A poorer world

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:50 pm, May 5th, 2013 - 59 comments
Categories: australian politics, climate change, Conservation, disaster, water - Tags: great barrier reef

In 1998 I spent 3 days on a boat, diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Truly amazing – a memory that will stay with me always. It was clear even then that the Reef was threatened by climate change and polltion. Now it is a disaster:

UN warns Great Barrier Reef in danger

The Great Barrier Reef could be named as endangered by the UN’s World Heritage Committee next month.

A long-awaited assessment of the reef by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released on Friday said decisive action must be taken to avoid a listing. The report said the federal and Queensland governments had failed to improve water quality or halt coastal developments that could affect the reef, AAP reports. …

The report also said there has been no clear commitment by the either federal or Queensland governments to limit port developments near the reef. Instead about 43 proposals are under assessment.

“The World Heritage Centre and IUCN … recommend that the committee consider the Great Barrier Reef for inscription on the list of World Heritage in Danger … in absence of a firm and demonstrable commitment on these priority issues, ” the report said.

The reef has lost more than half its coral cover in the past three decades due to storms, poisonous starfish and bleaching linked to climate change.

Here’s what it should look like:

We are leaving the next generations a world without wonders. A poorer world.

59 comments on “A poorer world ”

Comments are now closed

Jenny 1

5 May 2013 at 5:57 pm

Ten reasons why the ANZAC spirit is still important

1/ We are at war with the natural climate

2/ Coal is the number 1 source of climate change green house gas.

3/ James Hansen the world’s number 1 climate scientist says; “If we can’t stop coal, it is all over for the climate”

4/ The biggest exporter of coal in the world is Australia

5/ Australia is also the one of the countries that will be particularly hard hit by climate change

6/ Australia must stop coal exports. This will go a long way to ending the total global international trade in coal

7/ Australia is our closest neighbour and longest friend and ally.

8/ Australia will never ban coal exports until New Zealand does it first

9/ It is Green Party policy to make New Zealand completely coal free by 2020. Banning coal exports is a partial bridge to that end.

10/ As Kiwis and Aussies of long ago boarded the troop ships to fight the global menace of fascism. It is time to board our small boats to blockade the coal ships to fight the global menace of climate change.

So bring your surfboards, bring your kayaks, bring your dinghies, bring your small yachts, bring your fishing boats and tinnies. Grab your life jackets and wet suits. Bring your signs banners and flags. Bring your courage and your joy.

New Zealand is a maritime nation, we need to take to the sea. We need to defy the anti-marine protest laws. We need to stop coal exports here and in Australia.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/8592648/Activists-board-Korea-bound-coal-ship
- One Anonymous Knucklehead 1.1
  
  5 May 2013 at 6:48 pm
  
  Jenny, if I can make a suggestion, the weakest link is your description of Hansen as “Climatologist No.1”. Hansen’s capability is not in doubt but Climatology is not a league table; the argument against coal is not reliant on one person’s opinion.
  - Jenny 1.1.1
    
    5 May 2013 at 7:23 pm
    
    Maybe I should have said the world’s most “prominent” climatologist. But Hansen’s statement about coal is not an opinion, it is matched up to the reality. Do you dispute this?
    - Colonial Viper 1.1.1.1
      
      5 May 2013 at 10:46 pm
      
      You can stop coal when you can stop our civilisation’s requirement for highly concentrated energy.
      - Rogue Trooper 1.1.1.1.1
        
        5 May 2013 at 10:58 pm
        
        night. see yesterday once more.
    - One Anonymous Knucklehead 1.1.1.2
      
      6 May 2013 at 8:01 am
      
      *whoosh*
      
      My comment contains the answer to your question, but your revised wording still amounts to an appeal to authority.
- Tim 1.2
  
  5 May 2013 at 10:55 pm
  
  “Ten reasons why the ANZAC spirit is still important”
  
  That ‘spirit’ is important – agreed. Lately however its only ever shown on ANZAC Day and between law enforcement and military (and RSL/RSA)
  
  Otherwise its become more “brand ANZAC”
  
  And speaking as someone who once held Aus Citizenship (not exactly sure whether I still do with the way things have evolved since the 1960s and 70s – nor do I give a shit), ANZAC has an “NZ” in it and Australians often need to be reminded of that. (John Key is quite obviously NOT the man to do the reminding either)
  
  See other postings on here – if that ‘spirit’ were still alive, there’d be Kiwis in Sydney that were adequately housed, and there’d be Kiwis in Queensland getting adequate compensation after flooding, ….., etc.
- Rich the other 1.3
  
  8 May 2013 at 11:31 am
  
  Dreamers.
  Jenny , get real.
  
  (1) banning coal exports from ausse or nz will make no difference.
  Other parts of the world have plenty of coal and will use it
  The only thing stopping this at the moment is their undeveloped transport systems..
  
  (2) Are you suggesting the 1.2 billion people in India and China who currently have no electricity never have it and that a further 2 billion loose this essential in life.
  
  (3) In Germany and Japan the older or damaged nuclear power stations are being replaced with coal fired power plants.
  
  (4) Try and get a pension or the dole in ausse , so much for Anzac.
  
  (5) the greens, f wits say no more.
  
  (6) If this is a genuine problem the only realistic solution is science ,if you want to campaign for something ,make it more investment in science.
  
  (7) It used to be called global warming, the trouble is its barely changed in the last 100 yrs.
  Now it climate change , If anything I prefer climate evolution , its been happening since day1.
  
