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MS Butler

@marsbutler.bsky.social
573 followers 984 following 217 posts

“It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine / te rā...” 🌤 Aotearoa NZ 🌏 🌈 🤲

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Reposted by MS Butler
Foxes @foxylustygrover.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
1/2 When the only thing growing is leadership speculation Andrea Vance September 21, 2025 Some highlights below, source in threaded post #NZPol
OPINION: Back in February, the Government launched a glossy new website to accompany Christopher Luxon’s ‘Going for Growth’ push.

It was the theme of his State of the Nation speech. A rebrand for 2025, which was to be the year of growth.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis was given a new title - Minister for Economic Growth - and charged with turning slogans into results. Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop was dispatched with his shiny new shovel to turn sods into roads, science centres, and bitumen import terminals.

The website has not been updated since.

It is hard to think of a better metaphor for the Government’s economic story so far.

A slick launch, big promises, and then ... nothing.Ten of the 16 industry sectors measured by Stats NZ went backwards, including manufacturing, construction, retail and healthcare.

Willis tried to pin the blame on US President Donald Trump, whose Liberation Day tariffs were announced in early April. “The economy had been growing strongly in the previous six months, but suddenly had the stuffing knocked out of it,” she told reporters.

That’s a hard sell. For one thing, the real hit to export receipts won’t show up until later this year.

For another, other countries facing the same tariffs have managed to keep growing: Australia rose 0.6%, the EU 0.2%, the UK 0.3%. Even Canada, which did go backwards, shrank by less than half our rate.

And GDP has fallen in nine of the past 15 months, long before Trump’s tariffs landed.

Willis insisted the picture is not as bleak as the June quarter suggests. She called the figures “backward-looking”, and pointed to falling interest rates and signs of improved sentiment.For weeks, she and Luxon have been trying to talk up the economy. Following the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the OCR to 3% in August, she decried the “merchants of misery” who were doubting the recovery.

It’s a bit rich. In 2023, National spent months doom-mongering about the state of the economy under Labour.

Once in office, they doubled down on the narrative that everything was a mess. Even as Willis tried to spin the latest figures as temporary turbulence, she was weaving horror stories about the country’s debt burden.Someone has to take the blame. If not Luxon, Willis is the obvious target.

The finance minister is front and centre in the Government’s ‘year of growth’ story, and she is often talked about as a potential leadership contender herself.

Much has been written about caucus wariness to oust a sitting prime minister and open up factions and old wounds in the process.

But there are two other factors to consider: Winston Peters and David Seymour. History, and Jenny Shipley, will tell you it’s a bad move to remove a leader with whom Peters is in coalition. At least without his express permission.

Luxon’s continuing weak leadership boosts both parties’ vote share next year. Willis poses more of a threat.

In the scramble to protect his position, the next question becomes: who blinks first?
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Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Anyone who is attending this in Auckland - heads up. Change of plan due to forecasted winds of up to 80 km/hour on the bridge tomorrow. Still going ahead but change of location #nzpol #auckland #kiwi
Gaza March for Humanity remains 9.30am, Saturday 13 September, but will now assemble at Aotea Square. The march will then proceed through the CBD, concluding at Victoria Park

