Disaster in Japan

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 pm, March 11th, 2011 - 111 comments
Categories: disaster - Tags: ,

A 8.9 Richter-scale earthquake has struck just off the coast of northeastern Japan. At a depth of just 24km and only 60km offshore, it released 8,000 times more energy than the second Christchurch earthquake. The Kurihara seismic station recorded a 7 on the destructiveness scale, the maximum reading in Chch 2 was an 8 out of 12 on our scale.

Swathes of 70K city of Kesennuma ablaze. Severe damage in Tokyo, over 250km away, and the Tsunami has swept down the coast. Felt as far away as Beijing, 2500km distant.

Death toll unknown. $100 billion to $1 trillion damage. 20+ aftershocks over 5.5 are reported so far. Tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including NZ. We should be OK but stay away from beaches.

A summary map of major damage from the BBC.

Nuclear reactors automatically shut down via the insertion of control rods following the quake but in two reactors there is concern that the pumping systems have failed and the nuclear decay is still heating the coolant water. This is how a meltdown begins, with the inability to dissipate the energy safely. It does seem the situation is under control with an emergency release of vapor from the cooling system of the worst-affected reactor.

111 comments on “Disaster in Japan ”

  1. kriswgtn 1

    The Tsunami that has just hit Japan on tv -fuck ITS HORRIBLE

    Those poor people 🙁

  2. Pete 2

    Horrendous earthquake and tsunamis in Japan.

    • Carol 2.1

      Yes. TV3 has stopped showing Glee and is showing live images frrom a US TV channel. Ongoing major Tsunami on the Japan coast. One of biggest ever quakes in Japan: 8.9 tsunami 6- 10 meters.

  3. Deadly_NZ 3

    A 8.9 earthquake has hit Japan 4.45 PM local time

    • Vicky32 3.1

      Fires, and talk about nuclear reactors… scary stuff! What gives with our world?
      Deb

      • bbfloyd 3.1.1

        what gives???? we have to keep in mind the fact that, on a planetary timescale,, we have had a very peaceful epoch with regard to seismic activity… indeed if we were to compare the period of known human existence,, then we’ve had the luck to emerge during one of,, if not the most peaceful period in the planets existence…

        she’s just doing what she always has done…. if earth was to revert to even a tenth of what she has been like,, then we would cease to exist relatively quickly…

  4. kriswgtn 4

    Tsunami warning for NZ
    get prepared people

    • Carol 4.1

      A quake expert in NZ was just talking on Al Jazeera – watching online. He said it would be 12 hours before a tsunami would reach NZ & it will be low tide, so not more than 1 meter. Not a proble. Worse for mid Pacific, and they have 6 hour wait in Hawaii.

    • Rosy 4.2

      Hate it when tv people talk up a crisis for those who aren’t going to be involved – Al Jazeera reporters going on about tsunami in NZ (CD says will only be 1m). Concentrate on real risk or those devastated already. Not that hard.

      • bbfloyd 4.2.1

        quite right… i stopped watching last night as nearly half the coverage was about the so called threat to nz… which is irrelevant to the actual disaster unfolding in japan,, and unnessesarily alarmist. the coverage i saw was also frustratinly short on information( e;g;where was the epicentre), and long on irrelevent and facile commentry,, to the point of talking over expert analysis with empty rhetoric… i havn’t watched any today, so i’m hoping we aren’t going to be subjected to the same kind of cringeworthy coverage we got from christchurch.

        note to tvnz news dept… FACTS!!! INFORMATION!!! not sensationalism this time please…

  5. todd 5

    A major Earthquake in Japan

    Friday, March 11, 2011 at 06:46:23 PM NZT

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/03/massive-earthquake-in-japan.html

    NZ Civil Defense has issued a warning: A tsunami potential threat advisory is still in effect for New Zealand. Stay away form beaches.

    Initial prediction place potential waves hitting Northland in New Zealand at 6:14 AM.

    • Colonial Viper 5.1

      This is another major shock to an increasingly fragile world. NZ on tsunami watch tomorrow morning. There will be global and local repercussions to this disaster.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.2

      2205, 11 March, 2011

      A tsunami marine warning is in effect for New Zealand:

      Confirmation been received that a tsunami was generated. No wave heights are available at this time.

