Mountain Tui

It turns out that warnings to National that them watering down building compliance standards would put the country at risk of another "Leaky Homes Saga" were prescient. This week, industry figures warned that over the last two years,  corresponding to Chris Penk's tenure as NZ Building Minister, the country has been flooded with low quality, non-compliant and fake certification building products.   And while these products can be 20-40% cheaper than competitor products, they are more likely to leak, fail and cause serious issues. These products are getting into the country and despite MBIE being informed 8 months ago, with a list of over 20 companies, it appears that these cowboys are still operating unimpeded. National's solution appears to be to push the problem down to councils, advising councils to "look carefully" at the paperwork. What?! So let the cowboys use fake certificates, shoddy products and underhanded techniques to dominate the market, all whi...

 It's perhaps shocking to me that I just learned Matthew Hooton, The Post's (Stuff) new Editor-In-Chief, is not only a Javier Milei fan, but that he personally leaked Nicky Hager's home address to enemies so that malicious harm could come to Hager.     Don't take my own opinion of it for granted - look at the context and draw your own conclusions:  To me, that's not a man who ever appreciated journalism, truth, or integrity. And it's a real pity that this is what our society "rewards". After all, who explicitly provides an address to someone who asks for it, telling yout hat "cock driven" billionaires want "Chop Chop time" for Nicky Hager?  And now Hooton has been hand picked to lead a team of supposed journalists at "The Post". Most ironically Hooton spent his first week at the paper, telling staff he deeply admired Hager. How's that for revisionist history?  Having said all  that, Sinead Boucher is part of the right ...

 Clerk of Parliament House, David Wilson, told The Post  that half of all submissions received in the last 30 years of NZ history, were received in this term of government. Are we surprised? I've written many articles on the systematic and aggressive assault on democracy under this Coalition. They've consistently and openly mocked democratic processes. Take, for example, David Seymour claiming that the ~90% submissions against his Regulatory Standards Bill were "bots", despite not a smidgeon of evidence to back up his assertion.  (Only 0.33% supported his libertarian bill)  The government passed that law anyway.  (Green Party candidate Tania Waikato quipped in response to Seymour: "It wasn't bots, it was us". )   Or the anti-community, anti-environment Fast-Track-Bill where a record 95% of Kiwis in the process opposed the government's amendments. The government passed most of those laws without reservation.  Those who argue for the government th...

There's a lot of news stories that need to be reviewed but perhaps none more so than the languishing state of our media. This week Henry Cooke announced on "X" that he had been made Political Editor at The Post. It comes days after Sinead Boucher appointed former ACT and National lobbyist Matthew Hooton to Editor-in-Chief at Wellington's Stuff masthead brand. Newsroom's co-editor Tim Murphy responded to Hooton's appointment this week with: Truly remarkable appointment - of a non-journalist - to edit the capital's newspaper and quality website, and best Sunday newspaper. Shades of US media appointments from the right of politics. And .. the Jim Grenon Herald loses its star columnist.   Yes Hooton had been one of NZME's best selling columns. And so he brings that nous to The Post.  But the fact that New Zealand's dominant and most penetrative media outlets, NZME and Stuff (both corporate, both privately owned) are now led by outwardly right wing fig...

Almost a year ago, I warned that the right wing NZ government was planning to exchange and/or dispose ("sell") up to 67% of NZ's conservation land. To be clear, that's almost 5 million hectares of our conservation land. And all for the purposes of supposed "economic activity"; never mind that tourism and NZ's clean, green image is one of the major drawcards and never mind, the precious ecosystems, fauna and flora, and wildlife existent in these areas - much of which is endangered.   But of course that's moot for a government hell bent on emulating itself to the ideology and track record of America's Trump and Australia's Hanson. There's a reason why Hanson is supported by Australia's richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart. It pays to be in their good books, as Hanson's new private jet gift demonstrates. Back to Aotearoa New Zealand, the government is pressing ahead on its plans. More than 50% of all bills by this right wing ...

  I've said for a while now that the left block cannot win in Aotearoa New Zealand politics without the Greens pulling their weight. Labour has done well to claw back its support, as I wrote almost a year ago now:  "I Hate Labour, But Wait, Why?" Labour is now the most popular political party in New Zealand, consistently tracking above 32%.  Today's Talbot Poll result reveals the Greens have experienced a surge in support to 13%, up 4%. Labour is at around 34% and National remains under 30% with lack luster leadership and a track record of poor economic performance, and an anti-environment bent in the vein of the current US administration. The National led Coalition right wing government has been hugely damaging to the environment.  Whether it is bringing back deep sea trawling, perhaps one of marine nature's most destructive impacts, or allowing wide scale coal mining expansion into critical natural reserves, or whether planning to flog off / commercialise up to ...