Lindsay Mitchell: Nash goes on the offensive and gets it wrong

Minister Stuart Nash does a weekly session with National MP, Mark Mitchell, on the Mike Hosking NewstalkZB show.

This morning, before Hosking had even asked an opening question Nash waded in:

NASH: "Hey Mike I haven't heard you comment on the December figures last year when 19,000  handed in their benefit and got back to work. Was that in one of your commentaries?"

Melanie Phillips: Laurence Fox Faces Down the Idiot Bullies of Wokedom. Bravo!

The day after I posted this blog explaining why virtue-signalling “anti-racists” were the real racists in our society, the actor Laurence Fox performed the astonishing feat of going on BBC Question Time and not behaving like an actor. That is to say, he expressed views which were sensible, reasoned and moderate – and thus brought the usual pitchfork-waving mob down on his head.

In reply to audience member Rachael Boyle, a beyond-satire lecturer in woke studies who said criticism of Meghan Markle was racist and Fox was guilty of white privilege, he said it was obviously not and he obviously wasn’t.

James Delingpole: Donald Trump Vs Greta and the Prophets of Doom

“We must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse,” declared President Trump on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Gosh, what 17-year old pig-tailed school drop out could he possibly have meant by that?

Earlier in the day, Greta Thunberg had delivered her usual cheery message of doom and gloom – “Pretty much nothing has been done” – to the assembled globalist elite.

But President Trump wasn’t having any of this apocalyptic nonsense. Not one bit.

“This is not a time for pessimists. It is a time for optimism,” he declared.

NZCPR Weekly: Shaping Impressionable Minds

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we investigate how the Government is allowing school children to be indoctrinated with political propaganda, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Barry Brill, a former Energy Minister and the Chairman of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, has examined the Government’s new climate change resource for 11 to 14 year old children and reveals that it is designed to teach climate activism instead of science, and our poll asks whether you believe our Education Act should protect children from political indoctrination.

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

Karl du Fresne: The education system's latest ideological project - the grooming of Greta Thunberg clones

There was a striking synchronicity in the timing of two of the New Year’s first political pronouncements. 

On January 13, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced that parents would in future be required to give written consent for their children to attend religious instruction classes.

This effectively signalled the end of religious teaching in state schools, since parents are far less likely to opt in than to opt out, as they are permitted to do now. RI classes will likely wither on the vine through lack of interest, which is Hipkins’ avowed intention.

GWPF Newsletter: Angela Merkel Urges Dialogue Between Skeptics And Believers To Tackle Climate Change

Davos: US And Europe Clash Over Climate Change 

In this newsletter:

1) Angela Merkel Urges Dialogue Between Skeptics And Believers To Tackle Climate Change
Reuters, 23 January 2020
 
2) World Bank Chief's Davos Snub Dashes Hopes Of Climate Consensus
The Guardian 23 January 2020

Breaking Views Update: Week of 19.01.20

Saturday January 25, 2020

News:
National launches petition to overturn Motiti judgment 
National wants the Government to go back to the foreshore and seabed playbook and change the law to overturn a court decision that helped protect Māori rights.

Fisheries spokesperson Ian McKelvie says a Court of Appeal decision upholding the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s rights to create a protected marine area in the waters around Motiti Island meant local councils now have the power to apply fishing bans wherever they see fit.

Barry Soper: Time ripe for Māori Party resurgence

Tomorrow the blue blazers of the Ratana brass band will be dusted off, the euphoniums and trombones will glitter in the sun, the drums will be ratta-tatt-tatting and the drum major will be swinging the mace, leading a never-ending stream of reverential politicians onto the marae near Whanganui. 

They're reverential because, while it may be all about celebrating the birth of the prophet Wiremu Ratana, it's actually about politics and never more so this than this year.

The Māori Party, wiped out at the last election, is poised to make a comeback and while that's a frightening prospect for Labour, it's music to National's ears.

GWPF Newsletter: In Davos, Facts Trump The Fears

The New Culture War: How Populism Will Heat Up The Climate Fight

In this newsletter:

1) In Davos, Facts Trump The Fears
Adam Creighton, The Australian, 22 January 2020
 
2) Davos 2020: Bankers Push Back Against Climate Action Calls
Financial Times, 21 January 2020

Lindsay Mitchell: Carmel rains on Jacinda's parade

At the very moment Jacinda Ardern was promising a "factual election campaign free from misinformation" her Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni was issuing a desperate press release about the latest rise in benefit numbers.

