Budget Docs: More Asset Sale Slush Fund Spending Revealed
Rather than paying down National’s record $60 billion debt as promised, Budget documents reveal the asset sale money is still being used as a Government slush fund, Labour’s State-Owned Enterprises spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove says...
“The Government conveniently neglected to identify these items in the May Budget documents." More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The Diplomatic Immunity Fallout At MFAT
I’m glad that Murray McCully is well and truly determined to get to the bottom of who screwed up the Malaysian diplomatic immunity case, and when he finally finds out who was Foreign Affairs Minister at the time…boy, I wouldn’t want to be in that guy’s shoes. More>>
Green Party: ACC Investments Risking Native Species
Despite being a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has made a significant but failed investment in gold drilling company Antipodes Gold, which plans to mine in the habitat of the critically endangered Archey’s Frog in the Coromandel Forest Park. More>>
Water Standards: Quality Must Be Maintained, Meet Minimum Standards
The Government has today announced clear, robust national standards for freshwater that will make a significant improvement to the way freshwater is managed. More>>
"Big Ask": Call For Binding Emissions Plan
Youth organisation Generation Zero has today released a report calling for a new law that will hold the Government to its promises to reduce carbon emissions and ensure New Zealand has a credible and integrated plan for climate change action. More>>
Free Education: Labour Will End ‘Voluntary’ School Donations
Labour will provide an annual grant of $100 per student to schools that stop asking parents for “voluntary” donations to help fund their day-to-day spending, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says. More>>
GCSB, SIS, DPMC: Privacy, Digital Economy At Risk From Spy Agency Dysfunction
Internet Party: A damning report on the shameful state of New Zealand’s intelligence services highlights why an overhaul is needed now, says the Internet Party. More>>
Govt, Labour Plans: Chief Victims Advisor Underpins Family Violence Package
A cross-government approach to prevent family violence proposes new Justice sector initiatives to keep women and children safe, Justice Minister Judith Collins and Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley announced today. More>>
Multimedia: PM Post-Cabinet Press Conference
The PM discussed: • The diplomat who has escaped being charged with sexual assault in New Zealand, and the international strictures on his case • The incoming petrol excise tax, and road construction
• Housing affordability ... More>>
Seismic Surveys: Oil Exploration In IWC's Maui Dolphin Protection Zone
A map released on Thursday tracks the route of oil exploration ship Duke just off the coast of Patea and Whanganui which runs over Maui’s dolphin habitat, and the protected area for Maui’s Dolphin recommended by the International Whaling Commission last month. More>>
Scoop Business: Seabed Ironsands Miner To Appeal Resource Consent Knockback
TransTasman Resources, the company seeking to mine ironsands off the ocean floor in the Exclusive Economic Zone, will appeal the rejection of its marine consent application by the decision-making committee appointed by the Environmental Protection Authority. More>>
$65 Million: REANNZ Signs On To Hawaiki’s Trans-Pacific Cable
Crown-owned company REANNZ and Hawaiki Cable have agreed a multi-million dollar deal to provide REANNZ with capacity on the new Hawaiki submarine cable linking New Zealand, Australia and the United States. More>>
...Affordability Down: NZ Building Consents Fall In May As Apartment Numbers Sink
The number of dwelling consents issued in New Zealand fell in May as apartment numbers tumbled, offsetting a rise in housing consents. More>>
Solid Energy: 135 Stockton Job Losses Confirmed
Solid Energy has today confirmed to its Stockton Mine staff that it will reduce the mine’s output and make changes to the way work is organised. The change, outlined as a proposal to staff on 6 June, is in response to continuing low international coal prices. More>>
Scoop Business: BDO Cuts $18.5 Mln Deal Over Capital + Merchant Claim
Audit firm BDO Spicers has agreed to an $18.5 million settlement of a claim against it from the liquidator of failed lender Capital + Merchant Finance. More>>
Santon Tekege: Investigative Report Into Oil Palm In Nabire Regency, Papua
Several companies’ plans to invest in the oil palm sector in Nabire have met with local opposition. People from the Yerisiam and Wate ethnic groups have staged several peaceful actions in Nabire against one of these companies, PT Nabire Baru1. More>>
Redress Information: Putting The Death Of The Israeli Squatter Teens In Context
The Western media are awash with correspondents’ reports on the grief Israelis are experiencing over the death of three teenagers. The teenagers, the sons of Jewish squatters living on stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, who disappeared ... More>>
Liran Antebi: United States: Prepared For Military Intervention In Iraq?
Following the seizure of Iraq’s main cities by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), there has been much discussion about possible US military intervention in Iraq. Since the ISIS campaign began, a small American force of 275 soldiers has been ... More>>
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>>
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>>
Medical: Spread Of New Measles Cases Cause Concern
Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew says a spate of new measles cases dotted around the North Island highlights the need for people to check if they have been immunised. More>>
Over-Diagnosis: Breast Cancer Screening Programme Targets Women Too Soon
New Zealand should re-consider the age at which its breast cancer screening programme starts in light of growing questions about the balance of benefits and harms for women under 50, public health experts from the University of Otago Wellington say. More>>
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>>
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>>