Chris Trotter: National's Going Gangbusters

Criminal Enterprises: Gangs are not welfare institutions. Nor are they a substitute for the family their members never had. They are ruthless, violent, criminal money-making machines. That is all.

OKAY, first-things-first. Gangs exist for one purpose – and only one. They are a sure-fired, time-tested institution for making crime pay – and pay big. National is right to go after them, not only because most voters will cheer them on for doing so, but also because gangs injure individuals and damage society. Pushing any other kind of argument simply makes National’s job easier. “Look at the Left”, Simon Bridges will crow. “Soft on crime. The gangster’s best friend!”

Karl du Fresne: We need to talk about Islam

New Zealand is overdue for a grown-up conversation about Islam.

It’s a conversation that has been made necessary because as a nation we’re conflicted, to use a popular term, about the religion founded by Mohammad. But the conversation needs to get beyond simplistic, kneejerk allegations of Islamophobia, and it needs to unpick some contradictions and inconsistences in how we view Muslims.

Mike Hosking: Why are we messing with democracy?

It was with dismay I watched last Sunday night not just a bunch of crooks getting given their vote back, but almost a follow-up story on a whinge fest around democracy and why Māori aren't better represented, and how as a result of that, we should have local council seats dedicated to Māori.

The plea starred Dover Samuels and another former Labour Party operator, John Tamihere fresh from his Auckland mayoral bid thrashing.

NZCPR Weekly: Treating New Zealanders Badly

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we highlight how badly Jacinda Ardern’s Government is treating New Zealand’s law-abiding firearms community – and we issue a reminder that the firearm buy-back scheme is due to end on December 20th; our NZCPR Guest Commentator Stephen Franks outlines how Labour’s law changes are vilifying licensed firearm owners while leaving criminal firearm owners untouched; and our poll asks whether you agree that further firearm law changes should be delayed until the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch attacks reports back.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter: Europe Is Losing The Climate Wars As China Demands $100 Billion

New Survey: Climate Change Is Dividing Britain Like Brexit

In this newsletter:

1) New Survey: Change Is Dividing Britain Like Brexit
Sky News, 28 November 2019 
 
2) Europe’s Climate Emergency Success: Mercedes-Benz To Slash More Than 10,000 Jobs 
The Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2019

Breaking Views Update: Week of 24.11.19

Saturday November 30, 2019

News:
Maori Council's outgoing chair defends its role, relevance

The New Zealand Māori Council has advocated for the rights of Māori for more than 50 years, but it's now facing tough questions about its role and relevance today.

It was created under the Māori Community Development Act in 1962, making it the first Māori statutory body of its kind after World War II.

Clive Bibby: Is this the "game changer" we need for our own good?

Voting alliances in this country since the introduction of MMP have frequently produced strange bedfellows but the makeup of the current government has reached farcical levels when almost every decision of cabinet is filtered through the chook entrail brew overseen by Winston Peters' favourite soothsayer.

Everything including the anointment of the Prime Minister of this country appears to be subject to a scrutiny rarely wielded by a politician commanding such a small percentage of the national vote.

Melanie Phillips: A numbed electorate between devil and deep blue sea

In this most dismal and dispiriting general election, a numbed British electorate desperate to end the Brexit nightmare is instead being corralled with its hands tied behind its back towards the likely continuation of that nightmare.

One of the many fundamental negotiating errors made by Theresa May in trying to settle the terms of the UK’s Brexit withdrawal deal with the EU was to rule out leaving with no deal.

Political Roundup: NZ First scandal raises integrity issues for the Government

There are many electoral and political questions arising out of the current NZ First donations scandal. Will the imbroglio tarnish the reputation and popularity of Winston Peters and his party? Or will Peters and his colleagues be exonerated, allowing NZ First to climb back up the moral and polling ladder for the next election?

But the big political questions are about its impact on the Government’s credibility and popularity. And is Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern adequately dealing with the matter?

Chris Trotter: The Message From Messenger Park.

Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions to shut down whole industries are made, hands-on experience is not only rare – it’s despised. What do workers know about anything?