The number of people on Jobseeker benefits has gone up 10 percent since December 2018. 

Here's Sepuloni's take: 

GWPF Newsletter: Donald Trump Rejects Environmental 'Prophets Of Doom' In Davos Address

The World Is Safer From Climate-Related Disasters Than Ever, New Study Shows

In this newsletter:

1) Donald Trump Rejects Environmental 'Prophets Of Doom' In Davos Address
SBS News, 21 January 2020
 
2) President Trump: We Must Reject The Perennial Prophets Of Doom & Their Apocalyptic Predictions
World Economic Forum, 21 January 2020

GWPF Newsetter: David Attenborough Is Making The Same Mistake As Greta Thunberg

Ocean Warming: Not As Simple As Headlines Say

In this newsletter:

1) David Attenborough Is Making The Same Mistake As Greta Thunberg
Ross Clark, The Spectator, 17 January 2020
 
2) Forget Policymakers. Greta Thunberg And Her Allies Are Targeting CEOs Now
Christian Hetzner, Forbes 13 January 2020

Breaking Views Update: Week of 12.01.20

Saturday January 18, 2020

News:
Film-maker's legal 'funds running low' ahead of defamation trial with Sir Bob Jones over 'hate speech'
More money is being raised for a Kiwi film-maker's legal fund as she prepares for a courtroom showdown with Sir Bob Jones after calling for his knighthood to be revoked for "hate speech".

The well-known businessman filed defamation proceedings against Renae Maihi in May 2018, after the Toronto-based artist delivered a petition to Parliament demanding Jones lose his title.

Karl du Fresne: Then and now

They say that nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, but I’m not so sure. It can be instructive from time to time to recall how things were in the past and to ask the tricky question, is life better now? 

Consider the following:

I remember when my home town, with a population of 3000, had its own daily paper and everyone read it.

I remember when primary schoolkids got the strap for minor infractions and secondary schoolboys were caned.

GWPF Newsletter: Boris Johnson Snubs Climate Activists And Saves UK Airline

Tim Newark: End Unfair Air Passenger Tax And Ignore The Angry Greens

In this newsletter:

1) Boris Johnson Snubs Climate Activists And Saves UK Airline
The Guardian, 14 January 2020
 
2) Government Criticised For Prioritising Airline Over Environment 
The London Economic, 15 January 2020

GWPF Newsletter: The World’s Next Energy Bonanza

Sir Roger Scruton: The Politics Of Climate Change, The Inquisition & BBC Censorship

In this newsletter:

1) The World’s Next Energy Bonanza
Foreign Policy, 9 January 2020 
 
2) Terence Corcoran: Mark Carney’s War Against The Fossil Fuel Industry Is Just The Beginning
Financial Post, 9 January 2020

Sean Plunket: Should Climate Change be taught in schools?

Minister for Climate Change James Shaw defends initiative to introduce a curriculum teaching the impact of climate change in schools.

In his first interview for 2020 Sean Plunket challenges the Minister to explain the syllabus behind and justification for a curriculum dedicated to Climate Change in schools.

GWPF Newsletter: Science Scandal Deepens As New Study Refutes Alarming Ocean Acidification Claims

Peter Ridd Calls For Investigation Into Scientific Fraud & Cover-Up

In this newsletter:

1) Peter Ridd: Scientific Misconduct At James Cook University Confirms My Worst Fears
Global Warming Policy Forum, 10 January 2020
 
2) Ex-Judge To Investigate Ocean Acidification Research Controversy
Times Higher Education, 8 January 2020

Breaking Views update: Week of 5.01.20

Saturday January 11, 2020

News:
Decade-long beach access dispute at pā site in Oakura continues with complaint to Heritage NZ
A campaigner who has tried for more than 10 years to stop people accessing a Taranaki beach over a former pā site is hoping a complaint to Heritage NZ will help resolve the issue.

The land is owned by the Department of Conservation and administered by the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), which is unable to stop people from walking over the site.

GWPF Newsletter: Global Deaths From Natural Disasters Drop To Record Low

False Alarm: Study Refutes Findings that Acidification Affects Fish Behavior

In this newsletter:

1) The Good News Nobody Reports: Global Deaths From Natural Disasters Drop To Record Low
Munich Re & GWPF, 8 January 2020
 
2) False Alarm: Study Refutes Findings that Acidification Affects Fish Behavior
The Scientist, 8 January 2020