  (
  - One Anonymous Knucklehead 1.3.1
    
    8 May 2013 at 11:37 am
    
    Well you certainly tick all the wingnut boxes; Climate denial, check…
- Rich the other 1.4
  
  8 May 2013 at 12:28 pm
  
  Jenny,
  Your lack of humanity is stunning, no coal for many country’s = hundreds of thousands of children chilling to death ,that will be on your conscience, sleep well.
  - One Anonymous Knucklehead 1.4.1
    
    8 May 2013 at 12:36 pm
    
    The Greenhouse Effect kills hundreds of thousands every year, hypocrite trash.
karol 2

5 May 2013 at 6:17 pm

I also have been out to view the sea around the barrier reef – back in the late 80s, I think.

It was truly a beautiful sight, and the sea looked so clear.
Tom Bennion 3

5 May 2013 at 8:27 pm

Some years back a government minister speaking to changes in mining laws said that opponents wanted us to go back to living in caves. How quickly things have changed that continued use of coal carries a real prospect that civilization as we know it may end.
- Jenny 3.1
  
  6 May 2013 at 9:08 am
  
  The irony. Those who support coal, will be the ones to reduce humanity to living in caves.
  - One Anonymous Knucklehead 3.1.1
    
    6 May 2013 at 9:13 am
    
    Won’t hand-tools work any more?
  - muzza 3.1.2
    
    6 May 2013 at 9:39 am
    
    Jenny – There are many angles to the issue, coal is only one of them, you understand that, right?
    - Jenny 3.1.2.1
      
      6 May 2013 at 10:28 am
      
      Sure.
      
      However in dealing with complex problems, the best strategy is to go after the main biggest most obvious cause. Once you identify that main cause then you must grab onto it with the all the doggedness of a fox terrier and not let go. If you can’t deal to that one main thing, combatting the others is pointless. Sure there are many other angles as you call them. But the fox terrier that chases down every rabbit hole gets nowhere.
      
      Coal is the biggest global cause of climate change and yet it is the most easiest to remove from our economy. Liquid fossil fuels less so, on both counts.
      
      Coal exports must be stopped and can be stopped, our history over nuclear ships and over deep sea oil drilling shows that.
      
      Further:
      
      Every war is fought one battle at a time.
      
      A victory against one fossil fuel is a defeat for all of them.
      
      The allies did not attack the Germans on Mainland Europe until June 6 1944. They fought them in Africa first.
      
      As Churchill famously said, “Before El Alamein we never won a battle, after El Alamein we never lost one.”
Murray Olsen 4

5 May 2013 at 8:37 pm

I was up in Cairns a few years back. We saw a lot of bleached coral.
The Queensland State Government wants more ports and more shipping from the reef area. They are so bad that even the Federal Government is able to paint itself as a little green by talking about putting the brakes on.
Gladstone Harbour is full of diseased fish.
Some scientists think the reef is condemned to death already. Some Queensland politicians think any problems are caused by an excessive number of wild pigs, whose crap floats down rivers and pollutes the surrounding ocean.
I am not optimistic.
weka 5

5 May 2013 at 9:30 pm

The Great Barrier Reef is dying. We are leaving the next generations a poorer world.

Classic kiwi understatement there mate.
Rhinocrates 6

5 May 2013 at 10:14 pm

I imagine that the world of the future will be a wasteland or a garden. Neither are natural. In one scenario, we eke out a living through salvage and pillage on a path to inevitable decline, and in the other, we try to understand the world, and become active agents in is preservation, but it will survive as a designed thing – a garden, not a wilderness. In either case, there is no “natural world” that we can take for granted any more.

“Business as usual” is going to die despite all the protestations and complacency of the greedy – soon, I hope, and for the best reasons and to the best possible end.
- Rogue Trooper 6.1
  
  5 May 2013 at 10:35 pm
  
  poignant
- Colonial Viper 6.2
  
  5 May 2013 at 10:45 pm
  
  Yep, ‘business as usual’ is already over. Someone please let the major political parties know so that they can lead accordingly.
  - Draco T Bastard 6.2.1
    
    6 May 2013 at 7:13 am
    
    They’ve been told – they just haven’t been listening. Just need to read crap like this to know that
- Ennui 6.3
  
  6 May 2013 at 10:28 am
  
  I have met the enemy: and its us.
  
  Really it is quite depressing reading columns on TheStandard where we worry about our slice of the cake so we can consume more. Nobody is planning at a mainstream political level for sustainable life, decline in consumption etc. Goodbye the Reef, and every other ecosystem eventually until we stop fucking our planet over by the collective impact of our individual consumption and greed.
xtasy 7

5 May 2013 at 10:36 pm

As I can vaguely remember, David Attenborough warned already many years ago, that the world of the future would be a rather dull, boring place, as most land will be cultivated, to grow crops for humans and domesticated animals that humans choose to keep.

The last remnants of untouched environments are now being eyed for prospecting and exploration, with a good chance for oil drilling and mining to be extended to parts of the globe, so far considered to hostile and expensive to do this in.

Population growth continues, especially in countries that are already struggling to feed their populations.

And the present NZ government, likely not going to be the last one with such ideas and plans, is prepared to allow seabed mining, deep sea oil and gas drilling, fracking, further intensification of agriculture, exploration of conservation lands, “growing” the economy with allowing more immigration, and clinging to fossil fuel use for decades to come.

Yes, something truly serious and bad is looming on the whole humanity, and the competition for arable land and resources will not stop at the shores of this land. Prepare for the worst, I’d say. I have given up to be much hopeful, as human beings appear to be condemned to never learn much out of history, and also do not grasp the seriousness of what is happening already.

Climate change and warming cannot be stopped now, no matter whether some ports may be stopped in Queensland or not. The Great Barrier Reef will become a wasteland, due to rising sea levels, bleaching and pollution.

Those that will try to stop the further exploitation of the planet’s resources, they will be stopped with force, if need be.