      The first wave to arrive to New Zealand will be in the areas around North Cape at approximately 0623 12 March 2011.

      Civil Defence Website is down so they’re presently using Google Docs.

      • Colonial Viper 5.2.1

        I think the max wave height is expected to be ~1m.

        • todd 5.2.1.1

          No harm in preparing.

          There’s some major Worldwide activity lately:

          http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/

          • Lanthanide 5.2.1.1.1

            There’s always major worldwide activity. It’s only news when it occurs near populated areas.

            • todd 5.2.1.1.1.1

              Most of the biggest Earthquakes have happened in populated areas.

              http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/10_largest_world.php

              • lprent

                Nope. Look at the map on the link. The most common area for them is in the Kuriles and Alaska – not places known for their population.

                • todd

                  Looks like around four of those fifteen major earthquakes were in less populated areas. I think you might mean the most unpopulated areas are Prince William Sound – Alaska with around a population of 10,000 and Banda Sea, with 15,000. Kuriles has around 19,000.

                  Chile population 17,094,270
                  Alaska Total population 698,473
                  Kamchatka population 402,500
                  North Sumatra population 12,985,075
                  Chile Biobío Region population 1,861,562
                  Ecuador population 14,306,876
                  Assam Tibet 26,655,528

              • Lanthanide

                I’d also point out that measuring only the biggest quakes doesn’t really help your point.

                Earthquakes happen all the time, but it’s only since the 1900 that we’ve been able to record them with a scientific basis. It’s logical to assume that the areas that started off with seimographs were those that were populated, so we can also assume that there may have been many large quakes that occurred during the 20th century that were in unpopulated areas and so simply weren’t recorded at all (mainly talking 6-7 here, the damaging ones that aren’t felt over huge regions).

                In other words you have a sampling bias.

                • todd

                  A sampling bias? You’ve completely lost me there Lanthanide.

                  • Marty G

                    it means if you’re only measuring quakes where there are large populations, it’s going to look like most large quakes happen near large populations.

                    anyway, your map doesn’t show that large earthquakes occur near large populations. most of that top 15 occurred in sparsely populated areas.

                    • todd

                      Most of the biggest Earthquakes have happened in populated areas…

                      Perhaps I should rephrase that; the majority of the largest Earthquakes the world has seen, have effected highly populated areas. I would put this down to people building in areas that are geographically suitable, much of this due to Earthquakes creating those features in the first place.

                      The effects of such large Earthquakes would have been reported even if they happened in unpopulated areas or out to sea where monitoring was not undertaken. I think Lanthanides hypothesis needs some evidence before it is given any relevance.

                      By my count, only four of the 15 major Earthquakes since 1900 were in sparsely populated areas. Prince William Sound (Alaska), Alaska, Banda Sea and Kuriles. The Alaskan Earthquakes are questionable. Now we have the Japanese Earthquake as well. Here’s a small excerpt of some of the Major earthquakes and their effects:

                      Magnitude 8.8 – OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
                      At least 521 people killed, 56 missing, about 12,000 injured, 800,000 displaced and at least 370,000 houses, 4,013 schools, 79 hospitals and 4,200 boats damaged or destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in the Valparaiso-Concepcion-Temuco area. At least 1.8 million people affected in Araucania, Bio-Bio, Maule, O’Higgins, Region Metropolitana and Valparaiso. The total economic loss in Chile was estimated at 30 billion US dollars.

                      THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA – In total, 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.

                      Chile 1960 Magnitude 9.5 – Approximately 1,655 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.

                      etc

                      PS Lanthanide, did you see the other link to reports that people had heard a sonic boom prior to the Christchurch earthquake? Feel like making an apology yet for being an antagonistic twerp?

                    • Marty G

                      I guess it depends what you meant by “populated areas”.

                      none of the ones you listed happened close to large population centres but many of the very biggest earthquakes in recorded history are going to have affected people because they affect such a large area and there are people everywhere.

                      And, remember, sampling bias. we’ve only being collecting worldwide seismic data for a matter of decades before that, the sensors were mostly confined to population centres.

  6. Pete 6

    With a global financial centre like Japan hit like this, I don’t think the global economy will see much in the way of recovery in 2011.

