[…] Tamaki [said] it was his “God-given responsibility” to preach the word of the holy spirit, declaring he is here to protect Kiwis’ freedom of speech.
“The war that will rage is a confrontation of beliefs. I am confident I speak for many New Zealanders, who don’t have a voice or public profile but still believe in the Bible as the Word of God, and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and morality, and we will not accept it being censored in any way,”
[…] “The war we will fight, although non-violent, will be resolute in its stand. We will strongly declare what we believe through protest, submissions or whatever means we can or at our disposal to protect our right as New Zealanders’ to freedom of speech.”
[…] Tamaki says the lack of consultation is an insult to New Zealanders and he will let the Government push through legislation without a fight.
“We will not go along with, or lay down while this Government push through quick legislation or law that has not had the appropriate participation, consultation and involvement of those who will be affected by that legislation or law,”
[…] “This is short-sight, and often regrettable law.
“I for one will not be bound in my pulpit. I have the right, and indeed the God-given responsibility to preach the Word of God in my Church any given Sunday.
“I abore the way my preaching has been taken out of context and used against me by opportunists for the purposes of creating news, [for example] my message spoken in 2011 the Sunday morning before the Christchurch earthquake.
“What do you say about inciting hate towards me and the Word of God through the twisted reporting of that message? How is it that media and other minority groups now have more freedom to use whatever platform at their disposal to incite hatred towards the founding faith of this nation.”
The MSM recently got very excited this week as they went on a witch hunt to find a juicy target. He seemed to fit all their talking points. There was talk of him wearing Pro-Trump clothing and of being a White Nationalist. They were wetting their pants with excitement. We were told that he had made a public nuisance of himself, being horrible to people outside a mosque and that the police were now looking for him.
Keeping the spin alive that White supremacy is a growing movement in New Zealand and that there are White Nationalists under every rock is what the MSM are depending on right now to sell papers. They can only milk the Christchurch tragedy for so long and they need new evidence of hate and division in our society in order to advance the narrative of hatred and division.
Finally they found the guy and then the stories abruptly stopped.
Disappointingly his surname really didn’t suit the White Nationalist theme story – it wasTuapawa. He wasn’t a member of any Nationalist groups. Instead, he was a man who had stopped taking his anti-anxiety medication and who was on drugs and alcohol at the time of the incident. Far from being a card-carrying White supremacist, he was extremely apologetic and embarrassed by his behaviour.
The reporters must have been deeply disappointed. quote.
A man wearing a Trump shirt who abused people outside a mosque targeted in the Christchurch terror attack wants to say sorry to the victims of his insulting behaviour.
Daniel Nicholas Tuapawa, 33, a labourer, says he cannot remember his actions, has nothing against Muslim people, and was shocked and distressed when police showed him the video taken by a witness.
[…] He pleaded guilty to “being in a public place when he behaved in an insulting manner that was likely in the circumstances to cause violence against persons to start”.
[…] About 4.30pm on Wednesday, Tuapawa, wearing a black shirt with the words “Trump for New Zealand” on the back, yelled abuse at members of the Muslim community gathered at Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave, where more than 40 people were shot dead in the March 15 terror attack.
He yelled: “I am sick of these f…wits, they need to f… off,” and “All Muslims are terrorists, they should get the f… out of here”, and “I’m over these Muslims and they need to leave”.
Two armed police officers were present at the mosque, but did not arrest him. He walked off through Hagley Park. Six officers worked all day Thursday to try find the man, arresting him that night.
[…] Defence counsel Steven Hembrow said Tuapawa was deeply ashamed and could not explain his behaviour.
He said he had gone walking through the park, stopped to look at flowers and could not remember what happened next.
[…] Hembrow said Tuapawa had a history of alcohol and drug abuse, and had stopped his medication for anxiety for some time before this incident.
Tuapawa said outside court that he had blackouts and needed to get his mental health “sorted”.
[…] He said he was “so sorry” about what he said and had not realised he said what he did. “I’m very sorry and I would shake their hand. I’m sorry, I am.”
Terrorist attacks against Muslims in the Western world, like the one that took place in Christchurch, are extremely rare.
Friday’s carnage in two mosques in New Zealand, with the death toll currently at 50, is the first major event of its kind since the Quebec City mosque shooting over two years ago – which killed six persons, conservative writer Srdja Trifkovic states in Chronicles Magazine.
