The murders of unarmed civilians on the streets of Minneapolis, including the killing of the intensive-care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, would not come as a shock to Iraqis in Fallujah or Afghans in Helmand province.

They were terrorised by heavily armed American execution squads for decades.

It would not come as a shock to any of the students I teach in prison. Militarised police in poor urban neighborhoods kick down doors without warrants and kill with the same impunity and lack of accountability.

What the rest of us are facing now, is what Aimé Césaire called “imperial boomerang”.

Empires, when they decay, employ the savage forms of control on those they subjugate abroad, or those demonized by the wider society in the name of law and order, on the homeland.

The tyranny Athens imposed on others, Thucydides noted, it finally, with the collapse of Athenian democracy, imposed on itself.

But before we became the victims of state terror, we were accomplices. Before we expressed moral outrage at the indiscriminate taking of innocent lives, we tolerated, and often celebrated, the same Gestapo tactics, as long as they were directed at those who lived in the nations we occupied or poor people of colour.

We sowed the wind, now we will reap the whirlwind. The machinery of terror, perfected on those we abandoned and betrayed, including the Palestinians in Gaza, is ready for us.

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for 15 years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East bureau chief and Balkan bureau chief for the paper. He is the host of show “The Chris Hedges Report”. This commentary was first published on the Chris Hedges Substack page and is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

SPECIAL REPORT: By Mariam Barghouti in Jenin for Drop Site News

On December 28, 21-year-old Palestinian journalist Shatha Sabbagh was standing on the stairs of her home on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp when she was shot and killed.

The bullets weren’t fired by Israeli troops but, according to eyewitnesses and forensic evidence, by Palestinian Authority security forces.

The Palestinian Authority has been conducting a large-scale military operation in Jenin since early December, dubbing it “Operation Homeland Protection”.

A stronghold of Palestinian armed resistance in the occupied West Bank, the city of Jenin and the refugee camp within it have been repeatedly raided, bombed, and besieged by the Israeli military in an attempt to crush the Jenin Brigade — a politically diverse militant group of mostly third-generation refugees who believe armed resistance is key to liberating Palestinian lands from Israeli occupation and annexation.

Over the past 15 months, the Israeli military has killed at least 225 Palestinians in Jenin, making it the deadliest area in the West Bank.

The real aim, residents say, is to crush Palestinian armed resistance at the behest of Israel. Dubbed the “Wasps’ Nest” by Israeli officials, Jenin refugee camp has posed a constant threat to Israel’s settler colonial project.

But the current operation, which is being billed as a campaign to “restore law and order,” is the longest and most lethal assault by Palestinian security forces in recent memory. While the PA claims to be rooting out armed factions and individuals accused of being “Iranian-backed outlaws,” according to multiple residents and eyewitnesses, the operation is a suffocating siege, with indiscriminate violence, mass arrests, and collective punishment.

Sixteen Palestinians have been killed so far, with security forces setting up checkpoints around the city and refugee camp, cutting electricity to the area, and engaging in fierce gun battles. Among those killed are six members of the security forces and one resistance fighter, Yazeed Ja’aysa.

Yet the overwhelming majority of those killed have been civilians, including Sabbagh, and at least three children — Majd Zeidan, 16, Qasm Hajj, 14, and Mohammad Al-Amer, 13.

“It’s reached levels I have never seen before. Even journalists aren’t allowed to cover it,” M., 24, a local journalist and resident of Jenin, told Drop Site News on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested or targeted by PA security forces.

Dozens of residents, including journalists, have been arrested from Jenin and across the West Bank by the PA in the past six weeks under the pretext of supporting the so-called Iranian-backed “outlaws.”

PA security forces spokesperson Brigadier-General Anwar Rajab has justified the assault as “in response to the supreme national interest of the Palestinian people, and within the framework of ongoing continued efforts to maintain security and civil peace, establish the rule of law, and eradicate sedition and chaos”.

‘Wasps’ Nest’ threat to Israel’s settler colonial project
But the real aim, residents say, is to crush Palestinian armed resistance at the behest of Israel. Dubbed the “Wasps’ Nest” by Israeli officials, Jenin refugee camp has posed a constant threat to Israel’s settler colonial project.

Just one week into the operation, on December 12, PA security forces shot and killed the first civilian, 19-year-old Ribhi Shalabi, and injured his 15-year-old brother in the head. Although the PA initially denied killing Shalabi and claimed he was targeting its security forces with IEDs, video captured by CCTV shows Ribhi being shot execution-style while riding his Vespa.

The PA later admitted to killing Shalabi, saying “the Palestinian National Authority bears full responsibility for his martyrdom, and announces that it is committed to dealing with the repercussions of the incident in a manner consistent with and in accordance with the law, ensuring justice and respect for rights”.

Just two days later, the PA began escalating their attack on Jenin. At approximately 5:00 am on December 14, the Palestinian Authority officially declared the large-scale operation, dubbing it “Himayat Watan” or “Homeland Protection.”

By 8:00 am, Jenin refugee camp was under siege and two more Palestinians had been killed, including prominent Palestinian resistance fighter Yazeed Ja’aisa, and 13-year-old Mohammad Al-Amer. At least two other children were injured with live ammunition.

The roads leading to Jenin are now riddled with Israeli checkpoints while the entrance to the city is surrounded by PA armoured vehicles and security forces brandishing assault rifles, their faces hidden behind black balaclavas.

Eerily reminiscent of past Israeli incursions, snipers fire continuously from within the PA security headquarters toward the refugee camp just to the west, sending the sound of live ammunition echoing through the city. The PA also imposed a curfew on the city of Jenin, warning residents that anyone moving in the streets would be shot.

PA counterterrorism units have also been stationed at the entrance to Jenin’s public hospital, while the National Guard blocked roads with armoured vehicles and personnel carriers, denying entry to journalists.

When I attempted to reach the hospital on December 14 with another journalist to gather information for Drop Site on the injuries sustained during the earlier firefight and follow up on the killing of Al-Amer, the 13-year-old, armed and masked PA security forces claimed the area was a closed security zone. When we attempted to carry out field interviews outside the camp instead, two armed men in civilian clothing who identified themselves as members of the mukhabarat — Palestinian General Intelligence — requested that we leave the area.

“If you stay here, you might get shot by the outlaws,” he warned. Yet, from where we stood between the hospital, the PA security headquarters, and Jenin refugee camp, the only bullets being fired were coming from the direction of the PA headquarters towards the camp.

PA security forces also appear to have been using one of the hospital wards as a makeshift detention center where detainees are being mistreated. While Brigadier-General Rajab, the PA’s spokesperson, denied this; several young men detained by the PA told Drop Site they were taken to the third floor of Jenin public hospital where they were interrogated and beaten.

“They kept asking me about the fighters,” said A., a 31-year-old medical service provider from Jenin refugee camp, who says he was held for hours, blindfolded, and denied legal representation.

“They kept beating me, cursing at me, asking me questions that I don’t have answers for.”

Fear of being arrested, abused again
Since his arbitrary detention, A. has not returned to work out of fear of being arrested and abused again.

According to residents, the PA also stationed snipers in the hospital, firing at the camp from inside the facility. During the past six weeks, according to interviews with several medics in Jenin, PA security forces shot at medics, burned two medical vehicles, beat paramedics, and detained medical workers throughout the siege.

“What exactly are they protecting?” Abu Yasir, 50, asks as he stands outside the hospital, waiting for any news of the security operation to end.

A father of three, Abu Yasir grew up in the Jenin refugee camp. “There are people being killed in the camp just for being there. They didn’t do anything,” he told Drop Site as he burst into tears.

By December 14, with Operation Homeland Protection entering its 10th day, families in the refugee camp had run out of food, the chronically ill needed life-saving medication, and with electricity and water punitively cut from the camp, families found themselves under siege and increasingly desperate.

Women and their children tried to protest in an attempt to break the PA-imposed blockade. They also wanted to challenge the PA’s claim of targeting outlaws. As the women gathered in the dark towards the edge of the camp, several men worked to fix an electricity box to restore power to the camp.

When the lights came on, cheers echoed in the camp — but barely 15 minutes later, PA forces shot at the box, plunging the area into darkness again.

Denying electricity for families
According to residents of the camp, over the course of 10 days, the PA shot at the electric power boxes more than a dozen times, denying families electricity just as temperatures began to plummet.

Elderly women confronted soldiers of the Special Administrative Tasks squad (SAT), a specialised branch of the PA security forces, SAT is trained by the Office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) and is responsible for coordinating operations with the United States and Israel, including joint-operations and intelligence sharing.

“I yelled at them,” said Umm Salamah, 62. “They burst through the door, and at first, I thought they were Israelis’” she told Drop Site, pointing to the destroyed door. “I told them I have children in the house. But they forced their way in.

“I told them we already have the Israeli army constantly raiding us, and now you?”

Not only were homes raided, according to Umm Salameh, but PA security forces also fired at water tanks, effectively cutting water supplies to the camp. Jenin refugee camp had already been severely damaged in the last Israeli invasion, during which Israeli military and border-police bulldozed the city’s civilian infrastructure, turning streets into hills of rubble.

Operation Homeland Protection comes just three months following “Operation Summer Camps,” Israel’s large-scale military operation between August and October.

Under the pretext of targeting “Iran-backed terrorists,” Israeli forces destroyed large swathes of civilian infrastructure in the northern districts of the West Bank, namely Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus and Tubas, and killed more than 150 Palestinians over three months, a fifth of whom were children.

Protest over ‘outlaws’ framing
Outside in the mud-filled streets, the group of women began to chant “Kateebeh!” (Brigade) in support of the Jenin Brigade, and in protest of the PA’s attempt to frame them as “outlaws” and a “threat to national security.”

Within minutes, the SAT unit responded with teargas and stun grenades fired directly at the crowd, which included journalists clearly marked with fluorescent PRESS insignia. While elderly women tripped and fell to the ground, children ran back towards the camp as PA security forces kept lobbing stun grenades at the fleeing crowd.

In an interview with Drop Site that evening, Brigadier-General Rajab affirmed that “this operation comes to achieve its goals which are the reclaiming of safety and security of Palestinians and reclaiming Jenin refugee camp from the outlaws that kidnapped it and spread corruption in it while threatening the lives of civilians.”

