Chris Luxon, already one of the highest-paid leaders in the Western world with a salary and perks package well north of $500,000 (UK PM NZ$327k, France Pres NZ$339k, Canada PM NZ$483k, US Pres NZ$669k) has been in the gun over his entitlement to claim a further $52,000 tax free to rent his own home for two nights a week.

3 March 2024

Mental Health Minister: when you call an ambulance, they send the cops, that’s got to change

A whack to the head as a kid and he’s never been the same - NZ’s first Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey reveals how his own trauma is guiding his vision for the new portfolio, and why he’s awarded a $6m major supplier contract without going through the standard procurement process.

1 March 2024

The Treaty of Waitangi either grants Māori too much power or not enough

Dominic O'Sullivan, an academic in political science, says Parliament’s move to disband the Māori Health Authority, circumventing a Waitangi Tribunal hearing, has ignited discussions on the Treaty's principles and their application in modern governance.

2 March 2024

No more special treatment - CDC says now treat COVID like the common flu

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken a significant step in adjusting public health guidelines to signal a shift towards treating COVID more like the flu and other circulating respiratory illnesses.

2 March 2024

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is Dying – University of Florida terminates DEI programs

Florida University’s Chief Diversity Officer has turned out to be the first up against the wall as the anti-DEI revolution comes, but they won’t be the last as the fightback against DEI employment grows.

4 March 2024

Box Office Flop – New Zealand Film Commission faces restructuring and layoffs

The reviews are in, and nearly half the staff at NZ Film Commission face being left on the cutting room floor after $85 million worth of taxpayer funding was gambled on more than 40 box office disasters. What went wrong?

1 March 2024

FOI request uncovers major inaccuracies in UK Met Office temperature data

Trust in global temperature record databases used to ‘prove’ climate change took another big hit this week with revelations that up to a third of UK weather stations surveyed had errors of up to 5°C while nearly half were up to 2°C out in a time when “hottest years” are being allegedly measured to one-tenth of a degree (0.1C°).

28 February 2024

Study – Vitamin D works better than vaccines to lower COVID risk and ICU admissions? 

The idea that maintaining good vitamin D levels might do more to shift the dial on resistance to covid than vaccines gained another boost this week with a major Italian study.

19 January 2024

How the global obesity crisis is threatening financial stability

Professor Rachel Batterham of University College London, a specialist in obesity issues, writes that the rising number of obese people globally is expected to weigh down our economies in health and other costs. New research suggests women may be worse off than men.