thedailyblog--2020-07-09--UPDATED: Leadership, Vision, and Combating a Machiavellian Culture – Is Todd Muller National’s Solut

UPDATED: Leadership, Vision, and Combating a Machiavellian Culture – Is Todd Muller National’s Solution?

It was revealed , Walker was sent the private information from former National Party president Michelle Boag ( who was also heading the deputy leader ’ s re-election campaign team ) .
Boag had apparently received the information as acting manager of a prominent rescue helicopter entity , but , according to Boag , it was received via her personal email account .
By Wednesday , Boag had resigned her acting manager ’ s role and stood down from the deputy leader ’ s election campaign team .
Muller insists he knew nothing of Walker and Boag ’ s tactics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stripping him of his portfolios and hinting that he should be jettisoned from the party referring the matter to the National Party ’ s board ( the board however decided only to remove Walker as a candidate at the next election ) .
UPDATE : By Friday ( July 10 , 2020 ) , It was revealed Boag had also provided National MP and health spokesperson , Michael Woodhouse , with private health details of patients .
Woodhouse insists that ‘ he deleted the information and did not pass any information on to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to him by Boag was not the source of allegations regarding [ what was reported as ] lax security measures at the New Zealand border ‘ .
( Stuff.co.nz , July 10 , 2020 ) Stuff reported : ‘ Boag said she had sent “ several ” emails to Woodhouse in June .
She described the emails as “ comprising notification of a small number of then new Covid19 cases ” ‘ .
Michelle Boag has now resigned her National Party membership .
Woodhouse said Friday he would cooperate fully with the judicial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Michael Heron QC .
But Woodhouse is not without blemish either .
Earlier this week he told media the leak of patients ’ health details was “ another serious failing ” of the Labour-led Government .
Woodhouse said : “ Reports coming in this morning of personal details being leaked which reveals the identity of New Zealand ’ s current active cases , is yet another serious failing from this incompetent Government.
“ “ This is unconscionable and unacceptable that those suffering from the incredibly dangerous virus now have to suffer further @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Woodhouse went on to say : “ … it ’ s unfathomable that it couldn ’ t handle a simple task like this.
“ It is ‘ unfathomable ’ why Woodhouse did not come clean with the knowledge that he himself had received private information of patients ’ health details from Michelle Boag .
Woodhouse ’ s reputation now risks being in tatters .
He needs to explain himself further .
What is potentially more damaging are New Zealand Herald revelations that leader Todd Muller knew Woodhouse had received patients ’ private health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Herald reported , Muller knew on Tuesday evening ( July 7 , 2020 ) .
NZ Herald : A party spokeswoman said today Woodhouse told Muller this on Tuesday night .
‘ Muller was specifically asked by reporters “ have you checked with Woodhouse , specifically , whether he received that same information from Boag ” .
“ No , ” replied Muller and a reporter asked “ why not ?
” “ It ’ s very clear from our perspective there ’ s a conversation that ’ s occurred between Michelle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confident from what we can see that the issue here relates to Michelle Boag and Hamish Walker.
” ‘ ‘ Asked again if he had spoken to Woodhouse and if Boag was a Woodhouse source , Muller said : “ No , I don ’ t really understand where you ’ re going with this.
‘ ‘ The spokeswoman said Muller didn ’ t say something yesterday because “ we had to look at what that information was and the nature ” .
The whole deceitful saga leaves one with a sense that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , indifferent to legal rights to privacy , manipulative of the public discourse , and prepared to manufacture scandal so as to advance its ambition to retake the Treasury Benches in 2020 .
This week ’ s revelations expose National to a reality that Machiavellianism remains , that factions within National are prepared to operate from the shadows , that the end game justifies the means – to win at all costs .
If Only It Was An Isolated Incident With Todd Muller becoming leader , standing alongside his Deputy Nikki Kaye , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in removing dirty politics tactics from its 2020 election toolkit .
But since Todd Muller became leader of the National Party we have seen : • National ’ s new leadership team signal its MPs to go for it… that National has a moral obligation to win .
• a culture of ‘ politics placed before the public ’ s interest ’ … gotcha politics designed to erode a public ’ s confidence in National ’ s opponents , placed ahead of serving the public interest .
Let ’ s look at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Around July 17 , For at least 20 hours , National held on to information that two women who were Covid positive had travelled from Auckland to Wellington • National chose to wait so they could use that knowledge in Parliament and deliver a political hit rather than alert health officials , the Government , and the media • The public ’ s right to know that information was denied them , for a time .
Clearly , the public deserved to know immediately so those who may have been in contact with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ await to be tested .
Also we have seen leaks from inside the National Party revealing how its private polling found it had been sinking in popularity after experiencing a short rise since Muller took the leadership .
Its leader Todd Muller was disappointed in the leak having occurred .
The leak indicates a lack of discipline inside National .
Is this an indisciplined party that is lacking in leadership , out of step with the New Zealand public ’ s expectations and interests ?
This whole saga raises the question : Is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After the revelations , and after National ’ s board failed to remove Hamish Walker from the party , Todd Muller needed a circuit-breaker to restore an impression of leadership .
National ’ s Plan to get New Zealand working ought to have provided Muller with exactly that .
At the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce , on Thursday , Todd Muller indicated his Plan had five key pillars : But beyond that , Muller gave little else away .
He promised that “ over the coming months , and into August , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ share of our Plan in a series of major speeches and engagements.
” He added : “ Our vision , our Plan and our direction for New Zealand will place jobs at the centre and deliver the results Kiwis need .
We have a track-record that shows we do as we say and get the job done.
” He continued : “ Over the next 72 days my team and I will be working hard to share our Plan with you.
” He said : “ National believes in : An open and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tax system ; An independent central bank with the primary goal of price stability ; The Fiscal Responsibility Act , now part of the Public Finance Act ; and A flexible labour market , underpinned since 2000 by good faith.
” Then came a glimpse of the real plan .
Muller said : “ Under Helen Clark , John Key , Bill English and Jacinda Ardern , New Zealand has spent , in 2020 dollars , $ 505 billion on social welfare , $ 302 billion on health , $ 260 billion on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corrections .
That is well over a trillion dollars on those four areas alone just since the year 2000 , or well over $ 200,000 for every single person living in New Zealand today .
“ When we see more than one in eight New Zealand children still living in material hardship ; more than 310,000 Kiwis on a benefit even before Covid-19 ( and now up to more than 350,000 ) ; more than a million food grants needed last year ; and the state house waiting list having more than tripled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t think anyone can believe we have achieved the best possible return on that trillion-dollar-plus investment.
” So what is Todd Muller suggesting here ?
Are we to believe that under his leadership National would embark on an austerity plan that would abandon community-led social investment , education , tertiary and trades-training investment ( a raw point of failed social investment of former prime minister John Key ’ s so called ‘ rock star economy ’ that was publicly criticised by the OECD ) ?
Is Todd Muller suggesting a return @ @ @ @ @ @ @ century ?
If so , is that out of step with globalised and developed western economies that have embarked on fiscal stimulus plans more aligned with Keynesian economics than that of Milton Friedman and George Stigler ’ s Chicago school of economics theories that New Zealand zealously embraced from 1987 through to 2017 ?
Surely in the post-Covid recovery period economies will require governments to intervene , to commit to broad-based and bold fiscal stimulus , plans that lead toward a rebalancing between export-led recovery and domestic self sufficiency and societal progress ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ work with government ?
Yes , certainly , it is a necessity .
But in the immediate post-Covid recovery period the business sector will not be ready to pick up the shovel and rebuild to scale on behalf of a government that does not have the willpower to lead the effort .
“ Let me tell you what that means in practice .
In 2020/21 and 2021/22 , my Government will not be scared of investing more in retraining , if we are confident it will genuinely improve productivity , lower unemployment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost of welfare and improve wellbeing over the following decade.
” Does this mean we would see an overhaul within a period of crisis where Government would constrain stimulus through targeted ‘ investment ’ to the private sector , relying on the latter to deliver once-government services and social programmes ?
Will Todd Muller ’ s National Party outsource to the private sector its responsibility to deliver social welfare , health , education , corrections services ?
Is this what Todd Muller ’ s key appointment , Matthew Hooton , has been working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hooton ’ s political commentary is known to many and has contributed greatly to political discourse in New Zealand .
Matthew Hooton is known as a proponent of small government , an advocate for the ideologies of right neo-liberal economics who earned his National Party stripes when the ideas of former minister of finance Ruth Richardson was all the rage .
Hooton often criticised John Key and former finance minister Bill English for being too moderate and failing to deliver , while popular , reform that would further liberalise New Zealand economic environment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regarded as a prime minister in waiting , then eliminating dirty politics from his party is only part of a necessary plan .
Convincing a voting public that user-pays and the privatisation of essential social services – welfare , health , education , and corrections – may be truly testing .
But then , a real leader would demonstrate courage alongside convictions .
And time , as they say , is not on his side .

