James Gardner

Takutai Moana Another week, another constitutional and legal outrage from the government. Not to mention another Treaty breach. The latest this week was news from Treaty...

My latest newsletter discusses the government's deeply objectionable changes to the Takutai Moana (marine and coastal area) legislation.

buttondown.com/unsettling/a...

A quiet and restrained reflection on today's news about the increasing unemployment in our country and the Minister of Finance saying that people who have lost their jobs shouldn't take it personally.

The government's position on this is pretty extraordinary. It is, essentially, "yes we won in the Supreme Court but we didn't win *enough*."

That makes it clear that court decisions here are just the excuse; the govt just wants to crack down on the rights of Maori set by the previous National govt.

Submission guide | Employment Relations Amendment Bill 2025 - NZCTU Minister for Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden’s Employment Relations Amendment Bill has passed its first reading. If it becomes law, it would seriously undermine workers’ rights in New Zealand’s ...

#nzpol
Here is the NZ Council of Trade Unions’ submission guide for the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. This one affects ALL OF US!!! Submissions open until 13 August. You know what to do e te whānau

union.org.nz/submission-g...

Watch: AI will aid with NCEA replacement, Education Minister says "We're extraordinarily advanced in terms of the rest of the world," Erica Stanford says.

Could right-wing politicians *please* ease up on the magical thinking about AI? It's just getting daft now. www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/569...

Christopher Luxon - Stop growing homelessness!

FWIW, I’ve just signed this:

Kirsty Johnston | Substack Investigative journalist. Co-author of The Crewe Murders. Host of Nellie’s Baby. Click to read Kirsty Johnston, a Substack publication. Launched 21 hours ago.

For all the newsletter fans, I’ve started a Substack. It’s a space for stories - on climate, inequality, work, gender -and the things that don’t always make it into the final cut. First post is up now:

open.substack.com/pub/kirstyjo...

For people and planet We are building a future where we do more, faster, to protect our planet and make sure everyone is treated equally.

Handy guide to who isn't a knob in the upcoming local council elections

www.greens.org.nz/local Local Body Candidate Finder - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Major energy firms sign deal for strategic reserve at Huntly Genesis, Meridian Energy, Mercury NZ and Contact Energy agree deal for back-up generation.

Under the neoliberal electricity market, generators have a vested interest in scarcity. Scarcity means the use of the most expensive generation, gas and coal, is maximised. This then sets the wholesale price for all, even if most generation is cheap renewables. www.nzherald.co.nz/business/eco...

Why drilling for fossil fuels is not expected to fix our energy crisis The government is touting oil and gas exploration as the answer. But there are grave doubts it will work.

More great work from @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social here…

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

Why drilling for fossil fuels is not expected to fix our energy crisis The government is touting oil and gas exploration as the answer. But there are grave doubts it will work.

Why drilling for fossil fuels is not expected to fix our energy crisis

'Wave' of Conservation Act concessions, foreign visitor charge for high-volume DOC sites The government plans to make it easier to get a concession to operate on Conservation land.

The headlines somewhat disguise the fact that the govt plans to change the Conservation Act to allow more tourism, more agriculture and more infrastructure on conservation land. Our environment is again under attack from Luxon’s “growth”! www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Some great NZ music books included in this 50% off sale (links in alt text)

Good haul!

Masterful gambit, etc…

Minister says NZ victim of ‘very blunt formula’ as US tariffs hiked to 15% In a blow to NZ, the rate is higher than the 10% Donald Trump originally announced - and higher than Australia’s. Trade Minister Todd McClay says he’ll again be making NZ’s case for lower tariffs to ...

Small-time crime gang shafted by big-time crime syndicate…

www.thepost.co.nz/business/360...

Yeah, this is definitely a case of “I will fucking increase the fucking thing”, isn’t it?

Project 10: How the government kept the pay equity law change secret Documents reveal how the government worked to keep sweeping pay equity changes hidden until the last minute.

Personally I love it when the government works very hard to keep massive law changes a secret and then retrospectively releases all the information about it at 8.34pm on a Thursday www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Demand the Prime Minister strip the tobacco and vaping portfolio from NZ First As a coalition of health organisations and advocacy groups, we are calling on the Prime Minister Luxon: strip the tobacco and vaping portfolio from New Zealand First. It's the responsibility of leade...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/de...

The hubris of Jones is really quite something…

Christ – the hubris of this guy…

Well, they don’t go offline…

Cover of Chopin: Complete Nocturnes, played by Claudio Arrau.

And to round off the weekend, this is fitting my mood perfectly:

Peters challenged on tobacco links Public health researchers at the University of Otago have called on the PM to show some leadership and remove the tobacco and vaping portfolio from...

“Public health researchers at the University of Otago have called on the prime minister to show some leadership and remove the tobacco and vaping portfolio from New Zealand First, following allegations the party has been colluding with tobacco giant Philip Morris” #nzpol

Native bush of Aotearoa in foreground; stretch of water (reservoir) in middleground right; see further off at left. Green hills in background; blue sky with a few streaky clouds.

Timeline cleanse (and boy, is there a lot to cleanse…): Lower Nihotipu reservoir looking good from the Beveridge track this morning…

NZ's Ministry for Culture and Heritage has been home to many exceptional historians and done invaluable work to promote understanding of the nation's past at home and around the world

Now that the barbarians are in charge, that will be no more

Native bush of Aotearoa in foreground; stretch of water (reservoir) in middleground right; see further off at left. Green hills in background; blue sky with a few streaky clouds.

Timeline cleanse (and boy, is there a lot to cleanse…): Lower Nihotipu reservoir looking good from the Beveridge track this morning…

Awful.

Feeling gutted for mates and colleagues carrying out core functions who lost their jobs today.

They are not "support staff", they hold a huge amount of institutional knowledge and critical work will stop with their loss.

Live: Deputy PM says electoral law change will only impact ‘drop kicks’ Ministers have just answered questions about the just-announced electoral law change that will stop people from being able to enrol to vote on election day.

Let me be clear-->No one, absolutely no one, is a "drop kick." That kind of dehumanising attitude and language by some MPs indicating that certain people are lesser and their rights can be moved to the side is precisely what's wrong with the Coalition. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Oh, totally.