Idiots, Cowards and Bastards.

Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, September 22nd, 2014 - 47 comments
Categories: energy, global warming, science - Tags: , ,

2 700 events protesting inaction on global warming have just taken place across 161 countries.  And Lord Stern has released a new, somewhat upbeat report , claiming there are fifteen years in which to take action on global warming. I’ll come back to that, but first the good news.

Anthropogenic Global Warming is a good thing. It’s good because we know and control the things we do that cause average global surface temperatures to rise. So all we need to do is stop doing those things. Pretty damned simple then.

What follows is largely an attempt to distil information relating to carbon emissions from energy use contained in reports and articles by leading climate scientists Alice Bows and Kevin Anderson  Any information not otherwise linked, is contained in a 2012 presentation by Anderson that I’m providing video, transcript and powerpoint slide links to.

As far back as 1992, governments of the world came together at Rio to…well, essentially to talk about global warming among other matters. They waffled a lot and did nothing. Thereafter, very conservative IPCC reports were compiled and more meetings were held. All the while, total atmospheric carbon increased and the rate of accumulation also increased. ( Graph – pp 22)

Seventeen years after Rio, government people all flew into Copenhagen and signed a non-binding declaration to “hold the increase in global temperature below two degrees Celsius and to take actions to meet this objective, consistent with the science, and on the basis of equity”.

Three years after that, in 2012, Anderson presented findings from his having trawled through the available scientific data and various reports to reveal the following scenario for keeping average global surface temperature warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

If the energy related carbon emissions of non-Annex 1 countries ( India, China, the African continent etc) increased by only 3.5% per annum, and their emissions peaked in or around ~2025 (China) ~2040 (India) and ~ 2050 (Africa) – and their emissions then reduced at twice the rate neo-classical economists hold to be compatible with a viable global market system of production and distribution (ie, if they reduced at a rate of 7% p.a.), then Annex 1 countries (that includes us in NZ) would have had to have brought carbon emissions from all sources (not just fuel related sources) down to zero in 2010.

Now here’s the thing. Impossible as it is to time travel or to get carbon emissions from all sources down to zero, that was only for a 50/50 chance of avoiding 2 degrees C of warming.

Also, when 2 degrees C was put on the table in the late 90s  (Para one of abstract) it was viewed as being the difference between ‘acceptable’ levels of warming and ‘dangerous’ levels of warming. As more comprehensive scientific data became available, 2 degrees C has come to be understood as the difference between ‘dangerous and ‘extremely dangerous’ levels of warming.  (graph on pp 19)

But, back to a 2 degrees C target. If we throw away any idea of fairness, and coerce or convince China, India and Africa to just stop any attempts to develop, then our 50/50 chance of avoiding “extremely dangerous” levels of global warming entails no household appliances, no cars, no ships or planes, no street lighting or industry – in short, nothing anywhere in the world, running on any energy related to fossil fuels by 2040.

Now, given that emissions are currently going up, and given that it’s unlikely non-Annex 1 countries will simply agree to forego development, it doesn’t seem feasible to suggest the world will achieve zero emissions from all energy sources in that time frame.

So that leaves us having to accept “extremely dangerous” levels of warming. That’s the deal we’ve dealt ourselves. The only question left then is: “How little above 2 degrees can we aim for”? Currently, according to informed scientific opinion, we’re in the midst of creating a future world of 6 degrees C of warming. Some reports by the likes of the World Bank, pdfs here, and here , the International Energy Agency and Price Waterhouse Cooper  suggest that 4 degrees C of warming above pre-industrial global temperatures could be experienced by as early as 2040-2050. ( p1 para 4 and 5)

Putting aside the question of crossing any tipping points (because the games a bogey at that point…completely out of our control), and if we also assume great strides are made in reducing carbon from agricultural/deforestation sources, then the scenario for almost certainly avoiding 4 degrees of warming is that we must, as a species, globally peak energy related emissions by 2020. And then achieve global reductions in emissions at a rate of 3.5% per annum thereafter. (P13 para 4)

Currently, the idea that we must peak energy related emissions in five or six years time doesn’t form any part of any government’s policy that I’ve come across. Here in NZ the idea seems to be to drop CO2 emissions to half of what they were in 1990 by 2050.  I’ll leave it to you to decide, given the science and the fact that the problem with atmospheric carbon is its accumulation over time, as to whether that’s an adequate response.