At that point, National’s Machiavellian politics turned a shade dirty.
It was revealed, Walker was sent the private information from former National Party president Michelle Boag (who was also heading the deputy leader’s re-election campaign team). Boag had apparently received the information as acting manager of a prominent rescue helicopter entity, but, according to Boag, it was received via her personal email account.
By Wednesday, Boag had resigned her acting manager’s role and stood down from the deputy leader’s election campaign team.
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Muller insists he knew nothing of Walker and Boag’s tactics and moved to stand his MP down stripping him of his portfolios and hinting that he should be jettisoned from the party referring the matter to the National Party’s board (the board however decided only to remove Walker as a candidate at the next election).
UPDATE: By Friday (July 10, 2020), It was revealed Boag had also provided National MP and health spokesperson, Michael Woodhouse, with private health details of patients. Woodhouse insists that ‘he deleted the information and did not pass any information on to others. He confirmed the information given to him by Boag was not the source of allegations regarding [what was reported as] lax security measures at the New Zealand border‘. (Stuff.co.nz, July 10, 2020)
Stuff reported: ‘Boag said she had sent “several” emails to Woodhouse in June. She described the emails as “comprising notification of a small number of then new Covid19 cases”‘.
Michelle Boag has now resigned her National Party membership.
Woodhouse said Friday he would cooperate fully with the judicial inquiry into the privacy breaches, led by Michael Heron QC.
But Woodhouse is not without blemish either. Earlier this week he told media the leak of patients’ health details was “another serious failing” of the Labour-led Government.
Woodhouse said: “Reports coming in this morning of personal details being leaked which reveals the identity of New Zealand’s current active cases, is yet another serious failing from this incompetent Government.“
“This is unconscionable and unacceptable that those suffering from the incredibly dangerous virus now have to suffer further with their private details being leaked.“
Woodhouse went on to say: “… it’s unfathomable that it couldn’t handle a simple task like this.“
It is ‘unfathomable’ why Woodhouse did not come clean with the knowledge that he himself had received private information of patients’ health details from Michelle Boag.
Woodhouse’s reputation now risks being in tatters. He needs to explain himself further.
What is potentially more damaging are New Zealand Herald revelations that leader Todd Muller knew Woodhouse had received patients’ private health information from Michaelle Boag. This, the Herald reported, Muller knew on Tuesday evening (July 7, 2020).
NZ Herald: A party spokeswoman said today Woodhouse told Muller this on Tuesday night.
‘Muller was specifically asked by reporters “have you checked with Woodhouse, specifically, whether he received that same information from Boag”. “No,” replied Muller and a reporter asked “why not?”
“It’s very clear from our perspective there’s a conversation that’s occurred between Michelle Boag and Hamish Walker. We are confident from what we can see that the issue here relates to Michelle Boag and Hamish Walker.”‘
‘Asked again if he had spoken to Woodhouse and if Boag was a Woodhouse source, Muller said: “No, I don’t really understand where you’re going with this.‘
‘The spokeswoman said Muller didn’t say something yesterday because “we had to look at what that information was and the nature”.
“We needed to assess the information.”‘
The whole deceitful saga leaves one with a sense that National remains bereft of a moral compass, indifferent to legal rights to privacy, manipulative of the public discourse, and prepared to manufacture scandal so as to advance its ambition to retake the Treasury Benches in 2020.
This week’s revelations expose National to a reality that Machiavellianism remains, that factions within National are prepared to operate from the shadows, that the end game justifies the means – to win at all costs.
If Only It Was An Isolated Incident
With Todd Muller becoming leader, standing alongside his Deputy Nikki Kaye, many political observers considered National was sincere in removing dirty politics tactics from its 2020 election toolkit.
But since Todd Muller became leader of the National Party we have seen:
National’s new leadership team signal its MPs to go for it… that National has a moral obligation to win.
a culture of ‘politics placed before the public’s interest’ … gotcha politics designed to erode a public’s confidence in National’s opponents, placed ahead of serving the public interest.
Let’s look at a brief recap of previous happenings:
Around July 17, For at least 20 hours, National held on to information that two women who were Covid positive had travelled from Auckland to Wellington
National chose to wait so they could use that knowledge in Parliament and deliver a political hit rather than alert health officials, the Government, and the media
The public’s right to know that information was denied them, for a time.
Clearly, the public deserved to know immediately so those who may have been in contact with the contagious women could self isolate and await to be tested.
But there’s more.
Also we have seen leaks from inside the National Party revealing how its private polling found it had been sinking in popularity after experiencing a short rise since Muller took the leadership. Its leader Todd Muller was disappointed in the leak having occurred. The leak indicates a lack of discipline inside National.
Is this an indisciplined party that is lacking in leadership, out of step with the New Zealand public’s expectations and interests? This whole saga raises the question: Is National fit to govern in 2020?
A Circuit-Breaker – A Vision – But Where’s The Plan?
After the revelations, and after National’s board failed to remove Hamish Walker from the party, Todd Muller needed a circuit-breaker to restore an impression of leadership. National’s Plan to get New Zealand working ought to have provided Muller with exactly that.
At the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday, Todd Muller indicated his Plan had five key pillars:
Responsible Economic Management
Delivering Infrastructure
Reskilling and Retraining our Workforce
A Greener, Smarter Future
Building Stronger Communities.
But beyond that, Muller gave little else away. He promised that “over the coming months, and into August, I will be releasing the lion’s share of our Plan in a series of major speeches and engagements.”
He added: “Our vision, our Plan and our direction for New Zealand will place jobs at the centre and deliver the results Kiwis need. We have a track-record that shows we do as we say and get the job done.”
He continued: “Over the next 72 days my team and I will be working hard to share our Plan with you.”
He said: “National believes in: An open and competitive economy;
A broad-based, low-rate tax system; An independent central bank with the primary goal of price stability; The Fiscal Responsibility Act, now part of the Public Finance Act; and A flexible labour market, underpinned since 2000 by good faith.”
Then came a glimpse of the real plan. Muller said:
“Under Helen Clark, John Key, Bill English and Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand has spent, in 2020 dollars, $505 billion on social welfare, $302 billion on health, $260 billion on education, and $27 billion on corrections. That is well over a trillion dollars on those four areas alone just since the year 2000, or well over $200,000 for every single person living in New Zealand today.
“When we see more than one in eight New Zealand children still living in material hardship; more than 310,000 Kiwis on a benefit even before Covid-19 (and now up to more than 350,000); more than a million food grants needed last year; and the state house waiting list having more than tripled since Labour was elected, then I don’t think anyone can believe we have achieved the best possible return on that trillion-dollar-plus investment.”
So what is Todd Muller suggesting here? Are we to believe that under his leadership National would embark on an austerity plan that would abandon community-led social investment, education, tertiary and trades-training investment (a raw point of failed social investment of former prime minister John Key’s so called ‘rock star economy’ that was publicly criticised by the OECD)?
Is Todd Muller suggesting a return to small government ideology akin to last century? If so, is that out of step with globalised and developed western economies that have embarked on fiscal stimulus plans more aligned with Keynesian economics than that of Milton Friedman and George Stigler’s Chicago school of economics theories that New Zealand zealously embraced from 1987 through to 2017?
Surely in the post-Covid recovery period economies will require governments to intervene, to commit to broad-based and bold fiscal stimulus, plans that lead toward a rebalancing between export-led recovery and domestic self sufficiency and societal progress?
Is there a role for business to work with government? Yes, certainly, it is a necessity. But in the immediate post-Covid recovery period the business sector will not be ready to pick up the shovel and rebuild to scale on behalf of a government that does not have the willpower to lead the effort.
Muller said on Thursday:
“Let me tell you what that means in practice. In 2020/21 and 2021/22, my Government will not be scared of investing more in retraining, if we are confident it will genuinely improve productivity, lower unemployment, increase the tax take, reduce the cost of welfare and improve wellbeing over the following decade.”
Does this mean we would see an overhaul within a period of crisis where Government would constrain stimulus through targeted ‘investment’ to the private sector, relying on the latter to deliver once-government services and social programmes?
Will Todd Muller’s National Party outsource to the private sector its responsibility to deliver social welfare, health, education, corrections services?
Is this what Todd Muller’s key appointment, Matthew Hooton, has been working on since his appointment last month? Hooton’s political commentary is known to many and has contributed greatly to political discourse in New Zealand. Matthew Hooton is known as a proponent of small government, an advocate for the ideologies of right neo-liberal economics who earned his National Party stripes when the ideas of former minister of finance Ruth Richardson was all the rage. Hooton often criticised John Key and former finance minister Bill English for being too moderate and failing to deliver, while popular, reform that would further liberalise New Zealand economic environment.
If Todd Muller is to be regarded as a prime minister in waiting, then eliminating dirty politics from his party is only part of a necessary plan. Convincing a voting public that user-pays and the privatisation of essential social services – welfare, health, education, and corrections – may be truly testing.
But then, a real leader would demonstrate courage alongside convictions. And time, as they say, is not on his side.


thedailyblog--2020-07-09--Goodbye and good riddance to New Zealand biggest corporate bludger

This is very good news today with the Rio Tinto decision to close the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point in Bluff .
This company has been using 14 % of New Zealand ’ s total electricity production at ridiculously low prices for many decades .
A quick , back-of-an-envelope calculation shows that government electricity subsidies have been so high that the country would be better off with the smelter closed and the workers paid their full salaries for the rest of their lives .
I wrote about this in a previous blog .
CAFCA ( Campaign Against Foreign Control of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation as “ the textbook example of corporate welfare in New Zealand.
” Rio Tinto won the 2011 Roger Award for the worst foreign multi-national company operating in New Zealand .
At the time the company was using bullying threats to close the smelter if the Emissions Trading Scheme came into force .
The judges ’ report at the time concluded the company had a 50-year history of “ suborning , blackmailing and conning successive New Zealand governments into paying massive subsidies on the smelter ’ s electricity ; dodging tax , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ present a friendly , socially responsible and thoroughly green-washed face to the media and the public.
” The government ’ s role now must be to pour those tens of millions in electricity subsidies into sustainable , environmentally friendly job creation opportunities in Southland rather than pour them into the pockets of a bloated , polluting , climate-denying multinational .
We shouldn ’ t hold our breath though .
What we will now see is a public relations campaign by the smelter to pressure the government to lower electricity prices further for this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the local business organisations are whinging on behalf of Rio Tinto rather than on behalf of the New Zealand taxpayer .
Expect to hear plenty of self-serving drivel from the deep south in the year to come .

