looks like an argument to change farming and eating practices, which doesn’t necessarily mean going vegan.
The figures on that facts page will be based on US industrial agriculture which includes feedlots, and monocropping monsanto soy, all of which destroy soil and ecoystems (which we desparately need intact for many environmental reasons including CC). There are far better ways of growing food and ones that reduce GHG emissions in a sustainable way rather than a BAU way. By all means promote eating less meat and more plants, but please don’t promote swapping one insane food system for another.
Nah, I’ve seen it all before, over a very long period of time. Try addressing my actual points phil instead of just asserting I am wrong with no backup. Bet you can’t.
Two questions
What was the total emissions from the vast heards of ruminants pre mans ability to slaughter them and replace them with monoculture s. And how does it compare to today’s emissions.
And on a local scale if we all went vegan and stopped hunting how would you stop deer , pigs and other introduced animals over running and degrading nz to a desert.
I’m not taking the piss with these questions .
1. no idea, but I would love to know. I do know that there is some exceptional work being done by the regenag and associated people on mimicking those old herd systems, and what they are finding is that those herds were crucial for building soil and thus sequestering carbon. That soil and carbon gets released into the wider world when you plough. It is possible to grow grain and legume crops without plowing but I doubt it can be done on the scale that that film is talking about. Which leads us to the problem of human population. Stabilise the population and we have many more options.
2. if hunting as well as farming were stopped we would lose native species fairly rapidly, both animal and plant. There might be some interesting adjustments eg if sheep were taken off the land, and short pasture were converted to either forest or cropping, the rabbit population would probably drop (rabbits do well on short grazed pasture). But overall, if we don’t contain certain species, others will be lost.
The other interesting things about this question is that one obvious solution in NZ is to eat feral meat. That’s where the vegan argument ultimately fails. Would be interesting to see if the hardcore vegans would accept hunting if it meant the end to commerical stock farming. Mostly I just see hardcore vegans arguing that nature would sort out the balance or they don’t believe the situation would occur.
a review from a US grass-fed stock farmer with an eye for ecological (and logical) sensibility.
Here’s another way to look at it. There are about 88 million beef cows in America and just over 9 million dairy cows. In 1800 there were 60 million buffalo, and though the film claims that grassfed beef is more damaging than feedlot beef, I’m confident those buffalo weren’t routinely wandering into CAFOs in an effort to reduce their methane emissions. But I doubt Anderson would accept a target of 60 million grassfed cows as ecologically sustainable, even though keeping them on pasture, besides making them healthier and happier, would mostly eliminate the 5% of methane emission that are a result of manure fermenting in lagoons and piles.
Hey sheep, do you know if the type of feed affects the amount of methane produced by ruminants? eg grain vs conventional pasture vs organic perennial etc.
Hey sheep, do you know if the type of feed affects the amount of methane produced by ruminants? eg grain vs conventional pasture vs organic perennial etc.
Not an expert on that.
This story suggests that it is specific micro – organisms within the rumen “which utilise the hydrogen and carbon dioxide and make methane. This natural process has been occurring in ruminants for millions of years.
(The new discoveries) basically stop the activity of the micro-organisms that are converting the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane. It’s very simple – it kills them or severely suppresses their activity.”
Listening to it on National Radio the scientists stated that these organisms are not actually useful to the animal or the process – “they were just along for the ride”.
So reducing them was potentially a win for the animal and the environment.
I will probably take some convincing that messing with gut microbia is safe. We get this stuff wrong so often, esp to do with the microbial world (eg antibiotic overuse). Plus those silver bullet remedies rarely pan out. I’ll be interested to see how the research develops but at this stage it looks more like wishful thinking. We have to change how we farm instead of relying on isolated remedies.
“The great bison herds that swarmed across the US prairies before white settlement, along with other native ruminants like elk and deer, are estimated to have produced 86 per cent of the methane of the current US cattle herd.”
Thanks obviously you are better at the Google machine than me.
”Fossil fuels consist of carbon, sequestered using the energy of the sun, hundreds of millions of years ago. Just four litres of petrol uses what was 90 tonnes of ancient life. In the space of one year, the world is using over 400 years of stored ancient energy and carbon. The carbon dioxide produced will remain in the atmosphere for a century. It is a one way street.
But the carbon released by cattle in methane was sequestered just last week, last month, maybe even last year. And within 9 to 15 years, the carbon in that methane will be sequestered again in a plant, perhaps in grass, to go again through the same cycle. Cattle are part of a natural biological cycle. In it, carbon is sequestered, used, released in a gas and sequestered again. I fail to see how this is the moral equivalent of putting tens of tonnes of fossil life into your petrol tank.”
Mans the problem not the cow’s!!
The use of technology in food production seems to take us away from what were natural practices in farming methods.
I listened to a talk on Country Life on Radionz this morning and felt this was so. It seemed that the ideal was for a farm owner to have technical feedback from every aspect of the farm from his office. Then if the cow in bale 5 has dropped production then he contacts the farm manager to question him about it. Big boss is watching you. How much job satisfaction there would be I don’t know. I’m not sure what the cows think. I suppose any dissatisfaction would show up in a reduced milk yield.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201752682
Demo Dairy Farm in Colombia
Dairy Solutionz, a Hamilton based company, has worked in Colombia since 2012. In the past 18 months they’ve developed a demonstration dairy farm to show how a low cost dairy model could help small herd owners to stay in business as more European dairy imports threaten their livelihoods. Colombia’s President opened the farm at the end of April.
Satty, “The facts-site for this movie looked familiar to me (for people that don’t have the time or the money to watch it, this is a good starting point):”
And here’s a thoughtful and critically competent review of the film that critiques some of its basic premises. Some snippets,
Responding to a polemic that plays as fast and loose with facts as this film could easily devolve into a line by line response, which would be even more boring to read than it would be to write. Instead, I’ll focus on a few of the main topics, beginning with how cows drink, burp, fart, and most of all poop, which – not to brag – I have some experience with.
Methane is a more vexed question, since cows indisputably belch and fart. In the film Anderson implies that cows are the main source of methane and that reducing their numbers is the fastest way to reverse global warming. After too much time poking around in search of definitive numbers on methane emissions, I decided to use those provided on a NASA website, even though a number of reputable sources arrive at different conclusions, particularly concerning the amount of methane released by wetlands, listed at 22% in the data I am quoting. By these numbers, ruminant livestock directly account for 16% of global methane emissions, and the (mis)management of all livestock manure accounts for another 5%. Human sewage treatment is 5%, biomass burning is 8%, fossil fuels production is 19%, and, surprisingly, rice cultivation is 12%. Various other manmade and natural sources fill out the remainder. While 21% of total methane is certainly significant, the idea that the elimination of livestock would clearly lead to a reversal of global warming trends is both an overstatement and an oversimplification, without getting into matters of methane’s half-life relative to carbon’s.
The great weakness of Cowspiracy, other than its title, is its single minded determination to prove that veganism is the only reasonable approach to feeding people, a proof it pursues without regard for facts or nuance. That’s not to say it’s worthless, for there are ideas for several good films within it. I would love to watch a truly investigative examination of any links between the industrial agriculture sector and large environmental non-profits, rather than one that infers connections from the vague responses of uncomfortable PR people. A devastating documentary could be made about the insanity of beef and dairy production in California, and I am all for consumers voting against them and other parts of the industrial food system with their dietary choices. I even think a fair examination of the ways small farms are not inherently better for land and livestock would be wonderful. Instead of any of these there is a failed effort to prove that one lifestyle choice can solve every environmental and agricultural problem.
