'Armed Response Teams': Armed Police "Will Cause American-Style Shootings"

The Police Commissioner's announcement that squadcars of officers with automatic rifles will patrol New Zealand's streets is dangerous and unnecessary, according to the criminal justice community organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The ... More>>

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• NZ Govt - Police trial new response to high risk events
• NZ Police - Police to pilot Armed Response Teams

Control Orders: Amnesty Says Don't Rush Terrorism Bill

"The problem is, we often see the word “terrorism” being applied broadly by oppressive regimes to detain innocent people who're simply rallying for a better life." More>>

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• The Nation - Simon Shepherd Interviews Golriz Ghahraman
• NZ Govt - Keeping NZ safer with better counter-terrorism laws
• National - Govt must sit down with National over Terrorism Suppression - National will support terrorism legislation

Expert Reaction: $17 million To Fight Online Extremist Content

The Department of Internal Affairs will double its work investigating and preventing violent extremism online. Funding will also help bolster the Chief Censor's work to make fast decisions about harmful content. More>>

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• NZ Govt - Boost to stamp out violent extremist content online
• Sensible Sentencing Trust - Child Exploitation Material should be Prime Ministers focus

Could Do Better: Post-Sroubek Review Of Deportation Info

Ms Tremain acknowledges that the review highlighted some aspects of the process that can be improved and makes five main recommendations to strengthen the existing processes for preparing files for decision-makers. Those recommendations are: More>>

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• National - Sroubek report confirms Minister made wrong decision

Gordon Campbell: On A New Book On The Leaky Homes Scandal

We all know that journalism is short of cash and under pressure from the speed, brevity and clickbait pressures of the 24/7 news cycle… but hey, given the right subject and a sufficiently stubborn journalist, it can still surpass most of the works of the academic historians... More>>

Regulation: Review Finds NZTA Road Safety Failings

The independent review, carried out by consultant agency MartinJenkins, lists at least 10 reasons for the failures including the agency being focused on customer service at the expense of its policing functions. More>>

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• NZ Govt - NZTA to refocus on safety following review
• Movement - NZTA to adopt "safety first"?
• Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre - NZ roads will never cope with heavier trucks

Rod Carr: Climate Change Commission Chair-Designate Announced

Climate Change Minister James Shaw has today announced the appointment of Dr Rod Carr as Chair-designate for the Climate Change Commission. More>>

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• BusinessDesk - National Party open to higher methane targets - NZ to go Dutch to battle climate change - Small end of town needs to chip in on climate change - Carr - Carr named to chair Climate Change Commission
• NZ Govt - NZ and the Netherlands working together on climate change - Joint Cooperation Statement on Climate Change
• Business NZ - Strong candidate selected for climate role
• Environmental Defence Society - EDS welcomes appointment of Dr Rod Carr
• 350 Aotearoa - Petition calls for All Blacks to drop AIG sponsorship
• New Energy Coalition - New energy partnership to help global transition

Compliance Complaints: 'Putting Right' Holidays Act Underpayment In Health

The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. More>>

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• Joint Press Release - Holidays Act compliance project
• National - DHBs said they were compliant with Holidays Act

Marine And Freshwater Reports: EDS Calls For Urgent Action On Marine Management

“There are some big issues to address. These include many marine species and habitats that are in serious trouble. Of the sample investigated, the report finds that 22% of marine mammals, 90% of seabirds and 80% of shorebirds are threatened with or actually at risk of extinction..." More>>

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• National Science Challenges - Statement re MfE/StatsNZ report on marine environment
• NZ Govt - Proposals to curb environmental damage help our coasts - Indigenous freshwater fish bill passes
• National - Government piles pressure onto new councils - Government a step closer to banning whitebaiting
• Forest And Bird - Groups unite on freshwater policies for healthy water
• Farmers for Positive Change - F4PC welcomes ‘Healthy Water, Healthy Future' Statement
• Horticulture NZ - Government must focus on maintaining productive capacity
• LegaSea - Kiwis want tarakihi fishing quota cut significantly

$7.5 Billion Surplus: Government Accounts "Show Strong Economy"

“The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more on infrastructure and make record investments in health and education,” Grant Robertson says. More>>

