(National Party media release)

A grim new record has been broken by the Labour Government, which has delivered the highest number of children living in benefit dependant households, National’s Child Poverty Reduction spokesperson Louise Upston says.

Data released by the Ministry of Social Development shows that over 211,000 children are living in benefit dependent homes across New Zealand; the highest on record.

“It is mindboggling that Labour claims it is making progress in reducing child poverty when it has delivered 39,000 more children living in benefit dependent homes in just six years.

“The talk just doesn’t match the facts. “With benefit numbers forecast to rise even further as the recession bites, it’s likely more families will be pushed into benefit dependency in the coming months.

“Research shows that one of the most important factors in predicting whether a student will fail to achieve NCEA level 1 and 2 is growing up in a benefit dependent household.

“Lifting more New Zealanders out of benefit dependency is one of the most important things we can do to ensure every Kiwi kid can get the world class education they deserve and the opportunity of a great start in life.

“National knows that real change is needed. Through a strong economy we can reduce the cost-of-living, lift incomes for all, and afford the public services that will help lift families and their children out of hardship and into a brighter future.”

Mining cobalt for EV batteries. Why do the neo-Marxists in the Labour/Green/Maori Parties who pretend to be concerned about dark-skinned people never say anything about it?

by Ross Muir

New Zealand’s potential role in the AUKUS defence pact will be up for discussion in closed-door meetings in Wellington involving Australian PM Albanese, Blinken (US Secretary of State ), Hipkins and Mahuta.

The US suspended its obligations to New Zealand under the ANZUS treaty in 1986, in response to the introduction of a nuclear-free policy by NZ’s Fourth Labour Government, however, New Zealand was invited to participate in the joint US-Australia ‘Talisman Sabre’ exercise for the first time in 2015, and has been a consistent participant since then, including in the 2023 edition of Talisman Sabre that is currently underway in northern Australia.

This year’s version is the biggest yet, involving 13 countries and some 30,000 troops.  Countries involved for the first time include Germany and India (the latter as an observer), while militaries from all three of the smaller Pacific Island nations that have standing armies are also on board: Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.  

However, it is not all plain sailing, for the prime purpose of AUKUS is the strengthening of the military alliance against China and its growing Pacific “threat”, yet China is our biggest market in both selling and buying, so we have to stay sweet with it — some complicated juggling of diplomatic talk is coming up.

With a weak fumbling Hipkins and an aggressive Mahuta looking after our interests, thank goodness any agreements will most likely be scheduled to become effective from next year, when hopefully we will have a new Administration in the Beehive.

by Christopher Ruthe

As readers know, New Zealand is in the midst of a debate concerning the basis of our constitutional arrangements and whether the so called principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) require a system of co-governance in NZ and whether the law should continue to be applied equally to all residents. 

The latest round in this debate comes from the comments of Jason Ake, described as “a well known and respected Māori broadcaster and an executive member of the Māori radio iwi network, Te Whakaruruhau”, and a former Radio NZ Board member.

His comments were about the then Minister of Justice Kiri Allan and her arrest for driving offenses. She resigned. Rather than see this as an instance of a mis-judgement by an individual leading to inevitable consequences, Mr Ake sees it through the lens of racial difference. 

First: The resignation of the Minister of Justice had nothing to do with the minister’s illegal driving — rather it was a conspiracy of hatred against a Māori MP (!) His words “There will be a cohort throwing their hands in feigned disbelief while quietly smirking that they contributed in some way to the palaver. When there’s blood in the water, the sharks circle, and they’re more than happy to digest every last morsel and watch the bones sink to the depths. It is a blood sport.”

Second. He identified two distinct groups in NZ and said the real crime here was not Ms Allan’s driving but “we [Māori] live longer, but we continue to lag behind Pākehās [sic]. That’s the real crime here, and much of it is borne out.”

