Public Address

Hard News: WOTY: The Kindness Scandal

Russell Brown — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 10:43:00 +1300

In a hastily-issued press release today, Public Address publisher Russell Brown admitted that his site's annual Word of the Year vote "may have been used by terribly nice people to express a blessedly good sentiment."
Shortly after the announcement that the 2018 Public Address Word of the Year is "kindness", it was revealed that so-called Kindness t-shirts are already being sold by a company called Good Bitches Baking to raise money toward's the company's goal to "try to make the world a little bit less shitty, by baking treats for people having a tough time."
"I'm as shocked as everyone…

Access: The stories the Royal Commission needs to hear about state care abuse and disability

Hilary Stace — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 11:23:00 +1300

In the 1960s a New Zealand woman gave birth to a baby boy with Down Syndrome. There was no celebration at the birth and the family GP told the parents that the best thing would be to put the baby into an institution where he would be looked after, to forget about him, and try for a "normal" baby as soon as possible. He warned that the family would be shamed by the baby as it indicated faulty genes and other family members might not find partners if there was a risk of producing a "mentally defective" child. That was…

Hard News: Public Address Word of the Year 2018: Time to vote!

Russell Brown — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 10:40:00 +1300

The debate has been had and the longlist has been written. It's time now for you, the public, to vote. Just use the form embedded below to register your top three choices for Word of the Year – and go in the draw for a double pass to a Fat Freddy's Drop's summer tour. I'll close the vote later in the week and publish the results. NB: The form scrolls independently, so don't forget to look at all the nominations.
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Did I mention prizes? There are prizes.
Both the first person to propose the winning word and one lucky voter…

Speaker: We shouldn’t have to look back on those moments and think: I was lucky

Amberleigh Jack — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:23:00 +1300

“It’s not a gender issue.”
If you’ve read any online comments since Grace Millane’s horrific murder, you’ve no doubt seen that one.
“And don’t meet Tinder dates alone.”
“But it’s not a gender issue.”
Only, it is.
It’s tragic and it’s horrifying and every person I know has been hit incredibly hard by the unnecessary and awful death of a young woman that none of us knew.
Every woman I know has been hit, it seems, even harder.
Are we experiencing some kind of collective survivor guilt? Maybe. Because I’m sure I don’t know a single female who hasn’t, at…

Hard News: Just quietly, this is a big deal

Russell Brown — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 10:30:00 +1300

It's in the nature of politics that this morning's announcement about changes to drug laws is headed 'Crackdown on synthetic drug dealers'. The billing is not inaccurate: it's no secret that the government has been seeking to have the two most damaging synthetic cannabinoids, the ones that have been killing dozens of people, rescheduled as controlled drugs under Class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
That is confirmed this morning, and it means that importers, producers and suppliers of synthetics will face greatly increased penalties under law – and that Police will have search and seizure powers related to these…

Speaker: Cannabis: make it legal but don’t let anyone make money from it

Nic Beets — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 08:16:00 +1300

I don’t want big business marketing marijuana to my kids. This is what will happen in Canada with the recent purchase of a market-leading marijuana business by a major tobacco company. In Aotearoa, right now, we have a chance to do something different.
I’m very much in favour of legalizing pot; like the majority of kiwis, I think the hypocrisy of criminalising people who use a drug that is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco must end. The need is made more urgent by the fact that it is young people and Maori and Pasifika whose lives are blighted by…

Hard News: Public Address Word of the Year 2018

Russell Brown — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 07:00:00 +1300

The years keep getting weirder, but one thing doesn't change: the Public Address Word of the Year is annually chosen by the people of the internet as the strange light fades into Christmas. Will this year's people's choice be a soothing source of succour, like 2017's Jacindamania? Or a glimpse of the coming dystopia like post-truth? The history goes deep.
This how it works:
- Words are nominated in the discussion for this post. If you want to join in the discussion, you’ll need to register to comment, which will only take a minute. You can make more than one…

Legal Beagle: Name suppression appeals

Graeme Edgeler — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 13:00:00 +1300

I recently published a tweet thread, which I thought I might copy and past here, for anyone interested.
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I have long thought that the 20 working days allowed to appeal a refusal to make a suppression order is too long, when the law requires the court appealed from to make an interim suppression order for that period. The law did not used to require this. There was no automatic right for interim suppression, which used to be a matter of discretion. A defence lawyer could tell a judge of the intention to appeal, and ask for interim suppression.
The…

Hard News: Music: A Teutonic Tonic

Russell Brown — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:09:00 +1300

One of the many challenges posed by Christmas is Christmas music. Christmas carols are all very well, but spending the day actually listening to carols? That way lies madness, or at least an unseasonable degree of suffering. In our house, we either listen to 95bFM, which often delivers a very good Christmas morning show, or rocksteady reggae, which tends to induce good feelings in people of all ages.
But Luke Buda, Samuel Flynn Scott and Conrad Wedde, who between them are the Phoenix Foundation subset Moniker, came up with a very different idea. A very silly one. If you've ever…

Hard News: A complicated pathway to wellness

Russell Brown — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:33:00 +1300

He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction was published last week and while it offers a substantial list of recommendations for the way such services should be conceived and delivered, I found what it has to say about drugs and public health particularly striking and significant.
From the recommendations section:

Take strong action on alcohol and other drugs

Take a stricter regulatory approach to the sale and supply of alcohol, informed by the recommendations from the 2010 Law Commission review, the 2014 Ministerial Forum on Alcohol Advertising and Sponsorship and the 2014 Ministry of…