Sustainability and Economic Paradigms.

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, November 2nd, 2022 - 84 comments
Categories: uncategorized - Tags:

Our economic system and the FIRE economy,  based on finance and exponential expansion, cannot handle de-growth. The whole system depends on infinite and exponential growth. Too many people extracting more than they contribute.

The wholesale resistance to slight changes to the current paradigm, makes de-growth unlikely. Persuading everyone against their own immediate interests to accept such fundamental changes, is almost an impossibility. Especially as our Neo-Liberal economic settings mean the down sides will be born by those who can least afford it. Note the backlash from farming alone, even though it is a sector that is, in reality, better able to absorb transition costs than many others.

The wealthy and powerful will never give up enough, to support the “just transition” needed to get majority democratic support for change.

The folly of “infinite growth in a finite world” is obvious. But even minor steps, such as polluters bearing their true costs, towards the paradigm change needed to a more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable civilisation are resolutely opposed by those with power. It doesn’t fill me with hope that more effective changes, such as the “Circular economy”, are possible in time.

Without a “Just transition” change is also unlikely to be democratically supported by the rest of us.

https://thestandard.org.nz/can-we-have-a-future-with-capitalism/

https://thestandard.org.nz/what-we-were-doing-wasnt-working/

https://waterqualitynz.info/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_economy

84 comments on “Sustainability and Economic Paradigms. ”

  1. weka 1

    The wholesale resistance to slight changes to the current paradigm, makes de-growth unlikely. Persuading everyone against their own immediate interests to accept such fundamental changes, is almost an impossibility.

    The trick is to demonstrate that it is one's immediate interests to change. Eventually we will all be at that point. Some of us have been at that point for a long time. Much of this is to do with the narratives we tell. There's a balance between making clear just how serious the shit is that we are in, and not leaving people with that alone because then they despair and give up and will just focus on their own immediate needs from a place of denial.

    But it's not the only story. We can also tell the stories of what change can be done, what empowers us, what gives us the better chance of going forward.

    I'm also not convinced that everyone is focused on their immediate needs. Many people care about what happens to their children and grandkids.

    Especially as our Neo-Liberal economic settings mean the down sides will be born by those who can least afford it. Note the backlash from farming alone, even though it is a sector that is, in reality, better able to absorb transition costs than many others.

    Farming isn't a monolith, and many farmers are stuck in the same stupid neolib system as the rest of us, only with terrible levels of debt.

    yes, just transtion. I don't know if the situation is that different from what it was before. The middle classes have the most power here, they have the leeway and resources to start the ball rolling and do so in a way that makes transition possible.

  2. Gosman 2

    There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of economic growth that many people have. Economic growth is not consuming more resources. Indeed it can mean consuming less resources in many cases. To gain the same (or similar) benefits that someone gets from a modern smart phone would have required several times the resource usage thirty plus years ago for example.

    Also the idea that the World is running out of resources is a fallacy. What the World is running up against is the constraints of using available resources that are easily accessible at this time given the technological limitations we face. Most resources are not used. They merely change form to less useful resources. Even the fossil fuels that we burn for cheap energy are not really disappearing. Lot's of it are being changed in to CO2 which obviously causes problems. However it can also be converted back to fuel via various methods that are not yet economically viable.

    • weka 2.1

      just because some consumer goods are smaller than they were 30 years ago, doesn't mean that we're not using too many resources. Sustainability is in part the relationship between the population and the carrying capacity of the landscape that those people live in. In NZ with low population relative to land, we are using more resources than can be generated by the land. We don’t have to, we can transition to a sustainable system.

      There is easily available accounting of the problem in online footprint calculators. Maybe try one out.

      https://www.footprintcalculator.org

      • Gosman 2.1.1

        I suggest the calculation you have linked to is nonsense and is more a value judgement than reflective of objective reality. In fact looking at the calculation I don't seem to be able to progress further than the food question so it is quite amateurish.