Days later, the PA had expanded its operations to Tulkarem, where clashes between resistance fighters and PA security forces erupted on December 19. This came just one day following an Israeli airstrike which killed three Palestinian fighters in Tulkarem refugee camp: Dusam Al-Oufi, Mohammad Al-Oufi, and Mohammad Rahayma.

On December 22, Saher Irheil, a Palestinian officer in the PA’s presidential guard was killed in Jenin, and two others injured.

According to official state media and statements by the PA, Lieutenant Irheil was killed by the “outlaws” of Jenin refugee camp. Brigadier-General Rajab claimed “this heinous crime will only increase [the PA’s] determination to pursue those outside the law and impose the rule of law, in order to preserve the security and safety of our people.”

By military order, speakers from mosques across the West Bank echoed in a public tribute to the fallen officer. The same was not done for those killed by the PA, including Shalabi, the 19-year-old whom the PA dubbed “a martyr of the nation” after being forced to admit they killed him.

That week, PA security forces escalated their attack on the Jenin refugee camp, using rocket-propelled grenades and firing indiscriminately at families sheltering in their own homes. PA security officers even posted photos and videos of themselves online, similar to those taken by Israeli soldiers while invading the camp in August and September.

On December 23, security forces shot and killed 16-year-old Majd Zeidan while he was returning to his home from a nearby corner store. The PA claimed Zeidan was an Iranian-backed saboteur.

Killed teenager had bag of chips
“They killed him, then said he was a 26-year-old Iranian-backed outlaw,” Zeidan’s mother, Yusra, told Drop Site. “Look,” she said while pulling her son’s ID card from her pocket. “My son was 16 years old, killed while returning from the store with a bag of chips.”

According to Yusra, not only was her son killed, but her brother who lives in Nablus, was arrested by the PA a few days later for holding a wake for his slain nephew.

“The Preventative Security are detaining my brother because he was mourning a mukhareb,” she said. The term “mukhareb” which roughly translates to “saboteur” is a term derived from the Israeli term “mekhablim” which is commonly used when arresting Palestinians.

A few days later, on December 28, Shatha Sabbagh, a young journalist, was shot and killed as she stood on the stairs of her home at the edges of the camp. Official PA statements claim that Sabbagh was killed by resistance fighters, not its security forces.

However, accounts by eyewitnesses and the victim’s family belie those claims.

According to testimonies from her family and residents, Sabbagh was killed while holding her 18-month-old nephew; her sister lives nearby, on Mahyoub Street in the refugee camp — the same area PA snipers were targeting. Initial autopsy findings shared with Drop Site show that the bullet that struck her came from the area in which PA snipers were positioned in the camp.

Known for her reliable reporting during both Israeli and PA raids on Jenin, local residents claim that PA loyalists had been inciting against Sabbagh for some time. Further inflaming tensions, Sabbagh’s killing underscored the risks faced by Palestinian journalists in documenting what the PA would rather conceal.

Soon afterward, Brigadier-General Rajab spoke about the killing of Sabbagh in a live interview with Al Jazeera. He turned off his camera and left the interview, however, as soon as Sabbagh’s mother was brought on air. Sabbagh’s mother, Umm Al-Mutasem, was next to her daughter when she was killed.

Two days after Sabbagh’s killing, the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, which is closely affiliated with the PA, released a statement accusing Al Jazeera of incitement, bias and attempts to stir internal discord.

On January 5, the Magistrate Court of Ramallah announced a suspension of Al Jazeera’s broadcasting operations in the West Bank, citing a “failure to meet regulations.” This move followed Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera offices during Operation Summer Camps in September of last year.

100 Palestinians arrested in operation
The Preventative Security, an internal intelligence organisation led by the Minister of Interior, and part of the Palestinian Security Services, arrested more than a hundred Palestinians as part of Operation Homeland Protection, including five journalists in Nablus and Jenin. Palestinians were summoned and interrogated, at times tortured, and detained without legal representation.

The PA not only targeted residents of the camp, but also expanded its repressive campaign to target anyone that would sympathise with the camp or is suspected of having any solidarity with the armed resistance.

Amro Shami, 22, who was arrested by the PA from his home in Jenin on December 25 had markings of torture on his body during his court hearing in the Nablus Court the following day. Shami was reported to have bruising on his body and was unable to lift his arms in court.

Despite appeals by his lawyer, the court denied Amro release on bail. Amro’s lawyer was only able to visit 15 days later when he reported additional torture against Amro, including breaking his leg.

At the very end of December, as the operation stretched into its fifth week, journalists were able to enter the camp at their own risk. With water and electricity cut off, families huddled outside, burning wood and paper in old metal barrels to try and keep warm.

The camp reeked with uncollected trash piled in the alleyways due to the PA cutting all social services from the camp.

Inside the camp, armed resistance fighters patrolled the streets. After confirming our IDs as journalists they helped us move safely in the dark.

“In the beginning there were clashes between the Brigade and the PA, but we told them we are willing to collaborate with anything that does not harm the community,” H., a 26-year-old fighter with the brigade, told Drop Site. The young fighter was referring to the PA’s claims that they are targeting “outlaws”, in which the Jenin Brigade agreed to hand over anyone that is indeed breaking the law.

However, the PA seemed more interested in the resistance fighters.

Spokesmen of the Jenin Brigade have made several public statements informing the PA that as long as the operation was not targeting resistance efforts, they would fully comply and coordinate to ensure law and order.

‘We are with the law . . .  but which law?’
“We are with the law, we are not outside the law. We are with the enforcement of law, but which law? When an Israeli jeep comes into Jenin to kill me, where are you as law enforcement?”

Abu Issam, a spokesman for the Jenin Brigade told Drop Site: “As I speak right now, the PA armoured vehicles and jeeps are parked over our planted IEDs, and we are not detonating them,” he said.

A former member of the PA presidential guard, Abu Issam is no stranger to the PA’s repressive tactics to quell resistance.

“Our compass is clear, it’s against the occupation,” he said. “Come protect us from the Israeli settlers, and by all means here is my gun as a gift. Get them out of our lands, and execute me.

“We were surprised with the demands of the PA. They offered us three choices: to turn ourselves in along with our weapons, offering us jobs for amnesty; to leave the camp and allow the PA to take over; or to confront them.

“We have no choice but to confront,” he says, holding his M16 to his chest. “We want a dignified life, a free life, not a life of security coordination with our oppressors,” H. said.

By the second week of January, not only did the PA expand its security operations to Tulkarem and Tubas, but intensified its violence against Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp as well.

On January 3, PA snipers shot and killed 43-year-old Mahmoud Al-Jaqlamousi and his 14-year-son, Qasm, as they were gathering water. Two days later, PA security forces began burning homes of residents near the Ghubz quarter of the camp.

“Why burn it? I didn’t build this home in an hour, it was years of work, why burn it?” Issam Abu Ameira asks while standing in front of the charred walls of his home.

The operation, ostensibly intended to restore security and order, has instead brought devastation, raising troubling questions about governance and resistance in the West Bank.

“This is not solely the PA. This is also the United States and Israel’s attempt to crush resistance in the West Bank,” H. said. Like him, other fighters find the timing of the operation to be questionable.

“This is an organisation that negotiated with the occupation for more than 30 years, but can’t sit and talk with the Jenin refugee camp for 30 hours?” Abu Al-Nathmi, a spokesperson for the Jenin Brigade, said as he huddled inside the camp while fighters patrolled around us and live ammunition fired continuously in the area.

‘PA acting like group of gangs’
“The PA is acting like a group of gangs, each trying to prove their power and dominance at the expense of Jenin refugee camp,” Abu Al-Nathmi tells Drop Site. “Right now the PA is trying to prove itself to the United States to take over Gaza, but there was no position taken to defend Gaza.”

Last week, the PA requested an additional US$680 million from the US for security assistance. “What the PA is doing now is destroying the homeland, and breaking the law” Abu Al-Nathmi said.

While the PA continued its attack on Jenin refugee camp, the Israeli military waged military operations on the neighboring villages of Jenin, as well as Tubas and Tulkarem where 11 Palestinians were killed in the first week of January, three of whom were children.

In the 39 days since the PA launched Operation Homeland Protection, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in the West Bank, including six children. Over that same time period, Israeli courts have issued confiscation orders for thousands of hectares of land belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank.

The PA is failing to provide protection to the Palestinian people against continuous settler expansion and amid an ongoing genocide in Gaza, residents of the Jenin refugee camp say.

“The PA is claiming they don’t want what happened to Gaza to happen here, but here we are dying a hundred times,” Abu Amjad, 50, told Drop Site. Huddled near a fire outside the rubble of his home, he cries “we are being humiliated, attacked, beaten, and told there’s nothing we can do about it. In this way, it’s better to die.”

Mariam Barghouti is a writer and a journalist based in the West Bank. She is a member of the Marie Colvin Journalist Network. This article was first published by Drop News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Building upon recent episodes of A View from Afar, Political Scientist Paul G Buchanan and journalist Selwyn Manning discuss The Politics of Desperation. This episode flows on from our discussions about long transitions and the moment of friction.

As the old status quo begins to crumble (under the weight of fraction), political leaders and elites invested in it get increasingly desperate, leading to more dangerous decisions, more acute moments, and, increased chances of mistake, miscalculation and unanticipated backlash.

The Politics of Desperation accentuates an ongoing downward spiral. And, the Politics of Desperation takes form in differing degrees. For some, the risk of losing is merely a dent in the leader’s ego, reputation, and an awakening that voters have moved on from their style of politics.

But for others, a loss will prove to be devastating, for example; should Donald Trump lose his bid to regain the United States presidency, he will face sentencing as a felon and perhaps even face jail time. For Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, a future loss or a collapse of his right-wing coalition would likely see him facing domestic charges and possibly charges laid by the International Criminal Court for his role in the disproportionate use of military might in Israel’s war on Gaza.

So, Paul and Selwyn discuss the examples of the Politics of Desperation from around the world and assess the risks as the world rests on the cusp of an unknown future.

INTERACTION WHILE LIVE:

Paul and Selwyn encourage their live audience to interact while they are live with questions and comments.

