Vandalised Te Papa treaty exhibit to be taken down A Te Papa exhibit that was defaced during a protest is being taken down, months after the incident. The museums co-leaders said leaving the exhibit up had sparked good conversations, but it was time to take it down while they made a new exhibition. The Te Papa Treaty of Waitangi Exhibit, which was vandalised in December, is being taken down. Goldsmith wrote ato Te Papa and illegally demanded the art work be taken down and he has gotten his way because the Te Papa Board are as gutless and cowardly as the TVNZ Board, they have acquiesced to hi ..read more

Yes Minister is arguably the funniest British political satire sitcom. There were three series between 1980-84. It was followed by a sequel Yes Prime Minister (1986-88). The comedy centred largely around the relationship between the fictional Minister of Administrative Affairs Jim Hacker and his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby played by Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne respectively. The Minister’s private secretary Bernard (Derek Fowlds) was invariably caught in the middle. One of the most famous episodes involved a newly built hospital. Although it was fully staffed administrativel ..read more

New Zealand’s consumers price index increased 4 per cent in the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ April 17. This was higher than the Reserve Bank prediction of 3.8%. The 4 per cent increase follows a 4.7 per cent increase in the 12 months to the December 2023 quarter. ”Price increases this quarter are the smallest since June 2021. However, they remain above the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s target range of 1 to 3 per cent,” Consumer Prices senior manager Nicola Growden said. Non-tradeable inflation, that is the price rises of goods and services pro ..read more

Well, here we are it’s Thursday – the day I said I would share with you the solution I have come up with to try to keep going as an investigative journalist. But first -some really good news. Yesterday, my last documentary THE FOOD CRISIS won a Silver Award at the New York Film and Television Festival. Yay!! My sincere thanks to everyone who help make that programme. It takes a talented team to make a meaningful documentary and courageous people willing to go on camera and tell it like it is. Sadly the state of fourth estate journalism in our country is such that success overseas does not make ..read more

National Party Public Transport Policy ..read more

Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day. The Editor doesn’t moderate this blog,  3 volunteers do, they are very lenient to provide you a free speech space but if it’s just deranged abuse or putting words in bloggers mouths to have a pointless argument, we don’t bother publishing. All in all, TDB gives punters a very, very, very wide space to comment in but we won’t bother with out right lies or gleeful malice. We leave that to the Herald comment section. EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your c ..read more

In Occupied Palestine Zionism in practice Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land 08:00, 16 April until 08:00, 17 April 2024 [Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group] Gaza Strip Air strikes: Heavy aerial bombardment on buildings, homes and many facilities. Attacks: All over Gaza, there are air strikes, heavy gunfire, tank and artillery shelling, as well as missiles fired from Israeli forces and military occupation, especially in Khan Yunis. The Israeli Navycontinues to fire missiles, targeting facilities and buildings along the shoreline of the whole of Gaza ..read more

Ipsos New Zealand’s inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders.   Ipsos New Zealand’s inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders. The Ipsos Populism Survey, spanning 28 countries, found that 60% of Kiwis feel the country is in decline, with 58% stating that our society is broken – figures that align with the global average. The study, conducted in February 2024, also shows a significant consensus among New Zea ..read more

The PSA can’t believe that the Minister of Education is happy for her ministry to hire contractors at the same time it is dismissing 565 workers. Education Minister Erica Stanford told RNZ’s Morning Report today that she expected the Ministry to hire contractors to work on the review of the curriculum despite the Ministry currently employing people to do this work. “The Government promised a crackdown on consultant and contractor spending, today’s revelation is hypocritical and may end up costing more in the long run. It does not this make sense,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, Assistant Secretary for ..read more

Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions fell by 4 per cent in 2022. New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022), published today, is the official annual report of all human-induced emissions and removals produced within New Zealand. It shows that gross emissions were the equivalent of 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (Mt CO2-e) lower in 2022 than in 2021. 3.4 Mt CO2-e is about three times the emissions produced by all domestic flights in 2022. This is the third successive decrease year-on-year. New Zealand’s gross emissions for 2022 were 78.4 Mt CO2-e. The biggest reas ..read more