This failure is not just a result of misleading and erroneous data, but even more so of superficiality. Though I watched carefully and took copious notes, I do not have a clear idea what Anderson’s vegan world would look like. Would excess land be converted to wilderness? Should the hills and fields of my farm return to forest and scrub like so much of the nearby land that used to be grass? Why is a monoculture of wheat preferable to a polyculture of pasture? Should we humans be connected to and reliant on the land around us and should these connections take different forms in response to local conditions? Yesterday, while out hunting turkey, I came across the remains of a deer, one of ten or so my brother and I have found this year. All of them starved or froze to death in the clutches of last winter. Now they are piles of mossy bones marking where living things curled up and never stood again. Why is this preferable to raising cows as I do, particularly when there’s room here for both?
On the basis of that, I will save my money, and assume that the film is an ideologically driven polemic that’s most likely not worth critiquing because it lacks basic logic and factual analysis.
Thanks weka for putting up that thoughtful and well expressed review of Cowspiracy. It is good to follow the thinking of people’s minds as they extensively consider a topic, to find if rationality covers all, but also reflects the necessary emotional input to give the full human response.
Why is a monoculture of wheat preferable to a polyculture of pasture?
Hey, that’s unfair. Vegans would like to see a lot of areas have a monoculture of soy rather than wheat. But this would be great because then we wouldn’t actually see the vast numbers of animals we’d be destroying in order to eat, and even better, we’d all be eating the way sanctimonious hippies think is best for us.
Being vegan is a top risk factor for being a hippie, right up there with envangelistic paeans to smoking dope and not having a job. Whether ‘hippie’ is an insult or not depends what you think of hippies.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly, you believe it would be a great idea to turn the planet’s arable land into crop monocultures for shit foods like soy and wheat so it can support 13 million soy-fed humans. This sounds more like a horrendous dystopia than anything else. And the film’s propaganda assertions regarding normal diets are no more than that.
Yeah, but you’re preaching to the converted there Robert.
I would like to pull out this bit
“It takes 500 years to replace 1 inch of topsoil”
That’s natural cycles. Regenerative agriculture is replacing soil at inches per decade (and sequestering carbon in the process). That’s already happening, and could easily be scaled up for whole countries. It does of course require shifting to a steady state economy/degrowth, and limiting population to what can be sustained by any given land mass (ie the end of industrial agriculture).
Uploaded on Sep 2, 2011
The Other Inconvenient Truth: How Agriculture is Changing the Face of Our Planet
We typically think of climate change as the biggest environmental issue we face today. But maybe it’s not? In this presentation, Jonathan Foley shows how agriculture and land use are maybe a bigger culprit in the global environment, and could grow even larger as we look to feed over 9 billion people in the future.
This is a 30 min interview with Co-director of ‘Cowspiracy’ Kip Andersen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcFzJfhyRdY I think he come across as more believable than say the PPP ?
RNZ – Brent Edwards summary yesterday.
Amongst other things Key was talking about trade prospects in the Emirates and was particularly enthusiastic about the prospects for wine sales – wonder why?
Key also appeared, from his comments, to be using Bronagh in a diplomatic role to spread the “human rights” message in the area.
First time she has been mentioned in a political context?
Actually the summary wasn’t particularly favourable towards Key, produced a couple of bordering-on-sarcastic comments from Edwards, which from him is unusual …
Scoop NZ has today announced it will be going behind a paywall for everyone except the general public. Will this mean those of us in the general public who share links from Scoop to others in the general public or on Facebook will no longer be able to do so ?
And are the Herald and other newspapers likely to follow suit ?
Ok, I haven’t read the whole thing, but it looks pretty clear to me that from now on commercial and professional use needs a licence. The site is still free to the public, including the public linking to Scoop in non-commercial/professional ways.
The following criteria are all for commercial/professional use, not general public,
These adverts direct readers to pages which explain our new “Invisible Paywall” – including its legal basis- and information on who is expected to pay and why we need to do this.
If you:
Routinely read work related material on Scoop.co.nz;
Send links to – or extracts from – Scoop.co.nz material to work colleagues or clients;
Search the web and find Scoop.co.nz results a reliable source of information about matters of professional interest to you;
Send Scoop press releases and then check to see if those press releases have been published and/or send links to those press releases to clients or colleagues;
Then you or your organisation probably needs to have a Scoop organisation licence to access Scoop.
I have emailed Alastair re shared links. Having read the Scoop page it does seem that they are targeting commercial operations like the Herald or TV for quoting Scoop stories rather than we public people. We will see.
Be interesting to have that reply, IanMac – when I was copying something yesterday to pass onto FB I received a sort-of “warning” pop-up re copying without a licence in the future.
I emailed Alastair : “I read blogs and in particular The Standard. Can I link to a Scoop story on the Standard without incurring a fee?”
Alastair replied: “Of course you can. Linking is fine…..”
That sorted then. 🙂
Amazing to see such big protests on this, and them shutting down the centre of two big cities. Do you know how did they managed that second bit? eg was that permitted action or did they just do it? I suspect the bonfire in the Block wasn’t permitted 😀
Thanks yeshe. Great to see such a huge action, that really is fantastic.
I agree with Hone, it’s really important that we stand beside Aboriginal Australians in their fight to retain the right to live on their own land, in their own communities. They need the support of their neighbours in this part of the woods.
Here is footage of the speeches at the May Day rally held in Wellington for the Aboriginal communities of W.A, all well worth a listen. Metiria repeats the chant used in the rallies from your link below:
Its quite amazing that this form of oppression still exists. Aboriginal people’s have had to fight colonial powers and anti aboriginal Government Act’s since day one, and it still continues.
For those interested in this history there is a Doco called First Australians that you might find interesting. It was aired on Maori TV about four years ago. I can’t seem to find any full length versions to post (they come up with a message about not being available) but here are some clips from that doco. They include an interview with Wurandjeri elder, Margaret Gardiner who was mentioned in the age article.
Last night TV news here finally started to talk about what Freddie Gray was subject to on the police ride that brought his young life to an end.
We’ve had the story up on Redline for five days, that outlines what happened to him and his injuries, We got it from people in Baltimore.
We’re half a dozen people with no money, no resources. Yet major NZ news companies are days behind us, on an important international story. When you read about what happened to Freddie gray it makes the anger being expressed on the streets of Baltimore and other US cities not only understandable but you wonder why there isn’t even more of it. https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/us-the-states-systematic-violence-kills-another-young-black-man/
Here in New Zealand this National government uses ‘war on terror’, ‘war on drugs’, ‘war on welfare’, ‘war on state housing’ etc when all these initiatives directly affect the poor, the unemployed and the marginalised.
You don’t hear them fighting ‘war on capitalists’, ‘war on profiteers’, ‘war on corruption’, ‘war on rich crooks’, ‘war on tax dodgers’, ‘war on exploiters’, ‘war on dirty politics’ or even ‘war on poverty’.
And the people strangely, selfishly or ignorantly keep voting in this disgraceful cunning lying RW government again and again!
I think the Key and his RW spin machine is very good at fooling the people by their propaganda and another reason is that most people are only either uninterested or only marginally interested in in depth political news as evidenced by the fact for example that less than 100,000 in total out of 5,000,000 people actually watch the news even at peak news time of 6 pm!
I suspect only a much smaller number watch political programmes such as The Nation or Q and A. Sad for freedom and democracy!
PORTS OF AUCKLAND PROPAGANDA
Today on RNZ news , an item claiming that because only one extension to wharf will proceed a new cruise ship will not be able to berth in Auckland and therefore it will not visit New Zealand at all in 2016 and we will miss out on millions of $$$$$
The vessel is Ovation of the Seas and is similar in size to the Queen Mary II. which has visited Auckland without any apparent problem?