The bottom line is that 4 degrees warming isn’t an option for us either biologically or in terms of having a civilisation. That level of warming is widely seen within the scientific community as being incompatible with any kind of organised global community. So we have to avoid it. No ‘ifs’ and no ‘buts’.

Now before you go scrabbling to bring to mind various reports, or reports of reports, that paint an altogether rosier picture than this in order to conclude that what’s been outlined here is fairly baseless, there’s a few things you need to know.

Almost all reports on AGW, including Stern’s update mentioned at the beginning of the post, assume fanciful negative carbon scenarios, usually in order to suggest “likely” outcomes – where ‘likely’ usually means somewhere in the range of ‘better than a 66% chance’. (Table on p3)

So, you know, when a report gushes that we’ll “likely” avoid 2 degrees warming, but is all the while quietly inserting negative carbon scenarios into the picture, it’s not just a punt (a two in three chance), but it’s a punt based on a clutch of coincidental abracadabra moments – the moment when thousands of CC&S compatible power stations will just pop up from nowhere; the moment when the logistics of sourcing bio-fuels for power stations, shipping, aviation, road transport, and everything else that’ll be looking to run on bio-fuel, is instantaneously and somewhat neatly resolved; the moment when all the necessary geological features for storage just appear from nowhere; the moment when CC&S on a large scale, doesn’t just magically appear, but is serendipitously found to ‘work’ exactly as hoped.

See, even if current, tried and tested technology, such as nuclear is proposed as a ‘get out of jail free card’, big questions remain such as – Is there enough uranium in the world to fuel thousands and thousands more nuclear power stations?…(sigh)…at which point, some people duck and dive and begin wittering on about thorium reactors…

So okay, it takes years – decades – for large scale technology to be developed, tested and rolled out. And then more years of tweaking and redesigning to get it (hopefully) performing as envisaged. And we don’t have years. Well, we do – we have about five of them. Given the lag in cause and effect, it is precisely the CO2 that we emit today, that then stacks on top the total we’ve already emitted, that determines the temperature increases of the future.

As for influential and popular reports by such luminaries as Stern and Hanson, that governments have based policy on, the pictures those reports painted have been well and truly discredited by Anderson and Bowes who have pointed out that (among other things) they employed wildly optimistic and non-empirical data sets to determine certain parameters of their models (eg – emission rates much lower than the actual known rates and peak emission dates arbitrarily placed in the past or in the immediate future etc)

So, the stuff mentioned in the previous paragraphs is based on bollocks and not science, and yet it’s precisely that stuff that underpins the vast majority of well regarded and influential reports on AGW. No-one within the scientific community, at least not to my knowledge, and yes, I have searched, has challenged the critical analyses Bowes and Anderson have made on the various and numerous reports they’ve considered. The Copenhagen Accord was a commitment by governments to form policies to keep temperatures below 2 degrees on a basis that was consistent with the science; not a commitment keep temperature increases below 2 degrees based on hopes and prayers.

So, that’s the science; avoiding 2 degrees C is now all but impossible, and dipping below 4 degrees C is looking increasingly unlikely. But look. If you want to keep on contributing to impossible futures, if not for yourself, then certainly for any young people attached to your life, then cling to whatever rosy falsehoods you have and carry on exactly as you are.

Alternatively, understand that your civilisation and way of life will not be possible with 4 degrees of warming. And acknowledge that this civilisation and you’re way of living is steadily making any dip below 4 degrees C of warming increasingly improbable. Then act intelligently, accordingly, and maybe most importantly of all, quickly.

