Govt Filibusters Member's Bill: Paid Parental Leave Extension Falls Short
A bill extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks appears to have been successfully blocked by National from passing in this Parliament.
The House rose interrupting the committee stage debate of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill on clause two of the bill just before 10pm.
One attempt to close debate on clause one failed as it was tied 60 to 60 with National holding Peter Dunne’s proxy on procedural matters. It did not matter as there was not enough time left to complete debate on all clauses ahead of the House rising for the evening. More>>
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Auditor-General: Report On On Treasury/DPMC/SSC Shared Services
"The central agencies did not follow best practice in setting up CASS. CASS was set up by the intended date, but important and fundamental aspects of the change were not done well." More>>
New Top Rate: Labour’s Alternative Budget
A Labour Government will run surpluses while investing in health and education, and paying off National's record debt, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says. More>>
Wood, Trees: Stop Playing Politics With West Coast Windfall Timber
“Given that the storm that caused this windfall was three months ago, the government’s use of urgency to pass legislation this week is clearly based on playing politics. Labour is proposing that a Select Committee consider the Bill and report back to Parliament within two weeks, still allowing for the legislation to be considered before the election." More>>
Equal Opportunities: Commission Calls For EEO Targets For The Public Service
“EEO targets need to be the way forward for New Zealand. Unfortunately we’ve not seen huge progress in the advancement of women, Maori, ethnic minority and disabled workers as mandated in the 1988 State Sector Act,” said Dr Blue. More>>
Justice: NZ Needs More Crime Prevention Not More Prisons
New Zealand needs more initiatives aimed at reducing our prison population, Green Party justice spokesperson David Clendon said today. More>>
Oil Exploration In Sanctuary: National Minister Misleads Parliament Over Maui’s
Conservation Minister Nick Smith misled Parliament with his statement that not a single Maui's dolphin has been sighted inside an area opened up by the Government for oil drilling, the Green Party said today. More>>
OECD Report: NZ Among Better Performers On Inequality - English
New Zealand was one of only six developed economies in which both income inequality and disposable income inequality was flat or slightly better between 2007 and 2011, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. More>>
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EMA: 6 Point Business Election Wish List
An overhaul of local government consenting processes, employment readiness certificates for school leavers, automatic extensions of migrant work visas, soft loans to encourage innovation, and reducing the tax on Kiwisaver savings to 15 per cent – these are among the Employers and Manufacturers Association targets in its Election Manifesto 2014 issued today. More>>.
Scoop Business: Telecom Reveals TV Plans, Lures With Vikings
Telecom Corp, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications provider, has detailed its new internet television plans, Lightbox, including luring customers with popular American primetime shows, as part of its business change as it chases earning growth. More>>
Wellington, Queenstown: 'Housing Accord' Plans Spread
Under the proposed Wellington Housing Accord, the Government and council would work collaboratively to encourage a good supply of quality housing in the capital. It sets a target of 7000 additional homes over the next five years. The Accord is subject to formal approval and is due to be discussed publicly this Thursday at the Wellington City Council. More>>
12 Stores, 64 Workers To Go: Union Shocked At Postie Announcement
“Neither employees or the union were advised that there was a review on the future of stores before Postie went under Administration. No indication was given at last Thursday’s creditors meeting that so many stores would be closed and redundancies made." More>>
... And Another Mine Opens: Bathurst To Begin Work At Denniston
Bathurst Resources Limited is pleased to announce that it has received the Authority to Enter and Operate for the Escarpment Mine Project from the landowner - the Department of Conservation. More>>
EPA Blocks Iron Sand Plan: Seabed Mining Bid Was ‘Premature’
The bid by TransTasman Resource to mine the seabed in the south Taranaki Bight was “premature” and should have spent longer on understanding the impacts of its proposals on both the environment and existing users, the EPA's decision-making committee says... More>>
New Protections: Good News For Consumers
Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Foss says changes to consumer law coming into effect will strengthen consumer rights across all types of transactions. “Key changes under the Consumer Law Reform Bill swing into action today [Tuesday 17]." More>>
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John Chuckman: Iraq, ISIS, And Intervention: Just What Is Going On?
As so often is the case in foreign affairs, we will never know with precision what is happening in Iraq. The governments involved have reasons to disguise what they are doing, and a number of governments are indeed at work there. More>>
Joel Cosgrove: MANA and Industrial Relations: “Between equal rights, force decides”
Fightback participates in the MANA Movement, whose stated mission is to bring “rangatiratanga to the poor, the powerless and the dispossessed.” Capitalism was imposed in Aotearoa through colonisation, and the fight for indigenous self-determination is intimately ... More>>
Grant Duncan: Time To Consider Full State Funding Of Political Parties?
