The Operation Burnham inquiry found serious failings in how the defence force operated, but none of this ‘transparency’ would have come to light if it hadn’t been for two journalists fighting tooth and nail to hold those in power to account, writes Amnesty International’s Meg de Ronde. When attorney-general David Parker stood up yesterday morning … Read more
The SAS soldiers involved in a raid where civilians died did nothing wrong, a government inquiry into Operation Burnham found. Instead, it concluded the worrying failures weren’t in Afghanistan but at defence headquarters in Wellington. A decade ago New Zealand’s elite SAS raided villages in Afghanistan’s Tirgiran Valley as part of Operation Burnham. A number … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZDF under inquiry scrutiny, competing statements on Labour investigation released through lawyers, and a thorough look at Air NZ’s carbon offsets. Ever since the book Hit and Run was published, the Defence Force have been under various degrees of pressure over whether Afghan civilians were killed … Read more
Some simple could bring radical impacts, write Peter McKenzie and Thomas Gregory authors of a new paper on civilian casualties in overseas conflict for the New Zealand Alternative On 30 May 2006, Nabiha Jassim was shot and killed as her brother drove her through the streets of the Iraqi city of Samarra. Nabiha had gone … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: More revealed about aftermath of Hit and Run raid, police delete social posts glorifying tactics to catch kids, and regional airports may be bailed out. Politicians were shown edited footage of the Hit and Run raid which throws into question the NZDF version of events, reports … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes proposed for the process of voting in 2020, govt approves coal exploration despite climate change rhetoric, and Hager responds to new Hit and Run news. The way people vote in 2020 could be very different to previous elections, after the proposals of a range … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farming groups concerned about growth of forestry, dramatic new documents revealed in Hit and Run inquiry, and govt agency loses town records. Land conversions towards farming have pretty much always brought with them economic growth at the expense of environmental health. But increasingly, farmers and those who … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Judicial review action launched against Hit and Run inquiry, healthy new chunk for conservation estate, and changes to sex crime trial process recommended. The lawyers representing Afghan villagers caught up in Operation Burnham have launched a new legal action – this time against the inquiry itself. Operation … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Call for Hit and Run inquiry to be open and transparent, scale of risk from rising sea levels revealed, and paracetamol supplies could run short. The long-awaited inquiry into the events described in the book Hit and Run has got underway. To recap: Hit and Run was a book … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Hit and Run inquiry launched, the government moves against offshore oil exploration, and there’s an outbreak of measles in the South Island. The government has launched a long-awaited inquiry into the events detailed in the book Hit and Run. The book, by investigative journalists Jon Stephenson … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Huge changes in transport strategy announced by the government, the Defence Force boss is stepping down, and the Royal Commission into state care abuse is open for submissions. The government is proposing an increased fuel tax, and money is being moved out of state highways, in … Read more
World champion para-swimmer, post-grad student and activist Mary Fisher doesn’t ever seem to stop moving. Alex Braae rang her up to find out why. I interviewed Mary Fisher during the last election campaign. It was a winter night in Wellington, and a few dozen people had turned up to one of the Central Library’s meeting … Read more