Gordon Campbell: On the looming inquiry into the Hit & Run events

Chief Science Advisor's Report: Prevention, Not Prisons

The Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor has released a report entitled “Using evidence to build a better justice system: The challenge of rising prison costs.” More>>

ALSO:

• Greens - Greens welcome chief science advisor’s prisons report
• National - Prison costs cannot be excuse to go soft on crime

Thompson + Clark Inquiry: Victims Welcome Wider Scope

Two groups that say they were spied on by Thompson + Clark are welcoming the widening of an inquiry into the controversial security company to cover not one but two government agencies. More>>

ALSO:

• Coromandel Watchdog - Spies and Government need to Apologise to Our Community
• State Services Commission - Inquiry terms of reference widened - Southern Response inquiry details announced
• Greenpeace - Govt inquiry into spy agency should include MBIE

Gordon Campbell: On Clare Curran’s Dim Future

Now that the initial shock of Carol Hirschfeld’s resignation has worn off, we’re getting to the sharp end of the RNZ story...More>>

ALSO:

• RNZ - Clare Curran won't resign over meeting with Carol Hirschfeld - RNZ shock also rocks government
• Radio New Zealand - Statement from RNZ Chair Richard Griffin & CE Paul Thompson
• National - More questions about Curran’s commitment to Open Government
• Earlier:
• NZ Govt - Public media advisory group established
• BusinessDesk - Labour to boost public broadcasting funding

Gordon Campbell: On The Hype About The Reserve Bank’s New Governor

It is time for the ritual handover at the Reserve Bank. Sometime today, Adrian Orr will don the gubernatorial undergarments, drain the Goblet of Knowledge and be led down, down the spiral staircase to confront the Beast of Inflation in its lair...More>>

ALSO:

• Keith Rankin - The Government's New 'Employment' Contract
• NZ Govt - Reserve Bank Governor signs new Policy Targets Agreement
• National - Robertson’s RBNZ changes no compensation for poor policies
• ACT - Printing money doesn’t create jobs
• BusinessDesk - UPDATE: Orr 'very pleased' with NZ economy - Reserve Bank to make policy by committee, adds employment - Orr may break central banker mould
• Federated Farmers - Feds Asks Why Fool Around With The Reserve Bank Act?

Animal Welfare: Tougher New Standards Passed

Cabinet has approved a raft of new regulations to strengthen our animal welfare system, says Associate Minister of Agriculture responsible for animal welfare Hon Meka Whaitiri.More>>

Now $16.50 Per Hour: Minimum Wage Increases From 1 April

Around 164,000 Kiwi workers and their families will be better off following the increase in the Minimum Wage that takes effect from 1 April, says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - Minimum Wage to Increase to $16.50 Per Hour
• ACT - Government begins killing 3000 jobs this weekend
• National - Labour market reforms will hurt New Zealanders
• Unite - Unite Union Welcomes Minimum Wage Increase
• Horticulture NZ - Employment law plans not fit for this era

Mycoplasma Bovis: MPI Calls for Cull On Infected Properties

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has determined that all cattle on properties infected with the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis will be culled, and will be working with farmers to do that from today.More>>

ALSO:

• MPI - Technical advice and pathway tracing reports released - Warranted searches conducted for Mycoplasma bovis
• NZ Govt - Certainty for farmers welcomed
• Federated Farmers - Feds Supports MPI Investigation - Feds and all Farmers Will Be Relieved By M.Bovis Decision
• Beef + lamb NZ - Beef + Lamb NZ welcomes certainty for infected properties
• DCANZ - DCANZ supports investigation into possible legal breaches

Woods Speech: The Transition Away From Fossil Fuels

I won’t be announcing Block Offer 2018 today. As the Prime Minister has said, the Government is actively considering this issue, and we’ll have an announcement in the coming weeks...More>>

ALSO:

• Wellington.Scoop - Wellington.scoop.co.nz » Four arrested, as protestors block entrances to oil and gas conference
• National - Minister needs to be clear on permit process
• BusinessDesk - NZ govt planning 'long transition' away from fossil fuels
• RNZ - Three arrested, as protestors block entrances to oil and gas conference
• CTU - Unions ready to start just transition to low carbon economy
• Oil Free Wgtn - Activists demand climate justice at rally and blockade
• Greenpeace - Janet the 17m blue whale makes oil conference debut
• Joint Release - Moving on from Oil and Gas