Really interesting was the claim by the Chair of POA that they weren’t permitted to talk to councillors as a group so they invited them individually to POA to “explain” the situation…
Divide and conquer my friend, divide and conquer (it is waht they tried with their industrial dispute.
Ironically some who didn’t give a shit about how those workers were treated now care about the behaviour of POA executive and Board, you know, cos the bullying and manipulation is impacting their yachting space 🙂
Arthur Anae spoke on RNZ the day after his special one en masse education from POA (notwithstanding councillors were told not to speak to the media until a final decision was made) , he just couldn’t get past the obligation of Auckland councillors to make economically good decisions and to keep the rates down. Given that Arthur thinks that is his only obligation, may I suggest he stand down on the basis that he is incapable fo meeting the requirements of a councillor?
He did suggest a good solution was to merge POA, Tauranga and Nothland but doesn’t actually appear to want to work toward that from what I can see from my basic google searches on the idea.
I heard someone from POA stating that it was unwise/ unsuitable for there to be any political intervention and they should not get involved in commercial decisions which should be left to directors. Some how I felt that it missed the point completely as who does he thinks owns the place. Arthur seems to similarly blind.
What price is there for the non tradeable public good of a sparkling harbour wide enough to actually sail down? The value of this is established by the community hence politicians.
And its not too hard to see the long game- the wharf is just about at Devonport already – next they will want to build a toll bridge over the last gap.
and fill in the harbour all the way back east up to Hobsonville ? Nick Smith and English might see it as a way of fixing Auckland’s housing crisis !!! roflmao
So Chris Bishop thinks it’s unrealistic for schoolkids to have a say on the flag, but apparently has no problem with Julie Christie sitting on the panel that picks the options.
Seriously, how does that work? How is Julie Christie’s opinion on flags more relevant than the opinions of a few hundred thousand children?
Thanks Tracey.
I was trying to link to a smaller graph on a secondary website and it gave me heaps of problems with https, file etc! Finally at the end of the day, I awkshully went to the Nate Silver’s website like you did. Psssstttt!
Thursday, March 26, 2015, TV2 one of Denmark’s national television stations aired a documentary on HPV vaccines entitled, The Vaccinated Girls – Sick and Betrayed. It focused on the condition of 3 girls suffering from serious new medical conditions after being vaccinated against HPV with Gardasil. The one thing they have in common with thousands of other girls around the world is they were healthy before they got the vaccine – now, they are seriously ill
Its an unnecessary vaccination. It is something being promoted heavily by the drug companies. Goodness knows what else they’ll come up with in the future to vaccinate everyone against.
What is certain is that a profit driven corporate business model drives the ‘drug industry’ which ensures an ‘expanding market’ and ‘new products’ must continue to keep up the ‘growth’
The positive I take from the Scandinavian documentary is that there are parts of the world where opportunity exists for the appropriate level of involved discussion required to unravel and expose the sham can occur
The cult of vaccination can be witnessed deeply ingrained in the anglo west where discussion is effectively banished because the ‘science is proven’ and can’t be challenged
That the vaccine and wider drug industry divorced itself from ‘science’ and is no longer related appears to be unobserved by large numbers but those who have been following are rapidly expanding
Importantly there will be large numbers who are pro vaccination but against compulsion because they understand the seriousness of where compulsion will lead to
The drug industry is being challenged (exposed) and it is my sense that the push in the USA and Australia towards compulsory vaccination is due to an awareness that the industry is heading for a bust
Any state which attempts to enforce compulsion will experience a form of revolt such is the combustiveness of the matter
A mathematical prediction of Thursday’s UK election result by Nate Silver:
If the polls directly translated into seats, then UKIP would be a power broker in parliament. The fact is that UK elections come down to a small number of constituencies. Vast swathes of the country will always be Labour and vast swathes will always be Tory. The key is what is likely to happen in the key undecided or ‘marginal’ seats.
Political polling is a highly sophisticated affair nowadays, but one person to listen to is Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com who gained a huge following after correctly calling the last two US elections. This stats genius has partnered with a number of UK academics to produce what is likely to be the most accurate prediction of the general election.
FiveThirtyEight’s Election Prediction in the link below:
FiveThirtyEight’s Election Prediction takes into account everything from marginal polling from the Likes of Lord Ashcroft to historical voting patterns. In one graph you have what is likely to be a highly accurate prediction of the 2015 election.
This is NOT the final prediction because he updates/revises the prediction daily. So, if you are interested, you will need to watch it everyday, until Friday our time the day of the election. (Thursday their time).
Would be interesting to see how close his prediction is in UK. I read that he had stunning accuracy in US for the last two elections.
In my original post above, the statement which I copied from the secondary site that ‘UKIP will be the power broker’ is obviously incorrect going by the prediction graph where it is only expected to win 1 seat! So, I am not sure if that secondary site made an inadvertent error or were playing ‘dirty politics’ trying to influence their readers!
Aagh after spending 6 weeks working my way through the ‘luminaries’ I know who did what to who and were the gold started and finished and have a fare idea who killed crosbie and carver but I’m buggered if I kept a good enough eye on the gold to be confident about all its moves.
What public good? Lower demand for full-wage workers on the outside?
Paying less than minimum wage and punishing them if they don’t “volunteer” / “refuse rehabilitation opportunities” (as happens in the US) forces prisoners into doing work for which they don’t receive even the pretence of fair reward. Whether one wishes to get into a semantic debate about if this meets the precise definition of “slavery”, it’s still close enough to being ethically fucked up. Forced labour should never be used for profit.
The public good the Corrections Minister alluded too. Assisting inmates to gain skills (catering to an industry shortfall aiding the rebuild/housing shortage) while improving future employment opportunities and incomes, thus rehabilitation numbers.
Forced participation would be a concern.
Not being privy to the contract between Serco and PlaceMakers nor what inmates will be paid, one can only assume wages will be low, thus also a concern.
Additionally, a point overlooked is the impact on commercial competitors. Will wage savings be split between Serco and PlaceMakers giving PlaceMakers a labour cost advantage over their competitors?
A decent government wouldn’t wait until people are in prison before giving them employment skills.
I think the entire thing stinks, and that’s even if it lives up to the bumper sticker portrayed in ministry press releases as opposed to the reality wherever it’s been actually implemented.
One could, but it would be irrelevant to the issue of whether placemakers is paying fair wages for genuinely voluntary work by a literally captive workforce.
As opposed to the speculation that this is the first time in history that a corporation does something solely for the public good? Without leveraging it to advertise ad nauseum how awesome they’re being?
If the speculation is the general consensus, one has to ask why the public good argument continues to be so successful in allowing the private sector into the public sector?
Personally, I don’t think it is particularly successful as an argument. It is a thin excuse that tories use to degrade and privatise the public sector.
Think of it as the tassles that strippers used to wear on their nipples so as to not run foul of indecency laws. They didn’t really cover all that much up, either, and one could argue that having them twirl like propellors lent more to the imagination than not having them at all. But they were a technicality that the club owner could argue made the performance a 100% legal enterprise.
Don’t agree with “seldom challenged”. “Public good” is also fairly rare when it comes to privatisation arguments beyond an ethereal appeal to “efficiency”.
You seem to think that the public good argument and other privatisation excuses are used to gain popular consent. They aren’t. I believe that such arguments are used to reduce resistance by implying that the outcome is unavoidable, that the act is rational, and resistance is futile. But the tories don’t care whether we like privatisation, and they’d think us fools if we did. They just want us to think that it’s inevitable so that we don’t fight it.
Browbeating someone to the point that they no longer fight is different to swaying them with the public good argument that we’re discussing.