With an image of Aotea Square this below
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GreenEggs| Toitū Te Tiriti @hekikakariki.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
#nzpol IT’S HERE!!! youtu.be/QLOjiiC3P1Y?... #atlasnetwork @lucyham.bsky.social
youtu.be
Mata Reports | ACT: The Foreign Influences That Have Shaped David Seymour's Political Agenda | RNZ
YouTube video by RNZ
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Kay in the End Times 🏳️‍🌈 💗💜💙📚 @jennykaynz.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Good work by @paulapenfold.bsky.social following up conflict of interest story involving former ACC manager JohnBennett seconded to #HealthNZ And $1M contract to mate. Looks dodgy as. #NZpol www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3606...
stuff.co.nz
ACC admits failings as controversial ex-manager’s emails emerge
A former senior ACC exec left out details when he disclosed a conflict of interest. Now the government agency has launched another review of its processes.
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Salty Sea Hag @kasiazoe.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
#nzseedsaving #nzpol Does anyone know of Aotearoa seed saving and seed swapping Bluesky groups please? I've only put in nzpol so I get a response as I've no idea which hashtag names will get a response. Food as a lure.
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Kelsy - formerly Faiako @kelsy.co.nz · 25/04/2025
Abilities Group had the building that caught fire in Glenfield yesterday - not only are they a service provider for the Shore, they're also an employer of over 100 people with disabilities and they're now asking for donations to assist with rebuilding and supporting their staff.
givealittle.co.nz
Abilities Group
Abilities Group asks for your help, as we support our 100+ disabled staff and volunteers following a devastating fire.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
🙄🥹 www.1news.co.nz/2025/04/24/j...
1news.co.nz
John Campbell on Destiny Church: ‘I’ve never encountered so much fear’
Today John Campbell launches Under His Command, a five-part investigation into Destiny Church and the women who live in its shadows.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04... #nzpol
abc.net.au
Growing questions in NZ about organisation called Atlas Network
In New Zealand, there is now a conversation about an organisation called Atlas Network and whether or not it has influenced the right-bloc government's agenda.
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Jane @janethoye.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Check out this new multi-lingual, culturally diverse cookbook full of community-sourced recipes from across NZ, celebrating the sharing of food with whānau and friends. gbb.org.nz/shop/familia... @goodbitchesbake is the NFP I work with, and we're super proud of it.
Front cover of Familiar Foods: Treats of Aotearoa cookbook. Teaspoons arranged with spices on their bowls
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Simon O'Neill @sjponeill.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
To make a submission, visit www.covid19inquiry.nz or call 0800 500 306.
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Gary Chiles 🚲 🍄 ☕ 🦚 🐱 𝟜 𝟚𝟘 @testtubeone.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Locked Out with Craig Renney Finn Cordwell - Living Wage Wellington Community Organiser. The living wage. #nzpol
youtu.be
Ep02 Finn Cordwell on the Living Wage
YouTube video by DOC Studios
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Phil Twyford @philtwyford.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Grattan Institute says expanding skilled migration visa a better option: "...a better approach is...trying to identify talented people that have started businesses overseas and bringing them here, rather than just bringing people with lots of money.” 2/2
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Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
What happend to David Seymour's claims that Atlas Network is a conspiracy? Looking back after a year. #nzpol
youtube.com
David Seymour and the Atlas Network Conspiracy - Is it Real?
YouTube video by Mountain Tui
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Oh sheesh 😬 Gift article from NYT. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/u...
nytimes.com
Elon Musk and His Friends Help Trump Shake Up the Government (Gift Article)
The billionaire and his Silicon Valley allies landed in Washington and immediately moved to cut the size of the federal government, reprising the playbook he used after buying Twitter in 2022.
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Duncan Webb MP @duncanwebbmp.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Don't let McKee loosen our gun laws! Have your say by the 28th Feb. You can make a submission by: Link: consultations.justice.govt.nz/policy/publi... Email: firearms@justice.govt.nz Post: Firearms Policy Ministry of Justice – National Office DX SX10088 Wellington
Arms Act Reform
Submissions close 28 February
Keep NZ Safe
Make a submission today

