Nīkau Edmond-Smaill

@dpfdpf @SweetOdin Wow, must be true then.

@SweetOdin Press release

Fascinating revelation from Judith Collins they when they were negotiating with the PPTA, the no one issue the PPTA wanted to talk about was Palestine - not terms and conditions, curriculum, student achievement etc.

Amnesty strongly condemns Israel’s deliberate killing of journalists in an air strike on a media tent in occupied Gaza City. Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues have been the eyes and voices of Gaza. Starved and exhausted, they continued to bravely report from the frontlines, despite death threats and immense grief. No conflict in modern history has seen a higher number of journalists killed than Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. There must be an independent and impartial investigation into the killings of Palestinian journalists, with justice and full reparation for their families. States must urgently act to bring an end to Israel’s genocide now.

It was a shocking attack. For over six minutes, Israeli soldiers closed in and kept firing on unarmed rescue workers who were alive, wearing uniforms and praying - killing all. The IDF investigated itself, but questions remain. Our video investigation👇 nytimes.com/video/world/mi…

New Zealand and Gaza: Confronting and not confronting the unspeakable thespinoff.co.nz/politics/17-03…

@aniobrien The issue is (and what Zelensky was saying to Vance) is that no ceasefire will hold without an American security guarantee. Russia have repeatedly broken truces in the past and will almost certainly again without effective deterrence. Whatever Trump wants, it isn't peace.

I think it is important to be okay with admitting what you don’t know & for me the Ukraine/Russia war is a weak point in my contemporary political knowledge. I know more about the Cold War so tend towards reactionary anti-Russian & understand that they are the aggressor in this situation. Obviously everyone is losing their heads over the video from the Oval Office today & I saw the short clip & was like WTF are Trump & Vance up to but then I watched the full video & the context shifted my perspective. What we have been doing since 2014 hasn’t worked. Putin has ignored or disrespected attempts at ceasefire. The West is pouring money & weapons into Ukraine & populations are rightly questioning why their govts are doing so. Global security is the easy answer but we are all dealing with massive domestic issues too. Trump appears (under all the bombasticness) to be saying that enough is enough. It isn’t in americas interest for this to keep dragging on. He has repeatedly said he wants peace. As much as his approach is antithetical to the type of diplomacy we’ve seen for the past 80 ish years, if it gets Russia & Ukraine to a ceasefire it is worth the anxiety from open aggressive discourse like we saw today. I can imagine how yuck it feels for Ukraine to have the USA play referee in the middle instead of being explicitly on their team but maybe we need a referee in order to get Russia to listen. Because if we continue as we are the only path to victory is military violence. More death and suffering. As I said, I’m not confident on this topic but I’m less freaked out by the confrontation that we saw today than others seem to be. Trump is a disruptor. Sometimes that is a terrible thing but sometimes it is what we need to shake things up and sort them out.

@PronouncedHare Just wondering - isn't the shopkeeper example you use quite a selective one considering what's being proposed here? My understanding is that one of the main objections to the law change is that *anyone* can detain someone for *any* crime (hence concern about Brian Tāmaki etc).

The NZ govt must continue to stand with Ukraine. The values they are fighting for are Kiwis values. We should continue to do all we can to support them. Time for our govt to speak up!

Ваша гідність вшановує хоробрість українського народу. Будьте сильним, будьте сміливим, будьте безстрашним. Ви ніколи не будете самотнім, дорогий Президенте @ZelenskyyUa Ми продовжимо працювати з Вами заради справедливого і сталого миру.

Please reconsider this decision @ChrisPenknz this is ridiculous. He was born here, schooled here & only knows New Zealand. Govt used its discretion with Candice Owens to overturn that ruling. So we know you can use it. Show the government has heart. stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360582…

@KeeganLangeveld Your initial post, however, targeted Labour for supporting undemocratic policies when they have been consistent in their opposition to a commissioner with veto powers. You then made a remarkable logical leap to claim that Labour's position reflected a despisal for democracy.

Listen to their own words... they say exactly how it would undermine democracy. They say it should be a veto. They say it should have the power to stop bills that start to progress through the Parliamentary systems. Judge them by their actions, not their walkbacks that aren't worth the paper they're printed on. TPM have proven repeatedly an utter contempt for the rules of Parliament, the institutional authority of Parliament, and claim every thing they personally disagree with is a breach of the Treaty. Sorry, but you're naive if you think they don't want to implement the policy they announced in the way they announced it. youtu.be/68SJ5pDw0A0?si…

Only a week after ruling it out, Labour are now keen on the Maori Party's radical Treaty Commissioner that completely undermines democracy. TPM are also saying they never claimed the Commissioner would have veto power over Parliament despite stating it in the announcement and Rawiri repeatedly saying as much in follow up interviews. The Left genuinely despise democracy and froth at the chance to destroy our Democratic rights. Only @nzfirst is genuinely fighting back against this dangerous nonsense. Only @winstonpeters, @mangonui08 and the rest of the NZF caucus continuously fight for equality and democracy. The proof? - Constantly pushing back against radical and racist TPM and Greens - Members Bills for local decision making and control over things like Auckland Transport and Fluoridation - Secured the REAL Covid Inquiry - Only party that packs the halls and meets with everyday kiwis rnz.co.nz/news/political…

@KeeganLangeveld No, robust and responsible debate involves calling out inflammatory rhetoric rather than perpetuating it. You haven't explained how an advisory commissioner would undermine democracy and I think you need to be very careful about making sweeping claims without evidence.

I said it would undermine democracy, which it would, and said the Left jump at the chance to destroy democratic rights - plenty of recent court cases outlining how decisions made by the last government breached individuals' rights. And when Te Pati Maori use such inflammatory rhetoric and symbolism in their politics, the expectation should be that they'll get it back just as good. That's the robustness of the contest of ideas.

@SophRiver @KeeganLangeveld I'm not saying we need a commissioner - I'm asking why we need to use such inflammatory rhetoric when critiquing a fairly inconsequential policy proposal

@Nikau_ES @KeeganLangeveld Can you explain the need for a Commissioner given that the Govt already pays for the Waitangi Tribunal to give advice.

the president is literally describing ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity previously considered abhorrent & tantamount to genocide. naturally, now sanctioned by the US. just staggering

Today in annual review hearings Minister Brooke Van Velden cited returning fire-at-will in the first 90 days and a real term cut to the minimum wage as the two policies she has initiated for the benefit of workers in her time as Minister. This Government is taking NZ backwards.

They can try to divide us, but we stand united. Toitū Te Tiriti. ❤️💚🖤🤍 @NZGreens @Maori_Party

This bill would be an act of constitutional vandalism (albeit it is slated not to make it past 2nd reading), due to the way it seeks to codify a fictional and bad faith interpretation of te Tiriti / the Treaty and its principles. legislation.govt.nz/bill/governmen…

Using documents obtained under the Official Information Act, we checked the record on what minister Nicole McKee told us in a recent interview. Full story: tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/…

Chris Penk’s proposal to remove insulation in all homes will only exacerbate our country’s cold, damp housing stock. Meanwhile, many students across the country rent in high numbers, 66% struggle with basic expenses like food, clothing, and bills. No insulation? Power price 📈