        As for carrying capacity of the land, given we live in a system where there is global distribution the carrying capacity of NZ is irrelevant. Singapore on it's own can't support 5 million people but does a more than adequate job of doing that by engaging in trade

        • Jenny are we there yet 2.1.1.1

          As individuals, but even more importantly, collectively as a society, we need to stop chasing the quick buck.

          An export led-recovery, or the return of mass tourism. That ain't gonna save us. It's gonna make things worse.

          We need to pull the whole lot up root and branch. We need to scrap the profit driven agri-business export model that is heating our atmosphere and fouling our rivers, we need stop pandering to high end tourist market. With the little time left we need to prioritise protecting our world instead.

          The Christian Bible Mark 8:36 Jesus asks us;

          "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul?"

          Today we must ask ourselves as a people and a nation;

          What does it profit us to gain the whole world if we lose our biosphere?

          • Gosman 2.1.1.1.1

            Thankfully for the wider Green movement your ideas aren't the ones that are being promoted because there would be little chance of any successes based on that thinking.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Thankfully for the wider Green movement your ideas aren't the ones that are being promoted because there would be little chance of any successes based on that thinking.

              Not seeing a significant increase in long-term "thinking" sad

              Why do civilizations collapse? [17 March 2016]

              "The Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse":
              1. Major, uncontrollable population movements.
              2. The rise of major new epidemic diseases.
              3. Collapse of states – state failure and increased warfare.
              4. Collapse of trade routes and massive famines.
              5. Climate changes.

              Continued (economic/population) growth, and associated containment of societal violence, has allowed this iteration of human civilisation (instantly connected; truly global) to continue its balancing act on a narrowing tightrope, as the five horsemen wait for TINA / BAU to play out on spaceship Earth.

              • Gosman

                Funnily enough the population increase now are in the areas of the World where incomes are the lowest.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  Funnily enough…

                  Yes, that is indeed hilarious laugh

                  The revised, extended version of the poem focuses more clearly on its true subject – the onset of acquisitive individualism and a society of conspicuous consumers. In the poem, purchased artefacts displace human agency and "trivial things" come to dominate. – Pope (1712)

                  Not to worry – if, 100 years from now, civilisation's 'situation' is 'The Road'-bad, life will still be more viable on spaceship Earth than off it.

                  The Washington Post said the film "is one long dirge, a keening lamentation marking the death of hope and the leeching of all that is bright and good from the world…

                  More 'dirge':

                  The missing risks of climate change [26 Oct 2022]
                  The interplay within and between different physical and social systems plays a crucial role in defining when and where impacts will manifest themselves, and these interactions are often only poorly understood. This leads to large and growing uncertainty estimates and a wide range of incompletely understood and underestimated risks. For example, the potential for climate change impacts to drive social discontent, dislocation and relocation, and instability and conflict, are all deeply uncertain, but potentially crippling.

                  Excluding these risks from economic assessments is equivalent to placing a probability of zero on their occurrence.

                  https://garryrogers.com/tag/limits-to-growth/
                  https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/moving-away-progrowth/
                  The current economic system being utilized and internalized relies on perpetual growth. It has long operated counter to the reality that we are confined to a finite planet with finite resources. Yet, this system continues to be practiced and promoted globally. As the environmental and social repercussions of disbelief in limits become increasingly clear, so does our need for a new economic system —one that is not wedded to growth. Neither growth in the number of consumers nor growth in the amount consumed.” – Erika Gavenus

                  Climate change: UN warns key warming threshold slipping from sight
                  There is "no credible pathway" to keep the rise in global temperatures below the key threshold of 1.5C, according to a bleak new UN assessment.

                  There's just over a week until the next major climate conference, known as COP27, starts in Egypt.

                  Whether or not King Charles will make "a virtual contribution" is riveting.

              • Hunter Thompson II

                Agreed, the current system – if you can call it that – rests on a sort of mass delusion. Cracks are now appearing,

                What's not devoured by Time's devouring hand?
                Where's Troy, and where's the Maypole in the Strand?

                James Bramston
                Art of Politics (1729)

          • Jenny are we there yet 2.1.1.1.2

            "…..we need stop pandering to high end tourist market. With the little time left we need to prioritise protecting our world instead."

