Swarbrick recieves one of most serious Parliament punishments
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NZ Herald
6 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Letters: At The Marae – How many te reo Māori words are too many?
Spine and guts In 2015, then Prime Minister Sir John Key yelled across the House that the Labour opposition leader Andrew Little needed to 'get some guts' to support sending troops to Iraq. Key incurred no Speaker's sanction. Why, then, in 2025 does Chlöe Swarbrick get dismissed from Parliament by Speaker Gerry Brownlee for a week for querying the spine of Government MPs for delaying their decision on whether to align with the overwhelming number of countries supporting a separate Palestinian state? David Sanders, Torbay. Leave it to the US and Israel Chlöe Swarbrick was ejected from Parliament for the rest of the week. We used to be such a humble country. Surely if she took a reflective assessment, she would realise that she's a small person in a small country, far removed from the decisions regarding Gaza. A more humble person would accept that Israel is backed by the greatest country on earth, with some of the greatest minds from the greatest universities. The decisions as to the actions to deal with the 'Gaza problem' must be based upon sound analysis of weighty input and data from some of the top minds in both America and Israel. Swarbrick should humbly accept that they are closer to the issues and must know best. Simon Damerell, Ponsonby. NZ's lack of integrity I am bewildered by the lack of integrity and concern shown by our New Zealand Government. Why do they need so many weeks to make a simple humanitarian decision and to recognise the state of Palestine? In the past, I felt so proud of New Zealand, as we have led the world in so many similar times. Please don't make me so embarrassed by this decision you keep sidestepping. Mary Amoore, Pukekohe. Do they want my vote? Once upon a time, the National Party was the conservative one looking after big business and the rich. Labour was the socialist party supposedly concerned about the lower-income workers and the poor. Do they still? It's no wonder the ordinary citizen has lost faith in these parties when everyday services that affect our ordinary lives are closing down or being minimalised. For those who are not internet-connected, where does one buy a stamp? Post offices are being closed down, and now stationery and bookshops that sold stamps are also closing down. In our area on the North Shore, the ASB Bank has closed down several offices and withdrawn ATMs, several Post Shops have shut, and very few places are selling stamps. These are the little things that affect many ordinary people. We used to do so much government-related business at a Post Office. Now, so many government departments hide from taxpayers behind unhelpful automatic phone replies, or refer you to a website that only a teenager could get around. The question now comes: why should I bother voting this year? The representatives on local boards and city council don't appear to be doing anything about these everyday inconveniences. MPS have too many other important things to do, like stuffing up the country, to worry about us little people and our way of life, so I probably won't bother voting next year either. If they can't be concerned about how I live, an ordinary everyday taxpayer, why should I worry about whether they get voted in, survive or whatever? David Speary, Northcote. Emissions add up There are those who believe our country's carbon emissions are minuscule and will have no measurable effect on the changing climate. Any emissions, minuscule or not, add to the global climate crisis. This is real and can't be ignored or denied because it's inconvenient for the likes of Shane Jones and his 'drill, baby, drill' approach to our future energy resources. If more small countries follow the science, the greater the impact will be. 'Minuscule' is still an emission. It all adds up, either way. Only one way is the best way. Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
RNZ News
6 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Secondary teachers won't cancel strikes until government improves offer
PPTA president Chris Abercrombie speaks at a teachers strike in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver The secondary teachers' union says it will only cancel its planned strikes if the government improves its pay offer. But the minister responsible has made no indication it is likely to budge, urging teachers to ditch their "political stunt" and return to the bargaining table. Teachers will walk off the job next Wednesday following a one percent pay rise offer during collective bargaining , which the union said was the lowest in a generation. The Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) also warned of further strikes in September if the offer did not improve. President Chris Abercrombie said the decision to strike was not taken lightly, and he did not want it to come to that. "We're meeting with the ministry this Friday for bargaining, so we're really hopeful we might be able to alleviate all of this industrial action, if the ministry comes to the table. "We need to see some movement on all of our claims, at the moment the government has addressed basically none of them." But Education Minister Erica Stanford said the PPTA had not made any counter offer or clarified what it wanted, instead jumping to take "drastic" action after just six days of bargaining. "I'm really worried about the rolling strikes in September, it is so very close to final exams and the unions know that," she said. "And that's why it really bites that they're not at the bargaining table, bargaining in good faith. These students are being used as bargaining chips, it's not fair on those kids and it's not fair on parents." Stanford urged the union to call off the strikes and engage with the government in good faith. Secondary school teachers were paid an average of $100,000, but that was not high enough to attract and retain staff, Abercrombie said. "That is the pay rate, but we know we don't have subject specialist teachers in front of young people, and we're about to go through the biggest change package in curriculum and assessment in a generation. "If we want that to work, we need to have a workforce there to deliver that." The country was about 800 secondary school teachers short, he said. The government offered a one percent salary increase each year for three years. But the PPTA wants a four percent increase each year for three years, and another four percent in the first year "in recognition of the removal of pay equity", Abercrombie said. Teachers also receive annual stepped pay progression. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose , Reuters Palestinians inspect the damage after an overnight strike on the Sheikh Radwan Health Centre run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the north of Gaza City on 6 August, 2025. Photo: AFP Israel's military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators. The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave housing more than two million Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by US President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave. "They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit," he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us." Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba" (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war. Israel's planned re-seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages. Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun. Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel's military did not comment. Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said. That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began. Israel disputes those malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and "ending the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement. Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons. A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ends the war and pulls out. However, "Laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave. About half of Gaza's residents live in the Gaza City area. Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached "unimaginable levels" and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid. Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys. The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the U.N. and international organizations in the past 24 hours along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid. The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient. The war began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. - Reuters
