Tag: new zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister laughs as he announces removal of food safety laws so lab-made products can be released onto the market

Last week in New Zealand, Judith Collins, Minister for Science and Technology, and Chris Luxon, Prime Minister, decided to introduce a policy change with a Laurel and Hardy double act on Twitter; it was full of bonhomie and laughter designed to mask a sinister intent.

Laural and Hardy were announcing new biotechnology gene editing laws.

Deregulation of biotechnology will contain provisions that take away our basic human rights of choice. They will change the face of our small island nation forever – yes, forever, Dr, Guy Hatchard says.

According to their vaudeville performance, biotechnology deregulation will enable amazing scientists to mitigate climate change, improve our health, boost our horticulture, and grow our economy. Collins effused “it is so great to be part of this government.”Luxon agreed, calling it “an amazing day.” As he sees it, some laws formulated in 1996 to protect consumers make no sense in 2024 because they prevent incredibly smart biotechnology scientists from releasing their products into the environment without having to go through public scrutiny.

Luxon added, “We’re going to make sure we do it safely, don’t worry about that”(at this point Luxon appeared to be channelling Jacinda Ardern). It would be easy to poke fun, but the consequences are too far-reaching and serious for levity. The 1996 laws do not prevent biotech food products from reaching the market as Luxon implied. Instead, they require that gene-altered ingredients be labelled as such. In other words, Luxon is taking away our right of consumer choice, our right to know what we are eating. In the near future “incredibly smart scientists” will be deciding for us.

Aside from our right to know, there is one other very important reason for the 1996 law. It involves one word “traceability.” If novel gene-altered food substitutes are not labelled, there will be no way for anyone to find out if they are causing illness. Compulsory food labelling has been a fundamental part of our global food safety system since it was first introduced in 1913. Bypassing this principle is a key strategy of biotech marketing for the simple reason that consumers don’t want biotech foods and manufacturers don’t want to face lawsuits. Thus, in one stroke Luxon’s government has taken us back into the 19th century world of food adulteration, in his words: “amazing.”

Watching the video of Luxon and Collins I was forcibly struck by how far out of touch they are with reality. They appeared to me as a pair of simpletons smirking and chuckling with glee as they thought they could pass off iron pyrites as gold. We are still in the shadow of a pandemic era where incredibly “intelligent scientists” (???)were given free rein and funding to develop a deadly virus and then a botched vaccine that killed rather than cured.

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“I’m Not Leaving”: Kim Dotcom Defiant After NZ Approves Extradition For Trial In United States

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom says he’s not going anywhere after New Zealand’s justice minister said on Thursday that he will be extradited to the Untied States on charges related to his defunct file-sharing website Megaupload.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced that he had signed an extradition order for Dotcom, saying in a statement: “I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial,” adding “As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision.”

The extradition order comes 12 years after an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. In 2017, the high court in New Zealand first approved his extradition – with an appeal court reaffirming the finding in 2018. In 2020, the country’s supreme court again affirmed the finding, however they also left the door open for further judicial review.

Dotcom responded to the decision, posting on Tuesday that “the obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload.”

He later said: “I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving.”

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New Zealand legalizes FORCED VACCINATIONS – refusers to be tied to beds and forcibly injected

Can you imagine a dystopian world in which the white coats are allowed to strap people down and force-inject them with whatever poisons the government says the public needs at any given time? Such a world now exists in New Zealand, which just enacted legislation legalizing the use of physical force in order to vaccinate.

Dr. Jonathan Engler tweeted a screenshot – see below – highlighting the specific passages in the bill, as summarized in a report, that authorize doctors to call on law enforcement to essentially strap their patients down on a table kicking and screaming while syringe holders standing nearby release the air bubbles and plunge the injections deep within the patients’ bodies.

“Section 71A states that a member of the police may do anything reasonably necessary (including the use of force) to help a medical officer of health or any person authorised by the medical officer of health in the exercise or performance of powers or functions under sections 70 or 71,” reads a passage under “Special powers” on page 125 of the New Zealand Pandemic Plan: A Framework for Action.

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Vaccine by Cop

Heads up New Zealand

Every person alive right now PAY ATTENTION

New laws going in that involve those in charge of civil authority having the ability to use their position, and force for assistance to the chief medical officer of health. THE POLICE

  • for quarantine
  • for assistance with the medical treatment the medical officer of health prescribes

Section 71A

states that a member of the police may do anything reasonably necessary (including the use of force) to help a medical officer of health or any person authorised by the medical officer of health in the exercise or performance of powers or functions under sections 70 or 71.

section 70(1)(f)

The power to detain, isolate or quarantine allows a medical officer of health to ‘require persons, places, buildings, ships, vehicles, aircraft, animals, or things to be isolated, quarantined, or disinfected’ 

thus a medical officer can suddenly detain, isolate or quarantine you.

section 70(1)(h)

The power to prescribe preventive treatment allows a medical officer of health, in respect of any person who has been isolated or quarantined, to require people to remain where they are isolated or quarantined until they have been medically examined and found to be free from infectious disease, AND UNTIL THEY HAVE UNDERGONE SUCH PREVENTATIVE TREATMENT AS THE MEDICAL OFFICE OF HEALTH PRESCRIBES

(va÷÷ine) Va÷÷ine by cop.

