The copper and fibre-optic networks used for New Zealand telecommunications services will move to a simpler, more predictable form of regulation, similar to that used for regulating the monopoly parts of the electricity system, Communications Minister Amy Adams announced.
A review of the 15 year-old Telecommunications Act is also likely to see tweaks to the existing regime for mobile telecommunications infrastructure, to force more sharing of mobile towers by competitors and the possibility of regulation for the price of roaming services to promote mobile competition, which is judged to be "still vulnerable". More>>
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Controversial Maori Land Changes: Flavell Forges Ahead With Te Ture Whenua Act Reform
Maori Affairs Minister Te Uruora Flavell has surprised political opponents by introducing a Te Ture Whenua Act reform bill to Parliament, arguing that drafting changes and consultation in recent months meets the concerns of last year's Waitangi Tribunal report criticising the reform process. More>>
UNICEF Report: Growing Inequality Among Children In Rich Countries
New Zealand is ranked 17th [in the OECD] for inequality in income... In education inequalities, the tables place New Zealand in 35th place with a drop in educational attainment for children at the bottom, in the period 2006-2012. More>>
"Don’t Forget Foreshore And Seabed": Kermadec Sanctuary Legal Challenge
The lessons of foreshore and seabed must not be forgotten and the Crown should not by legislation run rough-shod over Māori interests... Labour supports Te Ohu Kaimoana’s legal challenge being determined before this legislation proceeds. The Crown must allow this to happen and honour the outcome, says David Parker. More>>
Transparency: Pecuniary Interests Of MPs To 31 Jan 2016
Since 2006, members of Parliament have been required to register a range of pecuniary and certain specified personal interests as set out in clauses 5 to 8 of Appendix B of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives... More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Political Tokenism Over The Panama Papers
Prime Minister John Key could have dealt with the clamour for an independent inquiry into the Panama Papers scandal in a variety of ways. He could have – for instance – set up a public inquiry, as was done in the mid 1990s, in the wake of the Winebox tax shelter revelations. Not a chance. More>> [Image by Grant Buist.]
Price Near $1bn: Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Must Dump The Dam
The Green Party is calling on the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and its investment arm HBRIC to stop pumping public money into the Ruataniwha Dam, and call the project off. More>>
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Pay As You Go: Budget Plans For Business Tax
• Provisional tax is being reformed, with a new pay-as-you-go option giving up to 110,000 small businesses a way to pay tax as they earn income from 1 April 2018.
• Use-of-money interest will be eliminated or reduced for the vast majority of taxpayers... More>>
Food Up 0.5%: Cauliflower Prices At Record High
Food prices rose 0.5 percent in March 2016, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was influenced by rises across a range of vegetables, including record high prices for cauliflower. After adjusting for seasonal effects, food prices rose 0.8 percent. More>>
Canada Deal: New International Competition And Consumer Law Arrangement
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith today welcomed the signing of a co-operation arrangement between the Commerce Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau. More>>
House Prices: Sales And Turnover Hit Records In March
New Zealand house sale prices broke records across the country in March as Auckland's strength and the halo effect on surrounding regions continued to improve... The median price in Auckland shot to $820,000, past $800,000 for the first time, and up 14 percent from a year earlier. More>>
Higher Learning: Neuroimaging Psychoactives - LSD May Benefit Medical Science
Research into the effects of LSD on the brain has revealed the potential for the drug in psychological research, according to a University of Auckland researcher involved in a new study. More>>
Beating Forecast: $398 Million Surplus In 8 Months To Feb
The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was a surplus of $398 million for the eight months to 29 February, $730 million higher than forecast. More>>
Mesh Labs: Steel & Tube Mesh Off Sale After Failed Test
The Commerce Commission welcomes Steel & Tube’s decision not to sell SE seismic steel mesh until the mesh has been through a dual testing process and the company has test results that demonstrate compliance with the standard. More>>
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Gordon Campbell: On Whether Donald Trump Has Peaked
Perhaps come August, when the Republicans will finally get to anoint their candidate at their convention in Cleveland, Trump’s fortunes will have waned and the delegate count will be sufficiently deadlocked as to create a ‘contested convention’ whereby the party might then be able to turn to a different, dark horse candidate… Dream on. More>>
Max Rashbrooke At 'Future Of Work' Conference: Labour: Lions Or Pussycats?