This is very good news today with the Rio Tinto decision to close the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point in Bluff.
This company has been using 14% of New Zealand’s total electricity production at ridiculously low prices for many decades.
A quick, back-of-an-envelope calculation shows that government electricity subsidies have been so high that the country would be better off with the smelter closed and the workers paid their full salaries for the rest of their lives. I wrote about this in a previous blog.
CAFCA (Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa) has described the Rio Tinto situation as “the textbook example of corporate welfare in New Zealand.”
Rio Tinto won the 2011 Roger Award for the worst foreign multi-national company operating in New Zealand. At the time the company was using bullying threats to close the smelter if the Emissions Trading Scheme came into force. The judges’ report at the time concluded the company had a 50-year history of “suborning, blackmailing and conning successive New Zealand governments into paying massive subsidies on the smelter’s electricity; dodging tax, and running a brilliantly effective PR machine to present a friendly, socially responsible and thoroughly green-washed face to the media and the public.”
The government’s role now must be to pour those tens of millions in electricity subsidies into sustainable, environmentally friendly job creation opportunities in Southland rather than pour them into the pockets of a bloated, polluting, climate-denying multinational.
We shouldn’t hold our breath though. What we will now see is a public relations campaign by the smelter to pressure the government to lower electricity prices further for this corporate bludger. Already Tim Shadbolt and the local business organisations are whinging on behalf of Rio Tinto rather than on behalf of the New Zealand taxpayer.
Expect to hear plenty of self-serving drivel from the deep south in the year to come.


thedailyblog--2020-07-10--How to stop SkyCity ripping off the wage subsidy system

SkyCity is ripping off the wage subsidy system .
The subsidy was created for employers to use as an alternative to laying off staff .
SkyCity has manipulated it to make sure they can lay off as many staff as possible while getting the maximum subsidy possible .
The first thing they did was apply for the wage subsidy only for the waged staff and excluded the salaried staff .
200 salaried staff were immediately laid off without a proper process .
The company then announced it was laying off 700 waged staff as well as soon as the initial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They told all the staff they would not apply for the additional wage subsidy burn needed to simply bite the bullet and lay off staff .
After getting rid of the 900 staff in total they have now applied for the wage subsidy for the remaining staff anyway .
This company has spent decades preying on the weak and vulnerable in society and promoting addictions to make money .
A gambling licence is a legalised form of printing money since a casino ultimately can ’ t lose .
The executives and shareholders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billions over the two decades .
Shareholder wealth has been boosted in recent years with share buybacks that weaken a company ’ s balance sheet while adding to the pockets of the top one percent in society .
It doesn ’ t make sense to me for the government to give any private company money unless they give the government a significant shareholding in return so that the government will then benefit from any recovery as a shareholder like the other shareholders will do .
If these companies aren ’ t willing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

SkyCity is ripping off the wage subsidy system.
The subsidy was created for employers to use as an alternative to laying off staff.
SkyCity has manipulated it to make sure they can lay off as many staff as possible while getting the maximum subsidy possible.
The first thing they did was apply for the wage subsidy only for the waged staff and excluded the salaried staff. 200 salaried staff were immediately laid off without a proper process.
The company then announced it was laying off 700 waged staff as well as soon as the initial wage subsidy for 12 weeks ran out. They told all the staff they would not apply for the additional wage subsidy burn needed to simply bite the bullet and lay off staff.
After getting rid of the 900 staff in total they have now applied for the wage subsidy for the remaining staff anyway.
This company has spent decades preying on the weak and vulnerable in society and promoting addictions to make money.
A gambling licence is a legalised form of printing money since a casino ultimately can’t lose.
The executives and shareholders have rewarded themselves with profits in the billions over the two decades. Shareholder wealth has been boosted in recent years with share buybacks that weaken a company’s balance sheet while adding to the pockets of the top one percent in society.
It doesn’t make sense to me for the government to give any private company money unless they give the government a significant shareholding in return so that the government will then benefit from any recovery as a shareholder like the other shareholders will do. If these companies aren’t willing to do that then they should get nothing.


