Marc Daalder writing for Newsroom has a brilliant fact filled explanation of the energy supply "problems." Brown should be shamed for using his misinformation about gas etc for political gains. (There is still more than enough gas available but usage has dropped.)
Third, exploration is not the barrier to the development of new offshore fields. There are already known reserves that companies can exploit now in up to five fields that have been exempted from the ban covering more than 5400 square kilometres of ocean off the coast of Taranaki and the Waikato.
Actually Newsroom does a much better job than most Media outlets.
I figure if we are at the tipping point, for it to be cost efficient to go all electric domestically, then surely we are there for commercial purposes.
Cold houses to blame for people needing to 'blast the heater' – Green Building Council
"Research from Otago University shows actually if we built to best-practice standards, as the majority of the OECD already are, we could reduce the winter peak by 75 percent. That's huge, and not only takes pressure off the grid, but would be a massive win for New Zealander's health and cost of living."
That’s precisely the situation my 88 year old mother is in. She still lives in the (small) family home we all grew up in in the ‘60’s and 70’s, but with ceiling insulation and a heat pump added. She has fantastic neighbours, and has no desire to move to something new.
I didnt say they did. Also, did you read the link?
"For years we've been calling for [governments] to deal with the terrible state of New Zealand homes. Millions of New Zealanders live in poorly insulated and draughty housing – there's no wonder when the weather gets cold, they need to blast the heater."
He said the government should commit to a major retrofit programme similar to those being done in Ireland, Australia and the US.
And it may be you are the fortunate person who has either their own home and managed to insulate…or fortunate enough to have a Landlord who cares about more than the rental income?
Unlike….
We're still hearing stories of cold, damp, mouldy rentals, four years after the introduction of Healthy Homes standards. What exactly are the rules, and why are so many landlords able to duck them?
It's also difficult for tenants to complain if they have a problem. They can go to the Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team (TCIT), or the Tenancy Tribunal, but that's not an easy task.
"That's quite a difficult undertaking – and especially if you're not certain of what you're entitled to and how it all works," Bell says.
Bell says only about 18 percent of tenants that have gone to the tribunal with Healthy Homes compliance issues have received some form of remedy.
I actually don't think we are. Most houses have good insulation: top, bottom,sides. double glazing, many have air/heat transfer kits, heat pumps. They don't have forced air mechanical ventilation or automatic temperature control. Still a limiting factor is our prevalent building material of wood
The trouble is that the features that would be the icing on the cake for many such as radiators or whole house heating are beyond the reach of the typical home house builder. We rely on heat pumps on walls rather than harnessing the power of heat pump technology to power whole house heating. (ie a bank of pumps connected to radiators) Solar is not yet mainstream in new builds. Individual wind turbines are not seen much here in the perennially windy city (clue not Chicago!)
But our existing housing stock is fine to be renovated. Many sustainable firms do not offer programmes with loans etc to insulate walls or do double glazing (except the poor people's Dble glazing kits which are great). They are not doing any research into solutions for accessing under floor insulation for home built with no human under floor access.
Our small street though we witnessed tunneling on the scale of Douglas Bader at Stalag Luft III B when a neighbour had tunnelers working to make tracks for humans to install underfloor insulation.
Even though we can do all of these things, some better/more effectively than others, the elephant in the room is always the cost of electricity.
Max Bradford needs to make himself ponder on how difficult his reforms have made it for most to afford even a modest heater to take the chill off. Failing Bradford seeing the light then some sort of review should be done with an aim of winding back the rich boys electricity 'reforms'.
Perhaps Labour could add this to the list, and any other 'state' owned assets that may fall into private hands with this Govt.
Sorry I meant in relation to brick or stone. We have to work with what we have got, stone & brick are so expensive, and so as compared with solid as stone or brick we do have a limitation to start with.
And sure we are good at upping the rating with innovative sheetings/sheathings behind.
Ok, I'll go all hippy on you and mention straw bale, cob, aircrete and rammed earth.
Having said all that we have just redone the lean-to in the west wall hat is part of the master bedroom on our villa. Ready for elderly Mum to occupy.
6×2 framing for the walls and 10×2 rafters for the ceiling for the thicker Batts, expol under floor and heat pump plus radiators.
My 1933 bungalow is constructed of kauri weatherboards on the outside and 9 by 1 inch rimu planking on the inside. Add building paper and a lining of Gib to the internal walls, lots of Batts in the attic, and insulation to the underfloor spaces, – it is very snug. I could retrofit double glazing, but for the moment, good curtains will have to do. There is a heat pump in the kitchen/family room and the site is north/west facing so gets good sun.