    • Colonial Viper 6.1

      Japan has a massive public debt problem, with public debt ~200% of GDP. (Makes ours at ~35% look miniscule) They were very recently downgraded to AA-/AA2. Its going to make their recovery from this very difficult.

      I agree this is a massive hit. Understanding that with the likelihood of many lives lost this is not the most appropriate time to talk about economic matters – however reinsurers all throughout the world will be reeling. The insurance situation in Christchurch will get worse because of this.

      I hope as a nation we can assist the Japanese people.

  7. prism 7

    Radnz Home has good list of times forecast for waves.

  8. RedLogix 8

    The only upside is that no nation on earth is prepared for this event like the Japanese. Their meticulous preparations will be paying off massively right now.

    As with ChCh in all the loss and tragedy it will be important not to overlook all the things that didn’t fall down and did work. It could have been so much worse in Japan.

    But what to say? This still looks awful. Consequences yet to be even imagined. My heart goes out to Japan and all those caught up in it directly or otherwise.

    But what of the Pacific, and the island scattered across it?

  9. Zorr 9

    For anyone like me who doesn’t own a TV the BBC is currently streaming their coverage at the following link:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

  10. todd 10

    Alert! A major Earthquake in Japan

    Friday, March 11, 2011 at 06:46:23 PM NZT

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/03/massive-earthquake-in-japan.html

    NZ Civil Defense has issued a warning: A tsunami potential threat advisory is still in effect for New Zealand. Stay away from beaches and waterways.

    The tsunami warning will remain in effect until a cancellation message is issued by MCDEM.

    A Civil Defence advisory panel has been convened to assess the threat of the Japan tsunami to NZ

    NZ Tsunami Marine Warning Northland in New Zealand at 6:24 AM.

    Why do these posts keep disappearing?

  11. Lanthanide 11

    Japan accounts for 20% of the worls 6.0M+ quakes, so they’re the most prepared country in the world for earthquakes, and obviously they named ‘tsunami’.

    At 8.9 it is Japan’s biggest ever quake, and the 7th biggest recorded in history ever.

  12. Marty G 12

    jesus. live images on bbc of houses being swept by the tsunami across fields, ablaze. this is nearly 5 hours after the quake

  13. Colonial Viper 13

    Al Jazeera has noted that the biggest aftershocks so far include magnitude 6.8 and 7.1 hits. Those are crazy size earthquakes in of themselves.

    FFS they have shut down some of the nuclear reactors in the area but power losses mean that some coolant water pumps have failed.

    These older design reactors need active cooling even after they have been shut down.

  14. nadis 14

    Where do you get $100 billion to $1 trillion damage from? TV pictures? Gut feel?

    • Marty G 14.1

      as if I would be making that estimate myself, don’t be stupid. media reports gave those numbers as a simple google search could have shown you if you were skeptical.

      official estimates are now over $1 trillion. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/11/3161959.htm

      For scale, Chch’s $20 billion is 10% of our GDP. $1 trillion is nearly 20% of Japan’s GDP.

      • Luva 14.1.1

        Sounds like john key maths

        • Marty G 14.1.1.1

          don’t be a dickhead. it gives a sense of scale and how difficult this will be to recover from.

          • Luva 14.1.1.1.1

            Sorry didn’t mean to be a ‘dickhead’. Just find it irriating how we speculate or just really guess on death tolls and reconstruction costs 5 minutes after something happens.

            The tv gives more than a sense of scale. Let’s leave the guessing alone

            • Marty G 14.1.1.1.1.1

              apology accepted.

              you’ll note I didn’t list the running death toll and the damage estimates are over an order of magnitude.

            • nadis 14.1.1.1.1.2

              It’s kind of irrelevent to think of this stuff now, but as incredible as the footage we are seeing on TV this quake has occurred in low (relatively speaking) density part of Japan. There is apparently little damage in Tokyo/Yokohama, which is an incredible testimony to the preparedness and building standards of Japan. Nowhere else in the world engineers like they do for earthquake risk, and even more importantly they don’t seem to cut corners on implementation..