thedailyblog--2020-07-10--Crying out for justice – silence is complicity

In the debate over Zionist territorial claims to Palestine , the voices of non-Zionist Jews are never given equal opportunity or respect .
Some Christians support the Zionist view because they believe the Bible gives it credibility and the colonialist Zionist ideology , although itself irreligious , is more than happy to pose alongside any faith or political movement that would afford it justification and respect .
There is , on the other hand , recognition among many Christians , Jews and those , including Jews , who profess no religion , that Zionism in practise is inhumane , unjust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Balfour Declaration gave Zionism the spur to begin building its enterprise , ignoring the views of an overwhelming majority of Jews who rejected it .
At that time , 90 % of the population of Palestine was non-Jewish .
How could Britain assign itself the right , legally or morally , to deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination ?
Of course it could not – but human rights and respect for others count for nothing in the world of arrogant colonialism .
An Israeli historian , Avi Shlaim , Emeritus Professor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fellow of the British Academy , reminds the world that the author of the Balfour Declaration himself admitted as much when he wrote : “ In short , so far as Palestine is concerned the Powers have made no statement of fact which is not admittedly wrong , and no declaration of policy which , at least in the letter , they have not always intended to violate.
” On 24 June , the Israel Institute of New Zealand ( IINZ ) published an article , concerning the Israeli Government ’ s proposal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West Bank , dismissing annexation as merely an “ extension of Israeli sovereignty.
” An ‘ extension ‘ of Israeli sovereignty to any land outside of Israel is , necessarily , land theft .
It is also evidence of Israel ’ s determination to deny the Palestinian people their right to exercise sovereignty .
The IINZ article notes that “ .
.
.
Netanyahu is almost certainly not going to suggest that Israel apply sovereignty to all the land from the river to the sea .
This is because there is little historic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however , proceed to contradict itself by quoting a claim by Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs , Professor Eugene Kontorovich , that “ under international law , the borders of Israel should be the borders of the British Mandate just before May 1948.
” Gaza was , of course , within the British Mandate .
IINZ also tell us Hamas “ took control of Gaza ” , no doubt hoping it will have been forgotten that Hamas was voted into office with a clear majority , in a universally-accepted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of argument helps to obfuscate truth .
The IINZ also commented that Hamas had “ fired rockets into Israel for the first time in at least one month.
” In fact , while no group in Gaza had claimed responsibility for that , the report quoted says just one harmless missile was fired and that Israel responded to it with “ air strikes and tank fire on Hamas posts and infrastructure ” .
Israeli forces move in and out of Gaza and violate its airspace whenever they please .
Since 1 June this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IINZ article was published , there were 65 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations , including six incursions , attacks on Palestinian fishing boats and air strikes .
Zionism has never had anything but contempt for the Palestinian people .
In June 1920 , the Zionist 1st Viscount Herbert Samuel was appointed to the position of High Commissioner of Palestine in 1920 by Sir Louis Bols of the British ‘ Occupied Enemy Territory Administration ’ .
Tom Segev , in his book entitled One Palestine Complete , reveals Samuel ’ s signing of an acknowledgment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ for the handing over of Palestine , with the words : “ Received from Major General Sir Louis Bols one Palestine complete.
” In 1937 , Winston Churchill , during Parliamentary debates on British policy in Palestine , declared that the British Government should observe its 1917 promise to create a ‘ Jewish national home ‘ in Palestine and opposed the granting of Palestine self-rule because that would mean a Palestinian majority would rule there .
He did admit ( Gilbert , Churchill and the Jews , pp .
109 and 112 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adopt Zionism entirely out of altruistic love of starting a Zionist colony ; it was a matter of great importance to this country.
” In his address to the Peel Commission enquiry concerning Mandatory Palestine on 12 March 1937 , Churchill made the colonialist approach absolutely clear , dismissing Palestinians collectively as “ a dog in the manger ” : “ I do not admit that the dog in the manger has the final right to the manger , though he may have lain there for a very long time I do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop there but even went on to remove any doubt that Conservative colonialism treats Palestinians just as it has all other subject people : “ I do not admit for instance , that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia .
I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race , a higher-grade race , a more worldly wise race to put it that way , has come in and taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of indigenous peoples was that “ They had not the right , nor had they the power.
” In an article published in the Israeli newspaper , Yedioth Ahronoth , on 1 July , the present UK Prime Minister , Boris Johnson , admitted “ I am immensely proud of the UK ’ s contribution to the birth of Israel with the 1917 Balfour Declaration ” recognising that “ The UK has often stood in a small minority at the UN in defending Israel.
” Johnson ’ s alliance with great power politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I welcome the commitment that President Trump has made to find a way forward .
We will work tirelessly with the US – and other partners in the Arab world and Europe.
” Ultimately , for the power elite , military superiority is all that is required for them to have their way and determine the fate of people .
You only have to look at the Israeli Army ’ s daily knee-on-neck population control to see it in action .
Israel calls its military the Israeli Defence Forces ( IDF ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used nowadays by Israel and its allies to hide the reality that military superiority is for gaining control .
Over 500 Jewish Studies professors have signed a petition against Netanyahu ’ s proposed annexations .
Richard Silverstein , who writes the Israeli Tikun Olam blog and whose work has appeared in Haaretz , the Forward , the Seattle Times and the Los Angeles Times , tells us that Netanyahu ’ s annexation plan is a sham that relieves liberal Zionists of responsibility for Israel ’ s broader apartheid system and ongoing Palestinian suffering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IJAN ) recognises that the Zionist project : “ .
.
.
dishonours the persecution , displacement and genocide of European Jews by using their memory to justify and perpetuate European authoritarianism and colonialism .
It is responsible for the extensive displacement and alienation of Mizrahi Jews ( Jews of Sephardi , Asian and African descent ) from indigenous identities , languages , histories , cultures and homelands and attempts to reduce all of our diverse cultural , religious , ethnic and racial identities to one of national identity .
As such , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Palestinian people and in the debasement of our own heritages , struggles for justice and alliances with our fellow human beings .
We understand Israel ’ s historic and current policies and practices of colonialism , and the Zionist ideology and institutions propelling them , are unjust and unconscionable.
” Since its inception , the Zionist movement has used the term ‘ anti-Semitism ’ to deflect criticism of its ideology and to terrorise those who speak out against its increasing inhumanities .
Far from being anti-Semitic , anti-Zionism calls for recognition , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including Palestinians .
The whole racist purpose of the term ‘ anti-Semitism ’ is to drive one Semitic people from our consciousness and from their homeland .
It also explains why Zionists never directly accuse critics of Israel of being anti-Jewish .
According to the online Oxford English Dictionary , the term anti-Semitism means “ Hostility to or prejudice against Jews ” yet it actually defines ‘ Semite ’ as : “ A member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language , including in particular the Jews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , via late Latin from Greek Sēm ‘ Shem ’ , son of Noah in the Bible , from whom these peoples were traditionally supposed to be descended.
” To be consistent and logical , therefore , definition of the term anti-Semitism should surely at least read : ‘ Hostility to or prejudice against any of the peoples who speak a Semitic language , including in particular Jews and Arabs.
’ In Britain , accusations of ‘ anti-Semitism ’ from political centres and the mainstream news media against the former UK Labour Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective .
With absolutely no evidence in support of claims made against him , the ‘ anti-Semitic ’ slur has been elevated to appear unchallengeable .
The Labour Party was even successfully pressured into adopting the ridiculous definition of anti-semitism that conflates criticism of Israel and Zionist ideology with hatred of Jews .
Rejected by an appeal court judge , it was even repudiated by the lawyer who had devised it .
In written evidence , US Attorney Kenneth S. Stern complained that his original definition had been misused and had never been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to curb academic or political free speech .
The dishonesty used in employing anti-Semitism smears is malicious in the extreme .
Jews , including Jewish settlers , were first to oppose Zionism It is deeply offensive that Zionism commits its reprehensible violations of international humanitarian law in the name of all Jews .
A Holocaust survivor , the late Hedy Epstein , whose parents perished at Auschwitz in 1942 commented : “ Israel would not be able to carry out its crimes against humanity without the United States , the world , permitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media , which , with few exceptions , dehumanises Palestinians and instils fear , ignorance and loathing of them and their culture.
” Zionism embeds itself in an Orwellian world of language manipulation , shared by Western governments and the mainstream news media .
Simply failing to report the Zionist state ’ s daily inhumanities also serves Israel well .
In many countries , the Israel lobby takes advantage of this , adding its own circumlocution and downright lies to threaten freedom of speech as well as silence all opposition .
On 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Daily Telegraph published an article attacking the Black Lives Matter movement , suggesting that it is “ antisemitic ” .
Barnaby Raine , writing in the UK journal Jewish Voice for Labour , referred to the above Telegraph article and the sacking of Labour Party member , Rebecca Long-Bailey , from the Shadow Cabinet by the new Party leader , Keir Starmer .
Raine comments : “ Jews are conscripted as the alibi of white society .
We are the useful props for a moral panic .
.
.
” He gives it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defends itself by claiming a fragile , vulnerable group needs its protection from the savage hordes.
” He also notes : “ Once they saw us as dangerous Semites infesting European society .
Now instead we are their favourite pets : heroic colonists in the Middle East and successful citizens in the West.
” Referring to the wording in the Telegraph about “ Extreme anti-racists ” hating Jews , he comments in part that the accusation “ .
.
.
gives a thin progressive hue to their deep anxieties that the wretched of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s black protesters on our streets – constitute a threat to the white world order.
” On 30 June , Israeli settlers moved into a Palestinian home in Silwan that was due for destruction by Israeli forces .
The house in the Jerusalem suburb was due for demolition because the Palestinian owners had not been issued a building permit by the Israeli Occupation .
The sole reason for refusing the family permission to build was clearly racist .
The settlers are gradually taking over in Silwan , moving in , house by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whenever critics of Israel ’ s behaviour go so far as to describe the cruelties and injustices the Zionist state inflicts upon the Palestinian people as fascist or akin to Nazism , they are immediately abused with accusations of anti-Semitism .
Yet within Israel itself there is recognition that the state ’ s founding ideology has rendered it guilty of gross violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention .
The UK Jewish anti-Zionist , anti-racist activist Tony Greenstein has written a tribute to the Polish-born Israeli historian , the late Zeev Sternhell , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem .
Greenstein tells us that Sternhell was “ a child survivor of the Przemysl ghetto ” , smuggled out by his aunt , uncle and Polish non-Jews to Lwów .
He was brought up in Krakow and in 1951 he emigrated to Israel .
In 2018 , the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article by Sternhell , entitled Israel , Growing Fascism and a Racism Akin to Early Nazism .
A war crimes complaint has been filed against Donald Trump , Israeli Prime Minister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kushner , in the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) .
The complaint was filed by a law professor in the UK , William Schabas , on 30 June .
On behalf of four Palestinians who live in the West Bank , the complaint states “ there is credible evidence ” that , according to article 15 of the ICC ’ s Rome Statute , Trump , Netanyahu and Kushner “ are complicit in acts that may amount to war crimes relating to the transfer of populations into occupied territory and the annexation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Palestine.
” Israel is also guilty of violating Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention , which states that an “ occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies.
” Unsurprisingly , Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute and the Zionist state desperately maintains that Palestine is not a state so , therefore , is not under ICC jurisdiction .
However , the UN General Assembly recognise Palestine as a non-member UN observer state and , since Palestine has acceded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entitled to be regarded as a member of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court .
It is tragic and shameful that a lone individual should be attempting to bring war criminals to account because UN member states are themselves failing to take the necessary steps .
New Zealand can , and must , take the initiative towards demanding respect for international humanitarian law with an appeal to fellow UN member states to join us in taking action .
The anti-Zionist call for recognition , respect and equal rights embraces EVERYONE – @ @ @ @ @ @ @