To interact during the live recording of this podcast, go to Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/

Remember to subscribe to the channel.

For the on-demand audience, you can also keep the conversation going on this debate by clicking on one of the social media channels below:

• Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/
• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

RECOGNITION: The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication. Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category.

You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

Building upon recent episodes of A View from Afar, Political Scientist Paul G Buchanan and journalist Selwyn Manning will discuss The Politics of Desperation. This episode flows on from our discussions about long transitions and the moment of friction.

As the old status quo begins to crumble (under the weight of fraction), political leaders and elites invested in it get increasingly desperate, leading to more dangerous decisions, more acute moments, and, increased chances of mistake, miscalculation and unanticipated backlash.

The Politics of Desperation accentuates an ongoing downward spiral. And, the Politics of Desperation takes form in differing degrees. For some, the risk of losing is merely a dent in the leader’s ego, reputation, and an awakening that voters have moved on from their style of politics.

But for others, a loss will prove to be devastating, for example; should Donald Trump lose his bid to regain the United States presidency, he will face sentencing as a felon and perhaps even face jail time. For Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, a future loss or a collapse of his right-wing coalition would likely see him facing domestic charges and possibly charges laid by the International Criminal Court for his role in the disproportionate use of military might in Israel’s war on Gaza.

So today, Paul and Selwyn will discuss the examples of the Politics of Desperation from around the world and assess the risks as the world rests on the cusp of an unknown future.

INTERACTION WHILE LIVE:

Paul and Selwyn encourage their live audience to interact while they are live with questions and comments.

To interact during the live recording of this podcast, go to Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/

Remember to subscribe to the channel.

For the on-demand audience, you can also keep the conversation going on this debate by clicking on one of the social media channels below:

• Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/
• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

RECOGNITION: The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication. Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category.

You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

People in Kanaky New Caledonia are disappointed that the riots last month are now being overshadowed by the Parliament elections and the Olympic Games.

New Caledonia High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said the European elections tomorrow will take place, despite some local municipalities indicating that they are experiencing difficulties.

He said additional security will be deployed for the elections, public broadcaster La Première TV reported.

Local journalist Coralie Cochin said French media had stopped reporting on the territory.

“They used to do it maybe three weeks ago, but now [people in New Caledonia] feel abandoned because nobody talks about what is happening here anymore,” Cochin said.

She said it was because of the upcoming EU elections and Paris Olympics, but also because “the French government tried to overshadow the subject”.

“They really want to show a very positive image of [Emmanuel Macron’s] action in New Caledonia.”

People feeling angry, discouraged
Cochin said people were feeling angry, discouraged and tired from the riots that broke out on May 13.

“They told us that they feel abandoned by the French government, okay Paris sent a lot of policemen on the ground, but those policemen didn’t manage to restore security outside after almost four weeks of riots.”

Cochin said from her count almost 10 houses were burned but more were damaged, while authorities did not have a figure.

She said the people who had homes destroyed or damaged moved in with friends and family.

They are blaming both the government and rioters for what happened, Cochin said.

“Some of them told me they were really disappointed by the authorities because they are supposed to help and make people feel secure but instead of that they had to flee their home and were not helped to find a new home.”

Cochin said people were concerned of losing their homes going forward but were most concerned of losing their job.

“I would say more than 6000 people lost their job already,” she said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Police in New Caledonia have a new weapon in their arsenal — state of the art armoured vehicles with machine guns, flown in from France to take control of the law and order situation following the violent unrest.

The state of emergency was lifted in the territory last Tuesday but a security force of more than 3000 could remain until after the Paris Olympics.

Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories Gérald Darmanin said via social media platform X that the vehicles, known as Centaur, can also fire tear gas.

“These armoured vehicles will help the police put an end to all roadblocks and completely re-establish public order in the archipelago,” Darmanin said.

“In the event of more serious threats, such as a terrorist attack, which would involve the use of armed force, the Centaur may be equipped with a 7.62 remotely operated machine gun.”

He said the off-road vehicles can carry up to 10 people and fire tear gas from a turret to disperse violent individuals or keep them at bay.

A journalist on the ground, Coralie Cochin, told RNZ Pacific things are far from calm in the suburbs, despite official reports that law and order was being restored on the outskirts of Nouméa.

“The police fought with protesters who had just erected a roadblock and set fire to it in my street today,” Cochin said, who lives in the northern suburb of Dubea.

Macron can deploy thousands of troops and military arsenals. France will never silence Kanaky aspirations for freedom ✊🇳🇨 https://t.co/GJcXFCDvLY

— Jimmy Naouna (@JNaouna) June 3, 2024

“People fear for their houses. I have got friends who had to escape from their burning properties who have been left with nothing.”

She said people were divided over whether the Centaur will change anything.

“The Kanak people are afraid, they are wondering why the police have machine guns when all they have to fight with is stones,” Cochin said.

La seule solution qui nous sortira de l’ornière sera politique. On pourra envoyer tout le matériel dernier cri qu’on voudra, continuer de déployer l’armée sur le sol national comme s’il s’agissait d’une opération extérieure, le calme ne reviendra pas sans accord. #fatigue https://t.co/lLUXFAWqQK

— Charlotte Mannevy (@CMannevy) June 1, 2024

Others believe the Centaur is essential to crush roadblocks and protect property but attempts to eradicate them completely are so far proving futile.

“As soon as they are removed, pro-independence protesters put them back up again. It’s like a game of cat and mouse,” she said.

France has also decided to go ahead with the European elections in New Caledonia on Sunday, despite political tensions in the territory.

High Commissioner Louis Le France said in a statement that voting material had arrived and preparations were under way to transport it to polling stations.

Le France said a curfew would remain in place from 6pm to 6am until the day after the elections, as well as a ban on the sale of guns and alcohol.

He said Nouméa’s international airport would remain closed until further notice, while the situation was “normalised”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Three Nouméa municipal policemen are now facing a prosecution after a disturbing video was posted in a Facebook neighbourhood watch group, allegedly implicating them in acts of severe violence against a Kanak man they had just arrested.

The municipal police officers are not part of the French security forces that have been sent to restore law and order, RNZ Pacific understands.

Initial investigations established that the violence took place on at 6th Kilometre, on the night of May 25-26, and that it “followed the arrest of several persons suspected of a theft attempt”, Nouméa Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas said in a statement yesterday.

The incident was captured in a brief video, later posted on social networks, being shared hundreds of times and going viral.

“It is the management of municipal police themselves who have signalled this to us”, Dupas said.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office said it had verified the authenticity of the short footage which depicted a “representative of the security forces striking a violent foot kick to the head of a person sitting on the ground after he was arrested”.

On the same video, the other two officers, all equipped with riot gear, are seen to be standing by, surrounding the victim.

Dupas said a formal inquiry was now underway against the three municipal police officers who were now facing charges of “violence from a person entrusted with public authority and failure to assist a person in peril”.

“This case will be treated with every expected severity, being related to presumed facts of illegitimate violence on the part of officers entrusted with a mission of administrative and judicial police”, the statement said.

It added that “this is the first case being treated for this type of act since the beginning of civil unrest in New Caledonia” and further stressed that law enforcement agencies deployed on the ground have displayed “professionalism” in the “difficult management of the law enforcement operations carried out”.

“The victim remains to be approached by investigators in order to undergo medical examination and assess his current health condition.”

The announcement was made as part of the French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc during his daily update on the situation.

“As a follow-up to the end of the state of emergency since Tuesday, 28 May, 2024, the ban on the platform TikTok has been lifted,” a statement said.

The ban was announced on May 15 in what was then described as an attempt to block contacts between rioting groups in the French Pacific territory.

It had since then been widely contested as a breach of human rights.

Doubts had also been expressed on how effective the measure could have been, with other platforms (such as Facebook, WhatsApp or Viber) remaining accessible and the fact that the ban on Tiktok could be easily dodged with VPN tools.

World Cup 1998 winner Karembeu ‘in mourning’
Earlier this week, former footballer and 1998 World Cup champion Christian Karembeu made a surprise revelation saying two members of his family had been shot dead during the riots.

Speaking to French radio Europe 1 on Monday, Karembeu said: “I have lost members of my family, that’s why I remained silent (until now), because I am in mourning.”

“Two members of my family have been shot with a bullet in the head. These are snipers. The word is strong but they have been assassinated and we hope investigations will be made on these murders”, the Kanak footballer said, adding the victims were his nephew and his niece.

Karembeu’s career involves 53 tests for the French national football team, one world cup victory (1998), playing for prestigious European clubs such as Nantes, Sampdoria, and Real Madrid (where he won two Champions League titles), Olympiakos, Servette, and Bastia.

He is now a strategic advisor and ambassador for Greek club Olympiakos.

Reacting to Karembeu’s announcements, Chief Prosecutor Dupas told public broadcaster NC la Première on Tuesday he believed Karembeu was referring to the two Kanak people who were killed earlier this month in Nouméa’s industrial zone of Ducos.

“I do not know what his family kinship relation is with those two victims who were assassinated in Ducos,” he said.

“But concerning these facts, an investigation is underway, it has gotten pretty far already, one (European) company manager has been arrested and remains in custody. The Justice is processing all the facts, crimes, committed.”

“We have, among the civilian victims, four persons of the Kanak community and it is a possibility that some of those could be related to Christian Karembeu”, he said.

Asked on a possibly higher number of fatalities, he stressed the death toll so far remained at seven.

“We have not received any other complaint regarding people shooting civilians”, he maintained, while encouraging members of the public who would be aware of other fatal incidents to come forward and contact his office.

“We arrived in our car, I saw the roadblock, I barely had time to reverse and go back and they started to shoot. About 10 times,” the unidentified witness said, showing two bullet holes on his car.

“I have lodged a complaint for murder attempt and now the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Two other Kanaks said the following day, on May 16, while in the streets of their neighbourhood, they were shot at by balaclava-clad passengers of two driving by pick-up trucks.

“We started to run and that’s when we heard the first gunshots. My little brother managed to take shelter at a neighbour’s home, and I went on running with the 4WD behind me. When I arrived at my family’s home, I jumped into the garden and that’s when I heard a second gunshot”, he told La Première.