Really? Thirty years of being fucked while they insist that it’s for our own good, that the electricity network is much better even though the power bills were through the roof, that we didn’t really need rail anyway, that it’s better to contract to China for substandard railcars than to build them right in Dunedin, that yet another round of taxcuts will make everything alright, that unemployment will fall soon because of the latest gdp figures. And almost every time there’s been a protest or someone else has been voted in nothing really changes or stops the rot. And if you argue then there’s always some fucking economist willing to tell you to your face that black is white and you’re much better off than when you owned your own home.
That’s browbeating with a farcical public good argument. They no longer bother to “sway” us, they just fucking screw us and demand thanks for the privilege.
If you think the public are swayed by such a flimsy iteration of the argument, your opinion of the NZ public is worse than my opinion of National party mps. But your opinion of The Nation’s ratings is wildly optimistic.
Thirty odd years of privatization would suggest they generally are. If the majority weren’t swayed by such arguments they would have put an end to privatization long ago.
Moreover, politicians would be far to wary to continue to use the argument or even suggest such a thing (let alone campaign on asset sales) yet they still do.
oh, but the asset sales weren’t asset sales, don’t you recall? We still own half of them… fooling some of the people, some of the time.
The fact is that people did vote to stop asset sales. Can’t recall what the nats sales policies were in 1990, but lockwood definitely pledged to get rid of student fees. Then fucked us.
So in 93 we had a choice between rogernomes and nats, so chose MMP when faced with two evils. Then in 96 anderton fucked the coalition prospects to get rid of the nats. In 99 we went labour again, but the renationalization process was too slow (but at least anderton got some advances out of it before fucking the alliance. Bit of a rollercoaster, that man). And in 08 labour was dead in the water, and key seemed so nice. 2011 he was our man in a crisis pledging “whatever it takes”. 2014, see above.
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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 ...
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 ...
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; ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
“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 ...
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, ...
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, ...
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, ...
.“$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 ...
“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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 → ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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,” ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
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i watched this film last nite..(and give it the highest recommendations..must see!..really..)
..and it is one that the likes of greenpeace (and other ‘green’ organisations) will not want you to see..
..it lifts the lid on the ‘sustainability’-myths so many believe/peddle..
..and the false story/story with big holes in it – that is being pushed by the likes of greenpeace..and most other enviro-groups..
..i would urge anyone with even the slightest interest in these issues – to watch this flick..
http://www.cowspiracy.com/
Thanks.
The facts-site for this movie looked familiar to me (for people that don’t have the time or the money to watch it, this is a good starting point):
http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/
Some of it is mentioned in this article:
Saving the planet – One meal at a time
Just hope a film like this doesn’t give the fossil fuel industries an out.
@ paul..
i don’t think it does..
..but it does focus on the follies/madness of continuing with just concentrating on those fossil-fuel industries..
..and ignoring the/this very large pachyderm looming over them/us..
(as greenpeace/green party/most enviro-groups currently do..)
..that way lies environmental-disaster/a cooked planet..
..how can it not..?
(and could i urge people to spread the word about this important visual-document..to their networks/friends..
..i think it has import exceeding al gores’ initial alarm-sounding effort..
..it get’s much closer to the real nub of the problem..and the solution..)
looks like an argument to change farming and eating practices, which doesn’t necessarily mean going vegan.
The figures on that facts page will be based on US industrial agriculture which includes feedlots, and monocropping monsanto soy, all of which destroy soil and ecoystems (which we desparately need intact for many environmental reasons including CC). There are far better ways of growing food and ones that reduce GHG emissions in a sustainable way rather than a BAU way. By all means promote eating less meat and more plants, but please don’t promote swapping one insane food system for another.
“..which doesn’t necessarily mean going vegan…”
it actually does..
..and you are just repeating some of the myths so effectively demolished/disproven in the film..
(that grass-fed-better group-delusion we labour under..is well and truly demolished..)
..and rather than a ‘looks like’ opinion..can i suggest you actually watch the film..(only 1hr 30 min..)..
..and then opine..?
..it would make yr opinion so much more informed in nature..
..wouldn’t you agree..?
Nah, I’ve seen it all before, over a very long period of time. Try addressing my actual points phil instead of just asserting I am wrong with no backup. Bet you can’t.
you haven’t ‘seen it all before’..
i hadn’t ‘seen it all before’..
..i am not overselling the import of this film..
…and the clarity of the undeniable (science-based) message it imparts..
..but continue braying from yr position of ignorance..
..if you must..
..you wear it well..
I tell you what, if you address my points in a clear and logical way without the slurs, I’ll watch the film and then comment on it.
the point is the points you raise are addressed far more coherently in the film..
..than i could in this forum..
and re ‘slurs’..calling a plant/ethics-based diet ‘insane’ isn’t a ‘slur’..?
..really..?
(b.t.w..that anti-vegan soy-myth you regularly trot out..is also addressed/answered/unpacked in the film..
..i urge you to open yr mind..)
“the point is the points you raise are addressed far more coherently in the film.”
Give me an example then. What did they say about monocropped monsanto soy?
watch the film..
Rolling my eyes now.
well, that was an easy bet 🙂
True, but I did learn some interesting things despite the odds. The farmer who wrote the film review had some good stuff to say.
Two questions
What was the total emissions from the vast heards of ruminants pre mans ability to slaughter them and replace them with monoculture s. And how does it compare to today’s emissions.
And on a local scale if we all went vegan and stopped hunting how would you stop deer , pigs and other introduced animals over running and degrading nz to a desert.
I’m not taking the piss with these questions .
@ waghorn..
..those (quite valid) questions are addressed in the film..
i repeat..i have been a vegan for about 15 yrs..
..and vegetarian for 15 yrs before that..
..i’ve liberated animals etc etc..
..and consider(ed) myself reasonably up to speed on these issues..
..this film taught me much more than i already knew..
..it brings everything very clearly into focus..
Interestings questions.
1. no idea, but I would love to know. I do know that there is some exceptional work being done by the regenag and associated people on mimicking those old herd systems, and what they are finding is that those herds were crucial for building soil and thus sequestering carbon. That soil and carbon gets released into the wider world when you plough. It is possible to grow grain and legume crops without plowing but I doubt it can be done on the scale that that film is talking about. Which leads us to the problem of human population. Stabilise the population and we have many more options.
2. if hunting as well as farming were stopped we would lose native species fairly rapidly, both animal and plant. There might be some interesting adjustments eg if sheep were taken off the land, and short pasture were converted to either forest or cropping, the rabbit population would probably drop (rabbits do well on short grazed pasture). But overall, if we don’t contain certain species, others will be lost.
The other interesting things about this question is that one obvious solution in NZ is to eat feral meat. That’s where the vegan argument ultimately fails. Would be interesting to see if the hardcore vegans would accept hunting if it meant the end to commerical stock farming. Mostly I just see hardcore vegans arguing that nature would sort out the balance or they don’t believe the situation would occur.
“..1. no idea, but I would love to know…”
watch the film..
‘2’..
..watch the film..
Are you saying that the film specifically looks at the old pre-agricultural herd systems, including what emissions were from them?
And that it addresses issues of pest control?
I suspect you are implying porkies there phil.
yr ability to opine on subjects you know nothing about (in this case..this film)..
..is really pretty much boundless..isn’t it..?
It’s alright phil, we know you’ve got nothing other than ‘watch this film about my belief system and it’s all true because I say so’.
b waghorn,
a review from a US grass-fed stock farmer with an eye for ecological (and logical) sensibility.
Here’s another way to look at it. There are about 88 million beef cows in America and just over 9 million dairy cows. In 1800 there were 60 million buffalo, and though the film claims that grassfed beef is more damaging than feedlot beef, I’m confident those buffalo weren’t routinely wandering into CAFOs in an effort to reduce their methane emissions. But I doubt Anderson would accept a target of 60 million grassfed cows as ecologically sustainable, even though keeping them on pasture, besides making them healthier and happier, would mostly eliminate the 5% of methane emission that are a result of manure fermenting in lagoons and piles.
http://cairncrestfarm.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/cowspiracy-movie-review.html
another chimera from you – that is addressed/unpacked in the film.