In the debate over Zionist territorial claims to Palestine, the voices of non-Zionist Jews are never given equal opportunity or respect. Some Christians support the Zionist view because they believe the Bible gives it credibility and the colonialist Zionist ideology, although itself irreligious, is more than happy to pose alongside any faith or political movement that would afford it justification and respect. There is, on the other hand, recognition among many Christians, Jews and those, including Jews, who profess no religion, that Zionism in practise is inhumane, unjust and racist. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration gave Zionism the spur to begin building its enterprise, ignoring the views of an overwhelming majority of Jews who rejected it.
At that time, 90% of the population of Palestine was non-Jewish. How could Britain assign itself the right, legally or morally, to deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination? Of course it could not – but human rights and respect for others count for nothing in the world of arrogant colonialism. An Israeli historian, Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford University and Fellow of the British Academy, reminds the world that the author of the Balfour Declaration himself admitted as much when he wrote: “In short, so far as Palestine is concerned the Powers have made no statement of fact which is not admittedly wrong, and no declaration of policy which, at least in the letter, they have not always intended to violate.”
Israel Institute of New Zealand
On 24 June, the Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) published an article, concerning the Israeli Government’s proposal to annex Occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, dismissing annexation as merely an “extension of Israeli sovereignty.” An ‘extension‘ of Israeli sovereignty to any land outside of Israel is, necessarily, land theft. It is also evidence of Israel’s determination to deny the Palestinian people their right to exercise sovereignty. The IINZ article notes that “. . . Netanyahu is almost certainly not going to suggest that Israel apply sovereignty to all the land from the river to the sea. This is because there is little historic Jewish connection to Gaza.” It then, however, proceeds to contradict itself by quoting a claim by Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Professor Eugene Kontorovich, that “under international law, the borders of Israel should be the borders of the British Mandate just before May 1948.” Gaza was, of course, within the British Mandate.
IINZ also tells us Hamas “took control of Gaza”, no doubt hoping it will have been forgotten that Hamas was voted into office with a clear majority, in a universally-accepted free and fair Palestinian election. Inconsistency of argument helps to obfuscate truth. The IINZ also commented that Hamas had “fired rockets into Israel for the first time in at least one month.” In fact, while no group in Gaza had claimed responsibility for that, the report quoted says just one harmless missile was fired and that Israel responded to it with “air strikes and tank fire on Hamas posts and infrastructure”. Israeli forces move in and out of Gaza and violate its airspace whenever they please. Since 1 June this year, up until the time the IINZ article was published, there were 65 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations, including six incursions, attacks on Palestinian fishing boats and air strikes.
Racist imperialism
Zionism has never had anything but contempt for the Palestinian people. In June 1920, the Zionist 1st Viscount Herbert Samuel was appointed to the position of High Commissioner of Palestine in 1920 by Sir Louis Bols of the British ‘Occupied Enemy Territory Administration’. Tom Segev, in his book entitled One Palestine Complete, reveals Samuel’s signing of an acknowledgment in the form of a ‘receipt’ for the handing over of Palestine, with the words: “Received from Major General Sir Louis Bols one Palestine complete.”
In 1937, Winston Churchill, during Parliamentary debates on British policy in Palestine, declared that the British Government should observe its 1917 promise to create a ‘Jewish national home‘ in Palestine and opposed the granting of Palestine self-rule because that would mean a Palestinian majority would rule there. He did admit (Gilbert, Churchill and the Jews, pp. 109 and 112) that: “We did not adopt Zionism entirely out of altruistic love of starting a Zionist colony; it was a matter of great importance to this country.” In his address to the Peel Commission enquiry concerning Mandatory Palestine on 12 March 1937, Churchill made the colonialist approach absolutely clear, dismissing Palestinians collectively as “a dog in the manger”:
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“I do not admit that the dog in the manger has the final right to the manger, though he may have lain there for a very long time I do not admit that right.”
He did not stop there but even went on to remove any doubt that Conservative colonialism treats Palestinians just as it has all other subject people:
“I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.”
Churchill’s view of indigenous peoples was that “They had not the right, nor had they the power.”
In an article published in the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, on 1 July, the present UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, admitted “I am immensely proud of the UK’s contribution to the birth of Israel with the 1917 Balfour Declaration” recognising that “The UK has often stood in a small minority at the UN in defending Israel.”
Johnson’s alliance with great power politics was also made clear in his declaration “I welcome the commitment that President Trump has made to find a way forward. We will work tirelessly with the US – and other partners in the Arab world and Europe.”
Ultimately, for the power elite, military superiority is all that is required for them to have their way and determine the fate of people. You only have to look at the Israeli Army’s daily knee-on-neck population control to see it in action. Israel calls its military the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) but the term ‘defence’ is used nowadays by Israel and its allies to hide the reality that military superiority is for gaining control.
Jewish voices
Over 500 Jewish Studies professors have signed a petition against Netanyahu’s proposed annexations.
Richard Silverstein, who writes the Israeli Tikun Olam blog and whose work has appeared in Haaretz, the Forward, the Seattle Times and the Los Angeles Times, tells us that Netanyahu’s annexation plan is a sham that relieves liberal Zionists of responsibility for Israel’s broader apartheid system and ongoing Palestinian suffering.
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) recognises that the Zionist project:
“ . . . dishonours the persecution, displacement and genocide of European Jews by using their memory to justify and perpetuate European authoritarianism and colonialism. It is responsible for the extensive displacement and alienation of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Sephardi, Asian and African descent) from indigenous identities, languages, histories, cultures and homelands and attempts to reduce all of our diverse cultural, religious, ethnic and racial identities to one of national identity. As such, it implicates us in the oppression of the Palestinian people and in the debasement of our own heritages, struggles for justice and alliances with our fellow human beings. We understand Israel’s historic and current policies and practices of colonialism, and the Zionist ideology and institutions propelling them, are unjust and unconscionable.”
The utterly misleading ‘anti-Semitism‘ ploy
Since its inception, the Zionist movement has used the term ‘anti-Semitism’ to deflect criticism of its ideology and to terrorise those who speak out against its increasing inhumanities. Far from being anti-Semitic, anti-Zionism calls for recognition, respect and equality for all Semitic peoples, including Palestinians. The whole racist purpose of the term ‘anti-Semitism’ is to drive one Semitic people from our consciousness and from their homeland. It also explains why Zionists never directly accuse critics of Israel of being anti-Jewish.
According to the online Oxford English Dictionary, the term anti-Semitism means “Hostility to or prejudice against Jews” yet it actually defines ‘Semite’ as: “A member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs. From modern Latin Semita, via late Latin from Greek Sēm ‘Shem’, son of Noah in the Bible, from whom these peoples were traditionally supposed to be descended.” To be consistent and logical, therefore, definition of the term anti-Semitism should surely at least read: ‘Hostility to or prejudice against any of the peoples who speak a Semitic language, including in particular Jews and Arabs.’
The persecution of Jeremy Corbyn
In Britain, accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’ from political centres and the mainstream news media against the former UK Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, proved astonishingly effective. With absolutely no evidence in support of claims made against him, the ‘anti-Semitic’ slur has been elevated to appear unchallengeable. The Labour Party was even successfully pressured into adopting the ridiculous definition of anti-semitism that conflates criticism of Israel and Zionist ideology with hatred of Jews. Rejected by an appeal court judge, it was even repudiated by the lawyer who had devised it. In written evidence, US Attorney Kenneth S. Stern complained that his original definition had been misused and had never been intended as a legal or regulatory device to curb academic or political free speech. The dishonesty used in employing anti-Semitism smears is malicious in the extreme.
Jews, including Jewish settlers, were first to oppose Zionism
It is deeply offensive that Zionism commits its reprehensible violations of international humanitarian law in the name of all Jews. A Holocaust survivor, the late Hedy Epstein, whose parents perished at Auschwitz in 1942 commented:
“Israel would not be able to carry out its crimes against humanity without the United States, the world, permitting it to do so and the mass media, which, with few exceptions, dehumanises Palestinians and instils fear, ignorance and loathing of them and their culture.”
Zionism embeds itself in an Orwellian world of language manipulation, shared by Western governments and the mainstream news media. Simply failing to report the Zionist state’s daily inhumanities also serves Israel well. In many countries, the Israel lobby takes advantage of this, adding its own circumlocution and downright lies to threaten freedom of speech as well as silence all opposition. On 20 June, for instance, the UK Daily Telegraph published an article attacking the Black Lives Matter movement, suggesting that it is “antisemitic”.
Barnaby Raine, writing in the UK journal Jewish Voice for Labour, referred to the above Telegraph article and the sacking of Labour Party member, Rebecca Long-Bailey, from the Shadow Cabinet by the new Party leader, Keir Starmer. Raine comments: “Jews are conscripted as the alibi of white society. We are the useful props for a moral panic . . .” He gives it as an example of how “power defends itself by claiming a fragile, vulnerable group needs its protection from the savage hordes.” He also notes: “Once they saw us as dangerous Semites infesting European society. Now instead we are their favourite pets: heroic colonists in the Middle East and successful citizens in the West.” Referring to the wording in the Telegraph about “Extreme anti-racists” hating Jews, he comments in part that the accusation “. . . gives a thin progressive hue to their deep anxieties that the wretched of the earth . . . now it’s black protesters on our streets – constitute a threat to the white world order.”
“Israel, growing fascism and a racism akin to early Nazism“
On 30 June, Israeli settlers moved into a Palestinian home in Silwan that was due for destruction by Israeli forces. The house in the Jerusalem suburb was due for demolition because the Palestinian owners had not been issued a building permit by the Israeli Occupation. The sole reason for refusing the family permission to build was clearly racist. The settlers are gradually taking over in Silwan, moving in, house by house, and site after site.
Whenever critics of Israel’s behaviour go so far as to describe the cruelties and injustices the Zionist state inflicts upon the Palestinian people as fascist or akin to Nazism, they are immediately abused with accusations of anti-Semitism. Yet within Israel itself there is recognition that the state’s founding ideology has rendered it guilty of gross violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The UK Jewish anti-Zionist, anti-racist activist Tony Greenstein has written a tribute to the Polish-born Israeli historian, the late Zeev Sternhell, an expert on fascism who headed the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Greenstein tells us that Sternhell was “a child survivor of the Przemysl ghetto”, smuggled out by his aunt, uncle and Polish non-Jews to Lwów. He was brought up in Krakow and in 1951 he emigrated to Israel. In 2018, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article by Sternhell, entitled Israel, Growing Fascism and a Racism Akin to Early Nazism.
Bringing Israel to account
A war crimes complaint has been filed against Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump adviser, Jared Kushner, in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The complaint was filed by a law professor in the UK, William Schabas, on 30 June. On behalf of four Palestinians who live in the West Bank, the complaint states “there is credible evidence” that, according to article 15 of the ICC’s Rome Statute, Trump, Netanyahu and Kushner “are complicit in acts that may amount to war crimes relating to the transfer of populations into occupied territory and the annexation of the sovereign territory of the State of Palestine.” Israel is also guilty of violating Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an “occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies.”
Unsurprisingly, Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute and the Zionist state desperately maintains that Palestine is not a state so, therefore, is not under ICC jurisdiction. However, the UN General Assembly recognises Palestine as a non-member UN observer state and, since Palestine has acceded to the Rome Statute, it is entitled to be regarded as a member of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court.
It is tragic and shameful that a lone individual should be attempting to bring war criminals to account because UN member states are themselves failing to take the necessary steps. New Zealand can, and must, take the initiative towards demanding respect for international humanitarian law with an appeal to fellow UN member states to join us in taking action. The anti-Zionist call for recognition, respect and equal rights embraces EVERYONE – and that includes ALL Semitic peoples.