            Instead we prioritise chasing the big bucks and trash the biosphere in big and little ways, in every way that we possibly can. Right up to the point we destroy it.

            Often, as in this case, for frivolous reasons.

            Lyttelton's biggest cruise ship set to arrive, but what does it mean for the environment?

            Amber Allott 05:00, Nov 03 2022

            Local businesses celebrated last week when the Celebrity Eclipse and the Grand Princess docked at Lyttelton’s new $67 million berth on Thursday and Friday respectively….

            …..The Ovation of the Seas is scheduled to arrive at the port on Thursday, carrying about 4180 passengers.

            Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) says it will be the largest cruise ship to ever visit the port.

            ……until April 10, 2023, will see 85 cruise ships berth in Lyttelton Harbour, carrying about 170,000 passengers and 35,000 crew.

            Akaroa will host another 15 ships, carrying another 8000 passengers and 1000 crew.

            While the cruise season is expected to inject $262 million into the local economy, Crown research institute Niwa has previously raised concerns about the environmental risk to Lyttelton Harbour.

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/130329110/lytteltons-biggest-cruise-ship-set-to-arrive-but-what-does-it-mean-for-the-environment

        • weka 2.1.1.2

          I suggest the calculation you have linked to is nonsense and is more a value judgement than reflective of objective reality. In fact looking at the calculation I don't seem to be able to progress further than the food question so it is quite amateurish.

          you can suggest whatever you like Gosman, but you basically just said "I don't like that".

          As for carrying capacity of the land, given we live in a system where there is global distribution the carrying capacity of NZ is irrelevant. Singapore on it's own can't support 5 million people but does a more than adequate job of doing that by engaging in trade

          yes, we live in a system that obscures the footprint because it pretends that if shuffle the cards around on the table enough they will magically increase. There's nothing sustainable about it so I don't know why you are using it as an example.

          Where does Singapore's food come from? A landbase. What is the carrying capacity of that landbase for its people? Does it produce so much that it can export to Singapore? Who is measuring that? Who is auditing the sustainability and regeneration?

          What happens when the soil depletes? Keep importing fertiliser. What happens when we hit the limits of the non-renewable phosphate sources?

          How is any of that going to work once we transition to post-FFs?

          The carrying capacity of the land matters, because everything we do arises out of the natural environment.

          • Gosman 2.1.1.2.1

            We either import fertiliser, make it here, or find an alternative that becomes available. Ultimately whatever is most beneficial to us at an economic level is what people will choose to do. That is what we have been doing for thousands of years. Singapore doesn’t care what the carrying capacity of a landbase needed to sustain it is. The people of Singapore live there because they can make a good living and get what they need easily.

            • Robert Guyton 2.1.1.2.1.1

              " That is what we have been doing for thousands of years."

              And look what we are facing now!

              Perhaps your model needs to be … jettisoned, and a better one embraced?

              • Gosman

                You detail the better model and show it working at a practical level and then we can talk about alternatives. Until then you might as well wish for a Communist utopia.

                • Robert Guyton

                  Your favoured model has driven us to the brink. I don't have to provide you with a better model, one you'd attack in any case, however, there obviously is one or many, because there have been humans successfully existing long before this present economic system was adopted.

                  • Gosman

                    Except the previous systems don't seem to have been any better at managing environmental degradation. For example the arrival of Maori in NZ led to massive loss of forest cover across the total land mass of the islands as well as the extinction of all the sub species of Moa and Haast eagle and the massive fall in numbers of seals in NZ waters. This from a society that numbered less than 200,000 at it's height and that had a technology level that was similar with neolithic cultures in history. Yet Maori culture is being promoted by some as a viable alternative to our current paradigm to better manage out environmental impact.