              Your trillion dollar figure from that link is an estimate based on widespread damage to greater Tokyo – this will fortunately cost far fewer lives and money than those worst case assumptions or the Kobe experience. A quake like this in any other country with similar population density would result in thousands of pancaked buildings and hundreds of thousands of deaths.

              Japan will do what they are eminently capable of – fund a massive infrastructure spend out of domestic savings. Japan does have relatively high official debt (net debt around 120% of GDP) but unlike every other OECD country they fund most of this out of domestic savings.

              Its a horror event. Be strong Japan.

  15. The television coverage of the tsunami was mindblowing. We were flicking between CNN, BBC and Sky News, and the live pictures of the tsunami approaching then making landfall were freaky; compelling, frightening and shocking, all in one. The worst aspect was watching vehicles driving TOWARDS the approaching tsunami, and possibly unaware of the fury that nature was unleashing. Thoughts, prayers and aroha are with those affected.

    PS – here’s the latest tsunami warning for NZ from Civil Defence (4.44am)

    http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/

  16. rd 16

    From a friend in Tokyo
    Thank you very much for your quickest mail. I am ok, although I was almost in panic at the first shake which lasted a few minutes. That was the hardest quake I’ve ever experienced in my life. The northern part of Japan seems to have been hardest hit by the quake and tsunami, and there must have been remarkable numbers of damages and victims. Quakes in Tokyo Area were a little softer, but frequent aftershocks are still continuing as of 21:30hrs. I am really hoping all this terminates soon. Many thanks again for your kind attention.

  17. RedLogix 17

    If the death toll in Japan remains in the range of about a 1000 as being currently predicted, this will be an astounding outcome. An absolute tribute to meticulous planning, preparation and execution.

    In the past this event would have killed many 100,000’s. In many less well prepared countries in the world it would have, as did the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

    While the images and stories coming out of Japan are shocking and compelling all at once, I find it equally impressive to look around the edges of the destruction … to look at what has not fallen down, and what has worked.

    • Inventory2 17.1

      Sadly RL, it won’t. One of the networks was carrying an unconfirmed suggestion that 80,000 people are missing, and seeing the violence that the tsunami has rendered on some towns in northern Japan, it’s not difficult to accept that kind of number in such a populous country.

      You’re right; the images are both shocking and compelling; none moreso than the video footage of a man trying to out-run the tsunami as it marched across a field. Thank God that the video didn’t show whether or not he made it.

  18. Rosy 18

    Has our government responded with anything other than sympathy? I’m sure there is something we can do even though we have Christchurch to deal with. Japan responded to our disaster really quickly.

    • Marty G 18.1

      they’ll have to cancel the international money appeal for Chch, certainly. There’s no way we can be going cap in hand to the rest of the world when we’re actually well set to cope with our disaster and the Japanese one is so much bigger.

      • Rosy 18.1.1

        yes, it was embarrassing enough before this… I’ve just heard on BBC that Japan has asked for urban search and rescue teams from U.S., Korea, Australia and NZ. So I hope that is being organised quickly.

    • chris73 18.2

      I’ve no doubt that our government will respond to this as our governements in the past have responded to other disasters

  19. r0b 19

    What a mess. Thoughts with all in Japan.

    Last night had the surreal experience of watching cam footage of the Japan earthquake on TV while experiencing our very own Chch aftershock at the same time.

    I’ve pretty much had enough of earthquakes.

  20. word 20

    Some how this is Nationals fault. I’m sure you will connect the dots soon enough.

  21. the sprout 21

    For realtime NZ tsunami data see here:

    http://www.geonet.org.nz/tsunami/

    Dead calm on the northern east coast but obvious tidal surges, low tide has for the last couple of hours looked more like close to high tide where I am – will be interesting to see where it gets at high tide in about 5 hours.

    During the surges the tide has been coming in at about 1ft/sec.

  22. Rosy 22

    “More unsettling news from the Fukushima No 1 nuclear power reactor in Onahama: the plant’s operator Tepco says that radiation “could have already been released” from the damaged reactor, while Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan is saying that residents within 10km of the plant must leave the area.”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/japan-tsunami-earthquake-live-coverage

    Captcha: killing

    • chris73 22.1

      To be fair I’ve always thought that, eventually, nuclear power will become more prevalent.

