Exciting developments near Titirangi this morning…

Exciting developments near Titirangi this morning…

Today’s welcome arrival…

Today’s welcome arrival…

Tinkering…

BREAKING: Buller District Council rules out Stevenson's mining being able to dig up the Westport Water Conservation Reserve as part of the Te Kuha #coal mine on the West Coast. Fantastic news and another nail in the coffin for this really stupid idea. #nzpol

Marvellous news www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

#NZ Cutting the flu tracking service 😔 - it seems a weird thing to cut given it’s not a "big budget" item - if you’ve read on pandemic planning you’d know this is the sort of thing we need to step *up*, not drop. Feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face

Today’s welcome arrival – not my usual topic…

Today’s welcome arrival – not my usual topic…

Evergreen post for this government…

More stupid theatre being quietly closed down amid the Christmas rush. The road cone hotline is to end, having achieved basically nothing. What was the cost per cone removed? www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

No surprises there, then…

FWIW, I really enjoyed this book…

This should be a much, much bigger story. Commitments of tens of billions of dollars are being made to dubious projects without us being allowed to know anything about how decisions are being made. It's literally the future of the nation.

Things this coalition did that just wasted money and solved nothing: Landlord welfare Tobacco welfare Oil and gas exploration Cancelling ferries Fucking up school lunches Cancelling state house build & increasing homelessness Creating mass unemployment of govt workers Te Tiriti culture war bullshit

It was only a matter of time. Fuck you #LouiseUpston & #ChristopherLuxon. And a big Fuck You to the rest of your govt. #nzpol #disablednz Transport subsidies for elderly and disabled people reduced www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

This fuckin’ government, man… “We would like to inform you that FluTracking New Zealand will pause over the summer period. The final survey for 2025 was emailed on 15 December. The Ministry of Health of New Zealand has decided not to renew the contract with FluTracking Australia going forward. “

Just to be clear what is (and isn’t) happening here. The Govt MPs are empowering a select committee with a majority of its MPs on it to stuff more things into the government’s bill, because these things procedurally couldn’t be included in the bill when introduced.

No political party comes out of this covered in any glory - my piece for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk culture newsletter about copyright and those AI jerks who feel entitled to steal music. Also contains gratuitous dig at Nick Clegg. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/the-...

'Looking as though they had beamed down from another planet into the midst of the punk era - a high point of mid-70s ‘rock as art’ with fabulous tunes to go with their outlandish attire' Split Enz - ENZyclopedia – Volumes 1 & 2 is No 59 in tQ’s Reissues Etc. of the Year 2025 buff.ly/6ZIlwd4

My last story for the year - the third in a sort of trilogy about the energy crisis. This one is about about the unmanaged, unfunded, messy transition away from gas and the impact on businesses.Feels like a perfect example of where we really really could be doing better www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...

PRESS RELEASE The passing of the Fast-Track Approvals Amendment Bill makes an already damaging law even more dangerous for Aotearoa’s environment. #nzpol #climatecrisis www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/pre...

Today’s welcome arrival – lovely production by @jazwiseman.bsky.social

"Record keepers are warning an amendment bill before Parliament will usher in the destruction or loss of vital public evidence" Interesting point about the NZ Ministry of Works being privatized in the 80s, all its records were privatized too & are now owned by Opus. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Today’s welcome arrival – lovely production by @jazwiseman.bsky.social

An OIA confirms it: the Ministry of Education are using AI - Copilot- to develop the new school curriculum. Article here, more as it develops. Please share widely: www.emilywrites.co.nz/yup-theyre-u... #nzpol #kikorangi

There's an irony of using a technology that is already known to be disastrous in climate terms to...uh...'fix' problems relating to the changing climate...(also I note that this article is sponsored by a consultancy firm...sooo...)

More exciting developments near Titirangi…

More exciting developments near Titirangi…

With a nice score by Tristram Cary, too…

A view from abroad…

This sounds very familiar to us in Aotearoa/NZ…

If you're looking for a pocket-sized Xmas present for a music-lover, consider the cool entries in the 33 1/3 Oceania series on notable LPs from Australia & Aotearoa NZ. There is currently a 30% off sale for these on the Bloomsbury website, until the end of today. www.bloomsbury.com/au/series/33...

“Which living person do you most admire, and why? Chlöe Swarbrick who is co-leader of the New Zealand Greens. She’s demonstrating the bold leadership that I look to do every single day.”

“Which living person do you most admire, and why? Chlöe Swarbrick who is co-leader of the New Zealand Greens. She’s demonstrating the bold leadership that I look to do every single day.”

ITC Entertained the World - my book about the visual style of ITC programmes including title sequences, promotional material, etc. This would make a nice Christmas present if you don't already it. Paperback edition is still available. Here's a direct link: itc-classics.co.uk/pro.../itc-e...

Paywall lifted: A trove of briefings and Cabinet documents reveals the Govt was advised its new methane target is only consistent with warming of 2-2.7C (and possibly up to 4.5C). Climate scientists have said 2.7C would represent 'unprecedented peril'. newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/04/g...

Christ on a bike. What a bunch of dickheads.

FYI I’ve opened this one up to all to read, listen and share after requests from paying subscribers to make it publicly available as part of my public interest journalism mandate. Many thanks to subscribers who pay to allow me to do as much of this work in public as possible. #nzpol

If any pianists out there are in the market for a German teaching job, there‘s one available here. Please forward to any likely candidates. stellen.hmdk-stuttgart.de/jobposting/5...

How about we worry less, as a society, about whether individuals might be cheating to get a disability accommodation or some help buying food, and more about whether extremely wealthy people and corporations are paying their fair share of taxes?

For context: NZ's 2030 target was designed to be met in two parts, with a third domestic emissions savings and a larger contribution fromoffshore credits. Great explainer by @eloisegibson.bsky.social here www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

We're doing the annual review for the Ministry of Regulation and the CEO keeps on telling us how valuable their tip line is, but they can't tell us how much it costs to run it. So who knows whether it's value for money or not? #nzpol

“Under questioning in the meeting, Willis also confirmed the government had no intention of buying offshore carbon credits to meet the 2030 Paris agreement as part of a "performative awards ceremony" even if that meant it would breach its commitment.” www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Well, it’s now 31 years since I arrived in Aotearoa “to see how it goes for a couple of years”. And despite this unutterably shite government, I remain a very grateful manuhiri and immigrant. Toitū Te Tiriti!

Total government expenditure on climate: 2022/23 - $800m 2023/24 - $1,083m 2024/25 - $1,225m 2025/26 - $657m That's a 46% drop from last year to this and the lowest amount ever since the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment started compiling these figures. 1/2

Well, it’s now 31 years since I arrived in Aotearoa “to see how it goes for a couple of years”. And despite this unutterably shite government, I remain a very grateful manuhiri and immigrant. Toitū Te Tiriti!

NZPFU Letter to Van Velden Pass it on #nzpol