“We never thought this would happen to us”.

Dupas said another, wider investigation, was underway since May 17 in order to identify “those who are pulling the ropes and who led the “planning and committing of attacks that have hit New Caledonia”.

“This means anyone, whatever his/her level of implication, whether order-givers or just actors”.

Latest update
The state of emergency was lifted on Tuesday in New Caledonia following an announcement from French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in New Caledonia on a 17-hour visit last Thursday.

The end of the state of emergency was described by Macron as being part of the “commitments” he made while meeting representatives of New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement last week and to allow leaders to spread the message to people to lift roadblocks and barricades and “loosen the grip”.

However, a dusk-to-dawn (6pm to 6am) curfew remains in place, including a ban on public meetings, the sale of alcohol and the possession and transportation of firearms and ammunition, French High Commissioner Louis Le France said yesterday.

An estimated 3500 security forces (police, gendarmes and special riot squads) remain on the ground.

Taxis have announced they were now resuming service, but bus services remain closed because “too many roads remain impracticable”.

High Commissioner Le Franc said that since the unrest began on May 13, a total of 535 people had been arrested, 136 security forces (police and gendarmes) had been injured and the death toll remained at seven (including two gendarmes, four indigenous Kanaks and one person of European ascent).

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The man being touted by the opposition as the next leader of Papua New Guinea says the first thing his administration would do is put more focus on law and order.

East Sepik governor Allan Bird is being put forward as the opposition’s candidate for prime minister with a vote on a motion of no confidence likely in the last week of May.

Bird is realistic about his chances but he said it is important to have such a vote.

“I think the first thing we would do is just restructure the Budget and put more focus on things like law and order, bring that right to the top and deal with it quickly,” he said.

He spoke about what he aspires to do if he gets the chance.

Don Wiseman: Mr Bird, you had been delegated to look at the violence following the 2022 election, and it is clear that resolving this will be a huge problem.

AB: Not necessarily. It’s currently confined to the upper Highlands part of the country, but it is filtering down to Port Moresby and other places. I guess the reluctance to deal with the violence is that I’d say 90 percent of that violence stems from the aftermath of the elections.

From our own findings, we know that many leaders in that part of the world that run for elections actually use these warlords to help them get elected. And obviously, they’ve got like four years of downtime between elections, and this is how they spend their spare time. So, it’s hardly surprising.

I think our military and our police have the capability to deal with these criminal warlords and put them down. How shall I say it – with extreme prejudice. But you get a lot of interference in the command of the police and the Defence Force. I suspect that changes the operational orders once they get too close to dealing with these terrorists.

DW: Police have been given the power to use lethal force, but a lot of commentators would say the problems have more to do with the the lack of money, the lack of opportunity, the lack of education.

AB: The lack of education, opportunity, and things like that will play a small part. But again, as I said, I come from a province where we don’t have warlords running around heavily armed to the teeth. I mean, you have got to remember an AR-15, or a 4M, or anything like that. These things on the black market cost around 60,000 to 70,000 kina (NZ$20,000-25,000).

The ordinary Papua New Guinean cannot afford one of those things and guns are banned in public use — they’ve been banned for like 30 years. So how do these weapons get in? Just buying a bullet to operate one of these things is hard enough. So you got to ask yourself the question: how are illiterate people with perhaps no opportunity, able to come into possession of such weapons.

DW: The esteemed military leader Jerry Singarok compiled, at the request of the government about 15 years ago, a substantial report on what to do about the gun problem. But next to nothing of that has ever been implemented. Would you go back to something like that?

AB: Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for Major-General Singarok. I know him personally as well. We have had these discussions on occasions. You’ve got smart, capable people who have done a lot of work in areas such as this, and we just simply put them on the backburner and let them collect dust.

DW: The opposition hopes to have its notice for a motion of no confidence in the Marape government in Parliament on 28 or 29 May, when Parliament resumes. It was adjourned two weeks ago when the opposition tried to present their motion, with the government claiming it was laden with fake names, something the opposition has strenuously denied. Do you have the numbers?

AB: Obviously we’re talking with people inside the government because that’s where the numbers are. Hence, we’ve been encouraged to go ahead with the vote of no confidence. The chance of maybe being Prime Minister per se, is probably like 5 percent. So it could be someone else.

I say that because in Papua New Guinea, it’s really difficult for someone with my background and my sort of discipline and level of honesty to become prime minister. It’s happened a couple of times in the past, but it’s very rare.

DW: You’re too honest?

AB: I’m too honest. Yes.

DW: We’ve looked at the law and audit issue. What else needs fixing fast?

Well, we’ve got a youth bulge. We’ve got a huge population problem. We’ve got to start looking at practical ways in terms of how we can quickly expand opportunities to use your word. Whatever we’ve been doing for the last 10 years has not worked. We’ve got to try something new.

My proposal is actually really keeping with international management best practice. You go to any organisation this is what they do. I think New Zealand does it as well, and Australia does, which is you’ve got to push more funds and responsibilities closer to the coalface and that’s the provinces.

If I could do one thing that would change the trajectory of this country, it’s actually to push more resources away from the centralised government. We actually have a centralised system of government right now.

The Prime Minister [Marape] has so much control to the point where it’s up to him to authorise the building of a road in a particular place worth, say, 5 million kina. The national government is the federal government, if you like, is looking after projects that are as low as say, 2 to 3 million New Zealand dollars in value all the way up to projects that are $500 million in value.

So the question is: there’s got to be better separation of powers, better separation of responsibilities and, of course, clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities. Right now, we’re all competing for the same space. It’s highly inefficient with duplicating a lot of things and there’s a lot of wastage of resources. The way to do that is to decentralise.

DW: What concerns do you have about MPs having direct control over significant amounts of these funds that are meant to go to their electorates? Should they?

AB: Well, I don’t think any of us should have access to direct funding in that regard. However, this is the prevailing political culture that we live in. So again, coming back to my idea about ensuring that we get better funding at the sub-national levels is to strengthen the operational capability of the public servants there, so that once they start to perform, then hopefully over time, there’ll be less of a need to directly give funds to members of parliament because the system itself will start functioning.

We’ve killed the system over the last 20 or 30 years and so now the system is overly dependent on one individual which is wrong.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In this the tenth episode of A View from Afar for 2023 political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan and journalist/analyst Selwyn Manning examine the current Israel-Palestine Atrocities.

As we prepared for this podcast, representatives of Arab states have presented a united front at the United Nations, criticising the UN Security Council of doing nothing to protect civilians from Israeli bombing and missile attacks on Gazan civilians and locations.

Since then, the UN Security Council has considered two resolutions, the latter calling for a pause in hostilities to allow a humanitarian effort to enter Gaza to assist civilians.

The United States vetoed that Security Council resolution.

Al Jazera has detailed that Israel forces have targeted and bombed civilian facilities include Hospitals, schools, residential areas resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, civilians, – around one-third of the deaths are children.

It remains contested by all sides in this conflict as to who, or what, is responsible for the deadly attack on Gaza Hospital, resulting in the deaths of over 471 people.

Additional to this, Israel has sealed the borders of Gaza while it prevents food, water and medical supplies from reaching civilians – in breach of international law requirements and laws of conflict.

Israel ordered Gazan civilians, who wish to get to safety, to get out of North Gaza and move toward the south, to the border with Egypt. But as people fled south toward what appeared to be safety, Israel bombed the southern Gaza region killing more civilians and sealing off that corridor for others who sought refuge.

As a consequence of the bombing, Egypt responded by sealing the Gaza-Egypt border.

Humanitarian aid now sits on trucks, waiting, on the Egypt side of the border, while United Nations officials implore Israel and Egypt to allow medical supplies, food and water to get through to those who are injured and dying.

The Israel Defence Force strikes followed a surprise-attack on Israeli citizens by soldiers operating under the Hamas banner.

Civilians were slaughtered and others taken hostage, only to be used as bargaining chips and leverage against their enemies.

Even Palestinian advocacy groups like the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa suggested that breaches of international humanitarian Law, crimes against civilians, have been committed by those Hamas-aligned fighters. But they are clear, as others are too, that crimes against humanity, war crimes, have been committed by Israel, without consequence, as we all give witness to its response which is disproportionate, brutal, and disregarding of the thousands of Palestinian lives that have already been taken.

That’s the current situation. It is likely to get much worse.

In this episode, our questions will include:

What are the world’s leaders doing to stop the carnage?

Are the world’s nations being drawn into what will be an ever-expanding war?

Are we witnessing the beginning of a war where on one side authoritarian-led states like Russia, Iran, the wider Arab states, and possibly China stand unified against the United States, Britain, Germany, and other so-called liberal democratic allies representing the old world order?

Is what we are witnessing, what happens when a global rules-based order, multilateralism and institutions like the United Nations no longer have influence to prevent war, or restore peace and stability, or assert principles of international justice and enforce the rights of victims to see recourse to the law?

Why has this slaughter become an opportunity for the US and Russia to square-off against each other at the UN Security Council – a body that was once designed to advocate and achieve peace, but has now become a geopolitically divided entity of stalemate and mediocrity?

Eventually, will humanitarianism prevail? Will the world recognise that all people, the elderly, women, children, people of all ethnicities and religions, that they all bleed and die irrespective of their state of origin, when leaders of all sides, while sitting back in their bunkers, unleash weapons designed to kill as many people as is possible?

In this episode, Paul and Selwyn examine this most grave situation from a geopolitical vantage point. It may appear as dispassionate, and as so even disturbing, but we will take this approach in an attempt to aide an understanding of why this is happening in Gaza and why it is happening now.

INTERACTION WHILE LIVE:

Paul and Selwyn encourage their live audience to interact while they are live with questions and comments.

To interact during the live recording of this podcast, go to Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/

Remember to subscribe to the channel.

For the on-demand audience, you can also keep the conversation going on this debate by clicking on one of the social media channels below:

• Youtube.com/c/EveningReport/
• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

RECOGNITION: The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication. Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category.

You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

A scene examination is continuing at a construction site in central Auckland after a fatal shooting there shocked the city yesterday morning.

The gunman, 24-year-old Matu Tangi Matua Reid, was on home detention but allowed to work at the construction site.