thedailyblog--2020-07-10--From nuclear refugees to climate justice – the Rainbow Warrior legacy

SPECIAL REPORT : By David Robie , who sailed on the original Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap atoll and is author of the book Eyes of Fire .
He also blogs at Café Pacific .
Thirty five years ago today the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland ’ s Waitematā Harbour by French secret agents in a blatant act of state terrorism , killing a photojournalist .
People ’ s campaigns have moved on since then from nuclear tests and refugees to climate justice – and future Pacific refugees .
The environmental campaign flagship was bombed on 10 July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Marshall Islands carrying out four humanitarian voyages to rescue more than 320 Rongelap atoll villagers from the ravages of US nuclear tests and take them to a new home , Mejato island on Kwajalein atoll .
READ MORE : Eyes of Fire – Thirty Years On LISTEN : David Robie reflects on the Rainbow Warrior on RNZ ’ s Crimes NZ programme They were nuclear refugees seeking justice , relief and a healthy life far from the dangerous legacy left from 105 tests on Bikini and nearby atolls .
Ironically , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposition led to a massive wave of New Zealand and Pacific anti-nuclear solidarity and ultimately to the halt of French nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls in 1996 after 193 blasts .
The bombed ship ’ s pioneering environmental work has since been carried on by Rainbow Warrior II and the state-of-the-art eco campaign ship Rainbow Warrior III .
Today the focus is on climate refugees , the lack of adequate health compensation for the Polynesians who suffered radiation and failure to provide proper clean-up of the French nuclear testing zones that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ century .
Tests were carried out by balloon , derrick , in the lagoon and in a series of underground shafts which have threatened the stability of the 60 km long atoll , leaving it fractured “ like Swiss cheese ” .
Landmark ruling In January this year , in a landmark United Nations ruling , the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , governments have been told not to return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by climate change .
Climate action activists have greeted this ruling as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refugees , or migrants , and for advocates for global climate action .
The UN Human Rights Committee ruled in the covenant that “ without robust national and international efforts , the effects of climate change in receiving states may expose individuals to violations of their rights ” .
The ruling applied to a humble New Zealand vegetable farm foreman , Ioane Teitiota , from the island nation of Kiribati , who had become a poster boy for climate refugee legal advocates even though he had little understanding of this concept .
Five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for protection for him in New Zealand after presenting a legal argument that he and his family ’ s lives were at risk from the impact of climate change and rising Pacific Ocean level in Kiribati as one of the “ frontline states ” facing global warming .
Although Teitiota and his lawyers lost the case because the threat to Kiribati was not deemed to be an imminent risk , the ruling opened the door to recognition of the existence of climate refugees and the possibility of legal refugee protection .
Climate change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to leave their homes in the next decade , according to a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation ( EJF ) .
And this would include many on low-lying atolls in the South Pacific .
‘ Humanitarian visa ’ In October 2017 , New Zealand ’ s Climate Minister James Shaw announced that the incoming government was planning an “ experimental humanitarian visa ” category for Pacific Islanders forced to leave their homes .
Partially inspired by the Teitiota case , it was envisaged that up to 100 people a year might settle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , this humanitarian plan was quietly shelved because Pacific Islanders generally do not want to leave their homes .
They prefer support for adaptation and mitigation for their continuing lives on ancestral land with refugee status as merely a last resort .
The Rainbow Warrior had visited Kiribati and Vanuatu on the voyage to New Zealand after the Marshall Islands mission .
Crew members saw at first hand some of the climate pressures already apparent back then .
Cancer sufferers seeking nuclear compensation from the French government under the controversial Morin law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man who had developed bladder cancer as a result of the nuclear tests was awarded almost US $ 180,000 by the administrative court .
This news was welcomed by both health advocates and activists .
According to the local news service Tahiti-Infos , an earlier application for compensation had been turned down by the authority dealing with the case .
The compensation law has been tightened up again after being earlier relaxed with most claims being rejected between 2010 and 2017 .
Uproar in Tahiti In May , there was an uproar in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to include a clause about compensation over nuclear weapons testing into generic covid-19 legislation while the French Polynesian representatives were absent from the chamber because of the pandemic travel bans .
Tahiti ’ s Moetai Brotherson , one of the two French Polynesian representatives , described this move as a “ scandal ” and two nuclear test veteran advocacy groups , Moruroa e Tatou and Association 193 , were also angry , reports RNZ Pacific .
During the three decades of French tests , the early atmospheric explosions had dusted atolls and islets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the French state had demonstrated yet again that it “ detested ” the Tahitian people .
Moruroa e Tatou ’ s Hiro Tefaarere said he was “ outraged ” but not surprised because all French presidents from de Gaulle to Macron “ couldn ’ t care less ” about Polynesians .
During 2019 , the French Polynesian social security agency CPS reported that it had spent US $ 770 million on health care costs for radiation-induced illnesses .
The CPS , responsible for medical expenses and pension payments , has struggled with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsibility for compensation .
However , French authorities do not accept liability for test-related illnesses , claiming the nuclear blasts were “ clean ” unlike the earlier US and British tests in the Pacific .
The nuclear tests have rarely been an issue outside French Polynesia and independent Pacific nations .
But some consciences are occasionally pricked .
A French Watergate ?
Five years ago , the unmasked French bomber who sank the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 made some revealing comments during his interviews with the investigative website Mediapart and TVNZ ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ the first bomb was too powerful , it should have ended as a Watergate ” for French President François Mitterrand .
Mitterrand stayed in office for 14 years – a decade after the bombing and before he finally stepped down when his second presidential term ended in May 1995 , the year before nuclear tests ended .
The bomber , retired colonel Jean-Luc Kister , added that had Operation Satanique – the sabotage plot – involved the United States , “ more heads would have rolled ” .
However , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira has clearly played on his conscience for all these years , Kister ’ s sincere apology wasn ’ t without a hint of trying to rewrite history .
The claim that the secret sabotage operation never meant to kill anybody is unconvincing for anybody on board the Rainbow Warrior on that tragic night when New Zealand lost its political innocence and the crew lost a dear friend .
In 2005 , two decades after the bombing and nine years after Mitterrand ’ s death , Le Monde published a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had personally approved the sinking of the ship .
The newspaper obtained a handwritten account of the operation , written in 1986 by Pierre Lacoste , who was sacked as head of the secret services .
The Democracy Now !
report – Rainbow Warrior and President François Mitterrand .
Video : Democracy Now !
‘ Neutralise ’ the Warrior He had testified that he had asked President Mitterrand for permission to “ neutralise ” the Rainbow Warrior at a meeting two months before the attack and would never have gone ahead without the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuclear “ war ” in the Pacific dates back to the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 .
The bombing was followed by atmospheric nuclear testing by the United States in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958 , arguably the “ dirtiest ” nuclear testing .
The first so-called nuclear refugees in the Pacific were the Bikini atoll islanders who were relocated into “ exile ” for the first US weapons tests in 1946 .
Then came the British tests at Christmas Island ( now Kiribati ) and in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ French testing at Moruroa in 1966 ; more US tests at Johnston Atoll in the early 1960s ; flight testing of ICBMs , anti-satellite weapons ; and more recently “ Star Wars ” technology at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands .
As the late Steve Sawyer , Greenpeace campaign coordinator on board the Rainbow Warrior and whose birthday was being celebrated on board the night of the bombing , noted , “ the displacement of local populations and adverse health effects as a result of these programmes has not been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been so scattered and unorganised until recently that it has been little felt in Washington and Paris.
” And the Rainbow Warrior Pacific voyage was planned to make a global difference .
It did , but one that shook the world and ended in tragedy .

