One last boost for this webinar at 12:10 pm today. Just in case some who might be interested didn't hear about it yet.

Further boosts this morning will be greatly appreciated!
#NZPOL

CYCLONE VAIANU WARNINGS UPDATE

🔴 RED STRONG WIND WARNING - Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island 🔴

💨 Strong Wind Watches and Warnings updated 🟠 🟡
🌧️ Heavy Rain Watches and Warnings updated🟠 🟡

More warning information: metservice.com/warnings
How to prepare: GetReady.govt.nz

Sounding the Betteridge Law klaxon!

What can we do? - Greater Auckland As we wait for official government plans, what are ordinary people doing to get ahead of the potential fuel crisis? A few thoughts...

What can we do? Or rather, what we CAN do! @nzdodo.bsky.social seeks inspiration on ground-level responses to the fuel crisis:
www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/03/24/w...

(A book-end to last week's post by @patrickreynolds.bsky.social on government actions www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/03/16/w...)

How a crucial 45-minute meeting between ministers took pay equity claims away from tens of thousands of women In a crucial 45 minute meeting, ministers decided to go beyond official proposals, making it even harder for 180,000 workers to ask for pay equity.

A year ago, ministers met to consider tightening NZ’s pay equity law.

Their decisions went further than officials had advised, hardening the policy to the point some groups were cut out from ever making a claim.

Why? And on what evidence?

They won’t show us.

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

Sun headline about £500k compensation for migrants, discussing human rights, and public outcry over payouts.

Did you see this headline?

Did you feel the requisite anger and rage at asylum seekers that The Sun was asking of you?

Did you maybe blame Starmer because.... um... it was probably his fault🤷‍♀️

Would you like to know the reality behind the headline?

Course you would!😜

Let's take a look

🧵

1/25

Democratic Resilience and Transparency This is a meeting of influential thinkers from various backgrounds to share ideas about how to ensure our democracy is preserved and enhanced.

A strong democracy is so important in an uncertain world. I am co-hosting a parliamentary cross-party forum on democratic resilience and transparency. Its on 23 March and is free. There are some great keynotes and panels.

Register here: events.humanitix.com/democratic-r....

Push Push start their '35 Years of Trippin'' tour tomorrow in Hamilton (Thursday February 19th).⁠ After many years the band are back together – for possibly their last shows with the original lineup.⁠ ⁠"From the moment the hallucinogenic video first appeared... www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/push...

I know its far from the biggest issue but why does he always work out in jeans?!? is he a shill for big denim or something

NZ has fallen into a 'crisis and response' pattern on climate disaster, experts say. Billions have been spent on storm recovery since 2023, while key climate adaptation funding and planning tools have been cut.

My story looking at last week’s storms

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

Jasmine Crockett: "I am gravely concerned about Liam Ramos and all the children we were able to see. They are depressed, not getting education, not eating, throwing up, there are reports of issues with the water - his eyes never opened the entire time we were there."

apologies if this is dumb but as somebody who has been reporting pretty extensively on the grok csam hellscape and also consuming news about the darkness of american politics...i am looking for a brief respite (stupid, funny, weird, joyful stuff that maybe i can report on/think about/or just read)

Manage My Health data breach - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre Hackers have reportedly threatened to release the health information of over 120,000 Kiwis unless a ransom is paid by 5 am tomorrow. Manage My Health, which holds health information on over 1.8 million...

Manage My Health data breach – Expert Reaction

Assessing Option Four against the criteria 147. Option Four, like the other regulatory options, offers less benefit under each criterion when compared to Option One. While it puts safety and caution first, based on a lack of evidence of safety or benefit, the approach is unlikely to be as effective as status quo because it removes the practitioner's ability to consider and respond in the best interests of the individual. This could be alleviated to some degree through patients attending the alternative services but may not resolve the medical issue that young people with gender incongruence/dysphoria are presenting for. Like Option 3b and 3c, people that desperately want to delay puberty while they consider their identity may try to purchase products online where there are safety issues with the quality.

152. Health equity issues would not improve, nor would trust and confidence in the health sector, given regulation of a particular medicine for a particular health problem would be regulated for the first time. Access to the alternative health services could help provide some trust and confidence because individuals would be cared for by specialists. However, without the availability of puberty blockers, this effect would likely be minor. The need to develop additional gender services may result in the reallocation of resources from other higher-priority areas of health.

al), as described in the above table. Option 4 - Regulations to prohibit new prescribing while making youth gender services more accessible A prohibition on new prescribing would protect against potential harm. However, this option has a high risk of adverse health outcomes (similar to options 3b and 3c) due to possible negative impacts on mental health, despite medical and psychosocial support through the alternative services. The lack of access to puberty blockers would not treat the indication in many of the cases.

