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| And somehow, "unlivable" was acceptable... |
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Posted by: Lilith7 - 07-03-2024, 04:32 PM - Forum: Opinion and Politics
- Replies (12)
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For two night over xmas, Luxon stayed in Premier house.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/...5e3a&ei=12
Newshub's Jenna Lynch says the Prime Minister is facing a "massive perception problem" after it emerged he stayed two nights in Premier House over Christmas.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been very vocal about the fact he can't live in Premier House because it needs tens of millions of dollars of repairs.
Heritage NZ has backed up the Prime Minister's claims saying the building is in a dishevelled state partly as a result of the multiple purposes it serves.
But on Thursday morning Stuff revealed Luxon spent two nights at Premier House over Christmas last year. It was previously reported that he hosted his extended family for festive celebrations.
This has led to questions about whether Premier House is really unlivable.
The last Prime Minister to live there full time was Dame Jacinda Ardern and she brought up her baby daughter Neve there.
Newshub Political Editor Jenna Lynch joined AM on Thursday morning and told the show Luxon's reasoning behind not living there doesn't add up.
"The Prime Minister has been telling us that he doesn't want to live in this place because it is uninhabitable, because it is under construction, because it needs significant repair. However, it seems it was good enough to host his family Christmas there," Lynch told AM co-host Lloyd Burr.
Luxon has also faced scrutiny for originally deciding to claim a $52,000-a-year allowance to live in his own mortgage-free apartment.
Last Friday, he fiercely defended it, saying he was entitled to it as an MP who didn't usually live in Wellington. But the public backlash was so swift and strong that he climbed down within a couple of hours, acknowledging it was "becoming a distraction".
Lynch told AM this whole saga has left the Prime Minister with a lot of questions to answer.
"Christopher Luxon has a massive perception problem around this thing," she said. "
"If it's good enough for Jacinda Ardern and her toddler to live in, it was good enough for John Key to live in, it is not good enough for Christopher Luxon to live in and the question is why?"
Newshub has previously asked to film inside Premier House to see how a proposed renovation budgeted at tens of millions of dollars was justified.
But the Prime Minister refused to allow cameras inside, citing security concerns. "
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| 'Self pity" from Journalists - David Seymour |
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Posted by: Lilith7 - 07-03-2024, 02:29 PM - Forum: Opinion and Politics
- Replies (4)
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Considering that rather a lot of them are about to lose their jobs I think they can be excused for being concerned. I'm not keen on people being kicked when they're down, & while I agreed with his end of life bill, its becoming extremely difficult to find anything admirable about David Seymour these days
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/3502039...ournalists
"ACT leader David Seymour said journalists have been ‘celebrating and dancing at every slip’ a politician makes. - He made the comments when asked about hundreds of people set to lose jobs at TVNZ and TV3.
- He told Stuff there had been “enormous self pity” from the media sector.
ACT leader David Seymour says journalists may want to consider their own “behaviour”, as hundreds of staff between TVNZ and TV3 face the axe.
Earlier, speaking to Newstalk ZB, Seymour criticised reporting from 1 News senior political reporter Benedict Collins about Luxon’s U-turn on claiming a $52,000 accommodation allowance to live in a house he owns mortgage-free.
“They have spent years celebrating and dancing at every slip that a politician makes, competing to get scalps as they call them,” he told the station.
“And all of a sudden they say, ‘but when we have a bad day you’ve got to be kind to us’.”
He said that “delightful lack of self-awareness” was “a big part of the problem” facing media.
Asked by Stuff what he meant by that comment, Seymour said technological change was the main reason leading to job losses - but he suggested the style of television journalism may have contributed as well.
“While I think the technological issues are the the underlying story here, a bit of self reflection from people like that wouldn't go amiss either,” he said.
Seymour told Stuff he did want to defend the news media.
“Here's the real issue. 80% of the ad revenue just went to Google and Facebook. They've got shrinking newsrooms, they've got to produce more words per day, they've got less time to do scrutiny. I mean, one of my favourite movies is All the President's Men."
A TVNZ spokesperson said Seymour had singled out their reporter Collins for doing his job of challenging politicians and policies across the political spectrum on behalf of New Zealanders.
“We are not asking for sympathy as the minister suggested, but are asking for our politicians to respect the independence of our media so they can get on with their work,” the spokesperson said."
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| France guarantees right to abortion |
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Posted by: Lilith7 - 06-03-2024, 10:06 AM - Forum: News and Current Affairs
- Replies (6)
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France has become the world's first country to guarantee the right to abortion to all women. Macron is of course hoping that women will now vote for his right wing party; its to be hoped that most will have more sense.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68471568
"France has become the first country in the world to explicitly include the right to abortion in its constitution.
Parliamentarians voted to revise the country's 1958 constitution to enshrine women's "guaranteed freedom" to abort.
The overwhelming 780-72 vote saw a standing ovation in the parliament in Versailles when the result was announced.
President Emmanuel Macron described the move as "French pride" that had sent a "universal message".
However anti-abortion groups have strongly criticised the change, as has the Vatican.
Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, but polls show around 85% of the public supported amending the constitution to protect the right to end a pregnancy.
And while several other countries include reproductive rights in their constitutions - France is the first to explicitly state that an abortion will be guaranteed.
It becomes the 25th amendment to modern France's founding document, and the first since 2008.
Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was lit up in celebration, with the message: "My Body My Choice".
Before the vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told parliament that the right to abortion remained "in danger" and "at the mercy of decision makers".
"We're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you," he added.
The move to enshrine abortion in the French constitution has been welcomed by many.
"This right (to abortion) has retreated in the United States. And so nothing authorised us to think that France was exempt from this risk," said Laura Slimani, from the Fondation des Femmes rights group".
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