Attenborough’s more recent assessment:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10860906

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/22/david-attenborough-radio-times-interview-population_n_2524315.html
- Colonial Viper 7.1
  
  5 May 2013 at 11:14 pm
  
  Population growth continues, especially in countries that are already struggling to feed their populations.
  
  Africa is where massive population growth is going to occur over the next 50 years.
  
  The Western nations, China, India, are all going to flatten out/decline (or are already doing so). Japan is particularly stuffed.
  - xtasy 7.1.1
    
    5 May 2013 at 11:43 pm
    
    Slowing population growth is happening in some (mostly “developed”) countries, but this may stop if living conditions cannot be maintained or cannot improve. Economic slowing may prompt governments to review population and family policies, as is already happening in Mainland China and lesser so in Japan.
    
    While growth is slowing in some countries it is still too high in most countries, and those many poor in poor countries will continue knocking at the doors of so far wealthier nations like in Europe, the US, Canada, also the more developed ones in East Asia.
    
    Large people movements will occur due to climate change causing much issues for agriculture, like increased climate instability, more droughts, floods and so, that will cause damage to harvests.
    
    Present projection of population growth:
    
    http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=24
    
    http://www.unfpa.org/pds/trends.htm
    
    Apart from this, the present population can only survive by burning and otherwise using fossil fuels at totally unsustainable levels. At this stage, the best projections show that present energy consumption cannot be maintained when using alternative, non fossil and non nuclear energy sources.
    
    Radical change is needed, but do you see any significant number of people around you realising this, and acting accordingly?
Jenny 8

6 May 2013 at 9:30 am

At this stage, the best projections show that present energy consumption cannot be maintained when using alternative, non fossil and non nuclear energy sources.

xtasy

xtasy your statement is a complete untruth. Supply some figures to back it up, or withdraw it.

Do neither, and your above statement becomes a deliberate lie.

As any one can see from the following links.

A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables

A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables II
- johnm 8.1
  
  6 May 2013 at 10:29 am
  
  Hi Jenny
  What sort of renewables would be able to power the current world population of cars, trucks and the fleets of jet aircraft flying at all times around the world? 🙂 I forgot! Include the diesel used to run the world’s shipping fleets.
  - Jenny 8.1.1
    
    6 May 2013 at 10:37 am
    
    Read the links. And use the brains god gave you.
    - johnm 8.1.1.1
      
      6 May 2013 at 11:39 am
      
      Hi jenny
      There are no renewables that could power the World’s transport fleet in totality in place of fossil fuels, it’s you who don’t understand the reality. Without fossil fuels we’re back in the 18th or 17th century. 🙂 or even 16th.
      - Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1.1
        
        6 May 2013 at 12:05 pm
        
        If we can’t burn things for fuel, we’re heading back to the stone age. And even then, they burnt things for fuel…
        
        Mind you, having a power grid is a massive advantage over the 17th and 18th centuries.
        
        Jenny 8.1.1.1.1.1
        
        6 May 2013 at 7:06 pm
        
        If we can’t burn things for fuel, we’re heading back to the stone age. And even then, they burnt things for fuel…
        
        Colonial Viper
        
        Yes that is right. In fact you could say that by burning things for fuel we haven’t moved much past the stone age.
        
        Mind you, having a power grid is a massive advantage over the 17th and 18th centuries.
        
        Colonial Viper
        
        Now you are getting it. But if we keep on the path we are now on, that will be destroyed as well.
      - ghostrider888 8.1.1.1.2
        
        6 May 2013 at 12:12 pm
        
        ahhh, another Renaissance? or “to the dungeons with them”…
      - Draco T Bastard 8.1.1.1.3
        
        6 May 2013 at 4:47 pm
        
        Without fossil fuels we’re back in the 18th or 17th century. or even 16th.
        
        Yes and no. We won’t have cars and ships will be sail powered rather than oil but we’ll still have manufacturing, computers and other benefits of the knowledge that we’ve learned over the last few centuries. International trade, especially for places like NZ, is likely to decline sharply.
      - Jenny 8.1.1.1.4
        
        6 May 2013 at 6:45 pm
        
        johnm, There are no renewables that could power the World’s transport fleet in totality, that is a given.
        
        What I meant by use your brains. Is use your brains for alternatives, not just alternative to fossil fuels, but alternative strategies to fossil fuel use.
        
        Do I always have to spell everything out?
        
        Public transport instead of private cars. Surface ships instead of jetliners. Yes, a lot of this sort of infrastructure will still require fossil fuels, but at a trickle compared to what we waste today. Mass air travel is a 1960s innovation. We can do without it. We have the internet.
        
        The main takeaway here, is that once you start down that path all sorts of opportunities for innovation and efficiencies will present themselves.
        
        If we stay on the path we are on the future is very dark indeed.
        
        It is fossil fuels that will drive us back into the 18th C, or worse. By destroying the viable climate and agriculture on which human civilisation of every era has been dependent. Did I say 18th century, I meant 1st century, or worse.
        
        It is the old fossil fuel apologist dinosaurs who will kill society. You are the luddites throwing your clogs in the machinery of change. It’s amazing all the crazy sorts and types of excuses people like you, come up with to keep us heading recklessly towards destruction.
        
        None of them based on reality, or the science.
    - Colonial Viper 8.1.1.2
      
      6 May 2013 at 12:02 pm
      
      Currently, people are simply promising “lifestyles as usual” only powered by renewables. Unfortunately, less energy is going to be available/affordable, which means that we are going to have to find improved quality of life from qualitative not quantitative means.
      