Third.  It is legally abhorrent “that we as Māori must conform.” Requirement to conform to the law  is described as an “ideological premise”. Ms Allan failed to conform to the traffic law. The requirement of NZ traffic laws for all drivers to obey them i.e. conform. If subjecting Maori to the requirement to conform to the law is another form of oppression then the whole structure of law and legal processes become an issue.  One comment Ms Allan made about the claims she abused staff was “Where I come from we do things differently.”

Some are certain to view his claim that Maori have to conform to the laws is a crime to be illogical — or at least somewhat anarchical. Perhaps one should ask Mr Ake, would he expect a non-Maori minister of Justice to be fired by the Prime Minister? Was it really only because of the cohorts baying for blood that Ms Allan decided, of her own volition to resign? 

by Melkulangara Bhadrakumar on ronpaulinstitute.org

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The NATO Summit in Vilnius (July 11-12) signalled that there is absolutely no possibility of talks to settle the Ukraine war in a foreseeable future. The war will only intensify, as the US and its allies still hope to inflict a military defeat on Russia although that is clearly beyond their capability. 

On July 14, Gen Mark Milley, chairman of US joint chiefs of staff said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is “far from a failure” but the fight ahead will be “long” and “bloody”. Milley has a reputation for speaking what the White House wants to hear, no matter his professional judgment. Indeed, on July 19, the Biden administration announced additional security assistance of about $1.3 billion for Ukraine.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine”. That is to say, the US will be using funds in its Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program, which allows the administration to buy weapons from industry rather than pull from US weapons stocks. According to the Pentagon, the latest package includes four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and munitions; 152 mm artillery rounds; mine clearing equipment; and drones. 

Meanwhile, in an ominous development, no sooner than Russia let the UN-brokered grain deal expire on July 17, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky disclosed that he had sent official letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan suggesting to continue the grain deal without Russia’s participation. On the very next day, Kiev followed up with an official letter to the UN’s International Maritime Organization spelling out a new maritime corridor passing through Romania’s territorial waters and exclusive maritime economic zone in the north-western part of the Black Sea. Evidently, Kiev acted in concert with Romania (a NATO member country where the 101st Airborne Division of the US army is deployed).

Presumably, the US and NATO are in the loop while the UN’s imprimatur is being arranged. It goes without saying that the NATO has been working on a new maritime route in the Black Sea for sometime already.

This is a serious development, as it seems a precursor to involving the NATO in some way to challenge Russia’s domain dominance in the Black Sea. Indeed, the NATO’s Vilnius Summit Communiqué (July 11) had forecast that the alliance is gearing up for a vastly enhanced presence in the Black Sea region, which has been historically a Russian preserve, where it has important military bases. 

The relevant para in the NATO Communiqué said: “The Black Sea region is of strategic importance for the Alliance. This is further highlighted by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We underline our continued support to Allied regional efforts aimed at upholding security, safety, stability and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea region including, as appropriate, through the 1936 Montreux Convention. We will further monitor and assess developments in the region and enhance our situational awareness, with a particular focus on the threats to our security and potential opportunities for closer cooperation with our partners in the region, as appropriate.” [Emphasis added.] Four things need to be noted: 

• one, the Ukraine conflict has been singled out as the context; the focus is on Crimea; 
• two, “freedom of navigation” means an assertive US naval presence; reference to the 1936 Montreux Convention hinted at the role of Turkey, both as a NATO member country and the custodian of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits; 
• three, the NATO flags its intention to enhance its “situational awareness”, which as a military term involves four stages: observation, orientation, decision, and action. Situational awareness has two main elements, namely, one’s own knowledge of the situation and, secondly, one’s knowledge of what others are doing and might do if the situation were to change in certain ways. Simply put, the NATO surveillance of Russian activities in the Black Sea will intensify; and, 
• four, the NATO seeks closer cooperation with “our partners in the region” (read Ukraine).