THE NUMBERS WERE IMPRESSIVE. Indeed, it looked as is half the Coast had turned out to give this government a piece of its mind.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 17.11.19

Saturday November 23, 2019

News:
Treaty gives Māori the right to profit off cannabis - Willie Jackson
Labour MP Willie Jackson doesn't want recreational cannabis legalised, but if it is, says Māori have a right to share in the profits under the Treaty of Waitangi.

"Māori have a treaty right, an indigenous right, right across the spectrum in terms of New Zealand society. It's built in what's called Article 2... What it says is taonga needs to be protected, anything in terms of a resource. Where it's derived from in terms of the ground, all resources have to be treated equitably right across the spectrum... I'm not into legalising marijuana, but anything the Crown benefits off, Māori must get a share of too."

Viv Forbes: Aussie Bushfires Nurtured in National Parks

Listen carefully to a typical bush-fire warning: “A big fire in the XYZ National Park is now threatening adjacent homes and farms”. 

For decades now politicians have been recklessly locking up more land in National Parks, Reserves and Heritage Areas. There are now over 500 national parks covering over 11% of Australia.

In addition to this huge area of nationalised parks, the Howard government, in cahoots with compliant States, created untouchable Kyoto forests on private land in order to meet silly carbon dioxide obligations imposed by the Kyoto Protocol.

NZCPR Weekly: Powerful Forces Threaten Our Future

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we look into the forces that are dividing New Zealand and threatening our future; our NZCPR Guest Commentator Bob Edlin investigates the Race Relations Commissioner’s recent attack on a newly elected local body councillor, and our poll asks whether you believe Meng Foon should be asked to resign.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter - Game Over: China Set For Huge Coal Expansion

Paris Agreement exposed as another climate con

Full details:

1) Game Over: China Set For Massive Coal Expansion

• Bloomberg, 20 November 2019

China has enough coal-fired power plants in the pipeline to match the entire capacity of the European Union, driving the expansion in global coal power and confounding the movement against the polluting fossil fuel, according to a new report.

Judith Bergman: The Court of Justice of the European Union Limits Free Speech

On October 3, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in a judgment that Facebook can be ordered by national courts of EU member states to remove defamatory material worldwide:

"EU law does not preclude a host provider such as Facebook from being ordered to remove identical and, in certain circumstances, equivalent comments previously declared to be illegal. In addition, EU law does not preclude such an injunction from producing effects worldwide, within the framework of the relevant international law which it is for Member States to take into account."

The ruling came after the Austrian politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, chairman of Die Grünen (The Greens) party, sued Facebook Ireland in the Austrian courts.

GWPF Newsletter: Europe's Green Suicide

Tata Steel to Cut 3,000 Jobs as Crisis Rips Through Europe

In this newsletter:

1) Tata Steel to Cut 3,000 Jobs as Crisis Rips Through Europe
Bloomberg, 19 November 2019 
 
2) German Anti-Wind Revolt Sparks Collapse In Construction
Financial Times, 17 November 2019

Lee Ohanian: Is Math Education Racist?

Seattle schools propose to teach that Math Education is racist—will California be far behind?

California’s latest K–12 test scores were released earlier this month. Despite spending 26 percent more per pupil after inflation since 2011, test scores remain low, and improvement is proceeding at a glacial pace. Just 40 percent of California schoolchildren are proficient at math. 

What should be done? Seattle’s idea is to teach their students that US math education is racist, is used to oppress people of color and the disadvantaged, and has been used to exploit natural resources.

Melanie Phillips: Nigel Farage’s agonising calculation

Anthony Wells, director of political research at YouGov, says: “Nigel Farage is sending a message that you can trust Boris Johnson to deliver Brexit”.

This is untrue. Farage is not sending that message at all. Yesterday he repeated that “the direction we are going in is simply not Brexit”. He has not retreated from his opinion that the Johnson deal is a trap for the UK which, after it has left the EU will remain remain bound to it by destructive ties.

