Veteran constitutional reformer Sir Geoffrey Palmer spoke to RNZ about how to make Parliament more genuinely democratic;
The biggest threat to democracy in Aotearoa is the rise of is a landed aristocracy, and neo-serfdom.
We are at no risk from autocracy. On the contrary we seem to prefer weak tea PMs who are just repeaters for talking points. Helen Clark was the last NZ PM who actually threw her weight around.
"Councils will meet [the state-imposed rates cap], because they would be required to meet it under legislation. It will mean that we are saying no to our communities more often, and it will mean that we are deferring projects that they wanted to see go ahead.
But that might be ok, if it means they've got more money in their back pocket, because their rates bills aren't rising at such a significant rate.
#Tamah Alley, 2025
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/focusonpolitics?share=3ca9302f-cf98-42e3-b73c-a13df8cd06a5
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Seems Nicky NoBoats is under pressure from the hard right for not doing austerity ruthlessly enough. Although the debate itself is not ruthless since the Taxdodgers Onion are planning to wheel out Ruthenasia Richardson to debate NoBoats;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=6745c208-fb27-4b55-9355-72527f2a9bdb
A clash of the neoclassical titans. Like a debate between 19th century orphanageers, over whether the current one is beating the orphans enthusiastically enough to get them adopted.
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"I would say it's no longer a technical challenge. It becomes an economic challenge, right? Do we have the money to pay for it and do we want to pay for it."
That’s James Willcocks, project director of Predator Free Wellington (PFW), reflecting on how native bird numbers have more than doubled on Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula suburb. That’s because of the intensive control of predatory pest mammals. Pest control technologies are at a point that NZ cities can be filled with many more native birds, if enough of us want it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/581731/native-bird-numbers-double-in-miramar-peninsula
"I would say it's no longer a technical challenge. It becomes an economic challenge, right? Do we have the money to pay for it and do we want to pay for it."
That’s James Willcocks, project director of Predator Free Wellington (PFW), reflecting on how native bird numbers have more than doubled on Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula suburb. That’s because of the intensive control of predatory pest mammals. Pest control technologies are at a point that NZ cities can be filled with many more native birds, if enough of us want it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/581731/native-bird-numbers-double-in-miramar-peninsula
There is no reason for this except pure, destructive stupidity. The next time someone loses a house, or their life, in a storm or wildfire, Simon Watts & all of cabinet should be considered responsible
#NZ Government rejects all of #ClimateChange Commission's emissions target recommendations https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/580824/government-rejects-all-of-climate-change-commission-s-emissions-target-recommendations
#RNZ #nact #nzpol
"Reading your research suggested to me that ADHD traits - although I'm not minimizing the problems, and the anguish that ADHD people can feel - ADHD traits constitute a special skill set, not an impairment, often, and the impairment comes from not being able to express the skills."
#JimMora, 2025
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018943895/is-adhd-an-evolutionary-adaptation
All the hoopla around the opening of Ikea ...
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=72463043-2b3c-40b4-ba16-d8c7d20965c9
... reminds me of the 2004 Czech documentary Český sen (Czech Dream);
https://english.radio.cz/cesky-sen-hypermarket-czech-dream-didnt-come-true-8074451
But the documentary was much more fun.
#podcasts #RNZ MediaWatch #Ikea #documentary #ČeskýSen #CzechDream
Local government has been smushed into a much more centralised system over the last 4 decades. Elected local boards that took care of specific jobs in some places (eg drainage boards) were folded into councils. As were community boards in a lot of places.
Many councils were themselves folded together. A process known among local opponents as "forced amalgamation". Auckland started out with dozens of independent city, district and borough councils. Now there's one ring to rule them all.
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Now it seems like we're looking at another round of forced amalgamation of local bodies, with Auckland's "supercity" council as the model. The first step being arbitrarily firing all regional councillors and adding their responsibilities to the jobs of city and district mayors.