SPECIAL REPORT: By David Robie, who sailed on the original Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap atoll and is author of the book Eyes of Fire. He also blogs at Café Pacific.
Thirty five years ago today the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour by French secret agents in a blatant act of state terrorism, killing a photojournalist.
People’s campaigns have moved on since then from nuclear tests and refugees to climate justice – and future Pacific refugees.
The environmental campaign flagship was bombed on 10 July 1985 just weeks after it had been in the Marshall Islands carrying out four humanitarian voyages to rescue more than 320 Rongelap atoll villagers from the ravages of US nuclear tests and take them to a new home, Mejato island on Kwajalein atoll.
READ MORE: Eyes of Fire – Thirty Years On
LISTEN: David Robie reflects on the Rainbow Warrior on RNZ’s Crimes NZ programme
They were nuclear refugees seeking justice, relief and a healthy life far from the dangerous legacy left from 105 tests on Bikini and nearby atolls.
Ironically, the bombing in Auckland and mounting Pacific opposition led to a massive wave of New Zealand and Pacific anti-nuclear solidarity and ultimately to the halt of French nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls in 1996 after 193 blasts.
The bombed ship’s pioneering environmental work has since been carried on by Rainbow Warrior II and the state-of-the-art eco campaign ship Rainbow Warrior III.
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com
Today the focus is on climate refugees, the lack of adequate health compensation for the Polynesians who suffered radiation and failure to provide proper clean-up of the French nuclear testing zones that are still off-limits after almost a quarter century. Tests were carried out by balloon, derrick, in the lagoon and in a series of underground shafts which have threatened the stability of the 60 km long atoll, leaving it fractured “like Swiss cheese”.
Landmark ruling
In January this year, in a landmark United Nations ruling, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, governments have been told not to return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by climate change.
Climate action activists have greeted this ruling as a potential game changer for both climate refugees, or migrants, and for advocates for global climate action.
The UN Human Rights Committee ruled in the covenant that “without robust national and international efforts, the effects of climate change in receiving states may expose individuals to violations of their rights”.
The ruling applied to a humble New Zealand vegetable farm foreman, Ioane Teitiota, from the island nation of Kiribati, who had become a poster boy for climate refugee legal advocates even though he had little understanding of this concept.
Five years earlier, his lawyers had applied for protection for him in New Zealand after presenting a legal argument that he and his family’s lives were at risk from the impact of climate change and rising Pacific Ocean level in Kiribati as one of the “frontline states” facing global warming.
Although Teitiota and his lawyers lost the case because the threat to Kiribati was not deemed to be an imminent risk, the ruling opened the door to recognition of the existence of climate refugees and the possibility of legal refugee protection.
Climate change will force tens of millions of people to leave their homes in the next decade, according to a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). And this would include many on low-lying atolls in the South Pacific.
‘Humanitarian visa’
In October 2017, New Zealand’s Climate Minister James Shaw announced that the incoming government was planning an “experimental humanitarian visa” category for Pacific Islanders forced to leave their homes. Partially inspired by the Teitiota case, it was envisaged that up to 100 people a year might settle in New Zealand under this scheme.
However, this humanitarian plan was quietly shelved because Pacific Islanders generally do not want to leave their homes. They prefer support for adaptation and mitigation for their continuing lives on ancestral land with refugee status as merely a last resort.
The Rainbow Warrior had visited Kiribati and Vanuatu on the voyage to New Zealand after the Marshall Islands mission. Crew members saw at first hand some of the climate pressures already apparent back then.
Cancer sufferers seeking nuclear compensation from the French government under the controversial Morin law received a boost last month when a man who had developed bladder cancer as a result of the nuclear tests was awarded almost US$180,000 by the administrative court.
This news was welcomed by both health advocates and activists.
According to the local news service Tahiti-Infos, an earlier application for compensation had been turned down by the authority dealing with the case.
The compensation law has been tightened up again after being earlier relaxed with most claims being rejected between 2010 and 2017.
Uproar in Tahiti
In May, there was an uproar in Tahiti when the French National Assembly attempted to include a clause about compensation over nuclear weapons testing into generic covid-19 legislation while the French Polynesian representatives were absent from the chamber because of the pandemic travel bans.
Tahiti’s Moetai Brotherson, one of the two French Polynesian representatives, described this move as a “scandal” and two nuclear test veteran advocacy groups, Moruroa e Tatou and Association 193, were also angry, reports RNZ Pacific.
During the three decades of French tests, the early atmospheric explosions had dusted atolls and islets with radioactive fallout.
Brotherson expressed disappointment that the French state had demonstrated yet again that it “detested” the Tahitian people. Moruroa e Tatou’s Hiro Tefaarere said he was “outraged” but not surprised because all French presidents from de Gaulle to Macron “couldn’t care less” about Polynesians.
During 2019, the French Polynesian social security agency CPS reported that it had spent US$770 million on health care costs for radiation-induced illnesses. The CPS, responsible for medical expenses and pension payments, has struggled with its budgets and wants France to take responsibility for compensation.
However, French authorities do not accept liability for test-related illnesses, claiming the nuclear blasts were “clean” unlike the earlier US and British tests in the Pacific.
The nuclear tests have rarely been an issue outside French Polynesia and independent Pacific nations. But some consciences are occasionally pricked.
A French Watergate?
Five years ago, the unmasked French bomber who sank the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 made some revealing comments during his interviews with the investigative website Mediapart and TVNZ’s Sunday programme, none more telling than that “the first bomb was too powerful, it should have ended as a Watergate” for French President François Mitterrand.
Mitterrand stayed in office for 14 years – a decade after the bombing and before he finally stepped down when his second presidential term ended in May 1995, the year before nuclear tests ended.
The bomber, retired colonel Jean-Luc Kister, added that had Operation Satanique – the sabotage plot – involved the United States, “more heads would have rolled”.
However, while the “innocent death” of Portuguese-born Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira has clearly played on his conscience for all these years, Kister’s sincere apology wasn’t without a hint of trying to rewrite history.
The claim that the secret sabotage operation never meant to kill anybody is unconvincing for anybody on board the Rainbow Warrior on that tragic night when New Zealand lost its political innocence and the crew lost a dear friend.
In 2005, two decades after the bombing and nine years after Mitterrand’s death, Le Monde published a leaked document revealing that the late president had personally approved the sinking of the ship.
The newspaper obtained a handwritten account of the operation, written in 1986 by Pierre Lacoste, who was sacked as head of the secret services.
The Democracy Now! report – Rainbow Warrior and President François Mitterrand. Video: Democracy Now!
‘Neutralise’ the Warrior
He had testified that he had asked President Mitterrand for permission to “neutralise” the Rainbow Warrior at a meeting two months before the attack and would never have gone ahead without the president’s authorisation.
The so-called nuclear “war” in the Pacific dates back to the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The bombing was followed by atmospheric nuclear testing by the United States in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, arguably the “dirtiest” nuclear testing.
The first so-called nuclear refugees in the Pacific were the Bikini atoll islanders who were relocated into “exile” for the first US weapons tests in 1946.
Then came the British tests at Christmas Island (now Kiribati) and in the Australian outback; the start of the French testing at Moruroa in 1966; more US tests at Johnston Atoll in the early 1960s; flight testing of ICBMs, anti-satellite weapons; and more recently “Star Wars” technology at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands.
As the late Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace campaign coordinator on board the Rainbow Warrior and whose birthday was being celebrated on board the night of the bombing, noted, “the displacement of local populations and adverse health effects as a result of these programmes has not been without opposition.
“But that opposition has been so scattered and unorganised until recently that it has been little felt in Washington and Paris.”
And the Rainbow Warrior Pacific voyage was planned to make a global difference. It did, but one that shook the world and ended in tragedy.


thedailyblog--2020-07-12--Life in level 1:  Newshub Nation, Q + A, and the end of Todd Muller’s leadership

Two things happened this weekend that added to the scandal swirling around the leaked list , of eighteen covid19-positive Returnees .
The National Party scandal has claimed the ‘ scalps ’ of one MP – Hamish Walker – and operative and former President , Michelle Boag .
It has also drawn in Todd Muller , who has been shown to be “ loose with the truth ” , and Michael Woodhouse , who also recieved emails from Ms Boag – and promptly deleted them .
The Walker-Boag whirlpool is slowly dragging others down into it ’ s swirling , murky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have raised eyebrows was TV3 ’ s “ Newshub Nation ” on 11 July .
If the viewer was expecting wall-to-wall coverage of the Leaked List scandal , they were to be sorely disappointed .
The episode , hosted by Simon Shepherd made a brief mention of Hamish Walker resigning , and the panel briefly discussed the issue .
Otherwise , the focus was on Shane Jones and his bid for the Northland electorate ; ACT Party leader , David Seymour ; the fringe nutter ’ s “ New Conservative Party ” ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Baker ; and “ Back Story ” featuring Green MP , Julie-Anne Genter .
Other than that , there were no interviews with any of the main actors or other political commentators or past National Party apparatchiks… it was a Leaked List-free zone .
Though Todd Muller , Michelle Boag , Michael Woodhouse , and Hamish Walker were all invited to attend – none took up the offer .
Instead , it was left up to National ’ s Deputy Leader , Nikki Kaye , to front .
Host , Jack Tame , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ naked disbelief to Ms Kaye ’ s insistence that Michelle Boag did not confide in her about the Leaked List .
This despite Ms Kaye acknowledging the closeness between the two – including Ms Boag being ( until her recent resignation from the position ) Nikki Kaye ’ s electorate campaign manager .
Ms Kaye was also left to explain and defend not just her conversation with Michelle Boag – but also Michael Woodhouse ’ s dubious actions and Todd Muller ’ s inconsistant ( outright lies ? )
responses to what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She defended to her utmost Michael Woodhouse and Todd Muller .
She defended her Party .
She stood her ground .
This is what Leaders do .
At no point did Ms Kaye deflect hard questions relating to two of her colleagues with the oft-repeated mantra , “ Oh , you ’ d have to ask them ” .
She took responsibility for answering on their behalf .
To defend her Team .
Because that is an essential quality to leadership Contrast Ms Kaye ’ s courage to the disturbing fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview .
Think about that for a moment .
The worst scandal to hit the National Party since Nicki Hager ’ s “ Dirty Politics ” – and Todd Muller was in hiding leaving his Deputy in the firing line .
Whatever one may think of Nikki Kaye ’ s responses to Jack Tame ’ s relentless questioning – she had the courage and determination to front .
Muller was nowhere to be seen .
As we both watched the spectacle , and noted Muller ’ s absence , my partner turned and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s doing a fine job as Leader of National.
” The date 12 July is the turning point for Todd Muller ’ s faux leadership of the National Party .
Quite simply , it beggars belief that he failed to front for the interview .
It was his responsibility to represent his Party in difficult times .
And it doesn ’ t get any more difficult when one of his MPs is forced to stand down at the next election after admitting to releasing confidential medical details ; a past-President was responsible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deletes potential evidence ; and Muller himself has been caught out being flexible with the truth .
When the so-called Leader of a political party fails to carry out his most basic responsibility and shoves his Deputy into the firing line , it calls into question his fitness to hold that position .
New Zealanders take note .
Todd Muller hid away in safety whilst his Deputy took the hits .
This blogpost will be re-published in five days on “ Frankly Speaking “ .
Reader ’ s comments may be left here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Frankly Speaking ) .

