The Paediatric Society of NZ - representing the clinical field most relevant here - have released maybe the strongest statement of all the medical bodies: “puberty blockers are an established, safe, reversible, and life-saving treatment option”

To all the trans youth out there, the community has been putting together legal arguments ever since the public consultation was announced in November 2024. We never stopped fighting. We prepared for this outcome, and I know from what I myself developed that PATHA have a very good NZBORA s19 action.

BREAKING: PATHA has filed an urgent injunction in the high court seeking to prevent the puberty blocker ban from coming into force, as part of an urgent judicial review we are seeking to overturn the ban entirely.

A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:

This Bill could invalidate the votes of enough people to swing the next election in favour of the current government for no reason other than that they failed to fill out the correct piece of paper by the "proper" time (as defined by the people who benefit from the rule change).

Early advice from officials that recommended New Zealand recognise Palestine as a state was ultimately ignored by the Government.

Paywall lifted: At every turn, the Govt has opted for whatever would actually lead to more pollution and a warmer world – even if it costs more, jeopardises NZ’s reputation, overturns a campaign promise or clashes with the Govt’s other priorities. The long retreat: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/07/g...

Shouldn’t be shocked, but still was. Proof - if more was required - that National are aggressively uninterested in trying to achieve our Paris targets or in bipartisanship. Hopefully people treat them with the credibility that they deserve on both counts (i.e. none).

It took more than a year of painstaking cross-partisan negotiation to land the Zero Carbon Act. Now, the Govt is gutting it unilaterally, Marc Daalder reports

The Aussie bowlers will be liking what they’re seeing from England. Shot selection is… interesting.

The cat has chosen to remind me that, while it may be Labour Day, I still very much do work for him.

I love a train. Particularly a train where I can procure a toastie and wine. All hail the mighty Capital Connection.

Folks, wishing everyone a restful & restorative Labour weekend, wherein we give thanks to Sam Parnell & the Labour movement & unions for the 8 hr day:

This headline is an interesting (derogatory) framing from Stuff. I do not think “throwing in the towel” means what they think it means or, in the alternative, what they are using it to mean.

whenever i encounter people who say they can't understand shakespeare verses I always send them this clip from the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing

A celebratory haka seems like it should have a place in our parliamentary culture.

Brownlee really has a problem with haka, doesn't he? www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Whether against Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Ghahraman, Ardern, other MPs, Wiles, Bloomfield, & others involved in pandemic response, transgender activists, drag queens, judges, lawyers or academics - effects of doxxing are inherently harmful, & often leads to kinetic violence or vandalism.

Useful reading on the reality of negotiating with Israel. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

If you’re in Wellington / Poneke there is a protest against the genocide in Gaza and our government’s shameful complicity at 1 pm in Cuba Street, by the bucket fountain. #nzpol

So, it really is as simple as "we've chosen to back Team Israel, they're in the dominant position militarily, and as long as they choose to keep Palestinian lands we'll tacitly reward them for doing so." This is what our current government claims as being "global leadership".

All the other claimed reasons (recognition will be used as validation by bad actors; recognition just provokes worse behaviour; there's no present hope for peace between the two states) apply both ways - if these are reasons not to recognise Palestine, then we also shouldn't be recognising Israel.

Worth expressly noting that the ONLY reason given in Peters' speech for why AoNZ should recognise Israel and not Palestine as a state is that Palestine "does not control its own territory". So, we reward Israel for its illegal actions + will keep doing so until it chooses to stop.

Disgraceful. The traditional preconditions of statehood are being actively undermined by Israel and, rather than refuse to accept that status quo, we’re reinforcing it.

When Palestine isn't invaded and does control its own territory then we will recognise it ... along with the fairies at the bottom of the garden and the Unicorns in the forest glades.

We aren't going to recognise Palestine because Israel has invaded it and so Palestine doesn't control its own territory ...

Why is Luxon wearing a hi-vis vest when Stanford is not? Seems surplus to requirement and a really odd aesthetic contrast (translation: he looks like a try hard).

Let’s go Black Ferns!!!

One thing that I think some not-youngs forget (and is different from 20 years ago) is that Kirk used his ‘debates’ to generate video that could go viral and, to use an old phrase, catapult the propaganda. His debates weren’t in any way, shape, or form educational.

The Covid inquiry reboot is inspiring all sorts of revisionism on LinkedIn, including this little gem from Covid Plan B stalwart Ananish Chaudhuri “By October 2020, we knew that the vaccines did not prevent transmission”. This is not true, but how did he even come up with this? Thread. 1/N

The IAGS has declared that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide: genocidescholars.org/wp-content/u...

This from Faitala Moleka and Emily Chancellor was just magic. I had challenged the Wallaroos about being the only team from Oceania rugby that I haven’t seen sing. And they met the challenge and then some. So proud of them. Of us. Of women’s rugby 😭

Next, peanuts.

Mānawatia a Matariki: Happy Māori New Year #aotearoa #newzealand

“Does the US President’s social media post mean people should evacuate Tehran in a serious, bombs-are-imminent sort of way or a silly, he’ll forget about it in the morning sort of way?” is an insane, nightmarish situation to be in

Yesterday I spoke to a trans woman called Suzi James, a cricketer of 20 years, the game wrenched away from her overnight. One of the most affecting interviews I’ve done. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

Just out! Our peer-reviewed critique of the Cass Review has been published by BMC Medical Research Methodology. Please read and share. We show that the Cass Review is fatally flawed and should not be the basis for policy or practice in transgender healthcare. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

“The difficulty with starting from the institutions we have now and trying to think how they could be tweaked to better reflect Māori aspirations is that our current institutions are based on a particular way of understanding power.” — Carwyn Jones.

Peter Dutton largely built his political image around a “character test”. Seems like Australia finally decided to send him his grades.

Reckons ...

I think there's a real lack of understanding about what processing submissions actually entails. It's not just "click button, publish submission". Select committee staff need to read each one individually, assess them against the Committee's criteria, and then pass them on to the Committee 1/ #NZPOL

Fine, 3/2: I was agnostic when I first saw debate about 3- vs 4-year terms, but 4-year advocates are singularly incapable of making a good case. Their args are: 1) other countries do it (who cares?) 2) it's cheaper (better democracy is worth paying more) 3) ~*vibes*~ about superior policymaking

In an act of morning masochism, I watched Julian Batchelor’s submission on the Treaty Principles Bill. Yikes.

#Andor continues to be relevant.

i hope the courage it took for tariana turia to vote against the foreshore and seabed bill is never lost to history. it remains the most principled political act of 21st century new zealand politics. and she caught hell for it from her former party of the time

I don’t know much, but I do know that this is a very good article demonstrating how (intentionally) misconceived the Hobson’s Pledge view of our history is.