                    • Robert Guyton

                      You're choosing systems that fit your narrative. If, in fact all past societies have failed in their bid to exist without harming their habitat, we should now forge a system that DOES work! Certainly, the one we are clinging to (you are) presently, is not that model. We have the capacity (lots of bright minds) the infrastructure (internet/libraries etc.) and the necessity (see "climate change", "species extinction" etc.) for transformational change – let's do it, Gosman! There's a place for you in this new world 🙂

                    • weka

                      For example the arrival of Maori in NZ led to massive loss of…

                      So did the arrival of Pākehā. So why are you promoting Pākehā culture as a viable system for running human society?

                    • Gosman

                      Because Western culture enables the rapid adoption of new technology and the society can be efficiently transitioned to a new paradigm through the use of the market mechanism.

                    • tWiggle []

                      In fact, Maori were early adopters of all types of new technology, not just guns. The Waikato was very effectively farmed under communal Maori cultivation, using introduced horticultural and agricultural breeding stock. This, incidentally, led to British colonists eyeing up the Waikato for themselves. I saw a fantastic display of Maori language newspapers from the 1860s at Auckland public library once. At that stage, the exhibition said the Maori literacy rate was higher than for Europeans in New Zealand. Not too bad a pivot for 30 years or so.

                    • weka

                      ok, but the topic here is overshoot and how to prevent climate collapse. Nothing you have said here demonstrates that Western culture economics can function as a sustainable and regenerative system.

                      It would help if you would say where you stand on climate crisis, because we might all be wasting our time here.

                    • Gosman

                      I think it is vital that we price the externalities of various activities negatively impacting our environment and causing AGW and factor them in to our economic behaviour. I would like to see a more unified approach on this across the World to stop nations from riding the coattails of others and avoiding the hard lessons. The best way to do that is agreement on a budget on GHG emissions for the next 50 to 100 years and then allow markets to determine the best way of addressing that.

                    • weka

                      ok, that's a pretty hard core denial of the crisis.

                    • Gosman

                      " The Waikato was very effectively farmed under communal Maori cultivation, using introduced horticultural and agricultural breeding stock."

                      Not quite. Maori agriculture in the lower Waikato and south Auckland area went in to terminal decline from the mid 1850's mainly due to adverse market conditions. Maori lacked the resilience of western commercial faming systems to weather such a downturn.

                      But that is a topic for another discussion.

                    • Gosman

                      That is because we are not in a crisis. Not by a long way.

                    • Robert Guyton

                      "Because Western culture enables the rapid adoption of new technology and the society can be efficiently transitioned to a new paradigm through the use of the market mechanism."

                      True Believer!

                    • Tricledrown

                      Gosman your colonial white supremacy shows how ignorant you are .Maori survived near extinction so much so that one of the excuses used in WW1 that the Maori population was so low that the govt didn't want Maori to enlist as it would further reduce their numbers,But the govt didn't want Maori also learning warfare was the real reason.Maori have changed and moved on since colonization while you are trying to claim Maori don't care for the enviroment by painting Maori as primitive.Gosman free education didn't happen till the 1880's in Europe illiteracy was widespread only about 10% of Europeans could read and write fluently outside of religious text.NZ was one of the first countries to have good free public education.Your 1950's attitude shows your living in the past.

                    • Tricledrown

                      Gosman your claim that Maori agriculture was in decline by the 1850s is pure white supremacist lies.Maori farmers were supplying most of the food to the migrants as well as the Australian gold fields as well as Calfornia,Maori owned most of the coastal shipping during this time.Most Eurupean settlers in the early days came from urban enviroments and didn't know how to farm plus most of land they had settled on wasn't fertile.The decline of Maori agriculture happened a decade later than your spurious claim and that occurred because of confiscation of land by colonial settlers.which you willfully ignore to paint Maori in the worst possible light even though they were excellent at adopting modern technology as well as being good business people.

                    • Gosman

                      Tricledrown this is not the place to discuss that topic. I will reply to you in Open Mike.

            • weka 2.1.1.2.1.2

              We either import fertiliser, make it here, or find an alternative that becomes available.

              what fertiliser, how is it made, where does it come from? Do you understand that physical reality means that things like fertiliser have to come from actual physical things. That plants need certain conditions and inputs to grow. And animals.