Nonetheless, this terrible incident will dominate the headlines infinitely more than any comparable carnage involving Christians, notably the 2017 Palm Sunday church bombings in Alexandria, which killed 45 people, and was all but ignored by the Western media and politicians.
If we put Friday’s killings in perspective, that perspective should include the fact that some 30 million Muslims reside in the Western world today, which makes the probability of any one of them falling victim to a deplorable attack in any given year roughly one in ten million.
261 persons have been killed and many more injured, in attacks by Muslims on non-Muslims, in less than four years, in only one country, France (pop. 66 million).
With 66 dead a year on average, Frenchmen are exactly ten times more likely to be murdered by a Muslim than a Muslim being killed by a non-Muslim terrorist anywhere in the Western world.
The score is incomparably worse if we look at the situation of Christians in the Muslim world. It is the most egregious example of human right violations in today’s world: according to “Open Doors”, at least 4,305 Christians known by name were murdered by Muslims because of their faith in 2018.
Aid to the Church in Need, in its latest “Religious Freedom Report”, warned that 300 million Christians, overwhelmingly in the majority-Muslim countries, were subjected to violence, making it “the most persecuted religion in the world.”
This makes the odds of a Christian in a majority-Muslim country being murdered by a Muslim – simply for being what he is – approximately one in 70,000.
Which means that a Christian living in a majority Muslim country is 143 times more likely to be killed by a Muslim for being a Christian than a Muslim is likely to be killed by a non-Muslim in a Western country for being what he is.
Hastings Deputy Mayor Tania Kerr says people should try to buy recyclable plastics. Photo / File
Time to start washing and squashing your milk bottles – Hastings District Council has confirmed changes to its kerbside recycling.
From May 1, the only plastics that will be collected within the Hastings district are bottles stamped with the number 1 or 2, lids off, washed and squashed.
Those types of bottles include milk, soft drink, water, sauce and some laundry, kitchen and bathroom bottles.
The changes are due to international clampdowns.
China will no longer take plastics for recycling and the remaining markets are also closing their borders to almost all used plastics.
The majority of the remaining markets, in New Zealand and internationally, are for plastics stamped with the number 1 or 2.
Waste Futures Committee chairwoman Tania Kerr said the council needed the community’s help.
“We are disappointed to be in this position but given the ever-decreasing number of markets for used plastic, at this time we have no choice,” Kerr said.
“We want residents to be assured that we are continuing to look for ways to have our plastics recycled while also backing moves at a national level to reduce problem plastics, and encouraging people to try to buy products in plastics that can be recycled.”
Up until March this year, Hastings’ contractor had not had to send any of its collected plastics to the landfill or stockpile it.
“Hastings’ contractors have a good record of finding markets for our recycling but in order for that to continue there must be changes,” Kerr said.
“To do that, we cannot mix non-recyclable plastics with those that can be recycled.
“Mixing plastics will result in all of the recycling potentially having to go to the landfill which is the worst outcome, both environmentally and financially.”
Kerr said consumers could have an impact by shopping wisely, such as choosing recyclable clear and opaque bottles when shopping, and checking the recycling grade as well.
“Check the bottoms of your containers when you buy. If we all make these small changes, together we can make very big differences.”
The changes also affect drop-off recycling stations.
A Christchurch teenager was charged with sharing the gunman’s Facebook live-stream. Photo / Pool
The NZ Herald has reported on a teenager who has been charged for sharing the Facebook live stream of the terror attack online. quote.
An 18-year-old Christchurch man was also accused of sharing the gunman’s livestream on the day of the attacks and faces two charges and up to 14 years’ behind bars. end quote.
A newspaper
Unbelievably the NZ Herald themselves published CNN’s CCTV video footage of the terror attack.
Not only did they publish it, but they were also 100% aware of the seriousness of what they were making public as they included the following warning before playing the video. At the time that this article was written the video was still accessible to the public although I did not watch it.
This is the same NZ Herald that has forming a deplatforming task force working hand in glove with Canterbury university in order to troll for ” hate speech.”
photoshopped image credit: Pixy
According to journalist Matt Nippert they have dedicated teams trolling through years worth of comments and articles right now. No doubt they will label whatever they find as “hate speech” and “horrific” if previous hyperbole in the media is anything to go by.
If they can’t find anything good then they will just tell us that it was “horrific” and “shocking” and will not bother to provide any evidence of their claims. If they do provide evidence they will fail to provide context or to let us know how old the comments are so that they can agitiate to deplatform the website or cost the commenter their job.