47 comments on “Idiots, Cowards and Bastards. ”

  1. aerobubble 1

    If Climate Change were a problem (I believe it is), and the problem is CO2, then growing things should sequestrate carbon. Why has nobody been trying to sell me fast growing bamboo seeds? So that I can do my bit? If everyone uses their spare patch of earth to capture carbon we won’t have to wait for politicians to get their head around it. Farm the bamboo, turn it into bio-fuel or bury in some old mine workings with minimum wage workers. Maybe even liquidize it and pump it down old oil wells.

    • Lanthanide 1.1

      “turn it into bio-fuel”

      Then you’re not achieving anything.

      “Maybe even liquidize it and pump it down old oil wells.”

      It’s questionable how sensible it is to go the effort of drilling very high-quality petroleum, burning it, and replacing it with low-quality (and comparatively carbon-light) bio-fuel. Be better just to stop drilling for new oil entirely.

      • aerobubble 1.1.1

        Bio-fuel are wrong because? They take more oil to grow, take farm land.

        My front garden is not farm land, its prime growing area for bamboo.

        As for liquidizing it, sure its mostly water, my bad.

        Bamboo makes great building, furniture, even shoots are tasty.

        So yeah, no.

        • wtl 1.1.1.1

          Your front garden is also tiny. Have you done the calculations to work out the amount of carbon your front garden can potentially sequester? What about the amount energy the remaining stages will take (liquifying the bamboo and/or transporting/burying it)?

          • greywarbler 1.1.1.1.1

            wtl
            Do for sure see problems and discuss them but don’t sneer at individual effort. Put your energy into suggesting something additional if you have experience or information, or go and make your own small effort, or STFU.

            • Bill 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Pointing out stupidity is not something to be discouraged.

              • greywarbler

                @ Bill
                I suggested seeing problems and discussing them. Not calling people or their ideas stupid when they are making a sincere effort. I think that is the most effective way of making improvements in understanding and response.

            • wtl 1.1.1.1.1.2

              Sneering? I was simply pointing out that coming up with effective solutions requires more detailed thought rather than just coming up with a proposal off the top of your head. If you want to contribute to solving global warming there are far more effective things that can be done apart from growing bamboo in your front lawn, such as using public transport, avoiding air travel or becoming a vegetarian.

              The problem is that “solutions” such as this are all too often used as excuses for not doing anything worthwhile (e.g. it’s okay if I take a trip to Europe every year because I am planting bamboo in my front yard). They are also used as a strategy for minimizing the problem we are all facing (oh! global warming isn’t a big deal, all that is needed for us to grow more trees). To really deal with global warming we will need a collective effort to reduce our energy usage and replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Carbon sequestration may be a worthwhile strategy, but it will have to be done on a large scale and with proper research to ensure it is done in the most effective way possible. Also, the possibility of carbon sequestration must NOT be used as an excuse to avoid cutting down on our energy usage or stopping the use of fossil fuels.

          • aerobubble 1.1.1.1.2

            My front garden is a nice size but that wasn’t the point. No reasonable person could think I was talking about just my garden, that would be divvy.

    • Bill 1.2

      …if we also assume great strides are made in reducing carbon from agricultural/deforestation sources, then the scenario for almost certainly avoiding 4 degrees of warming is…

    • Jenny 1.3

      @aerobubble

      More urgent and effective than sequestration and mitigation we must cut back our emissions.

      To have any hope of halting further climate change or even stopping the already baked in changes being much worse when they hit, the world needs to go onto a war footing. The scientists tell us that nothing less than global mobilisation on the same scale needed to defeat fascism is required. But this time instead of rallying all our collective energies and sacrifice to take life we need to rally the same sort of human energy and invention to save it.

      Human civilisation and culture and everything you hold dear is at stake.