..that..the organic..grass-fed…’sustainable’..
..they are all focused on..in their turn..
..in the film..
and yet you’ve watched the film and still can’t address a single point. All you are doing here is propganda promo.
do you often argue over/about two flies crawling up a wall..?
..you have spent twice the time it wd take to watch the film..
..to attack the film – that you haven’t seen..
..do you see anything awry/amiss with that picture..?
Don’t panic just yet folks…..
Greenhouse emissions from animals are about to reduce significantly.
And no, not because the world is listening to Phil.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11439795
Hey sheep, do you know if the type of feed affects the amount of methane produced by ruminants? eg grain vs conventional pasture vs organic perennial etc.
phil, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want me to watch the film and critique it 😈
Hey sheep, do you know if the type of feed affects the amount of methane produced by ruminants? eg grain vs conventional pasture vs organic perennial etc.
Not an expert on that.
This story suggests that it is specific micro – organisms within the rumen “which utilise the hydrogen and carbon dioxide and make methane. This natural process has been occurring in ruminants for millions of years.
(The new discoveries) basically stop the activity of the micro-organisms that are converting the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane. It’s very simple – it kills them or severely suppresses their activity.”
Listening to it on National Radio the scientists stated that these organisms are not actually useful to the animal or the process – “they were just along for the ride”.
So reducing them was potentially a win for the animal and the environment.
I will probably take some convincing that messing with gut microbia is safe. We get this stuff wrong so often, esp to do with the microbial world (eg antibiotic overuse). Plus those silver bullet remedies rarely pan out. I’ll be interested to see how the research develops but at this stage it looks more like wishful thinking. We have to change how we farm instead of relying on isolated remedies.
“The great bison herds that swarmed across the US prairies before white settlement, along with other native ruminants like elk and deer, are estimated to have produced 86 per cent of the methane of the current US cattle herd.”
http://www.shapingtomorrowsworld.org/wahlquistmethane.html
Thanks obviously you are better at the Google machine than me.
”Fossil fuels consist of carbon, sequestered using the energy of the sun, hundreds of millions of years ago. Just four litres of petrol uses what was 90 tonnes of ancient life. In the space of one year, the world is using over 400 years of stored ancient energy and carbon. The carbon dioxide produced will remain in the atmosphere for a century. It is a one way street.
But the carbon released by cattle in methane was sequestered just last week, last month, maybe even last year. And within 9 to 15 years, the carbon in that methane will be sequestered again in a plant, perhaps in grass, to go again through the same cycle. Cattle are part of a natural biological cycle. In it, carbon is sequestered, used, released in a gas and sequestered again. I fail to see how this is the moral equivalent of putting tens of tonnes of fossil life into your petrol tank.”
Mans the problem not the cow’s!!
The use of technology in food production seems to take us away from what were natural practices in farming methods.
I listened to a talk on Country Life on Radionz this morning and felt this was so. It seemed that the ideal was for a farm owner to have technical feedback from every aspect of the farm from his office. Then if the cow in bale 5 has dropped production then he contacts the farm manager to question him about it. Big boss is watching you. How much job satisfaction there would be I don’t know. I’m not sure what the cows think. I suppose any dissatisfaction would show up in a reduced milk yield.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201752682
Demo Dairy Farm in Colombia
Dairy Solutionz, a Hamilton based company, has worked in Colombia since 2012. In the past 18 months they’ve developed a demonstration dairy farm to show how a low cost dairy model could help small herd owners to stay in business as more European dairy imports threaten their livelihoods. Colombia’s President opened the farm at the end of April.
Satty, “The facts-site for this movie looked familiar to me (for people that don’t have the time or the money to watch it, this is a good starting point):”
And here’s a thoughtful and critically competent review of the film that critiques some of its basic premises. Some snippets,
Responding to a polemic that plays as fast and loose with facts as this film could easily devolve into a line by line response, which would be even more boring to read than it would be to write. Instead, I’ll focus on a few of the main topics, beginning with how cows drink, burp, fart, and most of all poop, which – not to brag – I have some experience with.
Methane is a more vexed question, since cows indisputably belch and fart. In the film Anderson implies that cows are the main source of methane and that reducing their numbers is the fastest way to reverse global warming. After too much time poking around in search of definitive numbers on methane emissions, I decided to use those provided on a NASA website, even though a number of reputable sources arrive at different conclusions, particularly concerning the amount of methane released by wetlands, listed at 22% in the data I am quoting. By these numbers, ruminant livestock directly account for 16% of global methane emissions, and the (mis)management of all livestock manure accounts for another 5%. Human sewage treatment is 5%, biomass burning is 8%, fossil fuels production is 19%, and, surprisingly, rice cultivation is 12%. Various other manmade and natural sources fill out the remainder. While 21% of total methane is certainly significant, the idea that the elimination of livestock would clearly lead to a reversal of global warming trends is both an overstatement and an oversimplification, without getting into matters of methane’s half-life relative to carbon’s.
The great weakness of Cowspiracy, other than its title, is its single minded determination to prove that veganism is the only reasonable approach to feeding people, a proof it pursues without regard for facts or nuance. That’s not to say it’s worthless, for there are ideas for several good films within it. I would love to watch a truly investigative examination of any links between the industrial agriculture sector and large environmental non-profits, rather than one that infers connections from the vague responses of uncomfortable PR people. A devastating documentary could be made about the insanity of beef and dairy production in California, and I am all for consumers voting against them and other parts of the industrial food system with their dietary choices. I even think a fair examination of the ways small farms are not inherently better for land and livestock would be wonderful. Instead of any of these there is a failed effort to prove that one lifestyle choice can solve every environmental and agricultural problem.
This failure is not just a result of misleading and erroneous data, but even more so of superficiality. Though I watched carefully and took copious notes, I do not have a clear idea what Anderson’s vegan world would look like. Would excess land be converted to wilderness? Should the hills and fields of my farm return to forest and scrub like so much of the nearby land that used to be grass? Why is a monoculture of wheat preferable to a polyculture of pasture? Should we humans be connected to and reliant on the land around us and should these connections take different forms in response to local conditions? Yesterday, while out hunting turkey, I came across the remains of a deer, one of ten or so my brother and I have found this year. All of them starved or froze to death in the clutches of last winter. Now they are piles of mossy bones marking where living things curled up and never stood again. Why is this preferable to raising cows as I do, particularly when there’s room here for both?
http://cairncrestfarm.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/cowspiracy-movie-review.html
On the basis of that, I will save my money, and assume that the film is an ideologically driven polemic that’s most likely not worth critiquing because it lacks basic logic and factual analysis.
good that you have presented the hunter/farmer p.o.v..
..one you clearly share..?
Thanks weka for putting up that thoughtful and well expressed review of Cowspiracy. It is good to follow the thinking of people’s minds as they extensively consider a topic, to find if rationality covers all, but also reflects the necessary emotional input to give the full human response.
ah yes..the ‘humane’ animal-farmer’..(that oxymoron..)
..one of the funniest scenes in the movie is a ‘grass-fed-only’ couple sitting in a grassy meadow..
..(with elbow/shoulder issues from patting themselves on the back – so full of self-regard/rightousness they are..)
..who say they do it ‘because they love the animals’…
..(does that love swell to a chorus as they wave goodbye to the slaughterhouse trucks full of those animals they ‘love’..?..
..are the cheques they receive for selling these animals guilt-tear-stained by the time they reach the bank..?..