This get invoked is easy-

Page 125 of the Pandemic Plan-

“Special powers are authorised

  • by the Minister of Health or
  • by an epidemic notice or
  • apply where an emergency has been declared under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.”

So lots of ways.

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Cocaine use doubles in NZ: ‘A big change in a short space of time’

Cocaine consumption in New Zealand has almost doubled – although use is still very low – a new report has found.

The Drug Foundation’s latest study uses wastewater testing, as well as the national health and drug trends surveys, to paint a picture of illicit drug use in New Zealand.

Executive director Sarah Helm said 56,000 people (1.3 percent) used cocaine in the 2022/2023 year, which is a 93 percent increase on the previous three years’ average.

But she said that number was relatively small compared to other countries.

“We have a very low base and compared to international cocaine use it’s very, very low. However, that is a big change in a relatively short space of time.”

Helm said drug use in New Zealand reflected what was available and a bump in cocaine use could signal an influx from overseas.

“We know from international information from the UN and others that the international production of cocaine has significantly increased. They’re looking for new markets and trying to break into markets where there hasn’t been a lot of cocaine consumption previously.”

She said there have been a number of recent record cocaine busts by police and NZ Customs, but that had not eliminated supply.

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New Zealand set to scrap world-first tobacco ban

New Zealand will repeal on Tuesday a world-first law banning tobacco sales for future generations, the government said, even while researchers and campaigners warned of the risk that people could die as a result.

Set to take effect from July, the toughest anti-tobacco rules in the world would have banned sales to those born after Jan. 1, 2009, cut nicotine content in smoked tobacco products and reduced the number of tobacco retailers by more than 90%.

The new coalition government elected in October confirmed the repeal will happen on Tuesday as a matter of urgency, enabling it to scrap the law without seeking public comment, in line with previously announced plans.

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the coalition government was committed to reducing smoking, but was taking a different regulatory approach to discourage the habit and reduce the harm it caused.

“I will soon be taking a package of measures to cabinet to increase the tools available to help people quit smoking,” Costello said, adding that regulations on vaping would also be tightened to deter young people.

The decision, heavily criticised over its likely impact on health outcomes in New Zealand, has also drawn flak because of fears it could have a greater impact on Maori and Pasifika populations, groups with higher smoking rates.

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NZ: Prominent Trans Activist And ‘Gender Equity’ Advisor Sharing Fetish Content On Social Media

Reduxx has learned that one of New Zealand’s most prominent trans activists has been sharing disturbing fetish content on social media. Lexie Matheson, who claims to be a “lesbian,” has had a significant influence on national and local policies surrounding gender self-identification and currently competes in women’s sports competitions.

On January 14, New Zealand outlet Stuff positively profiled Matheson in response to an ongoing debate surrounding the admission of men who claim to be transgender into women’s sporting competitions. During the interview, Matheson, who has been involved in women’s karate and has won women’s titles, revealed that he had been using the women’s changing rooms and restrooms for more than twenty years.

Matheson was involved in drafting Sport New Zealand’s “transgender inclusion guiding principles,” which were released in late 2022 and prioritize self-declared “gender identity” over biological sex.

He has also been recognized on a national level, and was an honoree in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, where he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his LGBTQ advocacy. Matheson is also a founding member of Auckland Pride Festival, Inc.

But Reduxx has now located a social media account belonging to Matheson revealing his interest in fetishistic cross dressing, as well as his apparent affinity for an animated pornography genre that involves depictions of children.

In a Pinterest folder titled ‘My Obsessive Stuff,’ Matheson has shared multiple images of “loli” illustrations, which are Japanese animations intended to depict young girls.

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Acute kidney injury after vaccination: New Zealand government scientists changed their data without explanation

A paper published on a preprint server on Jan 20, 2023, by scientists at Health New Zealand and the NZ Ministry of Health showed conclusively that the COVID vaccine causes kidney injury.

The paper “disappeared” from the preprint server and reappeared 8 months later in a peer-reviewed journal on Aug 9, 2023, but with key numbers changed to make the vaccine look safe with respect to kidney injury.