    • Doug Mackie 1.4

      Because such plants die after a decade or two and return the carbon to the atmosphere. Biofuels etc don’t add fossil C but neither do they remove it.

      • Richard Christie 1.4.1

        As bio fuels can reduce fossil fuel dependance = steady state system (nett reduction in added C02 from previously sequestered sources).

      • weka 1.4.2

        “Because such plants die after a decade or two and return the carbon to the atmosphere. Biofuels etc don’t add fossil C but neither do they remove it.”

        Unless they are grown in such a way as to increase soil carbon.

  2. Lanthanide 2

    Presumably these models all assume BAU, and don’t take into account peak oil.

    • Colonial Viper 2.1

      Yep. One way or another, we will definitely have a much lower carbon economy by 2040 or 2050. It’s not even a choice.

      • Gareth 2.1.1

        I think you’re looking for this: http://www.carbontracker.org/report/carbon-bubble/

        As of 2012 there were 2,795 Gigatons of CO2 in known proven reserves of oil and coal.

        As of 2012, we had 565 Gigtons of CO2 we could burn before we hit a concentration that gives us a 2 C increase. We’re burning about 40 Gigatons a year globally, so there should be around 480 Gigatons left of our ceiling now.

        If governments were as committed to 2C as they say they are, then they have to come to a global zero carbon plan in the next 12 years.

        But they’re not. As Bill said, we’re on track for 6C. And that’s a globally averaged 6C, so over large land masses closer to the equator you’re talking a 20C increase.

    • Bill 2.2

      Go look at the figures for proven and recoverable reserves and stack it against any projected atmospheric carbon budgets for this century that would allow us to head off warming. There is enough recoverable oil/gas and coal to cook the planet over and over. Forget about peak oil as a way of being ‘saved’.

      • Lanthanide 2.2.1

        Yeah, I wasn’t necessarily suggesting that it would defeat global warming, the main problem being the accessible coal.

        But if civilization completely collapses from peak oil, resulting in 1-2B people dying, that will make things a bit easier on those that remain.

        • Bill 2.2.1.1

          You want to bank on some peak oil related catastrophe happening before the effects of 2 degrees hit in the hope that means the effects of 2 degrees won’t be so severe?

          Nothing is going to be ‘a bit easier’ for anyone alive in a world experiencing + 2 degrees… and never mind that 2 will be a weigh station on the way to somewhere in the region of + 4 degrees or even higher unless we peak global emissions from energy by 2020 and drop at 3.5% per annum or drop to zero by 2040.

        • weka 2.2.1.2

          Lanth, the peak oil specialists who previously thought peak oil would force a reduction in ghg emissions now generally don’t think that. Peak oil is just taking too long for us to rely on.

        • Colonial Viper 2.2.1.3

          But if civilization completely collapses from peak oil, resulting in 1-2B people dying, that will make things a bit easier on those that remain.

          Carrying capacity of this planet with minimal access to oil or coal energy is currently MUCH less than 5B people….we can build infrastructure and systems to change that of course…but we are nowhere close yet.

        • Tracey 2.2.1.4

          cos of the compost you mean?

      • Colonial Viper 2.2.2

        There is enough recoverable oil/gas and coal to cook the planet over and over. Forget about peak oil as a way of being ‘saved’.

        Technically recoverable doesn’t mean economically recoverable. 80% of that will stay in the ground as the economy continues to decline and unaffordability of the fuel worsens.

  3. Jenny 3

    “Idiots, Cowards and Bastards.”

    BILL

    “Global protests as greenhouse gases hit high”

    Thousands of peaceful demonstrators, including Native Americans in traditional clothing, politicians and top environmental activists, descended on Manhattan on Sunday (local time).

    The People’s Climate March came before a United Nations Climate Summit scheduled to begin Tuesday, when 120 world leaders will meet to discuss strategies for achieving a new global climate treaty…..