Two RNZ shows have reported on this over the last week or so, Focus on Politics;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/focusonpolitics?share=ad5c05a5-7472-48fe-b6c8-f13f997ef2aa
... and The Detail;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/the-detail?share=58b425f8-6bc9-4e38-adf8-d9f921904eb9
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There is no reason for this except pure, destructive stupidity. The next time someone loses a house, or their life, in a storm or wildfire, Simon Watts & all of cabinet should be considered responsible
#NZ Government rejects all of #ClimateChange Commission's emissions target recommendations https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/580824/government-rejects-all-of-climate-change-commission-s-emissions-target-recommendations
#RNZ #nact #nzpol
"What's I'm doing is focused very much on my job. As I keep saying; polls, commentariat, rumours, my job is to get on with the country, and getting it sorted for people."
#CLuxon, speaking to Ryan Bridge in 2025
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=8e7b038f-039b-4c10-86c4-cb2a67ad34af
Oh dear. The political truism regurgitation machine has started stringing random clauses together into vaguely sentence-shaped objects, which don't really hang together (they also don't mean anything but that's not new.
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And to critics who argue that trapping, neutering, and releasing feral cats is better than culling them, Bailey has a blunt response: "They're killing our native birds and not shagging them."
That’s quoted from a good article this morning by Farah Hancock on #RNZ, on NZ’s big problem with feral cats and the social tension around what to do with them. “Predator-free” without dealing with feral cats makes no sense.
And to critics who argue that trapping, neutering, and releasing feral cats is better than culling them, Bailey has a blunt response: "They're killing our native birds and not shagging them."
That’s quoted from a good article this morning by Farah Hancock on #RNZ, on NZ’s big problem with feral cats and the social tension around what to do with them. “Predator-free” without dealing with feral cats makes no sense.
Lithium ion batteries can be a fire risk, yes. But cheap ones in household devices (phones, charging packs, *toys*) are much riskier than the ones in EVs, according to Colin Peacock;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=0fc8e854-476a-4b94-a849-ecfac17b8e35
Lithium ion EV batteries are probably no riskier than a tank of extremely explosive fuel. Certainly not risky enough to justify a regressive crusade against EVs in general, which these days may have nonexplosive sodium ion batteries.
"I tried, I'm disappointed too, but I wasn't prepared to hold up the entire Arms Act [rewrite] to fight over it, when there's a good win for everybody in it."
#NicoleMcKee, 2025
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/focusonpolitics?share=cf65a0e8-c8c6-43a1-82a3-0d61c93372a4
I've made some very strong criticisms of this firearms industry lobbyist turned ACT MP. But credit where credit is due; this is a really generous and pragmatic way for a politician to describe not getting exactly what they wanted from a bill.
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"Chris Hipkins says he's comfortable being called a socialist, Zohran Mandani wins the New York mayoralty, and this is the question we've been asking ourselves all week; is Woke back?"
#WallaceChapman, 2025
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/politics-nz?share=b80fcdfb-3903-482c-926e-50dcf1983607
Huh? No. Obviously not. How did it take you more than 2 seconds to answer that?
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Meanwhile, in New Zealand news, a couple put their house rebuild on hold to wait for the penguins under the house to finish nesting.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand news, a couple put their house rebuild on hold to wait for the penguins under the house to finish nesting.
Yesterday's Midweek MediaWatch covered the decision by police not to prosecute Stuff for publishing anonymised audio of the cops during the final minutes of Tom Phillips' life;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=22b39814-2065-4113-a6bd-587235737567
I guess the cops haven't heard of the Streisand Effect. Because the first thing I did upon learning that they didn't want it published, was to go listen to it;
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360819884/police-audio-end-tom-phillips-chase
I doubt I'm the only one who did.
#podcasts #RNZ #MediaWatch #Stuff #StreisandEffect #DeathByCop #TomPhillips