      And, there is a massive amount of embodied energy required to make those structural changes suggested in the SciAm article.
      
      eg how much greenhouse gases will be released in converting/replacing NZ’s vehicle fleet to run on electric? And I don’t mean Toyota Prius or Honda Civic hybrids either, I mean full 100% electric vehicles. Chuck in the mining, refining, manufacture and transport of the million lithium polymer car batteries needed and its going to be a lot of fossil fuels used to get off fossil fuels.
      - ghostrider888 8.1.1.2.1
        
        6 May 2013 at 12:09 pm
        
        my rambling mate placed a link in OM about the barriers China is facing exporting comparitively affordable alt energy generation; freakin capital protectionists just keep shooting the planet in the roof; sorta like Family First, shooting itself in the mouth. Ha! (even I found that funny, and I have high humour expectations, wooden ya know.)
      - xtasy 8.1.1.2.2
        
        6 May 2013 at 2:46 pm
        
        Exactly, CV, with respect, some adhere to very idealistic presumptions, and they fail to realise that it is not just a matter of needing to replace electricity and perhaps heating with renewables.
        
        Factories, smelters and what else need to be used to produce the new infrastructure, machinery, modes of transport, the grids, the electronic equipment, and also stuff to make things grow, ideally more naturally, they presently largely run on fossil fuses for powering them, or for serving as raw material to produce some of it.
        
        Coal power plants still produce the bulk of electricity in China, and also much in Europe and the US, add petroleum, gas and one can see, what energy there is being generated at present, to keep things running, that will need to be replaced.
        
        All those batteries to store the electricity to run electric cars, the hydrogen tanks and fittings, the new engines to power hydrogen cars, trucks, ships and airplanes, they need to be made, and I cannot with my best wishes see any perpetuum mobile running that does away with the energy used presently.
        
        Do not forget the importance of nuclear fission either, and fusion has not been mastered yet to successfully and continually generate electricity.
        
        Much stuff to do, but by the best scenarios, people may just settle for using bicycles more again in future. Yes, you may sweat and strain your muscles, but hey, it does some good for the body after all, and you meet people face to face, not separated by windscreens and metal or plastic panels.
- xtasy 8.2
  
  6 May 2013 at 2:22 pm
  
  Dear Jenny –
  
  With all respect, most of us dearly want to switch to renewable, alternative, sustainable energy generation and use, and certainly, much can and will be done in coming decades.
  
  But one must be realistic, it can only be done with high level investment in new infrastructure and by subsidising projects, as for some time to come, due to exploitation of shale and natural gas, still affordable (presently cheap) coal, and continued use of petroleum, fossil fuels are generally still cheaper to use for a while to come yet.
  
  That is why the short sighted Nat led government wants do allow more exploration and exploitation of potential off-shore and on-shore oil, gas and coal fields. They even are open to risky deep sea drilling. But New Zealand is not alone, the US are only half heartedly following the diversification of energy generation and use. Also in Europe there is much debate about feasibility, affordability, reliability, security and so forth.
  
  Have a read of the stories to be found under the below listed links, and you will see, that this one so popular and well publicised report and study you refer to in the Scientific American is not simply accepted and shared by all. It deserves more scrutiny.
  
  http://science.time.com/2012/12/27/2013-a-cloudy-forecast-for-renewable-energy-with-a-silver-lining/
  http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2013/april/name,36789,en.html
  http://www.resilience.org/stories/2009-11-09/scientific-americans-path-sustainability-lets-think-about-details
  http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2011/november/name,20318,en.html
  http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-desertec-solar-energy-project-has-run-into-trouble-a-867077.html
  http://peopleandplace.net/on_the_wire/2011/4/26/intermittency_and_the_hvdc_supergrid
  http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/res/overviewgrowth.html
  http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/res/overviewtargets.html
  
  Subsidising renewable electricity generation requires subsidising, which at least fort he forseeable time leads to higher retail prices – example Europe:
  http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Energy_price_statistics
  
  What is needed is the resolute political will, which sadly is not sufficiently evident, not even within Labour here in NZ. And the Greens have not got any master plans ready as yet, rather relying on some government incentives, and on the rest to be done by the market.
  
  While energy is one issue, and I stay by my critical view, that not all present fossil generated energy can be replaced in an economic, sensible and affordable way by switching to renewable SSW energies in the next few years, there are other aspects to consider also.
  
  Look at the wide use of plastics and what that is made of. Look at medical and fertiliser products, of synthetic substances, what are they made of. The list can go on. Petroleum and some other resources are used not just to create electricity, and not just homes need powering, there will be a huge gap for future generations between what they need in resources to maintain similar living standards to what we have, and what may be available to use to enable this.
  
  So major lifestyle challenges will be necessary, and immense changes need to be made in transport, powering and heating homes, factories, smelters and what else there is.
  
  And also will there be competition, as the UN prove how near impossible it is to get unity on major issues amongst just Security Council members, let alone 200 states and their governments and peoples.
tsmithfield 9

6 May 2013 at 12:12 pm

On the other hand, the reef situation might be more hopeful.

It looks like one of the keys to the reefs regenerating is for humans to fuck off and leave them to it. Sort of like a quantum paradox where the outcome changes depending on whether or not it is being observed.
johnm 10

6 May 2013 at 12:30 pm

Brilliant article on climate tipping points and the dire situation we are now in:
“Update on climate tipping points”

1.) Disintegration of the Arctic Ice Sheet:

2.) Disintegration of the Greenland Ice Sheet:

3.) Unleashing of Tundra methane clathrates and sub-sea methane deposits from (1) and (2): .