    …..Stanley Sturgill, a retired coal miner from Kentucky who now suffers from black lung, a condition brought on by prolonged exposure to coal dust, was in the crowd.
    “We have dug the coal that has generated the electricity to power this country but our people are paying a price for it,” he said. “We are here to tell our world leaders that we are at the front lines of this crisis.” Stuff.co.nz Monday, September 22, 2014

    So what will New Zealand representatives at this conference be telling the Stanley Sturgill’s of the world?

    Last week the National government announced two policies that will maintain and increase New Zealand’s Greenhouse gas emissions. First a $103 million bail out for the technically insolvent Solid Energy to allow them to continue polluting at a loss. This is on top of the $150 million already forwarded to Solid Energy by the government last year. Gareth Hughes of the Green Party stated at the time, that the money would have been better spent paying New Zealand’s coal workers a just transition to jobs that don’t fry the planet. Why is the New Zealand taxpayer paying the polluters for more coal industry victims like Stanley Sturgill or the NZ Pike river miners. Just like last time the Labour Party stay silent. As I predicted, a promised post by Greg Presland on the last Solid Energy bailout never saw the light of day. And for holding him to his word, I was banned from The Standard Oil website. Will Greg Presland finally reveal his thoughts on the chilling climate crime that the bail out of Solid Energy represents. Or will he again keep his silence. I predict the latter. Right there, is the moral malaise at the heart of the Labour Party.

    Why did Labour do so badly in the elections? Because they are moral cowards, with not the guts to come out hard either one way on this (actually on any government retrograde policy). On the issue of climate change arguably the biggest moral issue of all time, the Labour Party are silent.

    As for the Nats they are open scabs!

    In an open slap in the face to the global divestment movement, the second policy that the government announced last week was a $10 million fund to make investing in oil and gas exploration easier.

    Will The Standard Oil authors be making any comments on this issue either. I doubt it.

    Why did so many people vote National?

    If the red meat policies of the Right are so good why settle for second best?

    As John Key said, ‘Why have lamb chop when you can have steak?

    For not coming out and challenging the government over their record on climate change and for their rabid right wing support for new coal mines and deep sea oil drilling and for their sectarian attituede to the Greens and the wider Left the Labour Party deserve their drubbing. I predict, that over this next three year term, as the Labour Party further reveal themselves as pale imitations of the the government, the Green Party will emerge as the leader of the opposition.

    James Hansen explains Climate Change and the Solution
    “The problem would be solvable If we would phase out coal emissions, which are almost entirely at power plants, and if we would leave the unconventional fossil fuels in the ground. Because the amount of conventional oil and gas is finite and of course if you keep going after it in the deepest ocean and the Arctic and the Antarctic and things you could cause a problem. But if we would not do that, the problem would be solvable. But it would require phasing out coal and no unconventional fossil fuels. That’s not happening. On the contrary we are doing exactly the opposite. We are allowing and encouraging and subsidising fossil fuel companies to go after every fossil fuel they can find. Including the unconventional ones.”

    @ 34:00 minutes

    labour National “close” on mining

    Labour’s finance spokesman, David Parker, says his party’s policies on oil, gas and mineral extraction are close to those of the Government.

    “I don’t think we are much different from National,” Parker said.
    NZ Herald, Friday, July 27, 2012

    Greens: “No New Coal Mines”

    “When it comes to coal mining, our policy is no new mines”

    Russell Norman
    The Vote @ 23:30 minutes

  4. Colonial Viper 4

    Anthropogenic Global Warming is a good thing. It’s good because we know and control the things we do that cause average global surface temperatures to rise. So all we need to do is stop doing those things. Pretty damned simple then.

    Did you just say that stopping corporate capitalism, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, etc. was “pretty damned simple”?

  5. Distilled essence of NZ 5

    I think I’ll start making my Mad-Max dune buggy now.