              Ultimately whatever is most beneficial to us at an economic level is what people will choose to do.

              Including the climate collapse. Or do you think the IPCC are making shit up?

              That is what we have been doing for thousands of years. Singapore doesn’t care what the carrying capacity of a landbase needed to sustain it is. The people of Singapore live there because they can make a good living and get what they need easily.

              They will care when there's no food though. Or do you think that the scientists doing the work on climate impacts are making shit up?

              • Gosman

                There will always be resources available to make fertiliser. The question is whether they are in a form that makes them easily usable and commercially viable,

                • weka

                  There will always be resources available to make fertiliser.

                  The only way I know that statement to be true is if we're talking about regenag/hort tech.

                  If you mean we can always extract something, I'd like to know how that works from non-renewable sources.

                • Tricledrown

                  gosman we could harvest the bs coming from you and we could export the surplus

              • Gosman

                There is not going to be no food. There may well be massive food shortages but we have managed that before.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  There may well be massive food shortages but we have managed that before.

                  Gossie, you've done it again! If "managed" includes localised famines, then yes, it’s likely 'we' will 'manage', for a time.

                  Maybe spaceship Earth can continue to nourish 8+ billion human passengers, as civilisation pumps out greenhouse gases so we can continue to live in the manner to which we've become accustomed.

                  At least we won't run out of CO2 and CH4.

                  "All I want is what everybody wants – preferential treatment!" – Homer S.

                • weka

                  yes, we manage that by letting lots of people die. Is that what you are suggesting?

                  • Gosman

                    Not at all. Our current system has been the best at moth managing massive increases in population AND ensuring that when shocks happen people don't starve. It is the centralised State controlled systems that have ended up failing people in this regard. Look at the numbers who died in China after the Communist takeover in that nation.

                    • weka

                      Not at all. Our current system has been the best at moth managing massive increases in population AND ensuring that when shocks happen people don't starve.

                      Best is meaningless when the standard is low across the board. The issue here isn't who is 'best', it's what systems are sustainable, resilient, and regenerative. If you don't have those three things then the situation will get worse until collapse.

                      For instance, capitalism and the global economy don't have any current strategy for food shortages. What you appear to be saying is that we should retain BAU despite that, let x number of people die, because the alternatives are worse. But you won't look at the alternatives.

                    • Gosman

                      Of course capitalism has a current strategy for food shortages. It is called the market mechanism and rapid mobilisation of capital investment.

      • Jenny are we there yet 2.1.2

        I don't believe that lifestyle changes or my carefully monitoring of my personal carbon footprint on the individual level will cut it.

        The glittering consumerist techno world, the industrial agriculture and urban manufacturing and mass production that keep our shop shelves groaning under the weight of food and consumer goods, kept going by the multibillion advertising industry propaganda to get us buy more, to fly more, to dispose of more, to dump more, to waste more, to pollute more, and most importantly of all consume as much as we possibly can.

        Why do I say this?

        One of the most visible lifestyle changes in our consumerist society are the appearance on our roads of shiny new EVs (electric vehicles), one of the most common problems mentioned about EVs, is that power from the grid that charges EVs is often generated from fossil fuels. The obvious answer to this objection – get rid of all fossil the fueled fired power stations. Generate grid power only through sustainable means. But even when the energy that keeps EVs running generated sustainably, EVs are not the answer to addressing climate change, (for one thing EVs create problems for the environment in their construction and manufacture.)

        The problem is much bigger than what sort of car I drive, or what how big my personal carbon footprint is.

        In New Zealand methane emitted by herbivores, cows and sheep from industrial agriculture are this country's biggest source of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions to this problem are limited to reducing the national dairy herd to more sustainable levels. Banning all new dairy conversions and returning dairy farms to crop lands. (Some crops like oats can be processed to make dairy replacements, with little emissions compared to dairy milk from cows and sheep.)

        Talking seriously about climate change. Is not about our personal carbon footprint, It's about redesigning our civilisation from the ground up, from agriculture to industry to transport.

        To effectively address the threat of climate change a complete and total redesign of how our society works is required.