4.) Disintegration of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet(covered here earlier):

5.) Destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest, and indeed all forests of the planet:

6.) Die-Off of Boreal Forests:

7.) The Sahara and Sahel in Africa

8.) The El Nino Southern Oscillation(ENSO):

9.) The Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (THC):

10.) The Indian Summer Monsoon:

http://collapseofindustrialcivilization.com/
- johnm 10.1
  
  6 May 2013 at 6:59 pm
  
  Currently the World due to human impact is experiencing another great extinction of species. The message of the above article and indeed science is that we humans may be joining all those other species in the extinction abyss! 🙁 Our time in the Sun of this Planet is over! No one wants to discuss this?
  - Jenny 10.1.1
    
    6 May 2013 at 7:13 pm
    
    I’ll discuss it with you.
    
    Fight! Fight! the dying of the light.
    - johnm 10.1.1.1
      
      6 May 2013 at 9:09 pm
      
      Hi jenny
      My heart jumped at your reply with a degree of accustomed pain, being an older bod, your youthful zeal and commitment is very moving. 🙂
    - johnm 10.1.1.2
      
      6 May 2013 at 9:43 pm
      
      “What Would ‘Wartime Mobilization’ to Fight Climate Change Look Like? ”
      
      http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/04-2
      
      “Unfortunately, we’re well beyond the 2 degree Celsius mark, now. The Copenhagen Accord was written in 2009. Since then, I’ve heard two climate scientists (affiliated with prestigious research groups around this country) who have stated that, even if every human and industry in the world was to stop consuming fossil fuels TODAY, we are bound to achieve *at minimum* a 2.5 degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures by the year 2100 (for 1 scientist’s remarks, see this quote here: http://environmentalchange.nd…. ). If we don’t stop consuming fossil fuels, that average temperature increase will be much greater. I believe that these 2 scientists’ statements represent the general scientific consensus, with regard to new predictions of climate change. ”
      
      “In all seriousness: extinction is very unlikely, but we have certainly overshot the world’s carrying capacity by at least 4-fold, maybe more, and that is not a sustainable situation.
      
      When I let myself think about this – I wish you hadn’t brought it up, but here I am – I’m glad I’m old, but I feel really sorry for the poor Millennials. They’ll have to live through a mass extinction – or not.
      
      Truth is that my generation owes theirs – essentially our grandchildren – a huge apology. We blew it. It really wasn’t supposed to be like this. We completely failed as stewards, never mind the reasons, and we DID know – how long ago was Earth Day?
      
      Both Dennis Hayes and Richard Heinberg look very tired and sad these days. (Heinberg’s recent book, the End of Growth, is a great introduction to our predicament.) They, at least, tried.”
      
      Those who believe it is too late and human extinction is on the cards could refer to guy Mcpherson’s blog http://www.guymcpherson.com
vto 11

6 May 2013 at 12:30 pm

New Zealand rivers are also dying. Or are already dead.

Leaving the next generation in a worse state. Great
red rattler 12

6 May 2013 at 4:10 pm

Important discussion about our future.

Obviously to survive we need to junk capitalism. It has done its job and now threatens to destroy us.

Whether we survive or not depends on how soon we socialise the global economy and plan it to sustain our existence and future development.

The big decisions about how to share the immediate losses that will come with the transition to a sustainable future have to be made collectively, and we have to have control of the means to do this collectively.

Only one word describes that – socialism.

That’s where the discussion must head, and NOW.
- xtasy 12.1
  
  6 May 2013 at 4:35 pm
  
  “The big decisions about how to share the immediate losses that will come with the transition to a sustainable future have to be made collectively”
  
  You are certainly right with that Red Rattler!
  
  The challenge and problem is: The public and voters have been so ill informed by mainstream media, who are largely staffed by journalists fearing for job security, many if not almost all of them, have little knowledge about science, economics, social and other disciplines.
  
  Career minded, adaptable, headline hunting, superficial, shallow, in part ignorant, self serving journo school grads, not having a grasp of what is involved, at stake and needs to be done.
  
  So they keep feeding much trash and an illusion that somehow all will go on more or less as usual, that the government are full of “experts”, that the ship is in a competent captain’s control, and that all will be fine for an ever more comfy future.
  
  Add the divisions created by Nats and the whole neo liberal capitalist propagators and lobbyists, instilling fear in so many, creating envy, distrust, isolationism, individualism and endless commercially promoted consumerism, and we have a PROBLEM!
  
  People vote and take stands, but with the above, we will not achieve a collective spirit, collective responsibility and collective action.
  
  Something BIG must be done to change all this.
  - Arfamo 12.1.1
    
    6 May 2013 at 7:17 pm
    
    +1
  - Jenny 12.1.2
    
    6 May 2013 at 8:10 pm
    
    ‘
    “Join the Resistance”
    
    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-fossil-fuel-resistance-20130411/+1
    - Jenny 12.1.2.1
      
      6 May 2013 at 8:29 pm
      
      In Australia Greenpeace has launched a campaign against coal exports.
      
      http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/24-0
      
      We need to do this here. But not with a few people, but with thousands. Not with one vessel, but with hundreds.
      
      In New Zealand seaborne protest has been very effective in driving Deep Sea oil drillers from our East Coast and keeping nuclear warships out of our harbours.
      
      The big oil and coal companies and the government know this, and they are very nervous.
      
      When the Rainbow Warrior visited New Zealand recently I was talking with the Greenpeace ship’s captain, Joel Stuart. Captain Stuart told me that when the Warrior had been booked to go onto the slipway in the Lyttlton Harbour to get marine growth cleaned from its hull. (A usually routine maintenance task needed to cut down drag). The Lytttlton Harbour Master had refused permission to let the Rainbow Warrior into the harbour to get this work done. The Harbour Master refused entry into the harbour, on the grounds that the authorities were afraid that Greenpeace would blockade the coal exporting ships that leave that leave from Lyttlton. Captain Joel told me that to get this vitally necessary work done, Greenpeace had to give the authorities, an assurance that they would not protest against the coal exporting ships while they were in Lyttleton.
      