Nothing wrong with well built and insulated wooden houses.
Quite apart from the privacy aspect every little bit of protection against the cold helps. I suspect that they are related to the ones though who never pull their curtains back to get solar warming during the day or ventilate their houses to change air and prevent mould (and know the best times to do this).
We seem to have lost much of the commonsense about 'driving' a home somewhere along the way.
I really don't get why we have so many damn windows.
Glazing on north-facing walls can be reasonably large. Where there is good solar access and exposed concrete floors to provide thermal mass, north-facing windows should be approximately 10-15% of total floor area. With timber floors, north-facing windows should be closer to 10% of floor area. Where solar access is poor, the north-facing windows should be less than 8% of floor area.
Glazing that is east, west or south-facing should be smaller and designed mainly to meet daylight and view requirements. This glazing is usually a net heat loser in winter, depending on climate and heating.
East-facing windows should be reasonably small – less than 5% of the home's total floor area.
South and west-facing windows should ideally be less than 3% of floor area and be designed for daylight, views and cooling cross-flow breezes in summer.
warmth, light, view. One of the reasons for having decent east facing windows is if you are in a hot climate you can open those windows in the afternoon when it is hottest, and close the curtains on the west and north sides. If there were limited windows on the east, it would be hotter inside and darker.
I do agree that some house builds go completely over board. Also, why did high ceilings come back into style? It’s like the efficiencies gained by insulation and better passive solar were seen as something that could be spent by doing high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and no curtains. That’s not conserving energy, it’s excessive energy use despite the triple glazing and high R value insulation.
Interesting question. And why did high ceilings become 'fashionable' in the first place – a woman's (or man's) home is her/his castle?
Just for info – I don't know the answer, but joe90 is probably on to it.
NZ fashion icon Dame Trelise Cooper selling her luxury apartment – just weeks after moving in [16 April 2024]
He noted that the 275sqm apartment, which has a CV of $10.5 million, was the size of a large family home and the biggest in the Sonata. “The views that captivate you when you walk into the apartment and the sheer volume and the high stud – it’s iconic. The quiet luxury of this apartment will appeal to people who put a premium on privacy,” he said.
How High [20 May 2009]
Are high ceilings a sign of wretched architectural excess or just good taste?
Living and working in older buildings, people discovered that taller rooms simply felt—and looked—better. Builders were happy to oblige since tall ceilings didn’t cost much more, as Stern points out—but you could charge more for them.
High ceilings are best [3 March 2023]
Ideally we want lofty spaces for socialising and smaller ones to retreat to, says Gibberd: “If you look at a Georgian townhouse, the ceiling heights change as you go up,” he says. “On the ground floor, they tend to be high to portray a sense of grandeur. On the upper floors, where bedrooms are, they’re lower.” Large rooms are inevitably more expensive to heat, and the acoustics a challenge, especially if you have hard floors. You don’t need high ceilings for sleeping.
Agree with this. My house has stood the test of time and is as warm and comfy as I want it to be. (I generally function on a lower temperature than many homes are heated to and having opening windows/access to fresh air are key to me. I suffered terribly (like no other time) with sinus and other chest/nasal infections while living in apartments with non opening windows in Europe.
Human-induced effects through increases in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere continue, and warmer oceans and higher sea levels are guaranteed. As we have seen in 2022, whether from drought, heat waves and wildfires, or floods and super storms, there is a cost to not taking action to slow climate change, and we all are experiencing this now.
According to a quote from the late 19th century, often attributed to Mark Twain, ‘Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.’ Now humans are changing the weather, and still nobody does anything about it!
Friends in the South are hoping for aurora views this evening – though may be hampered by cloud-cover (not as cold as last night, but less visually exciting)
Sadly, we're not likely to see them in Auckland; both because we're likely too far north – but also the light pollution would drown it out. Perhaps they could save power by dowsing the street lights to let us see the aurora!
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center
[…]
They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being “a paradise for interns”; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.
We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.
An Israeli whistleblower recounting his experience at Sde Teiman
According to the accounts,the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gazaare placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapersand fed through straws.
“They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings,” said one whistleblower, who worked as a medic at the facility’s field hospital.
“(The beatings) were not done to gather intelligence. They were done out of revenge,” said another whistleblower. “It was punishment for what they (the Palestinians) did on October 7 and punishment for behavior in the camp.”
The Carrington Event in early September 1859 was the largest solar storm on record.