..so much bullshit you could blow up balloons with it..)
as i said above – that is the view presented by that review – the p.ov. of the animal-farmer/hunter/killer of animals for fun..
..meh..!
Why is a monoculture of wheat preferable to a polyculture of pasture?
Hey, that’s unfair. Vegans would like to see a lot of areas have a monoculture of soy rather than wheat. But this would be great because then we wouldn’t actually see the vast numbers of animals we’d be destroying in order to eat, and even better, we’d all be eating the way sanctimonious hippies think is best for us.
climbing up for a bray from that rock of ignorance..?..there..eh..?
..you’ll have to ask weka to shuffle over/make room..
..and ‘hippie’ as a form of insult..eh..?
..you ‘retro’ old man you..eh..?
..and a little fact for you to digest..
..the earth has 7 billion people..
..a planet eating a plant-based diet..
..could support a population of 13 billion..
..whereas this is the point of the movie – that animal-flesh based diet/farming are in no way sustainable..
..not even with the population we have now..
..it is all those ‘sustainabilty’-myths peddled by greenpeace/green party etc..
..that are so successfully shown for the chimera they are..
Being vegan is a top risk factor for being a hippie, right up there with envangelistic paeans to smoking dope and not having a job. Whether ‘hippie’ is an insult or not depends what you think of hippies.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly, you believe it would be a great idea to turn the planet’s arable land into crop monocultures for shit foods like soy and wheat so it can support 13 million soy-fed humans. This sounds more like a horrendous dystopia than anything else. And the film’s propaganda assertions regarding normal diets are no more than that.
p.m. said:..”..And the film’s propaganda assertions regarding normal diets are no more than that…”
..and is that opinion derived from watching the film..?
..or is a weka-style opinion..?
(..just an orifice-pluck..and evidence-be-damned..!)
@ PM ….. I’m not sure you could accuse PU of ever having been a ‘hippie’
heh..!..and he would know – pm..
An oldie but maybe a goody ? http://oilcrash.com/articles/eating.htm
Yeah, but you’re preaching to the converted there Robert.
I would like to pull out this bit
“It takes 500 years to replace 1 inch of topsoil”
That’s natural cycles. Regenerative agriculture is replacing soil at inches per decade (and sequestering carbon in the process). That’s already happening, and could easily be scaled up for whole countries. It does of course require shifting to a steady state economy/degrowth, and limiting population to what can be sustained by any given land mass (ie the end of industrial agriculture).
Again – nothing will slow what is in motion.
But this TED talk covers similar stuff as Cow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJhgGbRA6Hk
Uploaded on Sep 2, 2011
The Other Inconvenient Truth: How Agriculture is Changing the Face of Our Planet
We typically think of climate change as the biggest environmental issue we face today. But maybe it’s not? In this presentation, Jonathan Foley shows how agriculture and land use are maybe a bigger culprit in the global environment, and could grow even larger as we look to feed over 9 billion people in the future.
This is a 30 min interview with Co-director of ‘Cowspiracy’ Kip Andersen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcFzJfhyRdY I think he come across as more believable than say the PPP ?
Sharon Murdoch’s cartoons are superb.
Work on several levels.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/cartoons/
RNZ – Brent Edwards summary yesterday.
Amongst other things Key was talking about trade prospects in the Emirates and was particularly enthusiastic about the prospects for wine sales – wonder why?
Key also appeared, from his comments, to be using Bronagh in a diplomatic role to spread the “human rights” message in the area.
First time she has been mentioned in a political context?
Actually the summary wasn’t particularly favourable towards Key, produced a couple of bordering-on-sarcastic comments from Edwards, which from him is unusual …
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/focusonpolitics/audio/201752729/focus-on-politics-for-1-may-2015
The MSM in NZ doesn’t use journalists anymore.
It just watches people’s Facebook pages.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/68176582/robbed-family-go-undercover-to-catch-burglars
Scoop NZ has today announced it will be going behind a paywall for everyone except the general public. Will this mean those of us in the general public who share links from Scoop to others in the general public or on Facebook will no longer be able to do so ?
And are the Herald and other newspapers likely to follow suit ?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1504/S00198/why-scoopconz-can-no-longer-be-free-chrysalis-update-5.htm
Just having a read.
Ok, I haven’t read the whole thing, but it looks pretty clear to me that from now on commercial and professional use needs a licence. The site is still free to the public, including the public linking to Scoop in non-commercial/professional ways.
The following criteria are all for commercial/professional use, not general public,
These adverts direct readers to pages which explain our new “Invisible Paywall” – including its legal basis- and information on who is expected to pay and why we need to do this.
If you:
Routinely read work related material on Scoop.co.nz;
Send links to – or extracts from – Scoop.co.nz material to work colleagues or clients;
Search the web and find Scoop.co.nz results a reliable source of information about matters of professional interest to you;
Send Scoop press releases and then check to see if those press releases have been published and/or send links to those press releases to clients or colleagues;
Then you or your organisation probably needs to have a Scoop organisation licence to access Scoop.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1504/S00198/why-scoopconz-can-no-longer-be-free-chrysalis-update-5.htm
Scoop are answering questions on loomio,
https://scoop.loomio.org/
I have emailed Alastair re shared links. Having read the Scoop page it does seem that they are targeting commercial operations like the Herald or TV for quoting Scoop stories rather than we public people. We will see.
Be interesting to have that reply, IanMac – when I was copying something yesterday to pass onto FB I received a sort-of “warning” pop-up re copying without a licence in the future.
was that from the copy on Scoop? Or when you went to FB?
Finally getting back to the computer again, Weka. The warning pop-up was while I was copying a piece on Scoop.
ah, ok thanks, that’s interesting.
I emailed Alastair : “I read blogs and in particular The Standard. Can I link to a Scoop story on the Standard without incurring a fee?”
Alastair replied: “Of course you can. Linking is fine…..”
That sorted then. 🙂
Ok – thanks. Linking in future, not straight-out copying. Ta ianmac.
See these images from #SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA.
Kia kaha to you, one and all .. this battle must be won …
https://twitter.com/search?t=1&cn=cmVjb3NfbmV0d29ya19kaWdlc3RfYWI%3D&sig=2a893840b4554f258052d2c7a0df96f3dc5da0b1&al=1&refsrc=email&iid=ee2c136bb211450097fcf7bacdd8dcab&q=%23SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA&autoactions=1430514276&uid=338135547&nid=244+293+20150429
Love the ‘Not to be Operated by Fuckwits’ one.
“Australia is Nothing without its Blak Soul”
Amazing to see such big protests on this, and them shutting down the centre of two big cities. Do you know how did they managed that second bit? eg was that permitted action or did they just do it? I suspect the bonfire in the Block wasn’t permitted 😀
here’s more which might answer some of your questions … the people are awake !
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/major-headaches-for-commuters-and-footy-fans-as-protesters-vow-to-shut-melbourne-down-20150501-1mxmac.html
it doesn’t say whether the protests were permitted or not, but an interesting read, thanks.
Thanks yeshe. Great to see such a huge action, that really is fantastic.
I agree with Hone, it’s really important that we stand beside Aboriginal Australians in their fight to retain the right to live on their own land, in their own communities. They need the support of their neighbours in this part of the woods.
Here is footage of the speeches at the May Day rally held in Wellington for the Aboriginal communities of W.A, all well worth a listen. Metiria repeats the chant used in the rallies from your link below:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1505/S00003/harawira-turei-address-aboriginal-rights-mayday-protests.htm
Its quite amazing that this form of oppression still exists. Aboriginal people’s have had to fight colonial powers and anti aboriginal Government Act’s since day one, and it still continues.