He died at the scene in a shoot-out with police after killing two civilians with a pump-action shotgun. Six others were wounded, including two police officers.

The horror unfolded on the opening day of the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup in Auckland and a minute’s silence for the shooting victims was held at the first game at Eden Park last night when New Zealand defeated Norway 1-0.

Police officers in high-vis vests have today re-entered the high-rise building on the corner of Queen and Quay streets and at least seven police cars are at the cordoned off site.

A man working on the repairs at nearby Queen’s Wharf told RNZ the rules had been tightened at their site and people entering were being checked.

A commuter said there appeared to be extra security at Britomart Station transit hub this morning but he felt safe.

“It was every emotion yesterday,” he said, but he thought the city had coped well in the aftermath of the ‘shock and horror’ of the morning’s events.”

Brown said he supported Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s decision to call for a rahui in the CBD area, and the FIFA fan zone on Quay Street had been closed.

Ngāti Whātua has said this morning that no rahui is in place.

“[The] fan zone was right hard up against the dreadful event and it just didn’t seem to be right to be having a night of celebration right next door to something that had been so horrible,” he said.

“Ngāti Whātua called for, and I supported, a rahui on the area down there so we shut the fan zone and people, with a sad tinge, did go to the game at Eden Park, but with respect.

“They had the one minute’s silence, which was part of our culture and the correct thing to do, and then there was a wonderful game afterwards so, I think … the city took it well.”

‘Good end to dreadful day’
Brown said he had spoken to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins after last night’s match between New Zealand and Norway and they had agreed it was “a very good end to a dreadful day”.

He said FIFA officials had been “very sympathetic” about the shooting.

“They were very understanding, they were very concerned about the impact on the tournament, but also deeply respectful of the losses of — almost innocence — of the people here in Auckland CBD, plus of course the dreadful loss of life from this shocking experience.”

While he had been one of the people raising concerns about ongoing crime issues such as ram raids in Auckland, Brown said he was not thinking about anything on the scale of what occurred yesterday.

“It’s something out of the ordinary and I think this is one random person … and we shouldn’t possibly extrapolate that across the district, but crime on the streets with the ram raids is something which has got to be dealt with.”

Brown had praise for both the police and members of the public regarding how they responded to the unfolding crisis on Thursday morning.

“The police were wonderful, they responded bravely and promptly,” he said.

“People behaved very well considering what an appalling thing had happened.”

Violence like this has no place in city, says Swarbrick
There would be a time for political debate and discussions about how to prevent incidents like yesterday’s shooting, Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick told Morning Report, but that time was not right now.

“I very, very strongly want the message to be here that this violence has absolutely no place in our city or in our country, and we utterly reject it,” she said.

Swarbrick said her thoughts were with the whānau and friends of those who had died as well as those who had been injured, emergency service staff, and the workers who had experienced the traumatic event.

She said questions had been put to police officials at a briefing she attended yesterday, including about how the shooter had obtained a gun without a licence and while he was on home detention.

Swarbrick expected those questions would be answered “in due course” but said it was important the facts were “crystal clear” first.

“I don’t think that anyone benefits from politicians speculating in a vacuum of facts.”

The briefing had made it “very clear that this was a tragic but isolated incident connected to the workplace and that there is no outstanding associated risk”, she said.

Asked whether she believed a broader inquiry was needed to look into the use of home detention, Swarbrick said a number of reports commissioned by successive governments had identified evidence-based policies to address what was a complex issue, but that evidence was often “politically unpalatable”.

The rhetoric and debate around law and order was often reduced to “soundbyte-solutions”, she said, “things that politicians know will not work and oftentimes are contrary to evidence”.

She said New Zealanders deserved evidence-based interventions when it came to tackling crime.

“It is really clear what we have to resource in terms of evidence-based policy but it is the crunchy and the hard stuff which looks meaningfully at prevention, it’s not this knee-jerk ‘tough-on-crime’ nonsense.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Private security companies are currently holding Papua New Guinea together with the largest workforce of 29,445 and supporting the police in managing law and order issues.

There are only 6832 policemen and women serving the country currently, according to reports.

Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr told Parliament that the security industry in the country was one of the biggest supporters of law and order in helping to reduce crime by protecting life and property, including providing employment.

He said growth of the security industry had increased drastically after 16 years with a total number of licensed security companies recorded at 562, employing a total of 29,445 security guards.

Of these 562 companies, 15 were owned by foreigners.

This week the Royal PNG Constabulary announced that the constabulary would only get 560 best candidates from 13,039 applicants shortlisted out of 48,772 applications received from across the nation.

With the increase in law and order issues throughout the country and job scarcity currently faced, Minister Tsiamalili assured that the government was addressing this critically.

SIA established in 2006
The Security Industries Authority was established by the Security Protection Industries Act 2004 and it came into operation in 2006.

And by than it had registered 174 security companies that employed a total of 12,396 guards.

But after 16 years, as of December 2022, the total number of licensed security companies rose to 562 employing a total of 29,445 security guards.

“You will note that since 2006 till December 2022, the number of licensed security companies and the number of guards has been gradually increasing every year since 2006,” Minister Tsiamalili Jr said.

“The security industry is one of the industries in the law and justice sector that employs the largest workforce (29,445) and this security industry is supporting police and (managing) law and order issues in PNG.

“Security companies are supporting police help reduce crime by protecting life and property and also providing employment for many of our men and women, and more importantly supporting the economy, while police concentrate on investigating and arrest.”

Gorothy Kenneth is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Thirty people are reported to have been killed and many seriously injured in the worst tribal warfare on Kiriwina Island in Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay Province yesterday.

The number of deaths will be the highest ever recorded during a tribal warfare on the island.

Douglas Tomuriesa, the member for Kiriwina-Goodenough and Deputy Opposition Leader,  confirmed that 30 people were dead and many were seriously injured.

He was organising an airline charter to transport police personnel from Alotau to fly in to the Kiriwina, known as the “island of love”, in the Trobriand group, to bring the situation under control.

The situation is reportedly tense and may escalate further due to the number of deaths.

A villager said a worse case scenario by this morning might be other villagers taking sides and joining the warfare.

According to him the district has only two police personnel, despite a number of fully furnished houses for police personnel on the island.

Firearms discharged
He also alleged that firearms were discharged in the fight resulting in the high number of casualties.

Confirming the fight in a WhatsApp message, Provincial Police Commander Peter Barkie  said: “Yes, received info daytime today about fighting on the island but police don’t have a boat, only dinghies, so we secured NMSA boat but logistics was slow and captain advised that, not safe to travel at night so police team will travel 5.00am at East Cape to Losuia.”

Commander Barkie also requested for reinforcements to be on standby and that a decision would be made when the police team arrives on the ground.

A concerned women leader, Joyce Grant, has appealed to Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili for urgent government intervention, describing the number of deaths as the highest ever recorded in the history of Kiriwina society.

Her WhatsApp message said: “Although I am not mandated leader, however as concerned leader of my community, it is with the saddest of hearts that I write to your high office to appeal and ask for urgent government intervention.”

According to Grant, the fight began at approximately 11am yesterday, Monday, 24 October 2022.

Three main villages of Wards 19 and 20 of Kiriwina LLG approached the district office at Losuia to express their anger over the consistent destruction of their gardens by known perpetrators of neighbouring villages.

Gardens ‘a focal point’
“Gardens in the villages are the focal point of community existence. Without a garden, you are not able to sustain your family’s livelihood,” she said.

“However, no government officials were on hand to mediate the matter, including non-presence of law-and-order committees as the police station is manned by limited police personnel only.

“The church elders were also present to assist to contain the situation but the neighbouring villages were also ready for confrontation, therefore the situation was not able to be contained.”

The issue had started almost two months ago, immediately after the 2022 national general elections, and involved a soccer match. That fight resulted with one death and several people seriously injured.

“A police mobile unit was sent to maintain peace however to date, no clear resolution was reached to mitigate the issue then,” Grant said.

“Please Minister, our people need the governments urgent intervention of Police presence on the ground for the sake of our people’s lives. People are dying and the question is ‘who is responsible?’

Tomuriesa appealed to both warring factions to lay down their arms.

He said that when police reinforcements arrive, they should be “honest with themselves” and assist police by identifying the original instigators to face the law.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Political Roundup: No confidence in dire local govt elections

The “No Confidence” vote in local body elections could be as high as 60 per cent by the end of this week. That’s essentially what it is when only 40 per cent of the public choose to vote, which is what is happening at the moment. In fact, voter turnout is trending lower, meaning New Zealand could be headed for a record low voter turnout (and hence a record no confidence vote in politicians).

The reality is clear: the vast majority of the public are not inspired by what’s on offer from candidates across the country and voters aren’t convinced that voting in local elections really matters.

Voter turnout was supposed to increase in 2022

This year’s extremely low voter turnout is occurring despite circumstances that should be driving increased public involvement. Firstly, there are a large number of very competitive mayoral elections taking place – in which the likely outcome is far from decided. In Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill, for instance, it’s not clear who will win, and a number of new mayors are likely to be elected. This situation normally drives up turnout.

In addition, there are a number of factors that many commentators and authorities believed would drive up participation:

• The new Māori wards in many elections were supposed to provide for better representation of an historically under-represented demographic
• There is increased media coverage of local elections and, in particular, a plethora of voices explaining the need for people to vote
• The Three Waters reforms have provided a contentious public issue for voters to vote for or against as candidates take a pro or anti Three Waters stance
• A much more demographically diverse range of candidates – women, Māori, young people, and so forth – standing was said to help boost turnout amongst sections of the public put off by so-called “pale, stale, and male” incumbents
• Local government authorities have produced huge publicity and advertising campaigns, normally incorporating te reo Māori and an emphasis on diversity, to get people enthused about democracy.

None of these factors appear to have had a significant impact in lifting voting so far. Perhaps some of these dynamics have actually had a counterintuitively negative impact.

Could it be that the low voter turnout reflects contentment?

Of course, there are plenty of explanations for the public choosing not to vote. Some politicians and commentators have been attempting to put a more positive spin on the declining voter turnout. Much of this looks like wishful thinking. They say the declining voter turnout simply reflects public satisfaction with the politicians and their local authorities. Voters are content to just let the politicians continue doing their good work without the scrutiny and evaluation of voting.