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• BusinessDesk - NZ dollar rises on better-than-expected govt surplus - Rail revaluation bolsters Crown 2019 accounts - Shane Jones' PGF quietly made tax-exempt
• National - Robertson’s pockets bulge as everyday Kiwis struggle - DHB deficits out of control, health services at risk
• Greens - Green Party responds to Government surplus announcement
• ACT - Nearly $2 of every $5 swallowed by the Government
• NZEI - NZEI Te Riu Roa welcomes Government's education spending signals
• NZ Taxpayers' Union - Give the money back, Grant
• Public Service Association - Surplus should be spent on housing, health and services
• Auckland Business Chamber - Government surplus – Congratulations, but...

New OIO Application Trumps Judicial Review: OceanaGold Cleared To Buy Land For Waihi Tailings Expansion

In a surprise turnaround, the government has given OceanaGold a greenlight to buy land to expand its Waihi mine after the application was previously turned down by Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage. More>>

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• NZ Govt - Ministers approve application to expand Waihi mine
• National - PM must show leadership & strip portfolio from Eugenie Sage
• Coromandel Watchdog - Dam annoucement sabotages environment and due process - Image 2010 Image Shows Real Life Eden Park-Mining Impacts
• OceanaGold - OceanaGold Receives NZ Overseas Investments Office Approval
• Straterra - Straterra welcomes Overseas Investment Act decision
• Business NZ - OIO decision confidence building
• EMA - Right call made on Waihi mine

Christchurch Rebuild: Fletcher Sued For $7.5m Over Justice Precinct

Fletcher Building is being sued for $7.5 million by utilities contractor Electrix, one of the subcontractors on the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct. More>>

Three New Drugs: PHARMAC Signs Bundle Deal For More Cancer Medicines

420 New Zealanders with lung cancer, breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and respiratory disease will benefit each year from a bundle deal PHARMAC has finalised with a medicine supplier. More>>

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• NZ Govt - More cancer drugs confirmed – even more on horizon
• Multiple Sclerosis NZ - Hundreds with Multiple Sclerosis ‘Abandoned’

Gordon Campbell: On Betraying The Kurds

The Americans have now callously thrown the Kurds under the bus and created the ideal conditions for Islamic State to mount a comeback – all done so that Donald Trump can brag on the 2020 campaign trail that he brought the US troops home. How is the current fighting likely to proceed? More>>

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• Out-Link - Turkish troops advance into Syria as Trump washes his hands of the Kurds | The Guardian
• United Nations - UN chief urges ‘maximum restraint’ in Syria
• Binoy Kampmark - Cynical Enterprises: The Kurds Await Their Fate

Expert Comment: Online Voting Won’t Mean More Engagement

“Overseas experience is that online voting tends to be popular with those who are already likely to vote and who have high levels of digital literacy. It does little to help add new people to the voter pool, and this holds even for young voters.”More>>

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• Image RNZ - Local elections turn-out too early to tell

Gordon Campbell: On The Saudis (Not) Getting Away With Murder

On October 2nd last year, the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul, by a hit squad of assassins acting on the orders of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman. More>>

Ellen Rykers on The Dig: Community Conservation – The Solution To The Biodiversity Crisis?

It’s increasingly clear that a government agency alone cannot combat the biodiversity crisis successfully. These grass-roots initiatives are a growing resource in the conservation toolbox. More>>

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• HiveMind - Biodiversity HiveMind Progress Report

Gordon Campbell: On The Saudi Oil Refinery Crisis

So the US and the Saudis claim to have credible evidence that those Weapons of Oil Destruction came from Iran, their current bogey now that Saddam Hussein is no longer available. Evidently, the world has learned nothing from the invasion of Iraq in 2003 when dodgy US intel was wheeled out to justify the invasion of Iraq, thereby giving birth to ISIS and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. More>>

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• BusinessDesk - Trump authorises use of emergency crude stockpile - MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares fall; high oil prices weigh - NZ dollar edges higher as concerns over Saudi attack ease
• RNZ - Saudi attacks: Global oil prices spike, petrol uncertainty
• TVNZ - Q+A: Megan Woods interviewed by Jack Tame
• Gull Petroleum - $US6.50 per Barrel increase for petrol
• Binoy Kampmark - Oiling for War: The Houthi Attack on Abqaiq