      The government know that we can stop them. And they are afraid. Their harsher laws and repression against sea borne protest are not a sign of strength but of weakness.
- Colonial Viper 12.2
  
  6 May 2013 at 11:18 pm
  
  Only one word describes that – socialism.
  
  That’s where the discussion must head, and NOW.
  
  The form of socialism required should be democratic and community based as far as possible. Massive centralised state socialism other than for vital, strategic national economic infrastructure is to be resisted.
Tom Bennion 13

6 May 2013 at 10:11 pm

Change is not nearly as hard as people make out. Take commuting. Electric bikes moving in covered cycleway could readily replace a lot of current transport.

Impossible? Well, I cycle very day to work on an electric bike, as hundreds of others do in Wellington. Its like constantly having a steady wind at your back. Great fun.

And Auckland businesses and NZTA are backing the proposed skypath over Auckland Harbour Bridge. http://www.skypath.org.nz/

Then there is Advanced Rail Energy Storage to back up renewables. Gotta love the simplicity of this:

“the technology uses off-peak energy — preferably generated by renewable resources — to run a full-scale electric locomotive, pulling four flat cars loaded with concrete on railroad tracks up a hill to an upper rail yard. There the unit would remain until it was called upon to return its stored energy to the grid. Then, when the energy is needed, the four-car unit would be released back down the hill to a lower rail yard, and its motion would be used to spin a generator. Each four-car unit could generate about 2 MW over 30 minutes, with as little as a few seconds of notice by a grid operator” http://www.aresnorthamerica.com/article/3554-storage-start-up-uses-old-technology

Perhaps NZ Power can get one of these up and running.
- Colonial Viper 13.1
  
  6 May 2013 at 11:12 pm
  
  Yep. But now you’re talking about people giving up personal cars. Which is something which is going to happen one way or another, but don’t expect any politician Blue Red or Green to even whisper any policy about.
Tom Bennion 14

7 May 2013 at 12:53 am

Colonial Viper

Skypath is an initiative backed by major Auckland financial players. Check it out.

Then of course there is Chrischurch’s push to be a world premier cycling city:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8508885/Copenhagen-style-separate-cycleways-planned

Copenhagen is rolling out in a town near you.

The draft Auckland Unitary Plan has a suspiciously green transport feel to it.

Guess we wait for the major parties to catch up. I think they have may already got there on the issue of energy security with the NZ Power concept. Who on the left saw that coming?

Seems to me we are in the middle of something. Just need to all give it a push.
- Colonial Viper 14.1
  
  7 May 2013 at 1:01 am
  
  Energy depletion and economic decline is going to be the most helpful factor in accomplishing these changes over the next 20 years.
  
  I think they have may already got there on the issue of energy security with the NZ Power concept. Who on the left saw that coming?
  
  An alteration to market pricing mechanisms does not address in key issues in the energy security of the nation whose weakest point, the need for imported oil, is not addressed by the NZ Power concept.
  
  Who on the left saw that coming?
  
  Yes, certainly a good initiative, 3x more gutsy than I personally expected, roughly 1/3 of what is needed.
johnm 15

7 May 2013 at 10:50 am

Directly related to the dying of the Great Barrier Reef:

“About a year ago, a study published in Science found that the pace of ocean acidification today is ten times faster than during the PETM – the most rapid acidification event in the geologic record. The study looked as far back as possible, fully 300 million years, and found that the acidification in store for the world ocean is the worst ever – worse than all the major extinctions of that span: the end-Cretaceous, the end-Triassic, and even the end-Permian 250 million years ago, when 96% of marine species went extinct.

The 2012 Science study concluded (with a customary level of scientific hedging which almost seems sardonic):

The current rate of (mainly fossil fuel) CO2 release stands out as capable of driving a combination and magnitude of ocean geochemical changes potentially unparalleled in at least the last ~300 million years of Earth history, raising the possibility that we are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change.

Ocean Acidification to Hit 300-Million-Year Max”
__________

“Climate Change’s ‘Evil Twin’ to Harm for ’10s of 1000s of Years’
New comprehensive study outlines rapidly acidifying Arctic Ocean caused by CO2 emissions”
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/06

“Continued rapid change is a certainty,” Bellerby told BBC News.

“We have already passed critical thresholds,” warned Bellerby. “Even if we stop emissions now, acidification will last tens of thousands of years. It is a very big experiment.”

Sam Dupont, Researcher at the University of Gothenburg, says that “something really unique is happening. This is the first time that we as humans are changing the whole planet; we are actually acidifying the whole ocean today.”
- ghostrider888 15.1
  
  7 May 2013 at 12:29 pm
  
  we three see and really glean a great harvest from your posts johnm

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Skeptical Science
4 days ago

Apposite Quotations.
How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Bowalley Road
4 days ago

What’s a life worth now?
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
4 days ago

Howling at the Moon
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
4 days ago

Newshub is Dead.
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
4 days ago

Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
4 days ago

Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
4 days ago

Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
4 days ago

PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
4 days ago

Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
4 days ago

Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
4 days ago

Long Tunnel or Long Con?
Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
Greater AucklandBy Matt L
4 days ago

Smoke And Mirrors.
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
4 days ago

Fast-track submissions period must be extended
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
Greens
14 hours ago

Release: Progress on climate will be undone by Govt
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Labour Blog
15 hours ago

Release: Dark day for Kiwi kids as a third of Govt cuts affect them
News that 1000 jobs at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki could go is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Alarm as Government signals further blow to school lunches
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Quick, submit – stop Govt’s dodgy approvals bill
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Government throws coal on the climate crisis fire
The Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations. ...
Greens
4 days ago