        'Change on this scale is not practical'

        Change on this scale may not be practical, but it is also not negotiable. We do it or we die.

        'It will wreck the economy'

        Yes, it probably will wreck the economy, But, the human made economy will recover, it always does. The natural world once wrecked won't recover. Germany and Japan had their economies completely destroyed by WWII but you wouldn't know it today. The natural world is different if we destroy it, it stays destroyed. Even if we don't totally wreck the natural world, the natural world that survives our climate destruction and plastic contamination and air pollution and species destruction and deforestation, will be forever changed for the worse, impoverished, less vibrant, less life sustaining, more life threatening. If we don't change our ways the lives we will leave our grandchildren to live will be ugly brutish and short.

        • Gosman 2.1.2.1

          Try and sell a set of policies in a democratic system with the argument "Yes, it probably will wreck the economy, But, the human made economy will recover, it always does. " and see where you get. I guarantee you won't win power.

          • Robert Guyton 2.1.2.1.1

            Yes, it will significantly re-jig the economy as it presents now, but, yes, we will form a more suitable economy, coz we're smart.

            • Gosman 2.1.2.1.1.1

              It still will be too much of a hard sell. I'll enjoy countering the position.

              • KJT

                It is not "a game" Gosman.

                • Gosman

                  It will become one if you persist in trying to use the challenges of dealing with AGW to promote a socialist political agenda.

                  • JeremyB

                    "I would like to see a more unified approach on this across the World"

                    "It will become one if you persist in trying to use the challenges of dealing with AGW to promote a socialist political agenda."

                    Make up your mind.

                    • Gosman

                      Working together for a common good is not restricted to Socialism. The concept of free trade agreements and the joint stock company are all capitalist concepts where people voluntary either agree to follow a set of rules benefiting the wider community or pool resources to gain greater benefits.

                    • KJT

                      where people voluntary either agree to follow a set of rules benefiting the wider community or pool resources to gain greater benefits.

                      Socialism!

                    • Gosman

                      Not socialism. Voluntary collectivism based on the liberty of the individual. The foundation for all successful capitalist societies.

                  • KJT

                    I'm looking for workable solutions during an incoming disaster.

                    You. Are just refusing to grow up and face reality!

                  • Tricledrown

                    gosman greed is good that is capitalism ,exploiting everything and everyone so a few can hoard vast sums of money and resources.Economic fascism where the very wealthy dictate to the rest using useful idiots like Gosman to pump out propaganda.

              • Jenny are we there yet

                "It still will be too much of a hard sell. I'll enjoy countering the position." Gosman

                The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14
                But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult…
                Matthew 7:14

                Take it easy Gosman, lie back, enjoy your comfortable countering position on the highway to hell. Ride on until you ride right over the cliff of biosphere collapse.

          • Jenny are we there yet 2.1.2.1.2

            "Try and sell a set of policies in a democratic system with the argument "Yes, it probably will wreck the economy, But, the human made economy will recover, it always does. " and see where you get…." Gosman

            Unlike the liberal centrists who just glide past these harsh political realities, you make some good points, Gosman.

            Good for you.

            Britain had a democratic system.

            When faced with the existential threat of fascism, Churchill promised the British people, blood sweat toil and tears. And then delivered on it.

            Despite this ominous promise, and the terrible cost to the British people in its delivery, Churchill is remembered as, 'The Greatest Britian of all time'.

            As the book and the movie "The Darkest Hour" showed, Churchill could have made peace with the Nazi empire if he chose to. Instead Churchill bypassed his own tory party, who were for talking terms with the Nazis, and made a coalition with the Labour opposition to fight the war.

            Churchill put his faith in the British people and gave them the unvarnished truth. Churchill's faith in the people was not misplaced. they rose to the occasion.

            The rest as they say, is history.

            Climate change in my opinion is a more real threat to humanity now, than fascism was then.

            We need leaders who will tell it like it is,

            That without victory there is no survival

            “You ask, What is our policy? I will say; ‘It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.’ You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.”