GWPF Newsletter - China’s New Energy Security Agenda: Coal Power To Be Top Priority

Climate Science Proves Scams Don’t Die of Exposure

In this newsletter:

1) China’s New Energy Security Agenda: Coal Power To Be Top Priority
China Dialogue, 12 November 2019
 
2) Climate Science Proves Scams Don’t Die of Exposure
Tony Thomas, Quadrant, 14 November 2019

Breaking Views Update: Week of 10.11.19

Saturday November 16, 2019

News:
Iwi recalls hanging of Hamiora Pere 
Aitanga a Māhaki and Ngāti Kahungunu hapū Ngāi Tahu Matawhaiti are gathering at Iwitea north of Wairoa tomorrow to remember Hamiora Pere, who was hanged in Wellington exactly 150 years ago for treason.

Pere was one of five Māori men captured after the siege of Ngātapa who were convicted of murder and treason.

Clive Bibby: The hypocrisy, unreliability and arrogance of the European Community

At least Macron got something right this week. He claimed NATO was a spent force.

I'm not sure whether his message was for European, British, or the American populace or simply for home consumption but whatever, it was a timely comment, albeit long overdue.

For all his failings, Trump has demonstrated a keen eye for identifying where the USA's best interests lie and, as he has been saying for some time, the only alliances that should be retained are those that accept there are obligations associated with membership.

NZCPR Weekly: Ministry of Truth

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we expose the sinister plan by the Minister of Justice to undermine our freedom of expression by establishing a unit within his own Ministry to police the information available to voters ahead of next year’s referenda – and we also look into the bizarre decision by the Advertising Standards Authority to ban an ad saying ice cream makes you happy; our NZCPR Guest Commentator Mike Hosking explains why he thinks Andrew Little’s plan to monitor referendum information is the sort of scheme you would expect to see in North Korea; and we have two polls this week – the first asks whether you are concerned about Andrew Little’s plan to control referendum information, and the second asks whether ice cream makes you happy!.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter: Climate Campaign Flops

IEA confirms what GWPF has been saying for the last ten years

In this newsletter:

1) Climate Campaign Flops: Global CO2 Emissions Rising Again And Won’t Peak Before 2040
Bloomberg, 13 November 2019 
 
2) No End In Sight For US Shale Boom
City A.M., 13 November 2019

Frank Newman: Ice cream DOES make me happy!

As far as I am concerned, the link between ice cream and happiness is a fact. 

And I am not the only one of that view, which is why the decision of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to uphold a complaint about an ICE CREAM MAKES U HAPPY sign on a dairy in Tui Crescent in Maunu, Whangarei is so bizarre.

We live in weird times.

Bob Edlin: Treaty principles don't come from the Treaty – they come from the courts

A Supreme Court judgement in August last year has led to the Department of Conservation undertaking partial reviews of the Conservation General Policy and the General Policy for National Parks, to give better effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

And what are these principles?

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage told Point of Order:

“The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are not explicitly stated in the articles of the Treaty itself.”

Sterling Burnett: Trump Says Good-Bye to Paris

The Trump administration formally notified the United Nations the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, on November 4, the first day the nation was allowed to start the process under the terms of the agreement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Twitter the United States had filed formal paperwork to withdraw from the agreement, citing the “unfair economic burden” on U.S. workers, businesses, and taxpayers. The exit will become official on November 4, 2020. The Trump administration’s action came a little over two years after the president held a June 2, 2017 Rose Garden event at which Trump, keeping a campaign commitment, announced he would take the United States out of the agreement at the earliest possible date.

Henry Armstrong: In Defence of “Old White Men”- the New Enemy Within?

                                 

In 2018, a Minister of the Crown and New Zealand Member of Parliament, Julie Anne Genter, herself a relatively-recent migrant to New Zealand, addressed a group of ten-year-olds at a Christchurch primary school. She  decried the presence of “old, white men” (or OWMs) on the boards of New Zealand organisations and demanded they “move aside”. 