    • Colonial Viper 5.1

      get to know your neighbours, learn good practical skills, keep fit and healthy, get your mind and your attitude on the ball

  6. weka 6

    Good post Bill. I think CC and S, and negative carbon need a bit of clarity for people not familier with the ins and outs.

    But, back to a 2 degrees C target. If we throw away any idea of fairness, and coerce or convince China, India and Africa to just stop any attempts to develop, then our 50/50 chance of avoiding “extremely dangerous” levels of global warming entails no household appliances, no cars, no ships or planes, no street lighting or industry – in short, nothing anywhere in the world, running on any energy related to fossil fuels by 2040.

    Now, given that emissions are currently going up, and given that it’s unlikely non-Annex 1 countries will simply agree to forego development, it doesn’t seem feasible to suggest the world will achieve zero emissions from all energy sources in that time frame.

    I’m not sure that non-Annex 1 countries agreeing to forego development is any less feasible than the West giving up industrial society. In fact I’d say there is more chance of the former.

    My mother grew up without a fridge and the family had no car. My grandmother had no electricity. They weren’t deprived. I don’t agree that it’s unfair to expect non-Annex 1 countries to not develop to the point of greed and stupidity that we have and then reduce consumption and emissions. Less developed countries have a better chance of transitioning than we do if they start from where they are now. Dmitiri Orlov’s essay on how rural Russians survived the collapse of the Soviet Union relatively unscathed compared to urban Russians is the classic example.

    • Bill 6.1

      Basics of Carbon Capture and Storage is that it cannot be used in terms of limiting warming in the short/medium term. It may be of some limited use in 30, 40 or 50 years from now. But the bottom line is that it can’t be used with regards fossil fuels because we have to get to zero carbon from fossil fuel, and no CCS technology can ever be 100% efficient.

      So putting aside fossil fuels, we run into problems with sourcing bio-fuels, and of finding suitable places to store any sequestrated carbon if the technology ever works on the scale envisaged by numerous (so-called) scientific reports.

      On the development front, our government was among those who signed the Copenhagen Accord and promised to limit warming below 2 degrees on the basis of equity. But as I wrote in the post, even with non-Annex one countries foregoing any laying in of infrastructure and what not (development), the entire world would have to be 100% free of emissions from fossil fuels by 2040 to have just a 50/50 chance of avoiding “extremely dangerous” levels of warming (ie, 2 degrees C).

      edit – also, and I’ll go into this in another post, the bulk of the populations in poorer parts of the world simply aren’t responsible for global warming – their contribution is 5/8ths of nothing, and we’d be cooked long before they could ever hope to achieve the levels of consumption we have here in ‘the west’ given their present economic growth, high as it is in the likes of China and India.

  7. adam 7

    Bill, An interesting interview on RT with the New York protesters before global warming protest.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYLpKddQFE&list=PLI46g-I12_9qbu_gktKeyqINIpGH8X8OJ

  8. Jenny 8

    Climate Party launched

    A new party has been launched ahead of the election next month.

    The Climate Party says it aims to make addressing climate change a high priority.

    It believes that the Government has not been taking the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions seriously enough.

    The Party also says New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme has degenerated into a farce, saying that the current emissions charges are far too low to address the steadily climbing emissions levels or to cover the damage these emissions are causing.

    “New Zealand has enormous potential to replace fossil fuels with energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydro and bio-fuels,” party spokesperson Peter Whitmore says.

    “This would be a win-win solution. Not only would it knock back our emissions but we could also start saving on the over $7 billion a year we currently spend on imported fossil fuels.”

    ONE News, Sunday, August 10, 2014

    Who knows, maybe if the bigger parties keep up their inadequate response to climate change, then this small start up party may have some legs.

    After all, over 60 thousand signed up to the Greenpeace led Climate Voter campaign.

  9. Richard 9

    No one cares about climate change to make the bee all and end all of their election decision making unless they are avid enviromentalists. Most kiwi’s who work like me are to busy juggling bills and being underpaid when the price of everything is rising faster than we can keep up with it, too care.