Two things happened this weekend that added to the scandal swirling around the leaked list, of eighteen covid19-positive Returnees.
The National Party scandal has claimed the ‘scalps’ of one MP – Hamish Walker – and operative and former President, Michelle Boag. It has also drawn in Todd Muller, who has been shown to be “loose with the truth”, and Michael Woodhouse, who also recieved emails from Ms Boag – and promptly deleted them.
The Walker-Boag whirlpool is slowly dragging others down into it’s swirling, murky maw.
The first thing that should have raised eyebrows was TV3’s “Newshub Nation” on 11 July. If the viewer was expecting wall-to-wall coverage of the Leaked List scandal, they were to be sorely disappointed. The episode, hosted by Simon Shepherd made a brief mention of Hamish Walker resigning, and the panel briefly discussed the issue.
Otherwise, the focus was on Shane Jones and his bid for the Northland electorate; ACT Party leader, David Seymour; the fringe nutter’s “New Conservative Party”; pandemic management discussion with epidemiologist, Michael Baker; and “Back Story” featuring Green MP, Julie-Anne Genter.
All very interesting, but…
Other than that, there were no interviews with any of the main actors or other political commentators or past National Party apparatchiks… it was a Leaked List-free zone.
Not so TVNZ’s “Q+A” today (12 July).
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com
Though Todd Muller, Michelle Boag, Michael Woodhouse, and Hamish Walker were all invited to attend – none took up the offer.
Instead, it was left up to National’s Deputy Leader, Nikki Kaye, to front. Host, Jack Tame, grilled her mercilessly with rapid-fire questions and naked disbelief to Ms Kaye’s insistence that Michelle Boag did not confide in her about the Leaked List. This despite Ms Kaye acknowledging the closeness between the two – including Ms Boag being (until her recent resignation from the position) Nikki Kaye’s electorate campaign manager.
Ms Kaye was also left to explain and defend not just her conversation with Michelle Boag – but also Michael Woodhouse’s dubious actions and Todd Muller’s inconsistant (outright lies?) responses to what he knew and when did he know it.
She defended to her utmost Michael Woodhouse and Todd Muller. She defended her Party. She stood her ground.
This is what Leaders do.
They defend their team.
At no point did Ms Kaye deflect hard questions relating to two of her colleagues with the oft-repeated mantra, “Oh, you’d have to ask them”.
She took responsibility for answering on their behalf. To defend her Team.
Because that is an essential quality to leadership
.
.
Contrast Ms Kaye’s courage to the disturbing fact that Todd Muller refused to front for the interview .
Think about that for a moment.
The worst scandal to hit the National Party since Nicki Hager’s “Dirty Politics” – and Todd Muller was in hiding leaving his Deputy in the firing line.
Whatever one may think of Nikki Kaye’s responses to Jack Tame’s relentless questioning – she had the courage and determination to front.
Muller was nowhere to be seen.
As we both watched the spectacle, and noted Muller’s absence, my partner turned and pointed out to me;
“She’s doing a fine job as Leader of National.”
The date 12 July is the turning point for Todd Muller’s faux leadership of the National Party. Quite simply, it beggars belief that he failed to front for the interview. It was his responsibility to represent his Party in difficult times. And it doesn’t get any more difficult when one of his MPs is forced to stand down at the next election after admitting to releasing confidential medical details; a past-President was responsible for the leak; another MP wilfully deletes potential evidence; and Muller himself has been caught out being flexible with the truth.
When the so-called Leader of a political party fails to carry out his most basic responsibility and shoves his Deputy into the firing line, it calls into question his fitness to hold that position.
New Zealanders take note. Todd Muller hid away in safety whilst his Deputy took the hits.
There’s a word for that.
Cowardice.
#MullerUnfitToLead
.
.
.
.
References
TVNZ: Public can continue to trust National amid Covid-19 patient details leak saga – deputy leader Nikki Kaye
Twitter: Laura Beattie – 8 July 2020
Previous related blogposts
Life in Level 1: Cunning Plans, Unanswered Questions
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.
.
Acknowledgement: Rod Emmerson
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This blogpost will be re-published in five days on “Frankly Speaking“. Reader’s comments may be left here (The Daily Blog) or there (Frankly Speaking).
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= fs =


thedailyblog--2020-07-12--Dr Liz Gordon – Keeping people in

Dr Liz Gordon – Keeping people in

One of my frequent raves about the justice system is the story of how our prisons came to wrap themselves around in high , razor wire fences in the 1990s .
In other countries , such fences are usually found only on high security prisons , but here they surround all of our prisons .
I have campaigned over time to rip most of them down .
Now , one does not have to envisage how these high fences came to be built .
As the fencing gets higher and higher outside our isolation and quarantine hotels , we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that infected people will escape and contaminate our community .
I have been wondering why people are bothering to escape .
The assumption is that they are bloody-minded rascals .
But that might not be true .
The man they have come down hardest on , Mr McVicar , left the hotel to get some wine and beer .
When I am staying in a hotel for a few days , I usually pop down to the supermarket and get a few supplies , including wine .
Kiwis hate paying hotel prices , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only thing wrong or unusual about this person ’ s behaviour is that he cut some ties in the fence to get through , and was barred from leaving voluntarily .
So I wondered what that meant .
Was there no other ways he could get the cheaper alcohol he desired ?
Are there volunteers shopping for people with needs ?
Can shops deliver ?
Something that one of the ministers said gave me pause .
The comment was made that people in quarantine get an allocation of alcohol .
I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like to know .
If they are , say , allowed 1-2 drinks a night , but no more , that could be a problem for some .
If the only offering is hotel booze at hotel prices , which they must pay for , that is a problem .
In either case , the application of emergency rules to limit alcohol supply or consumption is very problematic .
These people have returned home , not committed a crime .
My friend Roger Brooking , in a blog , suggested that isolation may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dangerous too .
With their alcohol supply cut off abruptly , people can go into a dangerous withdrawal .
The ramping up of security makes me extremely uncomfortable .
I disagree that the four ( I think it is four , I have lost count ) absconders should be treated as criminals .
They are people whose stories need to be heard for the purpose of ensuring that the dreary process of isolation is lightened as much as possible .
I am horrified that some lovely hotels look to be headed to prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the razor wire and spotlights .
There must be a better way .
Dr Liz Gordon is a researcher and a barrister , with interests in destroying neo-liberalism in all its forms and moving towards a socially just society .
She usually blogs on justice , social welfare and education topics .

One of my frequent raves about the justice system is the story of how our prisons came to wrap themselves around in high, razor wire fences in the 1990s. In other countries, such fences are usually found only on high security prisons, but here they surround all of our prisons. I have campaigned over time to rip most of them down.
Now, one does not have to envisage how these high fences came to be built. As the fencing gets higher and higher outside our isolation and quarantine hotels, we can see that it is driven by fear that infected people will escape and contaminate our community.
I have been wondering why people are bothering to escape. The assumption is that they are bloody-minded rascals. But that might not be true. The man they have come down hardest on, Mr McVicar, left the hotel to get some wine and beer.
When I am staying in a hotel for a few days, I usually pop down to the supermarket and get a few supplies, including wine. Kiwis hate paying hotel prices, don’t we? So the only thing wrong or unusual about this person’s behaviour is that he cut some ties in the fence to get through, and was barred from leaving voluntarily.
So I wondered what that meant. Was there no other ways he could get the cheaper alcohol he desired? Are there volunteers shopping for people with needs? Can shops deliver?
Something that one of the ministers said gave me pause. The comment was made that people in quarantine get an allocation of alcohol. I don’t know how that works but would like to know. If they are, say, allowed 1-2 drinks a night, but no more, that could be a problem for some. If the only offering is hotel booze at hotel prices, which they must pay for, that is a problem. In either case, the application of emergency rules to limit alcohol supply or consumption is very problematic. These people have returned home, not committed a crime.
My friend Roger Brooking, in a blog, suggested that isolation may be particularly hard for alcoholics, and dangerous too. With their alcohol supply cut off abruptly, people can go into a dangerous withdrawal.
The ramping up of security makes me extremely uncomfortable. I disagree that the four (I think it is four, I have lost count) absconders should be treated as criminals. They are people whose stories need to be heard for the purpose of ensuring that the dreary process of isolation is lightened as much as possible.
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com
I am horrified that some lovely hotels look to be headed to prison status. Next they will bring in the razor wire and spotlights. There must be a better way.
Dr Liz Gordon is a researcher and a barrister, with interests in destroying neo-liberalism in all its forms and moving towards a socially just society. She usually blogs on justice, social welfare and education topics.