Today may be the day that Nippert releases both his latest hit job and the name of his new Academic spy group who will be hunting conservative people and websites. Like a similar group in America they will seek to deplatform by labelling organisations “Hate groups.”
A member of the public is not happy that there is one rule for the public but another rule for the Media and has made a complaint about the NZ Herald publishing the video to New Zealand’s Digital Safety Group.
Below is the response that they received. We will keep you posted if action is taken against the NZ Herald.
Complaint re New Zealand Herald
Kia ora,
Thank you for your email, we really appreciate your time sending this information to us and your concerns.
The Department of Internal Affairs is currently working with other organisations in New Zealand and Internationally, such as law enforcement agencies and internet service providers, to remove footage related to the attack.
The Department considers that the footage related to the attack is objectionable and therefore an offence under New Zealand law to possess, share or host. We consider this is very serious and we are taking action to have the content removed.
We are aware that people may have unsuspectingly viewed the video on social media platforms thinking it is a media article, so please be vigilant of images that yourself and those around you are viewing, particularly our young people.
If you or someone you know has viewed the video and are struggling with what you have seen please see 1737 ‘Need to talk’ or free call or text 1737.
For further information on how to stay safe online, please see:
Office of Film and Literature Classification – the government body that classifies publications and provides information about decisions and undertakes research about classifications and their affects. https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/
Other useful resources – takes you to the Department’s Censorship page which has a selection of useful links to other websites related to Internet safety. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Censorship-Online-Safety
Burnt out career politicians often leave parliament for a cushy job with a local body, and Phil Goff is one of them. He is standing for re-election after his first term as Auckland mayor, and Todd Niall, writing for Stuff, examines Goff’s performance against promises made. Quote.
RATES
The promise: Rate rises will be kept low and affordable at an average of 2.5 per cent per annum or less.
This gets complicated. General rates had risen by an average of 2.6 and 2.5 per cent in the two years before, so Goff was promising what looked like a status quo.” End of quote.
Yes, rates became complicated when Goff introduced new varieties of rates outside of the “general rates” he was referring to in his promise. Bit of a sleight of hand here, Phil, that is actually a rates increase. Quote.
Not mentioned in the campaignwere new targeted rates added in Goff’s first two budgets.
From mid-2017, the accommodation sector picked up a $13 million additional burden, in a Goff-driven policy to make the sector pay half of the city’s tourism marketing costs.” End of quote.
If the mayor’s new fuel tax carries on at the same rate the council would collect just over $158 million in a year, meaning householders are paying over double what they would have under the old Levy. This tallies with independent research. Quote.
While residential ratepayers saved $114 a year from losing the levy, economists Sapere Research estimated the average household would pay $252 a year due to the 11.5 cent-a-litre fuel tax, on average $138 per household more than the levy, each year.” End of quote.
If Auckland rate payers were still lulled by Goff’s promise that rates would not increase more than 2.5% they were in for a further shock. Quote.
More than 1286 private accommodation providers, using online agencies such as Airbnb, were hit with a new rate a year later depending on their level of business, bringing in $570,000 this year.
A year later, all ratepayers began paying two new targeted rates equivalent to an additional 4.6 per cent in general rates, covering an accelerated programme of water quality improvements, and one tackling pests and Kauri Dieback under a Natural Environment rate.
Both allowed much-needed additional work to be done and were backed in public consultation, but their financial burden was over and above Goff’s 2016 promises.” End of quote.
How did Goff fare on his other promises? Quote.
COUNCIL EFFICIENCY
The promise: Each council department will be set an efficiency target, averaging 3-6 per cent across total council expenditure.
Figures supplied to Stuff forecast efficiency savings of $23m in both this year and next, falling to $16m in 2021. These are additional annual savings of 2 per cent twice, and then 1 per cent.
The breakdown of how the savings will be achieved include significant elements that were being worked on before Goff came to office. Separating his influence, from the already-happening savings programme is all-but impossible.
In the six years prior to Goff becoming mayor, the efficiency savings achieved were larger than those proposed in the figures from his office, in all but one year. That is not surprising given the low-hanging fruit available early in the council’s life – $81m in the first year.” End of quote.
Seems Goff inherited efficiency planning that gives him nothing to personally crow about. Quote.
HOUSING
* The promise: Urgent and bold action is needed to stop the worsening housing crisis and restore the affordability and availability of housing.
* Seek to eliminate chronic homelessness
Goff has delivered on his commitment to try to end chronic homelessness, with the creation of the Housing First programme, co-funded by the Government, one of the first policies he championed.