            Given in the House of Commons May 13, 1940

            https://www.thoughtco.com/blood-toil-tears-and-sweat-winston-churchill-1779309

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U3KBNMsPTQ&t=1s

    • KJT 2.2

      Reality, Gosman, doesn't support your view.

      Any attempts to decouple economic growth and resource use growth, so far have been failures. There is no reason to believe that such attempts will be any more successful in future.

      An example is cars. A reduction in petrol per energy output in petrol cars, has been offset by car companies using those advances in energy efficiency to sell larger cars. Net energy use per vehicle has actually increased. The drive for economic growth/profit. We could have had degrowth. The imparative to make ever greater profits caused the opposite.

      • Gosman 2.2.1

        Except there are far more smaller cars available today than there were in the 1960's. Cars back then were big AND heavier.

        Name me the smaller cars from the 50’s and 60’s than the ones we have now and name me the bigger cars that we have now compared to back then

        • JeremyB 2.2.1.1

          Smaller: Bambina, Mini, all Kei cars

          Larger: all 4-door utes, all SUV's

        • Tricledrown 2.2.1.4

          morris minor was one of the most popular cars, people used public transport much more buses trains were full not many people could afford cars they didn't travel long distances or commute in cars.its hard to find a car park in most suburbs these days every household has multiple cars, you were lucky to see any cars parked on the streets prior to the 1970's

          • Belladonna 2.2.1.4.1

            I learned to drive in a Morrie!

            Just reflecting on my choices of cars over the years. Up until I had kids – I'd always chosen tiny cars – reflecting my inner-city commuting patterns – and desire for easy parking (the joy of squeezing into a tiny parking space!).

            But, once I had kids – that was simply no longer practical (need a boot large enough for a pram/stroller; and reasonably high off the ground so I wouldn't wreck my back wrestling a toddler in and out of a carseat; as well as being obsessive about safety ratings).

            Now, with older kids, you need enough space for shlepping around all of their gear (sports, music, theatre, etc.) as well as adult-size teens and their friends.

            Given that PT is quite simply not reliable or available for all travel – you still need to have a car sized to meet the maximum level of daily needs.

            I'd like to see an alternative to this – but I don't.

    • pat 2.3

      There is a fundamental misunderstanding of production (on your part)….stop and think about everything you use in your life and then consider whether you could supply that through your own efforts….a typical western consumption is personally impossible….you (and we) rely upon 1) energy and 2) third world labour.

      The energy is declining

    • adam 2.4

      You know gossy your take on economics is utter bullshit, when your lot pull this crap over and over.

      https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/

      p.s oh look, Venezuela is doing fine – how many times have you predicted it was going to fall over.

  3. Ad 3

    The new flooding+managed retreat report out today was instructive.

    Insurers are helping focus.

    National can't stop the tide rising.

    • Robert Guyton 3.1

      "National can't stop the tide rising."

      But they can (and will) declare that they can, in order to harvest votes.

  4. arkie 4

    A quick video outlining the insufficiency of the carbon capture tech ‘solution’:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJslrTT-Yhc&ab_channel=AdamSomething

  5. pat 5

    'Too many people extracting more than they contribute."

    i.e.the global north (of which we are a part)….with energy decline this is going to become increasingly evident…accentuated by the ongoing repair of climate damage….ultimately all production requires labour (enhanced by energy)…reduced energy means increased labour…are we ready?…no.

    We will be a less well supported world going forward and all indications are rather than dispensing with the desired so as to enable the necessary we will waste resources outbidding each other, monetarily and physically.

    A truly dystopian future.

  6. gsays 6

    Thanks for the read KJT.

    I came across my father-in-law's invoice book from 1975.

    He grew, (amongst other things) potatoes. There is an invoice for 2 sugar sacks of potatoes to The Little Kiwi, in Feilding. $3.50.

    Contrast that with the rigmarole, diesel miles, packaging, handling (inefficiences) that make up your chips nowadays.

    The solution is local. Sharing is a part of the solution too.

    • Gosman 6.1

      The solution is only local if it makes sense from an economic perspective to do so.

