Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

New documents released by Cam Slater of The Good Oil have intensified scrutiny of Willie Jackson’s handling of staff disputes inside the Manukau Urban Māori Authority, where his wife serves as CEO. The materials, which appear to support key parts of Matt McCarten’s complaint to Parliament, emerged after several days of silence from major news outlets. · Slater, who first published the documents, said he released them because the public…

Andrew Coster’s interview on Q+A has blown the police integrity scandal wide open again. It’s now obvious the public has been left with a mess of clashing accounts, shifting explanations, and gaps that the existing investigation was never designed to resolve. If the Government wants any hope of restoring confidence in the Police, it needs to authorise an independent inquiry with proper powers. Coster went on television insisting he’d “acted…

It is too hard and costly to get things built in New Zealand, and the Resource Management Act is a big reason why. · So, we are scrapping it and replacing it with a new planning system built on the idea of private property rights. The new planning system will save ratepayers and taxpayers $13.3b by only regulating what is necessary and reducing the number of consents by up to 46% every year. · The economic benefits of this new system are…

Adding to the growing body of research that proves our microbiome is a powerful ally in fighting disease, scientists have found that an easy-to-get nutrient in our food causes our guts to produce powerful insulin-regulating compounds. For decades, medical science has been focused on developing treatments that are administered to patients from outside their own bodies. Now, however, more and more research is being focused on ways to marshal the…

With the release of its new National Security Strategy (NSS), the United States — the world’s most powerful nation — has officially abandoned the global-hegemony doctrine that defined the post-Cold War order. · For the first time since 1945, Washington is no longer claiming the mantle of global policeman, architect of the “rules-based international order,” or moral crusader for universal liberal democracy. Instead, the U.S. has accepted —…

The RMA is important. It is New Zealand's biggest regulatory tax and the most significant handbrake on our country's economic prosperity and living standards. · Yesterday 100 journalists and analysts worked through the Government’s just-released replacement to the RMA. · Planning law is inherently difficult, detailed, and technical. Having only had the material for a few hours, we don’t pretend to have our head around all the detail – but I…

It may not be generally known that, immediately after WWII, as many as 48,000 volunteers, both Jews and non-Jews, from 59 nations arrived in Israel to fight for its independence. About 90% of Israel's fledging Air Force pilots were new arrivals – the often-overlooked heroes of their time. In many Western countries, the present cohort of military-age young people generally seems to display an ignorance of integrity, the indispensable value of…

Stats NZ has delivered a run of unexpectedly positive data across housing, exports and retail, a sign the economy may finally be stabilising after two years of strain. New home consents rose 6.2 percent in the year to October, driven almost entirely by townhouses, flats and apartments. Higher-density homes accounted for nearly 18,000 consents, with Auckland producing half the national lift. · October alone saw a 23.5 percent jump in consents…

You will receive numerous compliments on your Christmas Gingerbread truffles to every event you take them to. Every Christmas, family, friends and even co-workers ask me to make these. · They are super easy to make but look and taste amazing! · Ingredients · - 400 grams  white chocolate, chopped - 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger - 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves - 285 grams dark…

For years, governments insisted they were “following the science.” But science does not stand still, and it certainly does not bow to political pressure. Now, as new studies challenge the assumptions that drove the global COVID-19 response, the world is being forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: many of the policies that reshaped economies, societies, and democracies were based on data that is no longer standing up to scrutiny. What was…