Authorised by Duncan Webb, Parliament Buildings Wellington
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Psych-Recruitment @psych-recruitment.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Best Location: Each week, we spotlight a New Zealand location with strong immigration prospects for overseas psychologists. This week, we are featuring Invercargill, the southernmost and most affordable city in New Zealand. Check out our Invercargill blog post: zurl.co/ibmvl #psychology
Invercargill psychology jobs mental health New Zealand
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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Didn't realise NZ Herald was into free publicly for Free Speech Union by running a lazy op-ed copy/pasted from a press release. Prof Donna Haraway calls this “a conquering gaze from nowhere” - an uninvested, vapid framing that's seemingly "objective" but “represent[s] while escaping representation”.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Well worth a read
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Ko Ess Ahau ☀️😷 @occasio.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Consumer writes about not paying Microsoft 365 price increase / don’t pay it NZ
consumer.org.nz
You don’t have to pay the Microsoft 365 price increase
Here’s how to keep the price of your subscription the same as it’s always been.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
What we know about HMPV www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/h...
nytimes.com
What We Know About HMPV, the Virus Spreading in China (Gift Article)
While cases are climbing in China, the situation is very different from what it was when Covid-19 emerged five years ago, medical experts say. HMPV is common and decades old.
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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Me too. It's gone under the radar to a large degree, but the consequences of it becoming law will be disastrous. I also don't have the expertise to properly criticise it but I found this hugely helpful especially the Linktree links provided near the bottom. melanienelson.substack.com/p/will-the-r...
melanienelson.substack.com
Will the Regulatory Standards Bill Silence te Tiriti?
Unpacking the Proposed RSB's Impacts on te Tiriti and Māori Rights
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SMC @smcross.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Very helpful summary making it easy to submit your thoughts on the latest tranch of bills being pushed through NZ parliament
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Alison Campbell @acampbelteacher.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
If you haven't made a submission yet, please consider doing so. Soon. It profoundly sucks that the submission period for all these runs over the summer break. OK fine, what submissions do I have to make FFS?! open.substack.com/pub/emilywri...
open.substack.com
OK fine, what submissions do I have to make FFS?!
Don't worry - I got you. Here's everything you need in one place!
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
"While the Bill claims to promote clarity, conversation, & social cohesion, the evidence clearly indicates it has instead fuelled division, misinformation, & harmful rhetoric in Aotearoa New Zealand, growing at pace." A stunning, research-based piece, by Dr Hattotuwa. 🤲 Essential reading
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
The children evacuatd from Gaza for treatment of dire injuries 🥹 (free to read). ://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/world/middleeast/gaza-children-evacuated.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lU4.sb35.eioHwVK_prKu&smid=url-share
nytimes.com
The Children Who Left Gaza (Gift Article)
Sixteen young people evacuated from Gaza for treatment of dire injuries. Months later, they face new lives in an unfamiliar country.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
MSD placing barriers for those urgently seeking housing. "There are credible reports that to verify applicants because they're victims of domestic violence, MSD staff are encouraged to phone the abusive partner to confirm their partner did not contribute to the violence" 😳😡 #NZpoli
MSD placing barriers for those urgently seeking housing.

"There are credible reports that to verify applicants because they're victims of domestic violence, MSD staff are encouraged to phone the abusive partner to confirm their partner did not contribute to the violence" 😳😡
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Kay in the End Times 🏳️‍🌈 💗💜💙📚 @jennykaynz.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
NZ Govt: "We have a whooping cough epidemic, please get vaccinated especially if you're pregnant" 💉🤰 Also NZGovt - you health professionals want funding to be able to vaccinate patients? A big NO! ⚕️💉💲❌ #NZpol #HealthNZ #NZHealth www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
rnz.co.nz
Immunisation programme faces funding cut, as whooping cough looms
The successful programme for pregnant Māori and Pasifika and their babies in South Auckland has been forced to cut services, amid warnings of a whooping cough epidemic.
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GreenEggs| Toitū Te Tiriti @hekikakariki.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
#nzpol #atlasnetwork This is the regulation that is doing the actual damage. As important as it is, the TPB is running distraction from this particularly odious piece of legislation. They are seeking to built our country on a libertarian foundation. Please submit e te whānau 💚
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Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
In which I write about no-cause evictions, Nicola Willis stuffing up finances again and how this is a fundamental lipstick on pig government. Happy festive season, Bluesky and thanks for allowing me to join your family this year. #Kiwi
substack.com
A Lipstick Government
Social services, no-cause evictions, terror of job cuts over Christmas, and putting lipstick on new laws.
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MeatMechSuit @meatmechsuit.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
This bastard goes on about equal rights whilst trying to get a bill through that *goes against the Bill of Rights* They want poors and Māori to have nothing.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
"It’s why this govt - who appear to be advised by these lobbyists - have confidence to keep pushing the envelope to their ideology, & detractors & evidence are unimportant - because the goal isn’t unity or social cohesion - it’s power..." 🤲👏👏👏
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Paula Penfold @paulapenfold.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Here’s the timeline setting out how in the space of a week the assault by Vietnamese officials went from case closed to all of a sudden not. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3605...
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Two of Braunias' Xmas carols #NZpoli newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/14/t...
CHRISTOPHER LUXON