Why this Minister in the Ardern-led government should not only comment on such an issue to kiddies who probably had no idea at all what a board (of trustees, directors or advisors) actually do, but  make such comments to such an audience? Most youngsters present would undoubtedly have much-loved older uncles or granddads who fitted this description. So, in the young mind, “old white men” were suddenly painted by this Minister as some sort of “enemy” to be removed and replaced by younger, more able and preferably female, board members.

Brian Giesbrecht: Gender self-identification

The transgender movement advances the cause of a marginalized minority. However, the recent decision by a confused Vancouver City Council to cancel funding for a rape crisis centre, that quite rightly allows only women at its facility, is a sign that the movement has gone too far.

Gender dysphoria is a psychiatric disorder involving an anatomical male who believes that he is actually a female in a man’s body (reverse for women). While the condition affects only about 1/10 of 1% of the population, the condition has received considerable attention in recent years — finding its way into legislation and, even, corporate and institutional policy.

GWPF Newsletter: African Leaders Say Their Need For Coal And Oil Outweighs Climate Concerns

“Anybody out of Africa saying we should not develop those fields is criminal.” 

In this newsletter:

1) African Leaders Say Their Need For Coal And Oil Outweighs Climate Concerns
Reuters, 8 November 2019
 
2) African Countries Showcase Oil and Gas Investment Opportunities at Africa Oil Week
Africa News, 7 November 2019

Breaking Views Update: Week of 3.11.19

Saturday November 9, 2019

News:
Judicial legitimacy lies in a focus on diversity, says Chief Justice
A fully diverse judiciary is important to the quality of the substantive law. This is because the path that judges have walked through life shapes how they will and can develop the law, Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann says.

Māori are underrepresented in our judiciary and this is cause for concern given the critical issues that remain to be worked out in the area of Treaty obligations and the place of tikanga in our law. It is a troubling reality that an overwhelmingly pakeha judiciary deals with a predominately Māori cohort of defendants.

James Taylor: Expensive Climate Policies Sparked Chile Riots

Climate activists and the United Nations are suffering a major black eye this week as protests and riots resulting from high energy prices have erupted in Santiago, Chile.

Chile, which will host a major U.N. climate conference in December, earned praise from climate activists for recently imposing a carbon dioxide tax on conventional energy sources and switching the Santiago Metro system to renewable power. Now, the people of Chile are rising up and firing a shot across the bow of other nations considering similar energy taxes and expensive renewable energy programs.

Karl du Fresne: A masterpiece of the propagandist's art

The New Zealand-made documentary Capital in the 21st Century is a mightily impressive piece of film making.

Inspired by the best-selling 2014 book of the same name by the left-wing French economist Thomas Piketty, it’s taut, fast-moving and masterfully edited. The pace never lets up.

GWPF Newsletter - New Climate Models: Even More Wrong

Paris Agreement At Risk As Emissions Rise & Political Unrest Spirals

In this newsletter:

1) New Climate Models: Even More Wrong
Paul Matthews, Climate Scepticism, 5 November 2019
 
2) Critics Blast Proposal To Curb Climate Change By Halting Population Growth
MIT Technology Review, 5 November 2019 

NZCPR Weekly: The Politics of Zero Carbon

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we explain why the National Party should oppose the Zero Carbon Bill in the third reading debate tomorrow afternoon and we urge all readers who do not agree with Jacinda Ardern’s extremism to contact National MPs to encourage them to vote against the Bill, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Robin Grieve explains how the Zero Carbon Bill will derail our economy, and our poll asks whether you agree with National MP Judith Collins – who plans to vote against the Bill – that there’s a major ‘reality gap’ in the debate on global warming.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.

Lindsay Mitchell: Single parents better off in work

Yesterday Statistics NZ released results from the General Social Survey which asks respondents whether they have enough money to meet everyday needs. 