But there is absolutely no evidence to support the view that the low voter turnout reflects contentment. In fact, there is strong evidence throughout the country that the public’s unhappiness with councils has reached an all-time high.

Surveys carried out by local authorities show that dissatisfaction with individual councils is very strong this year. For example, in Wellington, when the public were asked this year about satisfaction with council decision-making, the number of those who are “satisfied” dropped to a new low of only 12 per cent, while those who said they are “dissatisfied” jumped to 52 per cent. Similarly, those who believe that the Council makes decisions that are in best interests of the city has plummeted from 50 per cent to just 17 per cent this year.

It seems that throughout the country there is a similar level of anger and disenchantment with local politicians which should dispel any rosy idea that lower voter turnout is in some way positive.

Those pushing the “contentment theory” of low voter turnout also have to grapple with the fact that non-voters are disproportionately made up of the poor and marginalised of society. Evidence shows it’s the wealthier demographics that vote in much larger numbers than others.

For example, suburb comparisons in the 2019 Rotorua Lakes Council elections showed that the higher turnouts were from residents from wealthier housing locations, and vice versa.

Overall in Rotorua the turnout was 45 per cent, but for the affluent suburbs the turnout rates were much higher, and for the lower socio-economic areas the voting rates were about a third of this.

For example, in Rotorua’s flash suburb of Springfield, 59 per cent voted, in leafy Lynmore it was 57 per cent, and wealthy Kaharoa had a turnout rate of 56 per cent.

However, the poorer suburbs had abysmal turnout rates. In disadvantaged Western Heights it was only 27 per cent, and in the poorest area of Fordlands voter turnout was an incredible 18 per cent.

This pattern was borne out by a 2015 Auckland Council study that showed significant variation in voter turnout according to socioeconomic status.

It goes to show just how much participation in elections is a function of socio-economics. And so, a discussion of voter turnout must involve an awareness that elections in New Zealand are primarily determined by wealth.

It seems that local government isn’t working for most people. And this is especially the case for the poor. Increasingly there is a feeling that local government – much like central government – has become dysfunctional and captured by vested interests and elites.

All around the world voter turnout has generally been on the decline over the last few decades, driven by waning trust in authorities and politics. And this is evident in the rise of populist nationalism and the increased peddling of conspiracy theories.

A 17 per cent turnout in amongst poorer communities speaks to something rotten in our democratic processes. Fixing this won’t involve superficial and mechanical changes to voting systems or just more public education. A much bigger examination of the failings of our political system is necessary, and this needs to include looking at wider societal problems.

Without big change, our elections will decline further in legitimacy. As today’s New Zealand Herald points out, the Prime Minister is being “asked this week to speculate on how low the turnout threshold should be for local elections to be considered valid”. She won’t answer this. But someone is going to have to engage very quickly.

What is clear is that blaming voters for being uninspired by the candidates and the system of local government is not the answer. The public – and especially poorer New Zealanders – will just keep essentially voting “No confidence” in larger and larger numbers until it’s impossible for this message to be ignored or misunderstood.

Further reading on Local Government Elections

Bernard Orsman (Herald): Local body elections: Christchurch leads voting turnout among the big cities; Wellington last
Herald Editorial: Who’s to blame when local elections fail to excite voters? (paywalled)
Brad Olsen (Infometrics): Chart of the month: Time for some local democracy
Adam Burns (RNZ): Local body elections: Late voters urged to cast special votes
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Local body elections: Christchurch leads voting turnout among the big cities; Wellington last
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua voter turnout steady but voters urged to ‘make their vote count’
The Facts: Only 21% of votes returned with 5 days left + exclusive new polling
Sinead Gill (Stuff): Lorde ‘told off’ after breaking electoral rule
David Farrar: The Labour loyalty pledge
Michael Sergel (Herald): Five issues dividing Auckland election candidates
1News: Ardern throws support behind Collins’ Auckland mayoralty campaign
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Brown momentum vs Collins machine
No Right Turn: The “endorsement” you give when you want someone to lose
Dita De Boni (NBR): Wayne Brown’s good points flushed away by urinal comments (paywalled)
Katie Townshend (Stuff): Five things you may not realise your local council does
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Spinoff): Race briefing: Can the country’s youngest mayor make it two for two?

Other items of interest and importance today

JAMI-LEE ROSS CLEARED OF FRAUD CHARGES
Sam Hurley (Herald): Labour and National donations trial: Guilty and not guilty verdicts over political money
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Jami-Lee Ross not guilty in political donations case, businessmen found guilty
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Ex MP Jami-Lee Ross cleared of fraud charges

GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT
George Block (Herald): Former Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi to head new lobbying and PR firm (paywalled)
Catrin Owen (Stuff): Political donations case: Jami-Lee Ross, businessmen set to hear verdict
Stuff: Ex-minister Kris Faafoi is now a lobbyist and PR guy
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): New Roy Morgan Poll – Labour Crash
Annabel Ahuriri-Driscoll (The Conversation): When is being Māori not enough? Why Māori politics are always personal
Tova O’Brien (Today FM): I can’t decide whether four year political terms are really what NZ needs
Duncan Garner (NBR): National has to offer tax cuts – but to who, how and when? (paywalled)
Waatea News: Davis apologises but ACT policy still racist
Matthew Hooton: Act’s terrible dilemma (paywalled)

OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT
Gavin Ellis: Government media teams that breach the law
Elspeth McLean (ODT): Ombudsman ambitions killed off by lack of respect for OIA

ECONOMY, EMPLOYMENT AND INEQUALITY
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Covid bloodbath expected as Government opens books today
Richard Harman: Another shot into Labour’s re-election chances (paywalled)
RNZ: Tax rates a factor for attracting candidates for top jobs, Luxon says
Brooke van Velden (Herald): What Liz Truss-led economic turmoil in UK can teach NZ (paywalled)
Robert MacCulloch: National and Labour economic policy summed up in a few lines
Tim Hunter (NBR): Council calls in PwC to review Eke Panuku deals (paywalled)

HOUSING
Sam Olley (RNZ): Emergency housing: Government warned of human rights risks years ago, documents reveal
David Farrar: A 421 day waiting list for a state house for the most needy
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Why I’d be happy to see more ghost homes
RNZ: Housing market still firmly in retreat – CoreLogic
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Timing the market: Is now the best time to buy a house or should you wait for prices to drop further? An expert weighs in
Anne Gibson (Herald): ‘One of worst times for NZ house values’: New CoreLogic data shows falls continue

HEALTH
Alexa Cook (Newshub): Government increases GP funding, but sector worries it won’t fix crippling doctor shortage
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Andrew Little announces GP pay bump and push to increase doctor numbers

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
David Fisher (Herald): New book on Five Eyes spying club explains NZ’s role in world’s largest intelligence network (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Solomon Islands foreign minister says his country will not ‘choose sides’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Solomon Islands unhappy with indirect China references in draft agreement with Washington, insists it would not ‘choose sides’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Nanaia Mahuta, Solomon Islands’ minister hold talks in ‘Rainbow Room’, despite island nation’s anti-same sex policies

MEDIA
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): No one screams like media dependent on NZ on Air money
Brigitte Morten (NBR): Kiwis’ trust in institutions is being tested (paywalled)
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Today FM vs ZB – has the experiment worked?
ODT Editorial: TVNZ plumbs the depths

OTHER
David Bromell (Newsroom): How to argue in a free and open society
Thomas Cranmer: Three Waters and the vexed question of ownership
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Human Rights Commission tries to stuff online hate Genie back into bottle while Jacinda threatens Big Sister
Katarina Williams and Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Teachers want ‘racist, discriminatory’ streaming system to be abolished in schools from 2030

Political Roundup: Labour wants to be tough on crime – and tough on the causes of crime

The Labour Government has managed to get one major issue right this week, at least in an electoral sense. The Government has been under pressure to deal with escalating public concerns about crime and gang activity.

On Wednesday the newly appointed law and order duo of Chris Hipkins and Kiri Allan announced new measures to crack down on gangs. The package was perfectly pitched as a “sensible” middle-of-the-road approach between the liberals on the left and the conservatives on the right.

The measures included additional search and seizure powers for police, increased penalties for gun crime (especially drive-by shootings), and the banning of “significant” cash payments for luxury items such as boats, watches and cars.

Electorally, this announcement will probably work well for Labour, neutralising a challenging issue for the Government. And it’s important to grasp how much difficulty the Labour Government has found itself in with the current law and order concerns. They have needed to respond in a way that doesn’t alienate either side of the liberal-conservative spectrum too much, but also finds some buy-in from both camps.

Answering the demands for action on law and order

For most of this year, the Government has been strangely inactive on law and order issues. But doing nothing was no longer an option. Opposition politicians and media figures had pushed the issue of gang criminality to the top of the public agenda, and Labour looked very weak. So feeble, in fact, that Ardern was forced to sack the Police Minister and bring in a more effective Justice Minister.

This weakness wasn’t just a result of tubthumping from National and Act politicians, but also due to a very real increase in gang activity and some increases in crime, especially in parts of Auckland. Gang membership numbers have apparently increased by 2000 since 2017, to 7722 members according to officials – especially because of deportations of gang members from Australia.

But there are also other factors. Crime has generally been on the increase in many countries around the world, especially after countries have come out of covid lockdowns and are facing all sorts of social dislocation. One expert, police negotiator Lance Burdett, is reported as saying there’s been “a 30 to 35 per cent escalation in violence globally.”

It was therefore untenable for Labour not to respond to the heightened concerns about crime. And not just to do so to satisfy law and order populists on the right, but also to satisfy those living in working class communities suffering the impacts of crime. Labour could not neglect the concerns of a voter base so crucial to their re-election next year.

After all, a recent opinion survey by Ipsos showed that the public now views National as the party most capable of managing the crime/law issue. This poll also showed that law and order was ranked as the fifth-most important issue facing New Zealand, after many years of lower concern.

Satisfying liberal views on law and order

Liberals, especially on the political left, are much less enamoured by politicians taking a tough approach on law and order, and especially towards gangs. There’s a view that hard-line policing and judicial orientations to crime is just populist opportunism. The argument is also made that tough policies often don’t actually work in reducing crime.