Ah, ah-ah
Ooh-woah
Oh-oh

Last Christmas, you gave me your vote
But the very next year
I threw it away.
This year, I’m down in the polls
But oh well never mind
I’m off on my summer hols.

I once listened to good advice
Kept my distance, but got back in the media game
Now I know what a fool I’ve been
To sit down and get savaged by Jack Tame.

Last Christmas, I was newly elected
But the very next year
People want me de-selected.
This year, I’m down on my luck
But my message to you
Is I’m sorted, and don’t give a ***.DAVID SEYMOUR

I am the King of Coalition
Out with Luxon, in with a grin.
He does my bidding, I keep winning
That’s pretty much the situation.

The problem with the damned Maoris are
They talk too much, they say kia ora
They don’t speak English, let me finish
All that Waitangi crap goes too far.
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Linas NZ @linasj.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Oct 2024: After nearly 4.5 years of pioneering research, analysis, and reporting on the growing landscape of disinformation in Aotearoa, The Disinformation Project is closing as our small team moves on to new things. :( www.thedisinfoproject.org #disinformation #conspiracytheories #nz #nzpol
thedisinfoproject.org
The Disinformation Project
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
"In her fatuous accusation that KiwiRail had irresponsibly opted for Ferrari instead of Toyota, Willis got it back-to-front. What NZ actually secured were Ferrari-standard ferries at Toyota price. "In unilaterally tearing up KiwiRail $saving contract, Willis signalled NZ’s signature means nothing.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Please listen, important kōrero. And submit! Whilst NACT are deflecting, DS / ACT are continuing their agenda. www.youtube.com/live/vhbp1nn...
youtube.com
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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Associate Professor Suze Wilson @suzewilson.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Some thoughts from me on the govt's failure of #leadership in deciding to cut social sciences and humanities from the Marsden Fund. #nzpol #AcademicSky www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3605...
A very unhappy looking Minister of Defence, Judith Collins, when considering the grounding of the Manawanui. If only she looked that unhappy when cutting social sciences and humanities from the Marsden Fund.
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
"Willis' handling of replacing the inter-island ferries has been a masterclass in incompetence"
Willis' handling of replacing the inter-island ferries has been a masterclass in incompetence"
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Tula Brannelly @tulabrannelly.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Signatures needed to save socsci research in Aotearoa. www.together.org.nz/love_humanit...
together.org.nz
Save Humanities and Social Sciences
Join us in building a better world
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Pat Brittenden @patbrittenden.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
#BHN Breaking News The CTUs Craig Renney will also join the conversation live at 9pm to talk the ferry announcement of an announcement #nzpol @chewienz.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/bdbpGXQ...
youtube.com
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Garner: "What goes up must come down, but in Luxon’s case, what didn’t go up very far needed to go further, & now it’s coming back down it won’t take long before it’s all over. I think his popularity, if you can call it that, has peaked – & if he had a honeymoon,(we) must've missed it..." 🤔 #nzpoli
What goes up must come down, but in Christopher Luxon’s case, what didn’t go up very far needed to go further, and now it’s coming back down it won’t take long before it’s all over. Ithink Luxon’s popularity, if you can call it that, has peaked – and if he had a honeymoon, I, like most of the country, must have missed itNow bring in race relations, something Luxon and his advisors engineered by giving Act its wish to push its Treaty Principles Bill. At a personal level, a hīkoī to protest against this might be a distraction – a sideshow – when you’re desperately looking for work or needing more hours to make ends meet; when you can’t get seen in our hospitals; or if you lose your