    It’s not going to get anyone elected. Do something but don’t make it a big issue.

    The Greens have it that’s their thing. They are the party for people who care that much about it. Not saying labour be climate ignorant and mine and drill everything. I’m saying give it the attention due, for the type of party. One would expect a good government to just do the right thing. Plus carbon tax is a joke. It’s perceived rightly or wrongly as a tax. Started by some weirdo idealist in another country, does little to solve the problem. Perhaps all that should be done is offer a prize of some reasonable financial amount to the inventor who can solve the issue of carbon. Say a carbon scrubber that makes a big enough difference. That’s it.

    • Bill 9.1

      Hows about, instead of making it a ‘big thing’, we measure any policy announcements against the scientific reality of global warming and it’s projected effects? So you know, when Labour says it wants to raise the retirement age to 67 by 2030 (or whatever it is) we insist they explain that policy in relation to what science reckons the world will be like given current emissions growth?

      If the World Bank, The IEA, Pricewaterhouse Cooper and any scientific report that doesn’t sprinkle the fairy dust of Carbon Capture and Storage throughout its reporting, is seeing something like 3 degrees by then, then what’s the prospect for retirement? Further, what’s the prospect in a world of +3 degrees C, of having a highly functioning society with the relevant infrastucture in order to provide market driven jobs, market driven production and market driven consumption?

      These fuckers, the politicians of both the left and the right, need to absolutely justify what they are proposing when it makes no sense in the face of what science tells us. And then they have to justify their not heeding the science of AGW in a broader or more general sense.

      • weka 9.1.1

        ” suggest that 4 degrees C of warming above pre-industrial global temperatures could be experienced by as early as 2040-2050. ( p1 para 4 and 5)”

        I thought that might wake a few people up. Once the crunch time gets place firmly within our lifetimes rather than being some vague thing in the future, I suspect some people will more easily shift out of cognitive dissonance and into saving their butt mode.

  10. tricle up 10

    Weka it is natural that we should care about a u turn but one wonders how slow it will be and how much of the social fabric will be ripped under the strain of a economy that hasn’t set aside moneys aside and developed a sustainable plan. A temp above 4 c is shocking, climate change is a global weather forecast that we are creating, can we not see as the ice slides into sea the sub atomic world is now abuzz with more events as the fields waves and vibrations manifest or express themselves with higher extremes under the pressure of temperature .. Not enough carbon oops i have just left the freezer door open .. do we see any sustainability plans in the print media? ,i have read one from England on build up population densities high rise and cities within cities and food security and a host of other topic s .. we reap the rewards in the moment the risk is projected into the future..

  11. Sable 11

    300,000+ turn out in New York. Its a good start but there is a need to do a hell of a lot more. Don’t expect much from NZ for the next 3 years with Nero and co running the show however. Just lyre playing as Rome burns….

    As to the talking heads in the MSM. Its dim witted business as usual. They offer no answers to anything and never will. Time people woke up to what a total joke they are.

  12. Pat O'Dea 12

    Drink The Rich

    Climate change is no respecter of class. But while the poor struggle to find water to drink, the priority of the wealthy is the struggle to keep their pools full and their lawns watered.

    Town Runs Dry

    The California drought now looks set to be a permanent climatic change for the region, and as such, California is now becoming a laboratory of how humanity may react to climate change on a global scale.

  13. Brigid 13

    We don’t have time to continue to discuss it. Or wait for governments to do something. How many read The Standard who want to make change? Surely there’s enough to buy bulk supplies of solar water heaters and PV systems. (or build them here) and then surely there’s an entrepreneurial engineer or too amoungst us who could set up an electric car industry. Home made electric cars are not so difficult to make. My son should have his going in a few months.
    This is why we can’t wait for governments to do something.

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    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
    6 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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
    8 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
    9 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
    11 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
    23 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    5 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
    7 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
    7 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
    21 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
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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