In contrast, liberal voices want governments to acknowledge that tackling gangs requires a sophisticated approach. In particular, it means taking a preventative approach to crime, with the argument that the sources of crime are usually based in social dysfunction which therefore needs addressing. Governments need to reduce economic inequality and poverty, and make sure the various needs of citizens such as housing, healthcare, and education are sufficiently met.

Many from within and around gangs also make some similar arguments. This week, Denis O’Reilly of Black Power argued that gangs “are symptoms of much deeper problems, many of which stem from our history as a country” and that they “arise from colonialism, neoliberalism, and socioeconomic inequality”. He therefore argues in favour of “depoliticising” the issue and having more “korero” on the issues.

Similarly, the Mongrel Mob’s Harry Tam came out this week to say that the answer to the gang problem was for the Government to give more support to gang mediation efforts.

Tough on crime, and tough on the causes of crime

The Labour Government therefore has faced a quandary over the need to show that they are taking gangs seriously without entirely abandoning their liberal credentials. If the Government had merely adopted National’s policy prescriptions on gangs, it would have led to severe criticisms from liberals and party activists.

Facing a similar problem in the 1990s, the British Labour Party leader Tony Blair simply adopted the campaigning slogan that his party would be “Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”. Once elected, it turned out that the focus was more on the former part of the equation. But the gimmick largely worked – it sent a message that law and order liberals and conservatives could both embrace.

This week, the law and order ministerial duo effectively did the same thing. Their announcement on Wednesday started with an emphasis on the crackdown, and then followed up with details aimed at a liberal constituency to indicate the Government hadn’t turned populist and reactionary.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins stated firmly that “We want to hit gangs where it hurts”. And Justice Minister Kiri Allan followed this line, pledging they would be “Hitting them where it hurts. We’re going after guns, vehicles and cash.”

Then with the soundbites out of the way, Hipkins argued that the growth of gangs was “complex” and the Government was determined to get “underneath it”. He said: “We need to engage young people in constructive activities. If we give young people something useful to do, it can keep them out of trouble.”

Allan also added that although they were empowering the police to take on the gangs, “we also are acutely aware that the best tool we have is prevention” and promised a focus on early intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration as “the most effective route to sustained and long-term prevention”.

According to one news report, “Allan said people did not become gang members overnight and it was due to a range of socio-economic factors, family ties and a desire for a place of belonging.” She promised that she would make future announcements in the youth justice sector.

Sociologist and gangs researcher Jarrod Gilbert gave credit to this focus by the Government: “Both the ministers of justice and police who launched these proposed new laws talked about the need to see the gangs in a broader context and seek preventative approaches.”

Gilbert has praised the ministers for not going too hard-line, saying on Breakfast TV that Hipkins and Allan “have actually managed to stay fairly true to themselves in the sense that they haven’t responded with deeply political measures… rather than effective policy or legislation.” He also credited them with showing a “willingness to look at the drivers of gang membership.”

Criticism from National and the Greens

Labour has mostly been receiving good press from their announcement. But there’s also been condemnation from political rivals.

From a liberal perspective, the Greens’ Justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman has condemned the new measures: “It’s a knee-jerk reaction not based on evidence. They will not address the underlying causes of offending”. She says the empowering of police will lead to racist outcomes: “Māori and Pasifika, who are already inappropriately targeted by police, will be harassed and will have police coming into their homes.”

From a conservative perspective, the National Party has welcomed the tougher elements of the package, but overall said that the Government hasn’t gone far enough. Leader Christopher Luxon has claimed “Nothing in this proposal will be scaring gangs at all.”

None of these criticisms will bother Labour much. Quite the opposite, perhaps – if anything, the criticisms from the left and right will help to bolster Labour’s preferred narrative that they have taken a sensible middle path, avoiding the extremes. Therefore, this might finally be a case where Labour’s centrist strategy is actually working this year. They might not be able to entirely win the debate over law and order, but they have effectively neutralised what was becoming their biggest electoral vulnerability.

Further reading on law and order

Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): Government’s law change a political response – but the right one (paywalled)
James Halpin and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Gang policy also puts street racers in the crosshairs. Who else could be caught up?
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Gang crackdown: National, Greens unimpressed, expert approves ‘measured’ approach
John MacDonald (Herald): Gang crackdown more likely to be a let-down
Damien Venuto (Herald): Will the Government’s law changes make a difference in the fight on gangs?
Denis O’Reilly (Herald): ‘Wicked problems’ with gangs can’t be solved by proposed omnibus Amendment Bill
Cira Olivier (Herald): Bay of Plenty Mongrel Mob members say new laws targeting gangs won’t effect change
Luke Kirkness (Herald): The new legislation to tackle gangs and intimidating behaviour misses the mark (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Lifetime Black Power member Denis O’Reilly ‘disappointed’ at Government’s ‘shallow’ gang package, but Police Association supportive
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government’s gang package: National, ACT want more action, Greens concerned new police powers ‘attack’ on rights
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Mongrel Mob spokesperson sees Government crackdown on gangs as ‘PR stunt’
James Halpin, Glenn McConnell and Melanie Earley (Stuff): Government plans to expand search warrants in crackdown on gang violence
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Government’s gang crackdown: New seizure powers to police, new offence to tackle drive-by shootings
Aaron Hendry (1News): Why being tough on crime won’t help
Richard Prebble (Herald): Gangs and crime – ‘gesture politics’ and what the Government is getting wrong on law and order (paywalled)
1News: Govt’s anti-gang proposals well targeted – expert
Brad Lewis (Today FM): Police Minister Chris Hipkins standing by decision not to ban gang patches
Vita Molyneux (Herald): Gang lifestyle no longer ‘Once Were Warriors’ says Justice Minister Kiri Allan
Anna Whyte (1News): Gangs crackdown: Suite of new rules released by government
Herald: Bid to crackdown on gangs: Chris Hipkins and Kiri Allan announce new laws
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): New Zealand faces a significant crime issue, and it’s not gangs (paywalled)
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): National accuses Labour of letting criminals operate with impunity as assaults on police rise
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Judicial conduct: The curious case of the disappearing judge
1News: New drug testing tool to be rolled out for frontline police
Joanne Naish (Stuff): Unlawful $3.41m Pike River payout came from an insurance company

Other items of interest and importance this week

HEALTH
Tova O’Brien (Today FM): ‘Our crisis is now and our Prime Minister is too proud to admit it’
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Nurses’ organisation asks health minister to focus on health crisis instead of putdowns
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Andrew Little slammed for ‘just not helpful’ comments accusing NZ Nurses Organisation of ‘sitting in Wellington’
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Andrew Little explains why he’s refusing to say health system in ‘crisis’ in tense AM interview
Lloyd Burr (Today FM): Andrew Little is burying his head in sand over refusal to acknowledge health sector
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): One in three New Zealanders borrow money to pay medical bills, survey finds
Rachel Smalley (NBR): Simple but clever plan ignored by Health ministry (paywalled)
Tina Morrison (Stuff): Private healthcare benefits when public falls short
Jayden Holmes (Today FM): Health NZ Chair – ‘There is no use just running around shoving sticking plasters on things’
Chris Hobson (Stuff): Who the hell would want to work in healthcare?
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Andrew Little refuses to call buckling health system ‘crisis’ as figures reveal big jump in reports of understaffing causing safety risks
Stephen Forbes (Local Democracy Reporting): GPs say govt funding model broken as primary healthcare struggles under the strain
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): ‘It will break many’: doctors’ survey paints clear picture of workforce crisis
Morgane Solignac (Stuff): ‘It’s as hard to hire a doctor than [it is] a manufacturer,’ says labour group
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Andrew Little’s bad week
Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Surgery waiting list delays mean people waiting since last September only being seen now
Waatea News: Doctors feel broken as system reaches crisis point
Waatea News: Pressure on hospitals unprecedented

COVID
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): Let’s not do lockdown again
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Bring back the Alert Level system
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): Covid ‘advice’ should not be fear-mongering
Adam Pearse (Herald): Govt’s mask and test push face uphill battle
Jamie Morton (Herald): Q&A: What Omicron wave means for NZ’s Long Covid risk
Lloyd Burr (Today FM): Is our current mask approach still the correct one
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Masks need to be mandated in most indoor settings to prevent really grim winter – Baker
Amelia Wade (Newshub): Government reveals three new COVID-19 strategies, but Michael Bakers wants masks mandated more indoors

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: PACIFIC AND CHINA
Tova O’Brien (Today FM): I hope Jacinda Ardern’s having a good time in Fiji
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Pacific strategy set as questions linger
Michael Neilson (Herald): Why US power play in the Pacific could ‘backfire’ and hurt NZ (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Upping the ante in the Pacific
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Seeds of strategic conflict sprouting in Pacific
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): Superpowers cast big shadow on Pacific forum
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): Withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum is least of Kiribati’s problems
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Pacific Islands Forum a chance for New Zealand to reset strategy, says academic
Aupito William Sio (Herald): Why NZ’s role in Pacific is vital for nation and planet
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): Mahuta says 2050 Strategy will keep Pacific connected, free and safe
Waatea News: Māori vulnerable to Pacific China fall-out

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: GENERAL
Matthew Hooton (Herald): PM Jacinda Ardern’s foreign policy lacks coherent message (paywalled)
Brigitte Morten (NBR): Trans-Tasman trip offers hope of cross-country accord (paywalled)
Robert G Patman (Herald): New Zealand and the Post-Johnson era in the UK (paywalled)
Serena Kelly (The Conversation): A trade deal with the EU makes sense for NZ, but what’s in it for Europe? Symbolically, a lot

LABOUR SHORTAGES AND MIGRATION
Damien Venuto (Herald): ‘$90k the new $70k’: NZ workers have 20,000 incentives to quit (paywalled)
William Hewett (Stuff): Cost of Living: MYOB poll shows more than 1 million Kiwis actively considering leaving NZ
Tess McClure (The Guardian): 100% pure rip-off? New Zealand voted second-worst place to move to
Siobhan Downes (Stuff): New Zealand ranked second-worst place in the world for expats, according to survey
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Australia and NZ are both touting a residency ‘fast track’ – but how fast are we talking? (paywalled)
Richard Harman: The big migration has begun; NZers leave for Australia (paywalled)