For those interested in this history there is a Doco called First Australians that you might find interesting. It was aired on Maori TV about four years ago. I can’t seem to find any full length versions to post (they come up with a message about not being available) but here are some clips from that doco. They include an interview with Wurandjeri elder, Margaret Gardiner who was mentioned in the age article.
http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/first-australians-episode-1/clip1/
We have much to be ashamed of with our PM but so do the Aussies with Abbott.
Last night TV news here finally started to talk about what Freddie Gray was subject to on the police ride that brought his young life to an end.
We’ve had the story up on Redline for five days, that outlines what happened to him and his injuries, We got it from people in Baltimore.
We’re half a dozen people with no money, no resources. Yet major NZ news companies are days behind us, on an important international story. When you read about what happened to Freddie gray it makes the anger being expressed on the streets of Baltimore and other US cities not only understandable but you wonder why there isn’t even more of it.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/us-the-states-systematic-violence-kills-another-young-black-man/
Phil
That is so terrible!
Here in New Zealand this National government uses ‘war on terror’, ‘war on drugs’, ‘war on welfare’, ‘war on state housing’ etc when all these initiatives directly affect the poor, the unemployed and the marginalised.
You don’t hear them fighting ‘war on capitalists’, ‘war on profiteers’, ‘war on corruption’, ‘war on rich crooks’, ‘war on tax dodgers’, ‘war on exploiters’, ‘war on dirty politics’ or even ‘war on poverty’.
And the people strangely, selfishly or ignorantly keep voting in this disgraceful cunning lying RW government again and again!
“” And the people strangely, selfishly or ignorantly keep voting in this disgraceful cunning lying RW government again and again! “”
Two reasons that I can think of, Clemgeopin:
1. They (we the people) are brainwashed by the MSM and/or
2. They (we the people) don’t really want to know about these nasty things.
Otherwise, I’m as puzzled as you are. I just don’t understand why the people all around us cannot see what we can see.
I think the Key and his RW spin machine is very good at fooling the people by their propaganda and another reason is that most people are only either uninterested or only marginally interested in in depth political news as evidenced by the fact for example that less than 100,000 in total out of 5,000,000 people actually watch the news even at peak news time of 6 pm!
I suspect only a much smaller number watch political programmes such as The Nation or Q and A. Sad for freedom and democracy!
PORTS OF AUCKLAND PROPAGANDA
Today on RNZ news , an item claiming that because only one extension to wharf will proceed a new cruise ship will not be able to berth in Auckland and therefore it will not visit New Zealand at all in 2016 and we will miss out on millions of $$$$$
The vessel is Ovation of the Seas and is similar in size to the Queen Mary II. which has visited Auckland without any apparent problem?
What is behind this news release and who?
Really interesting was the claim by the Chair of POA that they weren’t permitted to talk to councillors as a group so they invited them individually to POA to “explain” the situation…
Divide and conquer my friend, divide and conquer (it is waht they tried with their industrial dispute.
Ironically some who didn’t give a shit about how those workers were treated now care about the behaviour of POA executive and Board, you know, cos the bullying and manipulation is impacting their yachting space 🙂
Arthur Anae spoke on RNZ the day after his special one en masse education from POA (notwithstanding councillors were told not to speak to the media until a final decision was made) , he just couldn’t get past the obligation of Auckland councillors to make economically good decisions and to keep the rates down. Given that Arthur thinks that is his only obligation, may I suggest he stand down on the basis that he is incapable fo meeting the requirements of a councillor?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201751770
Alfred is toward the end as I recall.
He did suggest a good solution was to merge POA, Tauranga and Nothland but doesn’t actually appear to want to work toward that from what I can see from my basic google searches on the idea.
I heard someone from POA stating that it was unwise/ unsuitable for there to be any political intervention and they should not get involved in commercial decisions which should be left to directors. Some how I felt that it missed the point completely as who does he thinks owns the place. Arthur seems to similarly blind.
What price is there for the non tradeable public good of a sparkling harbour wide enough to actually sail down? The value of this is established by the community hence politicians.
And its not too hard to see the long game- the wharf is just about at Devonport already – next they will want to build a toll bridge over the last gap.
and fill in the harbour all the way back east up to Hobsonville ? Nick Smith and English might see it as a way of fixing Auckland’s housing crisis !!! roflmao
http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/super-rich-and-us/ZW0292A001S00
‘The Super rich and us’
Worth a look IMO
TV Ratings: 1 May 2015 By regan Most watched
One News: 636,040 (TV ONE, 6:00pm – 7:00pm)
Seven Sharp: 426,870 (TV ONE, 7:00pm – 7:30pm)
Location Location Location: 403,730 (TV ONE, 7:30pm – 8:35pm)
Campbell Live: 324,740 (TV3, 7:00pm – 7:35pm)
Millionaire Hot Seat: 321,340 (TV ONE, 5:25pm – 6:00pm)
————–
If you missed it, here is the video from last night:
http://www.tv3.co.nz/tabid/3692/MCat/2908/Default.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/68157864/chris-bishop-votes-but-not-my-cat
So Chris Bishop thinks it’s unrealistic for schoolkids to have a say on the flag, but apparently has no problem with Julie Christie sitting on the panel that picks the options.
Seriously, how does that work? How is Julie Christie’s opinion on flags more relevant than the opinions of a few hundred thousand children?
Or for that matter, more relevant than the opinion of a dead dog and a small pile of rocks?
In an evolutionary way, she may be related to Paul the Octopus.
If 1x Julie Christie = 1 x octopus,
and 1x dead dog + pile of stones = 100k children,
then 100k children =
You know, I think you’re right.
Hasn’t she made her millions getting children to text in a vote?????
lol
link doesnt work for me
this does
http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/uk-general-election-predictions/
Love the format 🙂
Thanks Tracey.
I was trying to link to a smaller graph on a secondary website and it gave me heaps of problems with https, file etc! Finally at the end of the day, I awkshully went to the Nate Silver’s website like you did. Psssstttt!
oops. The link doesn’t link Clem.
Edit. Yes to Tracey’s link.
Thursday, March 26, 2015, TV2 one of Denmark’s national television stations aired a documentary on HPV vaccines entitled, The Vaccinated Girls – Sick and Betrayed. It focused on the condition of 3 girls suffering from serious new medical conditions after being vaccinated against HPV with Gardasil. The one thing they have in common with thousands of other girls around the world is they were healthy before they got the vaccine – now, they are seriously ill
http://sanevax.org/hpv-vaccines-a-danish-documentary/
Scandinavian nations have much which the world can study and learn from including balanced discussion illustrated through this documentary
Its an unnecessary vaccination. It is something being promoted heavily by the drug companies. Goodness knows what else they’ll come up with in the future to vaccinate everyone against.
What is certain is that a profit driven corporate business model drives the ‘drug industry’ which ensures an ‘expanding market’ and ‘new products’ must continue to keep up the ‘growth’
The positive I take from the Scandinavian documentary is that there are parts of the world where opportunity exists for the appropriate level of involved discussion required to unravel and expose the sham can occur
The cult of vaccination can be witnessed deeply ingrained in the anglo west where discussion is effectively banished because the ‘science is proven’ and can’t be challenged
That the vaccine and wider drug industry divorced itself from ‘science’ and is no longer related appears to be unobserved by large numbers but those who have been following are rapidly expanding
Importantly there will be large numbers who are pro vaccination but against compulsion because they understand the seriousness of where compulsion will lead to
The drug industry is being challenged (exposed) and it is my sense that the push in the USA and Australia towards compulsory vaccination is due to an awareness that the industry is heading for a bust
Any state which attempts to enforce compulsion will experience a form of revolt such is the combustiveness of the matter
A mathematical prediction of Thursday’s UK election result by Nate Silver:
If the polls directly translated into seats, then UKIP would be a power broker in parliament. The fact is that UK elections come down to a small number of constituencies. Vast swathes of the country will always be Labour and vast swathes will always be Tory. The key is what is likely to happen in the key undecided or ‘marginal’ seats.