Elsewhere in housing there is little that can be attributed to Goff’s specific ideas, rather than work already underway in council and its development agency Panuku.
In the past year, 13,272 new homes have been consented for building in the future, and 10,475 were officially completed. The numbers have levelled off and remain below the 14,000 estimated to be needed each year for decades, to wipe out a 47,000 home shortage and keep up with demand.
The Government’s Kiwibuild programme has the potential to be the biggest shift in Auckland, in delivering more affordable housing.
Goff swiftly convened a mayoral taskforce on housing after being elected, which has not claimed any significant innovation, other than being a valuable forum for participants to share ideas.” End of quote.
That is a fail, Phil. How are we ever going to get ahead of housing if we can’t even reach the annual target? Quote.
TRANSPORT
* The promise: Improved public transport options providing efficient alternatives are needed to stop Auckland grinding to a halt.
No further comment needed on transport due to lots of talk and no action. And given that gridlock is worsening, the mayor’s latest idea to reduce the around town speed limit from 50 kph to 30 kph will exacerbate it. Another fail.
Goff’s 2016 campaign slogan was “More for less.” Very apt, as it turns out, because ratepayers wound up paying more for existing services. They got less because promised improvements have largely not transpired.
What will Goff’s campaign slogan be for next year? It probably won’t matter, as hopefully he will at last be put out to pasture.
Jacinda Ardern cracking Photoshopped image credit: Luke
The bad news continues for this ramshackle government. Unemployment has risen to 4.3%, from 4% in September.
It may be a small increase and the government will be able to play it down as being close to the margin of error, but it is part of an emerging trend. Growth is slowing, unemployment is increasing. The economy is starting to soften and we need a competent government with strong economic management skills to guide us through the storm.
We don’t have such a government. quote.
Unemployment jumped at the end of 2018, as the number of new jobs being created slowed.
Statistics NZ said on Thursday that unemployment climbed to 4.3 per cent in December, up from a revised 4 per cent in September.
The New Zealand dollar dropped on the latest figures, as the market bets on whether the figures make an interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank more likely. end quote.
Adrian Orr predicted an interest rate cut last year but there was no reason to think it necessary at that stage. After a decade of low interest rates, it seems they are about to get even lower. quote.
Most of the climb in the number of unemployed – which rose by 10,000 to 120,000 – was due to unemployed men. The number of men unemployed rose by 8000 to 65,000, while the number of unemployed women rose by 2000 to 55,000.
Economists had expected a small increase in the unemployment rate, after a sharp drop in September, but not to the degree the household labour force survey revealed.
“It looks like the best that the labour market has to offer is behind us,” ANZ senior economist Liz Kendall said.
end quote.
The bad news, as always, is that the worst affected group is the young people. NEETs, as they are known, with no training, now have less and less chance of finding employment. The government claims that it will target these people, especially Maori youth, but… well, they also said they would build 1,000 houses by July 2019. quote.
On Thursday, Employment Minister Willie Jackson released a statement describing the unemployment rate as “the second lowest in nearly a decade”, focusing on lower unemployment for women and Māori since the coalition Government took office.
“The results released are in keeping with our expectations for this quarter and we are confident that in this strong economy, if we continue to listen to employers and work with industry, many people looking for work will find more opportunities to do so.” end quote.
Sorry, Willie, but you have got this wrong. The economy is not as strong as it was. The growth numbers for the December quarter are not out yet but they are likely to show a significant slowing of growth. You can no longer rely on the excellent economy that you were handed to get you out of trouble. It is downhill all the way from here. quote.
National’s finance spokeswoman Amy Adams said the figures suggest the economy may be slowing and the Government should take it as a “reality check”, with the number unemployed climbing, while those not in employment, education or training (so-called NEETs) rising by 26,000.
“The unemployment rate is still relatively low, however we have now slipped from having the 9th to the 14th lowest unemployment rate in the OECD. At the same time, jobs growth has stalled and the underutilisation rate has increased.
“These weaker labour market numbers follow the third quarter’s slower GDP growth and point to a change of direction for the New Zealand economy.
With gale force winds blowing our way over Brexit and the China-USA trade situation, an economic slowdown looks inevitable. The real question is how well our government is going to be able to deal with it. I have no confidence in their level of economic competency. It looks as if Shane Jones will not be getting his ‘nephs’ of the couch for some time yet.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/RDMUEC7O3BGA3BAN4HX3FI5TYE.jpg)