Auroras were visible in low latitudes and miners in the Rockies were said to have arisen and breakfasted in the middle of the night thinking dawn was approaching. Induced current in telegraph lines caused fires, ignited batteries, and allowed telegraphs to be sent and received despite batteries being disconnected.
An event of that magnitude today would likely cause hundreds of billion of dollars worth of damage.
Stunning display south of here. Mostly red spreading from the southern horizon to near overhead, looks very like a bushfire sunset, with occasional vertical greens.
Our electromagnetic infrastructure, and indeed life itself as we know it, is possible only because of spaceship Earth's magnetosphere – and it's FREE! "Raise shields!"
The one on the right seems to have a penis on the end of the pointing arm, perhaps mocking the idea that a man can protect a woman's space literally/figuratively while having a penis. Or that anyone with a penis can protect a space designed for women or mocking that women, unless they have lady dick, are not women?
But I don't know…..
So many have got the wrong end of the press release because of the MSM mistake in saying NZ first were refusing access to unisex spaces. Par for the course for MSM in NZ. Wouldn't have a clue about women's issues even if they had said issues piled up in boxes in their lounge.
Hipkins repeated the lie about unisex as well. Totally fucking bizarre.
I usually find Murdoch's cartoons self explanatory, but I really have no idea what she is trying to say with that one. Does 'I trust you do have a women's space' refer to women's vaginas?
The proposed legislation (members bill only – not coalition) requires a minimum of two separate toilets – one for each sex. And legal consequence for those who use one not of their birth sex.
greater interest about who is a women's sex toilet, than the other one.
and who is going to police correct use of toilets and how they are going to do it.
She could have gone further – does one need a "birth certificate" or drivers licence or passport ID to access a public place toilet (all currently issued based on self gender ID). This is like the "phony war", just the beginning.
It applies here because a member proposing legislation about having separate toilets based on sex, will come up against earlier parliamentary legislation to enable gender self ID (as per birth certificate, DL and passport).
To have any meaning, it would have to impact on other legislation.
I don't see how you got those two points from that cartoon.
And I do not know what other conclusions could be drawn.
To have any meaning, it would have to impact on other legislation.
generally yes, that is the norm. However there is legislation that predates self ID eg the right to discriminate on the basis of sex was established in BORA 1990 and HRA 1993
Afaik, the BDMRR amendment was never intended to change the definition of sex, it was simply to make changing the BC easier.
The DIA FAQ page had one thing to say about women,
How will you protect women’s rights to sex segregated spaces if self-identification is introduced?
The sex printed on a birth certificate does not determine someone’s legal sex and any associated rights, and there is no legal provision for definitively determining sex in New Zealand legislation. A self-identification process doesn’t change the protections for sex segregated spaces.
People have been able to change the sex on their birth certificate since the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995 was first enacted, and to self-identify gender on passports since 2012, and we haven’t seen any evidence of this being abused.
So what we have is protections that allow for single sex spaces, social conventions around that eg that sex refers to biology, and the DIA stating in 2021 that single sex spaces aren't affected by self ID.
We also have a sociopolitical push from gender identity activists to make changes socially eg remove single sex spaces. That is why this Bill exists. That it's being done by Peters/NZF as a form of populism doesn't alter that changes are being made without consultation and that will attract backlash. I'm not convinced that this Bill is necessary, nor that it is well written, but it's what we have in the absence of meaningful debate.
The Post today told an outright lie about the Bill,
one that the leader of the Opposition repeated. It's bizarre beyond belief, but here we are.
Ani did a mega thread,
A THREAD OF EXAMPLES & REASONS WHY SINGLE SEX TOILETS/BATHROOMS ARE IMPORTANT. Plus history & info. These are of course in addition to the fact that women (and most men) want single sex spaces in which to pee & poo.
The meaning is that self ID no more impacted on spaces than the right given since 1995 to identify differently (via a managed process) to birth sex – or the more general point that there was no legal definition of sex identity.
Thus sex based identity can be extended (via gender identity) to those not born of that sex, and unless this is seen to be in conflict with the rights of those born of that sex it would not be a breach of human rights.
Not that they are prepared to put it that baldly without a court determination.
Is it then possible to identify the legal circumstance of any bathroom "incident" without court precedent (and after Court of Appeal and Supreme Court also concluded)?
In the meantime, police action launched as a result of managing an incident – without any legal resolution, until a case went to court.
At the moment there is presumably no requirement to have separate male and female sex toilets in new public buildings, but this is common and with unisex areas as well – often with wheel chair access, which "others" can use.
A headline saying that the legislation would ban the provision of just unisex toilets in new buildings would be valid.