Release: Public transport costs to double as National looks at unaffordable roading project instead
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Release: Cost of living in Auckland still not a priority
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Greens look to fast-track submissions on harmful law
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Govt should stop making people’s lives harder and build more homes
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Melissa Lee missing in action on media
The action Melissa Lee promised to protect democracy and the media sector is missing, Media and Communications spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Landlord Government leaves little hope for renters
The Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Opportunity to build a more sustainable economy
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Significant step forward in fixing cruel and unjust past
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environment
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Don’t cut our lunches – clear message sent to Government
Tens of thousands of people are demanding the Government commits to fully funding free and healthy school lunches. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Govt makes U-turn on Suicide Prevention Office
Labour welcomes the Government’s U-turn on the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

CCC issues warning over further climate delay
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets are lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets lame and lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Commitment to disability communities missing from Govt priorities
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Methane target review is dangerous duplication
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Government must commit to school building project for disabled students
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: National must take mental health seriously
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Referendums for Māori wards a racist step backwards
The Government's imposed referendum on Māori wards is a racist step backwards for Māori representation, and disregards Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Job losses at Health not worth it for tax cuts
New Zealand will feel the harm of the National Government’s reckless cuts to jobs at the health ministry for generations, says Ayesha Verrall. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Press release: No Māori initiatives in Government’s nothing plan
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Release: Social housing off Government’s to-do list
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Release: Less money in most people’s pockets this April
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

$41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
15 hours ago

Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
17 hours ago

Judicial appointments announced
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
17 hours ago

Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
18 hours ago

Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
18 hours ago

Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
19 hours ago

Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
21 hours ago

Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Taupō takes pole position
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Government backing mussel spat project
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Government focused on getting people into work
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Inflation coming down, but more work to do
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Roads of National Significance planning underway
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Navigating an unstable global environment
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Joint US and NZ declaration
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Anne Salmond: My open submission on this radical, flawed fast-track bill
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
NewsroomBy Dame Anne Salmond
49 mins ago

Short story: Finally, by Caoimhe McKeogh
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
NewsroomBy Caoimhe McKeogh
49 mins ago

Thomas James is a master of invention
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
NewsroomBy Ben Fahy
49 mins ago

All 28 road tunnels in New Zealand ranked from worst to best
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
The SpinoffBy Group Think
2 hours ago

How to make the most of your market haul
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
The SpinoffBy Lucinda Bennett
2 hours ago

From a library basement comes a fashion history
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
NewsroomBy Sharon Brettkelly
2 hours ago

Rousing farewell for Kiwi doctors flying out to Gaza aid flotilla
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
9 hours ago

Communities Against The Fast-track Heartened By ‘Overwhelming’ Public Response; Disgusted By ‘...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Scoop politics
10 hours ago

Renters Rights To Drastically Reduce Under Landlord Government
The Government’s announced changes around tenancy rules set renters’ rights back by nearly a decade. ...
Scoop politics
10 hours ago

NZPI Submission on Fast Track Approvals Bill
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
Scoop politics
10 hours ago

Fast Track Invite List Includes Most Destructive Industries In New Zealand
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
Scoop politics
10 hours ago

Eugene Doyle: Helen Clark on why AUKUS isn’t in New Zealand’s national interest
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
11 hours ago

Government releases list of organisations shoulder-tapped for fast-track consents
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Radio NZ – political
12 hours ago

The Week in Politics: Job cuts surge and Waitangi Tribunal trouble
Analysis - It's been a grim week for public servants, while trouble is also brewing between the government and Waitangi Tribunal. ...
Radio NZ – political
13 hours ago

It never rains but it pours: intense rain and flash floods have increased inland in eastern Australi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
13 hours ago

Watch: Christopher Luxon speaks to media in Manila
The PM has defended how he's talked up NZ trade on his trip to Southeast Asia, after criticism from his own delegation. ...
Radio NZ – political
13 hours ago

‘It could be the death of the museum’: why research cuts at a South Australian institution have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

Government signs off $41m clean energy deal with Asian Development Bank
The government has committed $41 million to clean energy transition at the Asian Development Bank's Energy Transition Mechanism. ...
Radio NZ – political
14 hours ago

Are 2 mid-career AFL retirements a sign Australian athletes are taking brain health more seriously?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
16 hours ago

Luxon: Waitangi Tribunal comments from coalition parties 'ill considered'
Comments from ACT and NZ First ministers about the Tribunal were "ill considered" and "that message will be underscored" to them, the PM says. ...
Radio NZ – political
16 hours ago

Mental Health Foundation Facing Staff Cuts From Govt Funding Squeeze
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Scoop politics
16 hours ago

I wholeheartedly recommend The President: a brilliant revival of a play of decay, terror and revulsi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
17 hours ago

How the coolest little capital is shrinking
It's not the first time a government has targeted public servants for job cuts, but this time Wellington is really feeling it. ...
Radio NZ – political
17 hours ago

Ministers accused of Cabinet Manual breach with threats to Waitangi Tribunal
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
17 hours ago

Many prisoners go years without touching a smartphone. It means they struggle to navigate life on th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
17 hours ago

Good news: midlife health is about more than a waist measurement. Here’s why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
17 hours ago

The Friday Poem: ‘Mitochondrial Problem’ by Evangeline Riddiford Graham
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The SpinoffBy Evangeline Riddiford Graham
17 hours ago

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 18
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38) Hot off the press, this debut ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
17 hours ago

Department of Conservation closing Dunedin centre, but no jobs lost
Visitor habits are changing and DOC needs to adapt in a financially sustainable way, its operations director says. ...
Radio NZ – political
17 hours ago

Unions Collaborate With Thousands Of Job Cuts
With New Zealand officially in recession, a swathe of mass sackings is currently sending shockwaves through the entire working class. ...
Scoop politics
17 hours ago