What option is likely to best address the problem, meet the policy objectives, and deliver the highest net benefits? 153. The Ministry of Health considers Option One (Status Quo / Counterfactual: baseline of close Ministry monitoring and adjustment as needed) is the best fit for the policy objectives. 154. There is no evidence base to know the likely impact of other options, given they have not been previously tried in this type of context. Also, the steps already taken have not yet had time to be fully embedded and therefore time is needed to evaluate their impact fully.

Here are the headline paragraphs. The Ministry emphatically did not recommend this ban, and in fact repeatedly pointed out the significant level of harm it was likely to cause. The consultation found overwhelming support for continued access. The only people who thought different were cabinet.

I feel compelled to write a review thread 🧵 for The Liz Truss Show because in the madness of the content, other aspects - vital aspects - are being missed.

1. The Aesthetics

Unless they were aiming for "Harley Street urologist waiting room circa 1992" this interview area is just unacceptable. 1/

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

"My NHS colleagues & I weren’t willing to let the bodies pile high in their thousands. Boris no longer mentions them at all."

My piece on the responses to the UK Covid-UK Inquiry report that try to airbrush the dead away.

Sincere thanks, @theobserveruk.bsky.social.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

40-year water fluoridation study finds no negative effect on brain development - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre A long-term US study shows water fluoridation at recommended levels doesn't reduce cognitive ability, with kids who drank such water doing slightly better in school tests. Whereas earlier studies looked...

40-year water fluoridation study finds no negative effect on brain development – Expert Reaction

Govt's climate strategy: Let it burn

Comment: The Government has relentlessly pursued policies that boost climate pollution – even if they cost more or jeopardise NZ's reputation, Marc Daalder writes

Potential community spread of measles in NZ - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre There is now a strong likelihood that measles is spreading through communities, according to Health New Zealand. Unlike other measles cases reported recently, two new cases in Manawatū and one in...

Potential community spread of measles in NZ – Expert Reaction

Idle — The Wealth Race Can your hard work beat The Rich? Play and find out!

We need to tax wealth not work.

Why? Because usually no matter how hard you work, the compound interest on huge wealth grows much faster than your wages + the rich use this passive income to buy all the assets.

Someone made a game to show this:

therichdont.work

Further cuts fund new tech institute - Expert Reaction Details of new changes to research funding under sweeping science sector reforms have been released today. The briefing confirms that set up of the NZ Institute for Advanced Technology will be paid fo...

Unsurprisingly shocking news: the Advanced Technology Institute is being funded by mortgaging the future of other science funding.

Had you wondered whether we're rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or playing musical chairs?

It's both.

www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/08/06/f...

No, moms aren't to blame for ADHD Despite what one popular theory might make you believe.

“The harm that we did to families back then can’t be undone, but we can make sure we don’t repeat it again.”

Social media community guidelines | Ministry of Health NZ The Ministry engages with the community and provides important safety and public health information through accounts on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

The Ministry of Health is now posting on Bluesky. Follow us to be alerted to our consultations, news and announcements. We welcome your respectful and relevant comments and reserve the right to take action against posts that violate our community guidelines:

Budget 2025: Science system funding - Expert Reaction Amid this year's science sector reforms, the 2025 Budget includes money for the establishment of three new Public Research Organisations and a gene tech regulator. Science, Innovation and Technology M...

Budget 2025 continues the government's shift of the science sector towards more "growth-promoting investments".
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/05/22/b...

#BHN 2pm Livestream with Craig Renney for Budget headlines YouTube video by DOC Studios

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpUY...

#nzpol At 5pm yesterday, the Treasury informed the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi (NZCTU) it has been barred from attending the Budget lock-up on 22 May. This is the first time the CTU has been prevented from attending a Budget lock-up in living memory

Unsplash image of the Earth, mostly the nightside with a tracery of city lights on every continent.

OK, this is wild.

In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.

It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.

What the HELL?

1/

Luxon Government to pass law tonight that legalises killing Kiwi - Greenpeace Aotearoa The Luxon Government has just introduced a bill into the House that would make it legal to kill protected wildlife. Greenpeace understands the Bill is being rushed through all stages…

BREAKING
The Govt is rushing through a new law that legalises killing kiwi and other rare wildlife. It overturns a ruling by the high court.

We’re talking about the kiwi – our national icon – being sacrificed so a company can build a road faster. That’s just not who we are as a country.
#nzpol

Golly gosh. Several important bills are today being passed through all stages under urgency and without select committee scrutiny/public submissions -- and bills with constitutionally objectional features, such as retrospective effect and nullification of existing court proceedings etc. #wildwest