The meaning is that self ID no more impacted on spaces than the right given since 1995 to identify differently (via a managed process) to birth sex – or the more general point that there was no legal definition of sex identity.
actually self ID legislation is having a significant impact in that it is affirming social change that is distorted because of No Debate. Consider why there are no posts about this on TS now. Or why there are few left wing voices address the issues for women.
what is sex based identity? Sex isn't an identity, it's a fixed state of being.
If you mean that trans women can self ID into women's toilets even where those toilets are designated female only, then use, this is exactly what the Bill is designed to address.
Consider a pub that has a women's toilet, men's and unisex. The women's toilet is a large room with basins/mirrors and cubicles that don't got floor to ceiling. Under the proposed law, if a man goes into that space, women could go to the owner of the pub and ask them to take action eg evict the man from the pub. If the man refuses to leave, the police can be called. Just like any other barring that happens in a pub.
At the moment, the same pub could take the same actions, because single sex spaces are protected in law. But I think the legislation used in court would be whatever allows pubs to evict patrons. The problem we have at the moment is that self ID is effecting a cultural shift. No Debate means that many places that might want to remove men from women's toilets won't do so for fear of being cancelled. And there are of course many people who are ok with men in women's spaces and they're not going to support women in that situation.
This is a really good example of why the issue isn't about genital inspections or transphobia. Even allowing for Bomber's fairly extreme and nonsensical rant style, it neatly points to the fact that men can just decide to ride roughshod over women's rights and then women have to fight. That's the war.
This is a really good example of why the issue isn't about genital inspections or transphobia. Even allowing for Bomber's fairly extreme and nonsensical rant style, it neatly points to the fact that men can just decide to ride roughshod over women's rights and then women have to fight. That's the war.
Agree Weka. I am concerned that there is so little in the way of widespread support for women from the community of men generally. This is not about being kind or using pronouns.
I think the community of men should step up and say, 'it doesn't matter how you are dressed fellow man you are able to come into the the toilets of your biological sex'.
This would work for all the well intentioned trans 'women'. They would recognise that it doesn't matter how you are dressed you are still a male.
It would not work on the AGP males.
Autogynephilia is defined as a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female. Being frank the ability to do something about being sexually aroused is to masturbate, possibly rape. The numbers of pictures of males masturbating in womens toilets is legion.
I have not got figures but I suspect that in this cohort it is highly unlikely that they would have surgery to create a vagina, that would miss the point. They need male apparatus to do the next step. Sorry for being frank but in the dreamy world of rainbows and so called 'trans rights' this is ignored
Part of 'passing' as a female is to do 'female' things like going to the womens toilets. Of course they look nothing like a female. They are instantly recognisable as male. Many women have an inbuilt/innate sense of being able to recognise males no matter how they dress. This most acute at times when we have to let our guard down eg toiletting, breastfeeding children, tending to childrens' needs generally a fractious child in a stroller will take most of a mother's attention.
If there were unisex toilets then anyone could use them. This of course would not be supported by the AGP men.
The aim and object of these men is to gain access to women's toilets. I suspect this is who the legislation is primarily aimed at. It cannot come soon enough.
I hope that along with it, in the future, we will look at the building regs that seem to have screwball requirements for the proportions of male/female toilets. Many women have found themselves using or guarding men's toilets, at say concert venues, so that other women can use them, while an equal number, and counting, are using and lining up to use the women's toilets.
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“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
Muriel Newman writes – Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
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 ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
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Opinion: As an indication of the eye-watering sums involved for the mega-prison plans announced two weeks ago by Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell, consider that $932 million has already been spent on a separate facility due to open at Waikeria next year – that’s about $1.5 million for each of the ...
Opinion: People with certain types of health conditions are more likely than others to have their symptoms dismissed, minimised or disbelieved. These conditions are diagnosed based on the patient self-report of symptoms, where there is no definitive diagnostic test that can prove the existence of disease or demonstrate structural or ...
The intensity of it, ironically, can feel like bullying. Social media activism is reaching something of a peak with the war in Gaza, using the hashtag Blockout2024. It started at this year’s MetGala when influencer and model Haley Kalil was caught on video muttering ‘let them eat cake’ – suddenly ...
It’s 2011 and I am 43 years old. My partner, Christine, and I got together when I was 36. We had been friends for about 10 years before that. One of the first things I asked Christine was whether she wanted to have kids. I had just come out of ...
