedule 4 is economically negligent - by frog

  
  
  
  That’s a tough word, but to my mind, selling off our clean, green image for only $36 per voter (one off price!) can only be described as negligent. read more
  May 31, 2010 3:27 pm - 3 Comments
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  An ACC model for welfare? No thanks - by frog

  
  
  
  Over the weekend, Social Development Minister raised the prospect of an ACC model for sickness and invalid’s benefits. My bet is that Bennett is talking about moving sickness and invalid’s benefits to the insurance model that ACC is increasingly becoming based on, rather than to a model based on the Woodhouse principle of complete rehabilitation that it was founded on. read more
  May 31, 2010 10:35 am - 5 Comments
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  Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – again - by frog

  
  
  
  I had high hopes for the so called “top kill”. An end to the leak would mean that things can only get better from here on, that the beginning of the end has started. But no, it was not to be. Here are a few bits and bobs I’ve run across this weekend: This disaster [...] read more
  May 30, 2010 10:47 pm - 53 Comments
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  Prejudice against Pasifika players offside - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  The New Zealand Herald was right to call “offensive” Andy Haden’s suggestion that the Crusaders rugby team has done better by having fewer Polynesians in the team. After claiming the Crusaders had a quota of three Polynesian players Haden said “and it’s worked”. This prejudicial attitude is not new, particularly in Haden’s Auckland where some [...] read more
  May 30, 2010 12:33 pm - 46 Comments
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  Let the activists have a summer off and let the lawyers have a go. - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  For the last week I’ve been on a road-trip with Professor Donald Rothwell, from Australia National University, talking international legal solutions to whaling, specifically taking a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). I’ve had a whale of a time. We’ve spoken at four public meetings over the last four nights, hosted an inter-party [...] read more
  May 28, 2010 11:33 pm - 17 Comments
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  “Golfing Alone”: The burdens of judicial integrity, global-style - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  The parliamentarians of the world are meeting here in Kampala. Sixty of us, members of Parliamentarians for Global Action, are uniting to lend our strength to the promotion of the International Criminal Court and the Rule of Law generally. It makes for a colourful group – we hail from Senegal and Sierra Leone, Britain and Germany, Lebanon and Bahrain and Turkey, Argentina and Brazil and Uruguay, Malaysia, and there is even someone from New Zealand. And others too,... read more
  May 28, 2010 5:17 pm - 13 Comments
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  Appropriate levels of decision making – Te Tiriti and MMP - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Appropriate decision making is one of the core principles of the Greens and it is very useful when we are grappling with the developing discourse around MMP and also decision making under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This core principle means that we uphold the importance of voting as a vital tool in decision making and [...] read more
  May 28, 2010 4:41 pm - 24 Comments
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  Millions of frogs shut down Greek highway - by frog

  
  
  
  Millions of my cuzzies have rallied to shut down a major highway in northern Greece for several hours. read more
  May 28, 2010 1:54 pm - 10 Comments
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  No Kwila timber on Trade Me! - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Yesterday the Green Party, Rainforest Action and the Indonesian Human Rights Group went to visit “Trade Me” headquarters in Wellington to ask them to stop the trade in illegal kwila (a tropical hardwood) on their site. The group included a cassowary (native bird of West Papua under threat from rainforest destruction) and an orangutan from [...] read more
  May 28, 2010 9:54 am - 10 Comments
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  General debate 28th May 2010 - by frog

  
  
  
  Anything goes, but please try to keep it polite and thoughtful. read more
  May 28, 2010 7:48 am - 51 Comments
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  Fuller v Bennett - by frog

  
  
  
  While both I and Green MPs have slammed Paula Bennett’s beneficiary bashing policies, I haven’t climbed into the information privacy dispute between Bennett and DPB beneficiary Natasha Fuller – until now! Bennett is going too far, and seems to want to escalate the dispute for her own political ends. read more
  May 27, 2010 6:47 pm - 23 Comments
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  Thoughts above Saudi Arabia - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  It is 30 hours since I flew out of Christchurch, 24 since I was flying over Australia’s Nullabor, 2 hours since taking off from Dubai. I am en route to Kampala, Uganda.  The parties to the International Criminal Court are holding their first Review Conference, eight years after the Court’s jurisdiction came into force.  New [...] read more
  May 26, 2010 2:56 pm - 10 Comments
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  Aged Care investigation gets off to great start - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  Winnie Laban and I are well into our nationwide investigation into aged care. We have held five public meetings on aged care – four in the Wellington region and one in Nelson. Only 14 more to go! read more
  May 26, 2010 11:32 am - 10 Comments
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  Motorways solve congestion not - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The recent Henry Tax Review in Oz said some words that will struggle to ever cross the lips of a NZ Transport Minister until the Greens are in Govt: There are large challenges facing transport in Australia. In particular, under ‘business as usual’ assumptions, the avoidable costs of urban congestion may grow to around $20 billion [...] read more
  May 25, 2010 10:16 pm - 17 Comments
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  Another dollop of reality on climate change - by frog

  
  
  
  The latest ‘State of the Climate’ report from NOAA is going down like a cup of cold sick. Some ‘highlights’: The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for April 2010 was the warmest on record at 14.5°C (58.1°F), which is 0.76°C (1.37°F) above the 20th century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F). This was also [...] read more
  May 25, 2010 11:47 am - 37 Comments
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  A privatisation lesson from an unlikely source - by frog

  
  
  
  Cameron (Whaleoil) Slater has been having a bleat about how he has been treated by the private insurer Fidelity Life, which has cut off his income protection insurance. Funny how those on the political right don’t seem to get it – until it affects them personally, that is. read more
  May 25, 2010 11:34 am - 37 Comments
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  Auckland says sustainable transport, National says motorways - by frog

  
  
  
  I hopped along to the launch of the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy last week. I’ve blogged about the strategy before so won’t say much. Basically it sets a different direction for transport in Auckland than that favoured by the National government. It prioritizes major sustainable transport projects like the CBD rail loop for funding [...] read more
  May 25, 2010 9:00 am - 4 Comments
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  Photo – what’s this? - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  May 24, 2010 9:20 pm - 14 Comments