Watch live: Christopher Luxon speaks to media in Manila
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is speaking to reporters in Manila after pledging greater defence cooperation with the Philippines. Watch live. ...
Radio NZ – political
17 hours ago

Government sent please explain letter to Wellington City Council over transport disagreement
The contents were revealed in correspondence from Simeon Brown and Chris Bishop to Wellington's Mayor. ...
Radio NZ – political
18 hours ago

Some families push back against journalists who mine social media for photos – they have every rig...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
18 hours ago

Mental Health Foundation staff cuts loom, with funding falling behind rising costs
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
Radio NZ – political
18 hours ago

The ‘devil comet’ 12P/Pons-Brooks has finally become visible from Australia. What can we expect?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Pons–Brooks visible from Utah, March 9 2024. James Peirce/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND If you’re a fan of all things space, you’ve doubtless heard about the “devil comet”, which has been captivating keen-eyed observers in the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
18 hours ago

Rugby stadiums are sold as an economic asset – but NZ needs to ask if they’re really worth it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hamlin, Senior Lecturer in Marketing , University of Otago A multi-billion dollar stadium precinct has been proposed for Auckland, one of three proposals in front of Auckland Council for a new stadium in the city. The council is also considering revamping ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
18 hours ago

Auckland dog attacks: Callouts for attacks on other animals going up
Roaming dogs are responsible for more than a thousand attacks on animals each year, and the number is growing. ...
Radio NZ – political
19 hours ago

What access to puberty blockers means for trans young people and their whānau
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
The SpinoffBy Julia de Bres
19 hours ago

NZ and Philippines pledge defence cooperation amid rising tensions
The commitment came after a sit-down meeting between Christopher Luxon and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr overnight. ...
Radio NZ – political
20 hours ago

How superblocks can help reimagine city life
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
The SpinoffBy Ellen Rykers
20 hours ago

Fire engineering expertise may take a big hit with job cuts at MBIE
The public sector cuts are poised to take out a big chunk of expertise at the country's building regulator. ...
Radio NZ – political
21 hours ago

“Fast-track Law To Kill Kiwi”: Students Say Fight Against Anti-democracy Legislation Is Only Jus...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Scoop politics
22 hours ago

‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Online schooling is not just for lockdowns. Could it work for your child?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Hear me out: You can shove your reusable period products
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
The SpinoffBy Kristin Kelly
22 hours ago

Rip It Up And Start Over – Fast-Track Approvals Bill Needs To Be Scrapped
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
Scoop politics
22 hours ago

Maori Authority Warns Government On Fast Track Legislation
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Scoop politics
22 hours ago

Why the government’s haste in changing the health system could come back to haunt it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Many suicides are related to gambling. How can we tackle this problem?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Things that go buzz in the night – our global study found there really are more insects out after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Why don’t Australians talk about their salaries? Pay transparency and fairness go hand-in-hand
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

‘Character’ And Its Impact On Immigration Status
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
Scoop politics
22 hours ago

20,000 more on jobseeker benefits than this time last year
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
The SpinoffBy Catherine McGregor
24 hours ago

All of the Raglan Roast cafes in Wellington, ranked from worst to best
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
The SpinoffBy Zoë Mills
1 day ago

Auckland uni students threaten rent strike over rising accommodation fees
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously. The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund
1 day ago

Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved
Shane Jones says people voted for change, but opponents say small cuts such as ending a special oceans secretariat are starting to add up The post Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Andrew Bevin
1 day ago

Defence deal to counter Beijing’s aggression in South China Sea
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
NewsroomBy Laura Walters
1 day ago

Wellington’s ebb and flow of public servants
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
NewsroomBy Tom Kitchin
1 day ago

New Zealand transport planning has gone off the rails
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
NewsroomBy Dr Timothy F Welch
1 day ago

Daily crossword, Friday 19 April
The post Daily crossword, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
1 day ago

Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slows
The transport sector is currently in the slow lane The post Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slows appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Emma Hatton
1 day ago

Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 19 April
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
1 day ago

Financial literacy should be on all of us
Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Bryce Marsden
1 day ago

Missy rustles to stardom in Canada
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
NewsroomBy Aiden McLaughlin
1 day ago

Emissions fall again – now NZ needs to up the pace
Official figures confirm New Zealand produced less climate pollution in 2022 than in any other year in the 21st century The post Emissions fall again – now NZ needs to up the pace appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
1 day ago

Grattan on Friday: Ethnic tensions will complicate the Albanese government’s multicultural policy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Group plans work to improve safety of female MPs
New research shows harassment of elected officials - especially women - is on the rise. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Ukraine warns of WW3 ahead of long-stalled Congress aid vote
Ukraine's Prime Minister says his country desperately needs the US to approve long-stalled security assistance. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

PSA astonished Education Minister expects hiring of contractors to review curriculum
Hiring contractors is an appalling solution when people who could do the work are losing their jobs, the PSA says. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Crown lawyers attempt to block Waitangi Tribunal summons to Minister for Children
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Luxon refuses to guarantee public consultation on AUKUS Pillar 2
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it's "far too premature" to be confirming whether the public would be consulted on joining AUKUS Pillar 2. ...
Radio NZ – political
2 days ago

Visualising the 1800s or designing wedding invitations: 6 ways you can use AI beyond generating text
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Falls, fractures and self-harm: 4 charts on how kids’ injury risk changes over time and differs fo...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Choice and control: will NDIS reforms mean people with disability don’t get to decide who they liv...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University Shutterstock/Ground Picture Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

Asbestos in playground mulch: how to avoid a repeat of this circular economy scandal
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salman Shooshtarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Salman Shooshtarian Asbestos has been found in mulch used for playgrounds, schools, parks and gardens across Sydney and Melbourne. Local communities naturally fear for the health of their ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
2 days ago

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