ECONOMY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): We may not have recession this year, but it will feel like it, Infometrics warns
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Hold on for six to 12 months’: Things will be looking better this time next year, economist says
Matthew Martin (Stuff): Cost of living ‘ripping the social fabric out of towns like Tokoroa’
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Five charts that hint at a recession in NZ (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Only tourists coming back will avoid recession (paywalled)
Tony Alexander (One Roof): Businesses are going to fail – but who’s to blame?
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Households will pay for 9% structural increase in electricity prices (paywalled)
Anne Gibson (Herald): Inside Kiwi billionaire Graeme Hart’s expanding empire (paywalled)
George Block (Herald): Royalty, rich-listers and private jets, inside the resurgent NZ luxury tourism market (paywalled)
Matthew Scott (Newsroom): The iwi in the thick of the property game

HOUSING
Dileepa Fonseka (Stuff): Building more houses, faster – the Government project to drastically shorten the amount of time it takes to build a house
Vic Crockford (Newsroom): To solve our housing crisis, let’s learn from what’s already working
Brigitte Morten (Stuff): Why is the Government talking up its spectacular failure on housing?
Steven Joyce (Herald): Motel generation deserves better — fast (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government faces 60-year debt blowout after building costs explode
Emma Bernard (Herald): Homelessness for older people now a ‘critical issue’ in Whanganui
Brent Edwards (NBR): No definitive date for when State house waiting list will fall (paywalled)
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Kāinga Ora faces 60 years of unmanageable debt, Megan Woods warned (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Megan Woods not ruling out cuts to funding for housing for disabled people
Stephen Forbes (Newstalk): Auckland trust struggling to provide homes for families after Govt funding cuts
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Half of Kāinga Ora homes still not up to healthy homes standard
Felix Desmarais (Local Democracy Reporting): Rotorua needs emergency housing for at least five more years, says council boss in ‘stark reality check’
Michael Neilson (Herald): Housing Minister hits back at criticism over ‘slow’ building programme
RNZ: House prices nationally drop 3.4% in June quarter, QV data shows
Tina Law (Stuff): ‘Unfair’ two-tiered social rental scheme sees Christchurch tenants paying different rents
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Health NZ facing unique challenges over Wellington Hospital works
Ben van Bruggen (Stuff): Finding a way through our urban housing dilemma
Damien Venuto (Herald): Villa wars explained – Will intensification cause Auckland to lose its ‘special character’?

GOVERNMENT
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Performative caring
Tova O’Brien (Today FM): Will #resignjacinda prove to be true?
Andrea Vance (Stuff): In a labour crisis, the Government has no trouble staffing the bloated Wellington bureaucracy
Peter Dunne: Our winter of Discontent
Bill Ralston (Listener/Herald): The Labour Government’s dead wood is dragging it down (paywalled)
Jo Moir (Newsroom): The minister for all things rural
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): PM Jacinda Ardern asked what it’s like to be ‘more popular’ overseas than in NZ during tense interview
Anna Whyte (1News): Recent ‘minor’ Cabinet reshuffle triggers change for 29 staff
Duncan Garner (NBR): Steve is desperate, Prime Minister – can you help? (paywalled)
The Standard: How Can Labour Win in 2023?
Mike Hosking (Newstalk): Govt is more and more out of touch from the real world
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of The Anti-Ardernists (paywalled)

POLITICAL DONATIONS
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Who are New Zealand’s biggest political donors?
Max Rashbrooke and Lisa Marriott (The Conversation): ‘They’re nice to me, I’m nice to them’: new research sheds light on what motivates political party donors in New Zealand
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Donors have ‘greater access to politicians than the rest of us would enjoy,’ researcher says
Sam Hurley (Herald): NZ First Foundation case: Accused argues elections at risk if named as courtroom suppression battle continues
RNZ: NZ First Foundation case: Pair lose bid for continuing name suppression
Bob Jones: Funding political parties

PARLIAMENT AND ELECTIONS
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ACT Party leader David Seymour wants apology over Māori Party joke
William Hewett (Newshub): ACT Leader David Seymour slams Te Pāti Māori for ‘threatening violence’ in jokes about him
Claire Trevett (Herald): Act leader David Seymour says Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi’s joke a step too far
David Farrar: Roy Morgan poll June 2022
Azaria Howell (Salient): Members of Green Party youth wing set to hold vote of no-confidence in co-leader James Shaw
Steven Cowan: If James Shaw is shown the door, then why isn’t Marama Davidson?
Jo Moir (Newsroom): Seymour’s swipe at Luxon’s National Party
Jane Clifton (Listener/Herald): Christopher Luxon was wrong to muzzle Simon O’Connor over abortion stance (paywalled)
1News: Luxon defends comments calling NZ businesses ‘soft’

CULTURE WARS
Chris Trotter: Rumours of [Civil] War
Simon Wilson (Herald): David Seymour stoking the fires of a culture war (paywalled)
David Seymour (Herald): Debating one-person-one-vote is not being a racist (paywalled)
Morgan Godfery (Stuff): The Māori Health Authority isn’t separatist. It’s necessary
Chris Trotter: Defending Dame Lynley

EXTREMISM CENTRE
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Strange case of the de-selected professor
David Fisher (Herald): PM’s terrorism, extremism expert Prof Richard Jackson hired then dropped (paywalled)
Karl du Fresne: The intriguing circumstances in which Joanna Kidman was appointed to show us the way against hatred and extremism

VOTING AGE
Zarina Hewlett (Today FM): Two Sides: Should 16-year-olds have the right to vote?
Christina Huang (1News): Voting age case to be heard by Supreme Court
Brent Edwards (NBR): Political parties keep keen eye on Supreme Court voting age case (paywalled)
Stuff: Supreme Court hearing minimum voting age case
Herald: Make it 16 campaign hearing begins in Supreme Court today
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Supreme Court hears Make It 16 arguments (paywalled)
Catherine Hubbard (Stuff): Leading environmental researcher calls for votes for youth

ACT PARTY
Chris Trotter (Interest): David Seymour enlists history in ACT’s struggle for power
Audrey Young (Herald): Act Party’s 25 years in Parliament – the best and worst (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): ACT must remember it won’t be the star of the show
Brent Edwards (NBR): The problems Act poses for National Party (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): David Seymour’s 100-day gauntlet and the return of devil-beast politics
Claire Trevett (Herald): Act leader David Seymour switches tactics as National’s Christopher Luxon hits his polling (paywalled)
Claire Trevett (Herald): Act’s first 100 days plan: David Seymour on what he’d want in a National-Act government
RNZ: David Seymour promises ‘full investigation’ into Labour’s handling of Covid-19 if ACT forms next Government
Giles Dexter (RNZ): ‘Prepare like we’re going to win’ – Inside ACT’s annual conference
RNZ: Inside ACT’s annual conference: ‘Laundry list’ of reversals, digs at National, Covid response investigation
1News: Seymour criticises National, releases plan to reverse Labour policies

TE PATI MĀORI
Sandra Conchie (Herald): Māori Party president likens inequality among Māori as being ‘enslaved’
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): Te Pāti Māori focuses on ‘decolonising and reindiginising’ Aotearoa at Rotorua conference
1News: ‘Dawn of a new era’ theme of Te Pati Māori conference
Waatea News: Younger interest in Pāti Māori AGM

CHILDCARE PROTECTION AND ORANGA TAMARIKI
Fleur Te Aho (Herald): The promise of a Māori-led transformation of Oranga Tamariki is lacking in new bill
Claire Breen (The Conversation): Changes to the way Oranga Tamariki is monitored risk weakening children’s rights and protections – what should be done?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Kelvin Davis on the hunt for government departments failing vulnerable children
Ryan McLean (Stuff): Objective independent oversight of Oranga Tamariki, children’s agencies overdue
ODT: Editorial – Oranga Tamariki Bill delay needed
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Carmel Sepiloni’s Q&A interview on gagging Children’s Commissioner’s Oranga Tamariki Oversight isn’t good enough
Newshub: Oranga Tamariki oversight: Carmel Sepuloni defends controversial move in AM interview

EDUCATION
Emma Hatton (Newsroom): Questions over whether mega-polytech will be ready
Mike Mather (Stuff): Damning report reveals financial meltdown at new mega polytech Te Pūkenga
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Polytech merger mess ‘just gets messier’, National’s Penny Simmonds (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Why the mega-polytech mess is so politically dangerous for Labour (paywalled)

A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will deep dive into the big picture that hangs over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

That big picture has many aspects to it, and as such any resolution to the atrocities being committed in Ukraine will likely be weighed against what is a challenge to the International law and rules-based order.

In a previous episode in this series, Paul Buchanan and I examined how the world was transitioning into a democracies versus authoritarian bipolarity. (ref. EveningReport.nz)

This episode continues in that theme, but digs down into how descendent powers, or nations, tend to create, or become entrenched, in wars, and how Russia, in 2022, fits this pattern. And, there are comparisons to global western powers too, which we will draw on.

But in this episode we will go further. We will examine how transitional international moments, conflict as a systems regulator, can move to counter Russia.

In 2022, the United Nations security council, due to the P5 nations having veto powers, appears no longer fit for purpose. A UN-led multilateral response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unlikely.

The UN general assembly appears frustrated by Russia’s refusal to acknowledge the combined insistence of the UNGA that it cease its war against Ukraine.

Against this backdrop, NATO, at this juncture, cannot directly defend Ukraine as Ukraine was not able to become a NATO member state before Russia invaded its territory.

Sometimes rules and law provide security and stability in the world. And sometimes, as we have seen in 2022, it permits conflict to burn on.

As we will discuss, the global rules-based order is fast changing in 2022. And as such, this underscores a need to re-set the international system.

But what can be done to stop people from being killed in this unprovoked war – a war that in many ways illustrates a wider war between democracies and authoritarians, as the world transitions toward a new bipolarity.

These are huge challenges that require sensible analysis.

Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.

You can comment on this debate by clicking on one of these social media channels and interacting in the social media’s comment area. Here are the links:

• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Youtube
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.