      Maybe not if you’re situated on the pacific rim of fire…

      • Lanthanide 22.1.1

        More modern reactor designs continue to be more and more contained and self-sufficient, as well as shrinking in size and output (as it’s safer). The nukes in Japan are typically older, much larger designs that are inherently more prone to damage.

        • chris73 22.1.1.1

          Coolness! Bring on the nukes!! (based in Auckland of course)

          • bbfloyd 22.1.1.1.1

            fuck you’re a wanker chris…. a genuine goldcard carrying member of the self flagulation club…spray you poisonous crap somewhere else…

        • Rosy 22.1.1.2

          I’ve heard the new ones are way too expensive for all but the richest countries and a way more expensive than any other practicable form of energy, especially when decommissioning is taken into account. Anyway, I for one would rather not have them on these shakey isles.

          Another reactor has been added to the Japanese government’s emergency list.

          • Colonial Viper 22.1.1.2.1

            Latest Gen III+ designs being approved and certified now are generally made to be simpler and cheaper AFAIK. They are designed to have failure rates 1/100 or 1/1000 that of reactors built in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

            What they do is take systems away and allow more natural gravity and convection processes to do the work – less complex, less moving parts, fewer pumps and valves. You don’t need power to working pumps to keep a reactor cool for instance. The natural convection of cold water past hot water does it. In an emergency these reactors are designed to be safe for 48-72 hours with absolutely no human intervention needed.

            In many ways the newest reactor designs are simpler, faster and cheaper to build than the old designs.

            For me, the main problem remains – what do you do with the low level nuclear waste produced which is going to be dangerously radioactive for tens of thousands of years.

            • Rosy 22.1.1.2.1.1

              Yep waste is certainly the biggest problem. Geologic storage doesn’t seem the ticket here either. Maybe Australia, for example, should take full responsibility for disposal of it’s product. That still wouldn’t convince me that nuclear plants are a good idea in NZ though.

              • g says

                it is interesting that we are keen on collecting the waste from nuclear reactors.
                as far as i know we dont collect the waste from the gas or coal turbines which is deadly to humans immediately. this point was in a recent book by the man who put forward the gaia theory (sorry, his name eludes me.)

                • Marty G

                  because if you didn’t you would quickly leave the plant’s surroundings too radioactive for permanent habitation and those radiation levels would persist for hundreds of years or more.

                • chris73

                  Professor James Lovelock

  23. vto 23

    Absolute horror.

    What is the world coming to?

    • word 23.1

      Nothing. This happened before, and is happening again. Just more population than before and we have the interwebs. Easier to get access to media.

  24. Colonial Viper 24

    Question – what have we offered Japan in terms of assistance? I don’t seem to have seen anything on this yet, but have seen news reports that they have requested assistance from several countries, including ourselves.

  25. Treetop 25

    The rarity of a massive earthquake, followed by a tsunami and then cooling systems in a nuclear reactor being compromised, it is the first on this scale that I have heard of. International disasters of this kind require an international solution. In time there may need to be an international organisation set up to fund the rescue, give and distribute immediate aid and rebuilding of the area/s affected.

  26. Marty G 26

    some chilling parallels with the past in japan

    Kesennuma looks like it’s been incidnary bombed. they think the fires are spreading inland, out of control.

    and that refinery fire, watch the video, see the dust of the air being pulled into the fire at incredible speed and up that massive column of flame, which drops debris over a wide area – that’s how firestorms work

    • Treetop 26.1

      Population of Japan approx 127,000,000. The parallels with August 1945 is much worse as a larger population. As well to think that 4,000,000 people in Tokyo are without power. How long until food and water is rationed? The international aid required cannot get there quick enough.

  27. joe90 27

    Hmm..’ wonder if there’ll be a re-think about the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre budget cuts?.

  28. joe90 29

    It appears idiocy is universal.

    A 25-year-old man was swept into the Pacific Ocean near the Klamath River in Del Norte County in Northern California. The man and two friends reportedly traveled to the shoreline to take photos of the incoming tsunami waves, Lt. Todd Vorenkamp said. His friends made it back to shore safely.