Most certainly, a new maritime route in northwestern and western regions of the Black Sea along Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey (all of whom are NATO member countries) will cut off the Russian garrison in Transnistria (Moldava) and would boost Kiev’s capability to strike at Crimea. The NATO involvement would complicate any future Russian operations to liberate Odessa as well, which is historically a Russian city. Apart from the huge legacy of culture and history, Odessa is a port head for the industrial products of Russia and Ukraine.

The Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline (which the Ukrainian saboteurs blew up recently) is one of the best examples. The 2,471 km pipeline, the longest ammonia pipeline in the world, connected the world’s largest ammonia producer, TogliattiAzot, in Russia’s Samara region, with Odessa Port. In strategic terms, without control over Odessa, NATO cannot have force projection in the Black Sea region or hope to resurrect Ukraine as an anti-Russia outpost. Nor can NATO advance toward the Transcaucasus and the Caspian (bordering Iran) and Central Asia without dominating the Black Sea region. 

And for the same reasons, Russia cannot afford to cede the Black Sea region to the NATO, either. Odessa is a vital link in any land bridge along the Black Sea coast connecting the Russian hinterland with its garrison in Transnistria, Moldova (which the US is eyeing as a potential NATO member.) In fact, Crimea’s security will be endangered if hostile forces establish themselves in Odessa. (The attack on the Kerch Bridge [Crimea to Russian mainland] in October 2022 was staged from Odessa.) 

Clearly, the entire US project on the new maritime route is intended to pre-empt Russia from gaining control of Odessa. It factors in the strong likelihood that with the Ukrainian offensive floundering, Russia may soon launch its counter-offensive in the direction of Odessa. From the Russian perspective, this becomes an existential moment. NATO has virtually encircled the Russian Navy in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea (with the induction of Sweden and Finland as members). The freedom of navigation of the Baltic Fleet and the dominance in the Black Sea, therefore, become all the more crucial for Russia to freely access the world market round the year. 

Moscow has reacted strongly. On July 19, Russian ministry of defence notified that “all vessels sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo. Accordingly, the countries of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime.” Russia has further notified that “the north-western and south-eastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been declared temporarily dangerous for navigation.” The latest reports suggest that the Black Sea Fleet of warships are rehearsing the procedure for boarding foreign ships sailing to Ukrainian waters. In effect, Russia is imposing a sea blockade of Ukraine.

In an interview with Izvestia, Russian military expert Vasily Dandykin said he would now expect Russia to stop and inspect all ships sailing to Ukrainian ports. “This practice is normal: There is a war zone there, and in the past two days it has been the scene of missile strikes. We’ll see how this will work in practice and whether there will be anyone willing to send vessels to these waters, because this is very serious.” The White House has accused Russia of laying mines to block Ukrainian ports.

Of course, Washington hopes that the NATO moving in as the guarantor of the grain corridor, replacing Russia, would have resonance in the Global South. The Western propaganda caricatures Russia as creating food scarcity globally. Whereas, the fact of the matter is that the West didn’t keep its part of the bargain reciprocally to allow the export of Russian wheat and fertiliser, as has been acknowledged by the UN and Turkey.

What remains to be seen is whether beyond the raging information war, any NATO country would dare to challenge Russia’s sea blockade. The chances are slim, the daunting deployment of the 101st Airborne Division in next-door Romania notwithstanding. 

Original article

“The Walking Tree is a tree unique to Norway. In spring and summer, they are no different from ordinary oaks. But at the end of fall, when the leaves fall off, they start to migrate. Every November, in the original empty place, sometimes out of nowhere, appears a huge tree.” (Unique Trees on Facebook)

Although this a prank, some trees actually do move:

Some serious violence now. These people probably don’t realise they demonstrate a very good reason for unelecting this government.

The question of who is lavishly funding these miscreants arises — the Labour/Green/Maori Parties, corrupt members of the Police who support those parties, Leftists in the Legacy Media, George Soros — or all of them?

One good thing that the covidiocy the Globalists inflicted on the World for over 2 years did is make the reasons behind such overhyped sensationalism clear.