Climate Strike: At UN, Youth Activists Press For Bold Action

This first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit follows Friday’s global ‘climate strike’, which saw millions of young people from across the globe walk out of school and jam streets in major cities, from New York to New Delhi and Santiago to San Francisco. More>>

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• School Strike 4 Climate - 4 days until intergenerational climate strike
• The Nation - Simon Shepherd Interviews James Shaw
• National - Coal use increasing under Labour-Green policies
• NZ Council of Trade Unions - NZCTU calls on employers to release staff for Climate Strike
• Interim Climate Change Committee - Interim Climate Change Committee Call for evidence launched
• Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre - Climate change is here - we all need to do our part
• University of Queensland - Preventing climate change cheaper than dealing with damage
• Video via UNFCCC - Winners of 2019 Global Youth Video Competition
• Binoy Kampmark - Extinction Rebellion: Leaving it to the Students
• Greenpeace - Major IPCC report: ‘The climate crisis is an oceans crisis’
• Citizen News Service - Inside out: Climate change induced migration
• ITUC - Just Transition for climate ambition

Pacific: Tongan PM 'Akilisi Pohiva Dies, Aged 78

A constant thorn in the side of the monarchy and nobility, Mr Pohiva's lifelong battle for representation had seen him fired from the public service and charged with sedition... More>>

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• NZ Govt - New Zealand express condolences on passing of Tonga’s PM

Untied Kingdom: UK PM Moves To Suspend Parliament In Weeks Before Brexit

The Prime Minister has briefed Cabinet colleagues that the government will bring forward an ambitious new legislative programme for MPs’ approval, and that the current parliamentary session will be brought to an end. More>>

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• UK Labour Party - Jeremy Corbyn responds to plans to suspend Parliament
• Out-Link - Brexit | The Guardian

Scoop Review Of Books: 'the everrumble' by Michelle Elvy

This is Zettie’s tale from her birth date in 1965 through to her ‘passing’ at the age of 105. Yet, Zettie’s tale is our own tale, as humans still all-too-often hell-bent on destroying our environment and therefore our fellow creatures – and thus – symbiotically and inevitably – ourselves. More>>

Tuia 250: Endeavour Arrives At Tūranganui-A-Kiwa

The co-chair for Tuia 250 national commemorations says it's not a bad thing if people want to express their views, as a replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour is today set to make its way into Tūranganui-a-Kiwa... Local iwi oppose the ship's visit and have refused to do a pōhiri. More>>

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• NZ Govt - Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla launches with tribute - Whangaparāoa iwi commemorate arrival of waka tīpuna
• Tuia 250 - Tuia 250 - Te Pōwhiri - Te Whanganui o Hei / Mercury Bay - Image HMB Endeavour replica arrives in NZ to join Tuia 250 Voyage
• Ministry of Education - Tuia Mātauranga Roadshow kicks off
• RNZ - UK govt's expression of regret to Gisborne iwi
• Kia Mau - Release of critical book on Cook Commemorations
• Auckland Peace Action - Endeavour was a military invasion
• Extinction Rebellion - Extinction Rebellion Aotearoa launch decolonisation action

On 7–19 October: NZ Improv Fest Turns (It Up To) Eleven

The New Zealand Improv Festival (NZIF) is celebrating eleven years by going 110%; this national festival has increased to two weeks of improvisation with guests from all over the world. More>>

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• Image Out-Link - New Zealand Improv Festival

NZ On Air: $12 Million For Stimulating Content For Tamariki

New Zealand tamariki have much to be excited about, with just under $12.5 million in funding confirmed for a raft of new screen and music content including a new daily kids quiz show. More>>

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• NZ On Air - More laugh therapy ordered for New Zealanders - Compelling New Documentary Series Matangireia
• RNZ - Full and Frank Interviews With Former Maori MPs

Master Storyteller: Author Jack Lasenby Remembered

Jack Lasenby died on Friday, aged 88. He was the author of children's books, novels, and short stories. He was the winner of numerous awards, including the Prime Minister's award for Literary Achievement in 2014. More>>