The incidents in the paper couldn’t happen by chance. The p-value calculated from the data they observed is 1.28e-115 which is ridiculously small. I’ve never seen a p-value that small. It means that it is a certainty that the effect wasn’t just due to random chance: it was causal.

I verified this in VAERS in 60 seconds. Here a graph of acute kidney injury for all vaccines in the 30 year history of VAERS over all time. Only one vaccine has a signal for acute kidney injury: the COVID vaccine. So the signal is real.

How could the New Zealand scientists miss a signal that is this big?

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New Zealand Keeps Doxxing Registered Gun Owners

A data breach in New Zealand exposed the personal information of some of the country’s gun owners, and not for the first time. It’s another indication of how even well-intended government policies can become civil liberties nightmares.

After the 2019 mass shooting at a Christchurch mosque, the country enacted a series of reforms intended to prevent such tragedies in the future. Along with a ban on most semi-automatic firearms and a gun buyback that netted more than 50,000 weapons, one provision empowered New Zealand’s Firearms Safety Authority to “effectively regulate the legitimate possession and use of firearms.” In other words: a national “firearms registry” that will “link firearms to licence holders, so there is a clear picture of the legally held firearms in New Zealand and improved ability to trace firearms,” according to Executive Director Angela Brazier.

Last week, a joint email went out from the Firearms Safety Authority and the Auckland Central Police District to 147 registered gun owners, advising them that their addresses might need to be updated. Unfortunately, the emails were all listed in the CC field instead of the BCC field, which would be hidden. As a result, each recipient of the email not only saw every single other recipient’s email address but, in many cases, first and last names as well.

As The New Zealand Herald noted, “The visible addresses included various prominent Auckland residents, including lawyers, company directors, police officers and government officials.”

This is not the only, or even the most severe, breach of New Zealand gun owners’ data in recent memory. During the 2019 gun buyback, the government set up a website for gun owners to register their weapons for relinquishment. Police later admitted that visitors to the site could easily access other registrants’ personal information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, and bank account information. And in 2022, thieves stole as many as 400 gun owners’ records from an abandoned police precinct after police officials neglected to destroy the files before moving operations to a new building.

In the U.S., national gun owner registries are prohibited by federal law, though they do exist in some form in certain states, and some progressive lawmakers and advocates support wider adoption. Giffords, the gun control advocacy organization named for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D–Ariz.) who was shot and nearly killed while in office, says registries are “a useful method of curbing illegal gun activity and encouraging responsible gun practices.” Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.) proposed a national licensing system for gun owners in 2019 as part of his presidential campaign platform.

Gun owners would have reason to fear that a registry today could be used to confiscate guns tomorrow. Not to mention, a plan like Booker’s would require the federal government to keep accurate and copious records so as not to accidentally arrest the wrong person—not exactly its strong suit. There’s also the issue of noncompliance: In New Zealand, it’s estimated that somewhere between one-third and one-half of all newly forbidden weapons were actually turned in. In neighboring Australia, often touted as an example of gun control done well, only about one-fifth of banned weapons are estimated to have been turned in.

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‘Disgusted’ New Zealand Surgeons Now Required To Consider Ethnicity Of Patients

Surgeons in Auckland, New Zealand are ‘disgusted’ over a new policy rolled out in February which requires them to address “historical disparities in healthcare access” for Māori and Pacific Island communities, which will be factored into a new ranking system that determines priority for surgical procedures.

According to leaked documents obtained by the NZ Herald, the new initative, implemented by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, uses an “Equity Adjustor Score” algorithm to assign priority based on clinical urgency, waitlist duration, geographic location, ethnicity and level of deprivation.

Patients of Māori and Pasifika backgrounds receive higher rankings, while European New Zealanders and other ethnicities are downranked.

Several surgeons spoke with the Herald, one of whom said he was “disgusted” by the new system.

“It’s ethically challenging to treat anyone based on race, it’s their medical condition that must establish the urgency of the treatment,” said the surgeon, adding “There’s no place for elitism in medicine and the medical fraternity in this country is disturbed by these developments.”

A document on the equity adjustor which was leaked to Newstalk ZB shows two Māori patients, both aged 62 and who have been waiting more than a year, ranked above others on the list. A 36-year-old Middle Eastern patient who has been waiting almost two years has a much lower priority ranking.

An email by Te Whatu Ora business support manager Daniel Hayes in April said: “Hi team, Heads up. This is going to be the new criteria for outsourcing your patients going forward. Just putting this on your radar now so that you can begin to line up patients accordingly. Over 200 days for Māori and Pacific patients. Over 250 days for all other patients.” -NZ Herald

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall defended the move, pointing to a Government-commissioned, independent review of the health system conducted in 2018, which found that the system produced unequal outcomes, particularly for populations deemed vulnerable.

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