Author: Geoffrey Miller

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Belarus crackdown: New Zealand needs to speak out against post-election violence, Auckland-based Belarusian man says

New Zealand needs to speak out against allegations of mass torture and brutality in Belarus following the Eastern European country’s recent elections, a Belarusian national living in New Zealand says. Last Sunday’s election – which saw strongman Alexander Lukashenko claim 80% of the vote in a result that is widely seen as fraudulent – has triggered days of mass protests throughout Belarus, often referred to as Europe’s last dictatorship. Lukashenko has been in power since 1994. Over 6000 protesters have been detained since Sunday’s rigged vote, with many detainees reportedly being beaten or tortured in the country’s prisons, according to...

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Questioning of Behrouz Boochani decision by “pro-refugee” Judith Collins disappoints campaigner

By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as queue jumping and so I’m putting in quite a few questions today…to clarify whether there was any preference given to him over all the other United Nations certified refugees.” But in a wide-ranging interview with the Democracy Project podcast, Murdoch Stephens said that he was disappointed by the comments. “[Judith...

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Covid-19 border problems show why new national security agency needed, former minister says

By Geoffrey Miller A former MP and Associate Minister of Defence says that New Zealand’s Covid-19 border and quarantine issues illustrate why a new dedicated national security agency is needed. Heather Roy, a former deputy leader of the Act Party who held the associate defence portfolio from 2008-10, told the Democracy Project podcast that a new national security agency would assume a key co-ordination role across existing departments – a function that she believed the recent border problems and New Zealand’s overall response to the coronavirus pandemic had demonstrated was severely lacking. “I think that the problem initially for New...

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NZ-Latin America relationship will survive Covid-19, expert says

By Geoffrey Miller A New Zealand academic specialising in Latin America believes that NZ’s relationship with Latin America will remain strong, even if direct flights do not immediately resume to the continent after the immediate coronavirus crisis subsides. Nikita Kent, a Victoria University of Wellington graduate who studied in Peru and recently completed a UN internship in Chile, told the Democracy Project podcast that the NZ-Latin America relationship would continue even without direct flights to the continent. Until last month, Air New Zealand operated a non-stop Auckland-Buenos Aires flight that started in 2015, while LATAM Airlines flew from the Chilean...

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Lockdown solution to Covid-19 deserves far more scrutiny, former Labour speechwriter says

By Geoffrey Miller A former Labour press secretary and speechwriter who worked under late Prime Minister Mike Moore says that it’s far from certain that the lockdown solution is the best response to Covid-19 – and we should be questioning the government’s response to the pandemic much more vigorously. Mark Blackham, now director of Wellington public relations firm Blackland PR, told the Democracy Project podcast that “the reaction from the chattering class, the ruling elite and from the media is that this [the lockdown] was the only option that was possible, as if questioning it would be a very dumb...

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Union head says government departments failing to protect workers

By Geoffrey Miller The National Secretary of the Unite union, Gerard Hehir, says government departments are failing to ensure low-paid hotel cleaners are given personal protective equipment while the hotels are housing returning New Zealanders in quarantine. Hehir gave the Democracy Project podcast an example of a Christchurch hotel which told its employees that they could wear protective equipment, but only if they supplied it themselves. Hehir, whose union mainly represents workers in primarily low-paid jobs in the hospitality industry, said the situation was “outrageous”. “The Ministry of Health generally are supplying protective gear, but what we’ve found is that...

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Covid-19 pandemic unlikely to bring fundamental change to Iran, NZ-based Iranian academic says

By Geoffrey Miller A New Zealand-based academic from Iran says the coronavirus pandemic is unlikely to spark fundamental change in the country. Iran was one of the first countries outside China to see a major outbreak of the coronavirus. Figures from Johns Hopkins University on Sunday showed there were 35,408 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country, with 2,517 deaths, making it one of the worst-affected countries worldwide. But Sirous Amerian, a doctoral candidate at Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies, told the Democracy Project podcast that he is pessimistic about any longer-term reforms arising from the Covid-19...

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يعقد حزب العمال النيوزيلندي مؤتمره السنوي

يعقد حزب العمال النيوزيلندي مؤتمره السنوي في مدينة وانجانوي بالجزيرة الشمالية نهاية هذا الأسبوع. زعيمة حزب العمال، وهي أيضاً رئيسة الوزراء لبالد، جاسيندا ارديرن, امام المندوبين ان الحزب “ليست منظمة مثالية. كلنا كنا في هذا العام في رحلةً، ولقد تعلمنا دروسا مهمة جدا”.وجائت تصريحاتها بعد عدة فضائح خلال العام الماضي تتعلق بالتحرش الجنسي.وأعلن أيضا في المؤتمر وزير المالية، جرانت روبرتسون، انفاقاً جديداً في مجال بنية التحتية. وقال الوزير سيحول هذا بشكل مباشر على النمو الاقتصادي وسيخلق فرصا للعمال، خصوصا للشباب”.

حزبٌ جديدٌ في نيوزيلندا – نيوزيلندا المستدامة

تم إطلاق حزبٌ جديدٌ في نيوزيلاندا واسمه “نيوزيلندا المستدامة”. يتزعم “فيرنون طافا” الحزبَ الجديدَ، وهو لا يعتقد أن الحزب الأخضر يقنع اغلبية الناخبين. وقال طافا: “فشل الاخضرون لأنهم اتبعوا مزج الاشتراكية بالبيئة. “سنعمل مع المزارعين والصناع، لا ضدهم.”

Forget the spaghetti pizzas – it’s substance voters are looking for

Get ready for more spaghetti pizzas, selfies and walkabouts on university campuses. It’s that time again when politicians pull out all the stops to do what they think will make young people vote for them. How bad can it get? At the 2014 election, Kim Dotcom spent some $4m largely targeting the youth vote. Symbolic of this attempt was a series of dance party events called the “Party Party” – the most memorable outcome of which was Dotcom leading a “f**k John Key” chant. Internet Mana later used the chant in an online campaign video. But the party ended in...

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