      • roblogic 6.1.1

        and if transport and agriculture are priced accurately

        and if the supermarket cartels are hamstrung

        and if we can get away from the tyranny of big oil

        and the biggest "if":

        political and economic elites giving up a smidgeon of power for the greater good

      • Tricledrown 6.1.2

        The oil industry gets more subsidies than any other industry $700 million a year in NZ.Trillions around the world!Monopolies and cartels don't make economic sense but stifle any competition from local small scale producers and retailers.The big fish eat the small fish .ie when micro breweries get bigger and get more share the 2 dominant players buy them out in NZ.When the Warehouse first started selling groceries Both Wooworths and foodstuffs each bought a 10% stake in the Warehouse effectivly ruining your pathetic economic argument.Adam Smith competition must be maintained for the so called free market to work. I have never seen Gosman defending the free market .Gosman is always defending the monopolists.

        • KJT 6.1.2.1

          Gosman usually ends up advocating Democratic Socialist solutions

          "Voluntary collective response".

          Even though he doesn't seem to comprehend, with his mistaken conflation of Socialism with Authoritarian regimes, that his offered solutions are Socialist!

        • Jenny are we there yet 6.1.2.2

          Tricledrown

          4 November 2022 at 1:55 amThe oil industry gets more subsidies than any other industry $700 million a year in NZ.Trillions around the world!Monopolies and cartels don't make economic sense…..

          It just doesn't make any sense. Labour Party leaders, who are still under the delusion of non-sensical neoliberal trickle down economic theory to eventually make things better, have been urged by the Green Party to ditch that illusion and impose a windfall tax on our banks which have made record profits off the suffering of the population enduring economic hardship over the pandemic and post-pandemic period.

          https://thestandard.org.nz/greens-proposal-to-tax-excess-corporate-profits/

          In the US a windfall tax has been suggested for the fossil fuel industry that has also been making record profits over the same period.

          President Biden Must Pass a Windfall Tax

          The President's best course of action is to keep the pressure up on Big Oil by going all in on a windfall profits tax.

          CASSIDY DIPAOLA

          November 5, 2022

          ….According to reports, the policy the White House is considering is a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax, which could tax the industry's windfall profits and use the revenue to send relief directly to the American public.

          …. As third quarter earnings reports are announced, Big Oil companies are breaking records with their latest haul—reportedly raking in over $50 billion dollars in just the last 90 days. That brings their total to just over $303 billion, and the year isn't even over yet…

          https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/11/05/president-biden-must-pass-windfall-tax?

          Only time will tell us if the Biden administration is more Left than the Ardern administration, or whether US Democratic Party are just as welded to neoliberal lunacy, as the NZ Labour Party is.

  7. everybody knows the shit is abou

    t to hit the fan but again everybody feels helpless as individuals to do anything about it. It is just going to roll on till it stops all by itself

    • Jenny are we there yet 7.1

      '

      "…..everybody feels helpless as individuals to do anything about it" RP Mcmurphy

      While as individuals we are helpless to do anything about it. Our policy makers, who do have the power to do something about it, won't.

      The question is why?

      Are they not convinced of the science?

      Have they been bought off with corporate funding?

      Are they too cowardly to stand up to the corporate polluters?

  8. I'm alright jack. I gotta hardly davison, a jetski, a leaf blower, a chainsaw, a fishing boat, an angle grinder and I been ta makoopeekoo and mongolia!

    • Hunter Thompson II 9.1

      Throw in the house with the white picket fence out front and it's the complete American dream.

  9. Maurice 10

    The interesting dichotomy is that we are having to use the fruits of a dying system to try and rebuild a new system … without prematurely collapsing the existing system.

    Saying nasty things about the proponents of each system are simply inevitable – to try and force the pace of change – but are not helpful.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 hour ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    2 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    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 ...
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    7 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
    8 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
    8 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
    8 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
    9 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
    10 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
    12 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
    24 hours 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days 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
    6 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
    8 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
    8 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
    22 hours 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
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T05:01:36+00:00