Political polling is a highly sophisticated affair nowadays, but one person to listen to is Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com who gained a huge following after correctly calling the last two US elections. This stats genius has partnered with a number of UK academics to produce what is likely to be the most accurate prediction of the general election.
FiveThirtyEight’s Election Prediction in the link below:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/uk-general-election-predictions/
FiveThirtyEight’s Election Prediction takes into account everything from marginal polling from the Likes of Lord Ashcroft to historical voting patterns. In one graph you have what is likely to be a highly accurate prediction of the 2015 election.
Please Note :
This is NOT the final prediction because he updates/revises the prediction daily. So, if you are interested, you will need to watch it everyday, until Friday our time the day of the election. (Thursday their time).
Would be interesting to see how close his prediction is in UK. I read that he had stunning accuracy in US for the last two elections.
One other point :
In my original post above, the statement which I copied from the secondary site that ‘UKIP will be the power broker’ is obviously incorrect going by the prediction graph where it is only expected to win 1 seat! So, I am not sure if that secondary site made an inadvertent error or were playing ‘dirty politics’ trying to influence their readers!
Again the Maori channel excels with a great documentary last week.
The futility and injustices of the so-called ‘war on drugs’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_I_Live_In_(2012_film)
Workers rally on May Day around the world – (in pictures)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/may/01/may-day-rallies-protests-labour-wages-conditions-workers
Aagh after spending 6 weeks working my way through the ‘luminaries’ I know who did what to who and were the gold started and finished and have a fare idea who killed crosbie and carver but I’m buggered if I kept a good enough eye on the gold to be confident about all its moves.
It has been suggested Serco can improve performance, save taxpayers $180 million and still turn a profit.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/corrections-minister-doesnt-know-how-much-inmates-are-being-paid-private-prisons-172188
Thoughts?
Slave labour has always been able to produce products at a competitive price.
When the government pays for the housing and feeding of your slaves, this is doubly so.
Modern day slavery or a public good?
According to Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga, PlaceMakers see the public good in making an investment into the prison system.
What public good? Lower demand for full-wage workers on the outside?
Paying less than minimum wage and punishing them if they don’t “volunteer” / “refuse rehabilitation opportunities” (as happens in the US) forces prisoners into doing work for which they don’t receive even the pretence of fair reward. Whether one wishes to get into a semantic debate about if this meets the precise definition of “slavery”, it’s still close enough to being ethically fucked up. Forced labour should never be used for profit.
The public good the Corrections Minister alluded too. Assisting inmates to gain skills (catering to an industry shortfall aiding the rebuild/housing shortage) while improving future employment opportunities and incomes, thus rehabilitation numbers.
Forced participation would be a concern.
Not being privy to the contract between Serco and PlaceMakers nor what inmates will be paid, one can only assume wages will be low, thus also a concern.
Additionally, a point overlooked is the impact on commercial competitors. Will wage savings be split between Serco and PlaceMakers giving PlaceMakers a labour cost advantage over their competitors?
A decent government wouldn’t wait until people are in prison before giving them employment skills.
I think the entire thing stinks, and that’s even if it lives up to the bumper sticker portrayed in ministry press releases as opposed to the reality wherever it’s been actually implemented.
One could ask if PlaceMakers also approached or plan to work with WINZ?
One could, but it would be irrelevant to the issue of whether placemakers is paying fair wages for genuinely voluntary work by a literally captive workforce.
Not at all. If WINZ haven’t been approached, it would re-enforce speculation savings in labour costs were driving the investment.
As opposed to the speculation that this is the first time in history that a corporation does something solely for the public good? Without leveraging it to advertise ad nauseum how awesome they’re being?
Yeah, right…
If the speculation is the general consensus, one has to ask why the public good argument continues to be so successful in allowing the private sector into the public sector?
Personally, I don’t think it is particularly successful as an argument. It is a thin excuse that tories use to degrade and privatise the public sector.
Think of it as the tassles that strippers used to wear on their nipples so as to not run foul of indecency laws. They didn’t really cover all that much up, either, and one could argue that having them twirl like propellors lent more to the imagination than not having them at all. But they were a technicality that the club owner could argue made the performance a 100% legal enterprise.
The argument is often used, seldom challenged with the resulting privatization underlining its effectiveness.
Don’t agree with “seldom challenged”. “Public good” is also fairly rare when it comes to privatisation arguments beyond an ethereal appeal to “efficiency”.
You seem to think that the public good argument and other privatisation excuses are used to gain popular consent. They aren’t. I believe that such arguments are used to reduce resistance by implying that the outcome is unavoidable, that the act is rational, and resistance is futile. But the tories don’t care whether we like privatisation, and they’d think us fools if we did. They just want us to think that it’s inevitable so that we don’t fight it.
Gaining consent and reducing resistance is exactly the intention.
It is tied to the efficiency argument, that is also often used and seldom challenged.
And when I say seldom challenged, I’m referring to the MSM.
I think that “reducing resistance” is a significantly different goal from “gaining consent”.
Browbeating someone to the point that they no longer fight is different to inspiring them to support you.
As for the MSM… well, enough said. They don’t bite the hand that feeds them, generally
As resistance is reduced, acceptance tends to gain.
Browbeating someone to the point that they no longer fight is different to swaying them with the public good argument that we’re discussing.
Really? Thirty years of being fucked while they insist that it’s for our own good, that the electricity network is much better even though the power bills were through the roof, that we didn’t really need rail anyway, that it’s better to contract to China for substandard railcars than to build them right in Dunedin, that yet another round of taxcuts will make everything alright, that unemployment will fall soon because of the latest gdp figures. And almost every time there’s been a protest or someone else has been voted in nothing really changes or stops the rot. And if you argue then there’s always some fucking economist willing to tell you to your face that black is white and you’re much better off than when you owned your own home.
That’s browbeating with a farcical public good argument. They no longer bother to “sway” us, they just fucking screw us and demand thanks for the privilege.
The argument is used, the public are generally swayed and then it’s put away till the next privatization, thus it’s not a continuous browbeating.
The Minster was attempting to sway us with the argument on the Nation just the other day.
If you think the public are swayed by such a flimsy iteration of the argument, your opinion of the NZ public is worse than my opinion of National party mps. But your opinion of The Nation’s ratings is wildly optimistic.
Thirty odd years of privatization would suggest they generally are. If the majority weren’t swayed by such arguments they would have put an end to privatization long ago.
Moreover, politicians would be far to wary to continue to use the argument or even suggest such a thing (let alone campaign on asset sales) yet they still do.
oh, but the asset sales weren’t asset sales, don’t you recall? We still own half of them… fooling some of the people, some of the time.
The fact is that people did vote to stop asset sales. Can’t recall what the nats sales policies were in 1990, but lockwood definitely pledged to get rid of student fees. Then fucked us.
So in 93 we had a choice between rogernomes and nats, so chose MMP when faced with two evils. Then in 96 anderton fucked the coalition prospects to get rid of the nats. In 99 we went labour again, but the renationalization process was too slow (but at least anderton got some advances out of it before fucking the alliance. Bit of a rollercoaster, that man). And in 08 labour was dead in the water, and key seemed so nice. 2011 he was our man in a crisis pledging “whatever it takes”. 2014, see above.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3044227/Kate-Middleton-Prince-William-s-new-royal-baby-GIRL.html
It’s a girl!!!
On Q and A at 9 pm on TV1 two people will be interviewed:
* Andrew Little, hopefully the next Prime Minister
and
* Judith Collins, possibly the next Nat. party leader.