RNZ Explainer: Why You Should Care About Cambridge Analytica

Facebook's shares have lost billions of dollars in value after something to do with data used by Cambridge Analytica. Confused? Here's what it means, and what could come next...More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk - Privacy Commissioner accuses Facebook of thumbing nose
• RNZ - Commissioner: Facebook not complying with the Privacy Act
• Out-Link Russell Brown - Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Surveillance Capitalism
• Binoy Kampmark - Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Surveillance Capitalism
• BusinessDesk - While you were sleeping: Wall St, Facebook, oil rebound - While you were sleeping: Facebook sparks tech selloff- NZ dollar rises from three-week low ahead of Fed meeting
• 
  

Gordon Campbell: On A Trade War With China

As things currently stand, the White House has NOT included New Zealand on its list of allies whose steel and aluminium exports to the US will be exempted from US President Donald Trump’s recent hike in tariffs. More>>

Gordon Campbell: On Credibility In Politics

Credibility is always such a fickle, unstable element in politics. You know it when you see it, though. More>>

Gordon Campbell: On Winston Peters’ Attempts To Cozy Up To Trump And Russia
The weekend attempts made by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peterson on the Nation TV programme to downplay Russia’s role in the shooting down of MH 17 have already been earning some unflattering coverage across the Tasman. More>>

Diplomatic Madness: The Expulsion of Russian Diplomats

How gloriously brave it seemed, some 23 nations coming together like a zombie collective to initiate a fairly ineffectual action in of itself: the expulsion of Russian diplomats or, as they preferred to term it, intelligence operatives. More>>

ALSO:

• Peter Dunne - Dunne Speaks: Phew, the Russians are not coming
• Socialist Equality Group - Britain pressures NZ to join anti-Russian sanctions
• National - Government doctors statement to protect Peters

UN Rights Office On Syria: The “Monstrous Annihilation” Of Eastern Ghouta

Since the Syrian Government and their allies escalated their offensive against opposition-held Eastern Ghouta on 4 February, there have been more than 1,200 civilian casualties, including at least 346 killed and 878 injured, mostly in airstrikes hitting residential areas... Ninety-two of these civilian deaths allegedly occurred in just one 13-hour period on Monday. More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - NZ increases humanitarian funding for Syrian war victims
• UNHRC - Zeid urges international action as violence soars in Syria
• Image via Out-Link - Eastern Ghouta is another Srebrenica, we are looking away again | The Guardian

Cyclone Gita: 70% Of Tonga Population Affected

The full scale of destruction is beginning to emerge from Tonga in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Gita. Around 50,000 people, or almost 70% of the country’s population, have been affected, a third of whom are children. More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - PM to Tonga, Samoa, Niue, and the Cook Islands - Further Cyclone Gita help - Emergency relief supplies to depart for Tonga - New Zealand to assist following Cyclone Gita - Cyclone Gita - thoughts with the Pacific, MCDEM staffer sent
• Delegation of the European Union to the Pacific - EU supports the victims of cyclone Gita in Tonga
• Govt of Tonga - Tropical Cyclone Gita: Tonga State of Emergency
• RNZ - Samoas clean up after being swamped by cyclone - Samoa assesses damage
• Council for International Development - The best thing you can do to help Tonga - send cash
• Charities - Oxfam - Tearfund - Rotary - Caritas - Habitat for Humanity - UNICEF - CWS - Rotary - Pacific Humanitarian Team
• Banks - ANZ - NZ Post/Kiwibank
• CLIMsystems - Tracking Models for Tropical Cyclone Gita
• Free calling - Spark - Vodafone - 2degrees donating income
• Digicel - Digicel Tonga’s network restoration well underway
• Heilala Vanilla - Foundation Provides Relief Support to ‘Eua, Tonga - Heilala Vanilla Update | Cyclone Gita
• Marlborough District Council - Mayor urges support for Pacific neighbours
• BusinessDesk - Tower says summer storms will cost about $5 million
• PCRIC - Record Insurance Payout for Tonga Following Cyclone Gita
• Paul Bayly - Pacific led climate change research is vital to development
• Image Out-Link - Tropical Cyclone Gita Slams Tonga : Natural Hazards

Scoop Review of Books: Martin Edmonds' The Expatriates

This book is an extension of, and tribute to, the life’s work of James McNeish. Without sacrificing any degree of authorial independence, the result is gracefully written, handsomely produced, and likely to propagate many further works of its kind. More>>

Joe Cederwall Review: WOMAD 2018 - Harmony of Difference (part 1)

A friend described WOMAD as his “favourite white middle class celebration of diversity.” There is certainly an echo of truth to this as the crowd is still largely white and middle class, but this WOMAD for me represented that a better world is possible ... More>>

Harmony of Difference (part 2)

Top international world music artists seldom make it down to this neck of the woods, so for those of us into this sort of thing WOMAD is certainly a welcome addition to the cultural calendar. Now it is a case of waiting and looking forward to seeing what they manage to conjure up for next year. More>>