  29. Colonial Viper 30

    Total of 5 nuclear reactors in emergency condition now 😯

    The worst one, which was the first declared a problem, now has internal pressures at 2x normal operating levels. They have been venting radioactive steam to manage that, and using a secondary cooling system. And it’s not good enough.

    Japanese engineers will be extremely peeved that something has gone wrong with their multiple back up systems. But when something this big hits, no one can plan for all the eventualities.

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/51416204-68/plant-power-emergency-nuclear.html.csp

    • todd 30.1

      Luckily Japans weather is OK today and sunny tomorrow. They will get light rain at times on Monday through to Wednesday and then snow on Thursday. It’s currently 10˚C

      Wind direction is northerly but changes to south easterly tonight and then back to north easterly on Sunday morning. It remains the same on Monday.

      Fukushima is one of the largest nuclear plants in the world with 8 separate units located on site

    • Rich 30.2

      Which is why it isn’t a good idea to build nuclear rectors in the in the first place.

      Still, I’m sure we’ll be told that this is an obsolete technology and the problem could not recur in a western reactor. [Oh wait, that was for Chernobyl] Try: new generations of reactors are intrinsically safe and cannot fail in the way the obsolete Japanese one did.

      • Rich 30.2.1

        On the positive side, having a quake devastated city turned into a radioactive wasteland avoids all that petty argument about reconstruction plans.

        • Marty G 30.2.1.1

          they think one of the reactors may have melted down. But that doesn’t mean a radiation release, just that the fuel rods and the assembly have melted. There are layers of containment (metres thick concrete) to contain the debris from a meltdown without it getting into the external environment.

          Chernobyl also had fires that made things worse and the soviet reactors didn’t have containment buildings

          • todd 30.2.1.1.1

            There’s a report of an explosion being heard and white smoke coming from Fukushima.

            http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/japan-declares-nuclear-emergency-following-huge-earthquake/story-fn7zkbgs-1226020058265

            An explosion was heard and white smoke was spotted at Japan’s quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant Saturday afternoon, Jiji press agency said.

            Several workers were reported to be injured in the explosion, and smoke was seen billowing out of the plant.

            Radioactivity at the plant was 20 times over the normal level, and Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission has said it may be experiencing meltdown.

            Pressure has reportedly been growing at the plant, with Japanese officials racing against time to cool the reactors that were disabled by yesterday’s massive earthquake and tsunami or face a nuclear meltdown.

      • hobbit 30.2.2

        Chernobyl-style plants built in the USSR had no containment structure built around them, where as the *rest* of the western world uses full containment structures on their reactor units (What stopped Three Mile Island becoming a serious disaster). Besides, Japanese power reactors are of the PWR or BWR type, ie standard, they are not using backward technology like the Russians were – and still are to this day!

        Still, the fact that radiation is said to be 1000 times normal inside the plant, and 8 times normal outside it, is a cause for concern. We can only hope that they secure the cooling of the reactors, and that the fuel has not melted.

        captcha: degrees

  30. todd 32

    Has Fukushima Killed Us?

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/03/has-fukushima-killed-us.html

    The ceiling of Unit 1 has collapsed and an explosion has blown the entire outer structure off of the containment building of Unit 1 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

    An increase of radiation levels has been confirmed following the explosion. The hourly radiation leaking from the plant is reported to be equal to the amount permitted in one year.

    A Japanese environmental group, has documented previous safety problems at the Fukushima reactor complex…

  31. prism 33

    Good discussion on Radnz Kim Hill this morning with a nuclear watchdog – good facts and figures. It reminded me of why I don’t like nuclear plants. One of the problems that never gets talked about is that when they are old say 40 years as I think Japanese ones are, nobody wants to spend the money to decommission them. Business find it isn’t their ‘core’ business and governments usually leave it to business. Chernobyl is an example of what can happen with government in charge.
    Saturday 12 March 2011 08:18
    Kevin Kamps: nuclear emergency
    Radioactive Waste Watchdog and specialist in nuclear waste at Beyond Nuclear, talking about the problems at the Fukushima atomic power plant.

  32. Jenny 34

    Fukushima is destined to become a name as well known and infamous as Chenoble.

    Thank the protesters who prevented this technology being built here.

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    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    10 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    16 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    18 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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