Here is the result by family type for 'Not enough money':

GWPF Newsletter: Climate Activists Ditch Polar Bear Icon

'Not Going Extinct': Court Documents Claim Canadian Polar Bear Population Is Thriving

In this newsletter:

1) 'Not Going Extinct': Court Documents Claim Canadian Polar Bear Population Is Thriving
Toronto Sun, 4 November 2019
 
2) Winning: Climate Activists Ditch Polar Bear Icon As Growing Populations Defy ‘Emergency’ Narrative
The American Mirror, 30 October 2019

Lindsay Mitchell: Update on child poverty statistics

The Child Poverty Action Group is holding a summit later this month. This statement is from their release about it:

Late into 2019, 174,000 children living in the most impoverished, desperate situations are yet to see any real gain.

It is quite incorrect to say "late into 2019" and put a number on it. But thanks anyway for prompting me to update myself on where the statistics are at.

Clive Bibby: Hatred is the worst of all human emotions

Hatred is the worst of all human emotions - it drives intelligent human beings to irrational behaviour.

Dislike, even intense dislike, of a fellow human being is a perfectly reasonable response to identifying character failures in others which are deemed to be unacceptable when measured against standards of common decency.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: In memory of Christopher Hitchens

If someone tells me that I’ve hurt their feelings, I’d say, “I’m still waiting to hear what your point is.” I’m very depressed about how in this country you can be told, “That’s offensive!” as though those two words constitute an argument or a comment. Not to me they don’t. - CH

(NB: All quotes in this article have been transcribed verbatim from YouTube video sources. Hitchens spoke more than once on these various themes so the words you hear if you watch a clip may be different.)

Christopher Hitchens would have turned 70 this year had he not been taken by cancer 8 years ago.

Mike Butler: Tikanga weaponised

“Tikanga”, which is generally defined as “Maori custom”, is being introduced in New Zealand, setting behaviour rules for everyone not just of part-Maoris, and there is no clear outline of what it entails, according to retired scientist John Robinson.

Dividing a Nation – the return to tikanga, chronicles tikanga back to the beginning of Polynesian migration to New Zealand and shows that modern tikanga is being used as a political weapon that creates racial discord.

As a scientist, Robinson was alarmed at absurd demands of the Royal Society of New Zealand for “matauranga Maori”, or “the Maori way of thinking” to be used as the basis for scientific work in New Zealand.

Dr. Kelvin Kemm: Climategate - Ten Years Later

This month marks the tenth anniversary of “Climategate” – the release of thousands of emails to and from climate scientists who had been (and still are) collaborating and colluding to create a manmade climate crisis that exists in their minds and computer models, but not in the real world.

The scandal should have ended climate catastrophism. Instead, it was studiously buried by politicians, scientists, activists and crony capitalists, who will rake in trillions of dollars from the exaggerations and fakery, while exempting themselves from the damage they are inflicting on everyday families.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 27.10.19

Saturday November 2, 2019

News:
More to do to ensure Nelson council is truly diverse, mayor says
Bernie Goldsmith and Dai Mitchell kept a vigil on the street outside protesting the lack of racial diversity in the chamber.

Goldsmith had a sign with her for the protest, saying "Racism is: One race making decisions for all races in NCC 2019."

Clive Bibby: The age of the poor loser

The Brexit debacle and the equally drawn out attempt at ending the Trump Presidency have ironically achieved a common result which was not intended by those who are trying every devious trick to derail the democratic process in each country.

Perhaps not surprisingly and thankfully, the reason why things are becoming increasingly difficult for the those who lost the last vote is because they are now exposed as total hypocrites scrambling around looking for a way to justify their pursuit of an end to a nightmare of their own making.

NZCPR Weekly: Soft on Welfare

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we look into why the number of people on benefits is rising when there’s a critical shortage of workers, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Lindsay Mitchell outlines the case against more generous benefits, and our poll asks whether you believe the Labour Government has gone soft on welfare.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter: China’s Electric Carmakers Battle for Survival After Subsidies Scaled Back

Tesla Discloses US Revenues Collapse

In this newsletter:

1) China’s Electric Carmakers Battle for Survival After Subsidies Scaled Back
Bloomberg News, 30 October 2019 
 
2) Tesla Discloses US Revenues Collapsed 39% 
Wolf Street, 29 October 2019