Mr Donghua Liu's claims of making large donations to the Labour Party are (as I write this) under dispute by party officials who say they can find no record of them. But there is no doubt about a $22,000 donation to the National Party in 2012. More>>
Werewolf: Secret Histories Of The Pacific
David Robie has been slogging away on the front lines of Asia-Pacific journalism for decades, both as a practitioner and a journalism educator. His new book chronicles that work through reprints of his writing and reporting, coupled with some fresh context, follow-ups and personal recollections. More>>
Michael Collins: Ukraine President Once Agent For U.S. State Department
Two diplomatic messages from the WikiLeaks Public Library on U.S. Diplomacy indicate that newly elected President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko was an agent for United States State Department. More>>
Fightback: Why Fightback Supports The MANA Movement
The decision by the MANA Movement to enter into a formal alliance with the Internet Party has drawn criticism from Right and Left. Fightback has voiced criticism of our own. More>>
INSS Insight: The Palestinian Unity Government
The Palestinian unity government was sworn in on June 2, 2014 in Ramallah on the basis of a presidential decree by President Mahmoud Abbas, after Fatah and Hamas came to an agreement on the makeup of the cabinet. More>>
Binoy Kampmark: The Benefits Of War: Abbott’s “Discrete Settlement” Program
The Abbott Government has made a point to shock more than awe in its short time in office. (It is hard to be awed by the Prime Minister, whose behaviour has been expected.) It has taken the program of the previous Labor government further in chastising and ... More>>
Al Jazeera: Egypt Verdict Defies Logic And Any Semblance Of Justice
Following today’s verdict in Cairo, Al Jazeera English managing director Al Anstey said: “Today three colleagues and friends were sentenced, and will continue behind bars for doing a brilliant job of being great journalists. More>>
Papua New Guinea: Indonesian Troops Fire On PNG Soldiers Along Border
Indonesian troops have opened fire on a PNG Defence Force border patrol, increasing further tension at the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border. The flare-up at the border compelled the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration to summon the Indonesian ... More>>
World News: Internet Well On Way To 3 Billion Users - UN Telecom Agency
Releasing new statistics today, the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced that by end 2014, there will be nearly three billion Internet users – two-thirds of them from the developing world – with mobile-broadband ... More>>
Syria: Gunfire Impedes Food Delivery To Palestinian Refugees
Gunfire stopped distribution of food today in a besieged Palestinian refugee camp, a United Nations spokesperson confirmed today, reiterating demands that the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees be allowed to safely and without interruption distribute ... More>>
Ukraine: Ban Welcomes Release Of Abducted Military Observers
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the release earlier today of European military monitors and accompanying Ukrainian staff abducted a week ago in the country's crisis-torn eastern region, even as he expressed sadness at the loss of life... More>>
Canada: Govt Tries To Shut Down Debate On Online Spying Bill
The government looks likely to shut down debate on its controversial Online Spying Bill C-13 , which MPs are scheduled to discuss later today. The move comes after tens of thousands have spoken out on a pro-privacy petition organized by OpenMedia.ca ... More>>
US State Department: John Kerry On Support For Israel
For more than thirty years in the United States Senate, I didn’t just speak words in support of Israel, I walked the walk when it came time to vote and when it came time to fight. As Secretary of State, I have spent countless hours working with Prime ... More>>
North Africa: Mass Imposition Of Death Penalty In Egypt Outrageous
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday strongly condemned the shocking imposition of the death penalty on 683 individuals in Egypt yesterday after mass trials that she said clearly breached international human rights law. More>>
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No Govt Funding Right Now: Team New Zealand Secures Money
Emirates Team New Zealand chairman Dr Keith Turner says the team has now reached the point where it has the confidence to mount a challenge for the 35th America’s Cup. More>>
Not Boring: Winners Announced For New Zealand Post Book Awards
It can’t be a boring book when The Boring Book wins a prestigious New Zealand prize for children and young adult books - the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. The Boring Book is also the winner in the Awards’ Picture Book category. More>>
Taking off The Bird Suit: Lady Comedy Surprisingly Comedic
Taking off The Bird Suit, a new show at BATS Theatre looks to combine two mutually exclusive concepts - women and comedy. “I called an audition for an improv show and all these women turned up... Some were even funny. It was *super* weird,” says Christine Brooks, director of the show. More>>
Mime News: French Mime Laurent Decol To Tour NZ
From the 28th of June until the 14th of July, acclaimed French mime Laurent Decol will be holding workshops and performing during his first ever tour of New Zealand. More>>
Media Take: Maori Television Takes On Media Matters
What makes the New Zealand media tick? Who decides which stories get covered, which ones don’t and how the subjects are treated? Maori Television’s new current affairs show, MEDIA TAKE (formerly Media3) will answer these questions and a lot more... More>>
Werewolf: Muslim Female Superhero Fights Misogyny!
When Deena Mohamed first began writing her Qahera comic strip a year ago, she was a 19 year old student in Cairo, Egypt. Almost overnight, Qahera struck a nerve around the world... More>>
Philip Matthews On Godzilla And Other Monsters “We are not alone" was a famous tag line of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which viewers might have taken as a warning before they saw the film, and as a reassuring thought afterwards. If those things were going to come, then you should at least hope they would be a benign force... More>>
Werewolf: 3 Feet High And Rising
Gordon Campbell On De La Soul The album's 25th anniversary is a good opportunity not only to recall 3 Feet High and Rising with affection, but to salute a time when hip hop could throw Johnny Cash, Eric Burdon, the Mad Lads, Bo Diddley, Steely Dan and scores of other into the Daisy Age blender without bothering about the legal consequences. More>>
Christchurch: Music Centre Confirmed
Confirmation that the Music Centre of Christchurch will soon begin construction of a new $12.5 million facility in the Performing Arts Precinct is a significant step forward, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says. More>>
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Werewolf: Watch The Seas