home after you lose your job. But at a societal level, with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis and more job losses to come, then it contributes to a picture of a governing party far from in control of the situation.With all this going on, Luxon pumps out numerous social media videos telling us the economy is on track, things are turning a corner and everything else is set to boom! It’s starting to look deluded, out of touch, insincere and, frankly, almost unbecoming of someone holding the office of Prime Minister.Questions of whether our PM is out of touch with the public sentiment and mood have long been raised, but they’re getting louder and it’s all converging to add to his polling woes.Many are feeling so down about our fortunes and future they are heading to Australia – a vote of no confidence in New Zealand and, by association, Luxon’s government.Luxon has never enjoyed a strong base of personal support in the polls. You could say this inability to set the polls alight is the reason National was forced to enter a three-way coalition..
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Sarah Pallett @sarah4ilam.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Any researchers out there with opinions about the cuts to Marsden funding? Contact Deborah - she want to hear from you. And can actually help. #nzpol
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Alison Campbell @acampbelteacher.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Anyway, I wrote a thing: blog.waikato.ac.nz/bioblog/2024... I don't have a big following, but this isn't something we should let go without speaking about it.
blog.waikato.ac.nz
changes to the Marsden Fund seem very short-sighted : BioBlog
Aotearoa NZ has for many years funded what’s known as “blue-sky” research via the Marsden Fund. This afternoon, social media platform BlueSky¹ is full of posts commenting on the NZ government’s decisi...
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Chris Slane @slanecartoon.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Dinosaurs of Aotearoa #nzpol sketch #carbon
Dinosaurs of Aotearoa Exhibition
Visitor “It says they were aiming to be asteroid-free by the end of the Cretaceous”
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Oliver L @eey0re.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
And now we have the answer: the Auditor-General agrees. Redundancies and holiday back pay was counted in the year before they were incurred. Former CFO Rosalie Hughes is vindicated, and Lester Levy is left looking quite untrustworthy.
newsroom.co.nz
Health NZ commissioner loses $130m battle with Auditor-General
Ministers have agreed to provide Lester Levy a 'letter of comfort' guaranteeing a billion-dollar bailout if needed. Jonathan Milne investigates.
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Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles @siouxsiew.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Some comments from me, @nicgaston.bsky.social, @troybaisden.bsky.social & @nicrawlencenz.bsky.social on the gutting of funding for humanities and social sciences in Aotearoa New Zealand… www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2024/12/04/g...
sciencemediacentre.co.nz
Govt cuts humanities and social science funding - Expert Reaction
Humanities and social science funding has been cut from the Marsden Fund, the main fund for 'blue-skies' research in Aotearoa New Zealand. The areas that have been cut include research in subjects lik...
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NZ Stuff Posts @shanila.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3605...
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Chris Slane @slanecartoon.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Big promises #nzpol #cartoon www.slanecartoon.com/-/galleries/...
slanecartoon.com
CHRIS SLANE CARTOONS | Firm Budget Footing
Cartoon depicts a crumbling rocky cliff and two people walking off the edge poised to fall. NZ National Party leader Christopher Luxon is tossing up a cricket ball ready with a bat "I can keep smashin...
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MS Butler @marsbutler.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Aah this is easier to read. #nzpoli
Wilson opinion on the Govt's first year: more performance, less performative
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