So far the debate generated by Labour’s conference has been about the universal basic income (UBI), a guaranteed annual payment to every adult regardless of status. It’s probably the big new idea in this field and has proponents across the political spectrum. But Labour won’t actually go there soon ... More>>
Richard McLachlan: Sanders - Who Dares Wins
This past Wednesday, Rolling Stone magazine stamped the Clinton campaign with the boomer generation’s rock’n roll imprimatur. The editor Jann Wenner, in a cogent but not especially persuasive article, endorsed Hillary as the Joan of Arc of this current debacle. More>>
Current Flag Wins: Jitterati 28/3/16
Gordon Campbell: On How Obama’s Supreme Court Choice Says Everything (Bad) About His Presidency
Nothing has epitomised the presidency of Barack Obama quite like his Supreme Court nominees. Time and again, Republican presidents will blithely nominate right wing ideological extremists (Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas) who only sometimes misfire and turn out to be liberals in disguise (David Souter). Yet Obama has consistently skipped over the judicially qualified liberals and gone for a succession of centrists... More>>
Turkey: UN Secretary-General On The Terrorist Bombing In Ankara
The Secretary-General condemns the terrorist attack in Ankara earlier today. According to the latest reports, the explosion in the Kizilay district killed and wounded dozens of people. More>>
Five Years On: Fukushima And New Zealand
Science Media Centre: It was the worst nuclear event since Chernobyl. In the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a crippled Japanese nuclear powerplant went into meltdown, and the world watched as emergency workers scrambled to shut down and contain the reactors. More>>
UNICEF: 1 In 3 Syrian Children Has Grown Up Knowing Only Crisis
An estimated 3.7 million Syrian children – 1 in 3 of all Syrian children - have been born since the conflict began five years ago, their lives shaped by violence, fear and displacement, according to a UNICEF report. This figure includes more than 151,000 children born as refugees since 2011. More>>
Franklin Lamb: Syria’s Truce Bodes Well For Salvaging Our Cultural Heritage
The tentative cessation of hostilities in Syria, which came into effect on 2/28/2016, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is only in its second week... It is well documented that there have been daily incidents of artillery shelling, airstrikes and clashes. Yet, for the nearly 12 million displaced civilians, half of Syria’s population, it’s a much welcomed respite. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On Rubio’s Last Stand (And Sleater-Kinney)
Well, it certainly was entertaining to watch Rubio succeed in getting under Donald Trump’s skin the other day, in the last debate before tomorrow’s Super Tuesday multi-state sweepstakes... The real killer for Rubio was that the most recent poll from Florida which shows him losing his home state to Trump by a huge margin in the primary due on March 15. More>>
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Abscondopus: Inky The Global Superstar
After making a bold escape from Napier’s National Aquarium of New Zealand, Inky the octopus has become a global superstar. Inky, a common New Zealand octopus, has become one of the world’s most famous animals since news broke on Tuesday of his successful escape. More>>
Love Duets: Classical Couple Join NZSO
Max Rashbrooke interviews Nicola Benedetti and Leonard Elschenbroich: One of the super-couples of the classical world are in New Zealand for a series of concerts with the NZSO – and performing the first piece they ever played together. More>>
Scoop Review Of Books: Shaking More Than The Earth
Christchurch Ruptures by Katie Pickles Professor Pickles, head of history at Canterbury University, has written about the earthquakes from a new angle, arguing they have “fractured pathways to remembering the past”. More>>
Root-Tracing: Howard Davis On Mick Fleetwood
Peter Green began the second great epoch of British blues when he replaced Clapton in the Bluesbreakers, but after cutting just one record with Mayall, Green and the Bluesbreakers' rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. More>>
'Lanky': New Zealand’s Only Pelican Passes Away
The only Pelican in New Zealand has passed away. Lanky, the Pelican has been the longest living resident at Wellington Zoo, after arriving in 1978. However, he was euthanised after his health recently deteriorated. More>>
Best NZ Opening For NZ Film: Hunt For The Wilderpeople A Box Office Smash!
“We’ve bet BOY’s opening weekend box office which made me kind of sad. But then I got over it really quick and now I’m stoked!” says director Taika Waititi. More>>
Pokie Money: Decline In Lotto Revenue To Affect The Arts
Creative New Zealand is reviewing its budgets for the 2016/17 financial year and beyond, following a further forecast decline in revenue from New Zealand Lottery Grants Board (NZLGB) for the 2015/16 financial year. More>>
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