New Caledonia’s Tontouta International Airport remains closed, and Air New Zealand’s next scheduled flight is on Saturday — although it is not ruling out adding extra services. Air NZ’s Captain David Morgan said on Monday evening flights would only resume when they were assured of the security of the airport ...
Asia Pacific Report As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948. The 1948 Nakba . . . more than ...
Young people on the streets in New Caledonia are saying they will “never give up” pushing back against France’s hold on the Pacific territory, a Kanak journalist in Nouméa says. Pro-independence Radio Djiido’s Andre Qaeze told RNZ Pacific young people had said that “Paris must respect us” and what had ...
This episode of A View from Afar podcast was recorded live from 12:45pm May 20, 2024 (NZST). Political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning examine: The United States and how the world is engaging with it geopolitically.Specifically, Paul and Selwyn analyse what has changed in this regard in ...
Analysis - Power is not being abused, but it is not being well managed either. New Zealand democracy, unique and currently brittle, should be handled with greater care, Alexander Gillespie writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Forest Conservation Victoria, CC BY-NC-ND Victoria’s native forest logging industry ended on January 1 this year. The news was met with jubilation from conservationists. But did logging really ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Crosby, Professor, Monash University Rose Marinelli/ShutterstockThis article is part two of The Conversation’s “Business Basics” series where we ask leading experts to discuss key concepts in business, economics and finance. How governments should manage their budgets, and how ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole George, Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, The University of Queensland On Sunday afternoon, Australian citizens who have been trapped in New Caledonia were called to a meeting at one of the large hotels in the capital, Noumea. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer and Socio-cultural researcher, UniSA Education Futures, University of South Australia International students have come under fire from both sides of federal politics in the past week. The Albanese government introduced legislation to parliament last Thursday to put ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jake Renzella, Lecturer, Director of Studies (Computer Science), UNSW Sydney An example of shrimp Jesus.Shutterstock AI Generator If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua McLeod, Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin University Being a sport administrator comes with many perks, so it’s no surprise many want to stay in their positions as long as possible. Recently, a trend has emerged whereby leaders in sport are seeking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Joyisjoyful/Shutterstock If you buy your olive oil in bulk, you’ve likely been in for a shock in recent weeks. Major supermarkets have been selling olive oil for up to ...
A conversation with artist and home cook Prairie Hatchard-McGill, aka @cacioeprairie. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. A few weeks ago, I spotted Prairie strolling down Ponsonby Road at sunset, a bunch of celery tucked under her arm. She was too far away for me ...
The Haka Challenge invites anyone to learn and record the Ka Mate haka as performed by the All Blacks, to show their support for "the South Pacific's greatest truth teller". ...
At the Christchurch rally in support of Palestine, he started his hunger strike and vowed to continue until the government stops supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. ...
With Nouméa reeling as mainly young, politically active Kanak people take to the streets and protest, a spirit that has been dormant since the 1980s has awoken. Tāmaki Makaurau-based Kanak Joseph Xulué provides some context.As reports continue to emphasise the fires burning through the streets of Nouméa (the capital ...
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 A national Newspoll, conducted after the May 14 budget from a sample of over 1,200 people, gave Labor a 52–48% lead over ...
A New Zealander studying at the University of New Caledonia says students have been taught to use fire extinguishers as firefighters are unlikely to come help if there is an emergency. It comes as days of unrest followed a controversial proposed constitutional amendment which would allow more French residents of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images There have been so many submissions on the government’s proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill – 27,000 written, with 2,900 wanting to appear before the select committee in person – that a ballot ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 20, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). Today, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will examine: The United States and how the world is engaging with it geopolitically.Specifically, we will ...
After falling victim to a scam over the phone, Russell Brown spent the day with One NZ’s cyber defence and fraud prevention teams to see the work they do to stop millions of scam attempts every year.The only windows in the Cyber Defence Centre at One NZ’s Auckland headquarters ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne Ever since armed conflict has existed, ceasefires have been thought of as a bridge between war and peace. Consequently, their success has been measured by their ability to stop violence between warring parties ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antonia Shand, Research Fellow, Obstetrician, University of Sydney Backgroundy/Shutterstock Oral retinoids are a type of medicine used to treat severe acne. They’re sold under the brand name Roaccutane, among others. While oral retinoids are very effective, they can have harmful effects ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand This month the federal government announced a plan to ban live sheep exports, set to come into effect from May 1 2028. The announcement coincided with the release of a highly ...
Another technical answer: ‘no one really knows.’ It smells like hot fat and fish. You hug the warm bundle of newspaper, translucent with grease, swaddling it like a newborn babe. Behind the counter is a small child doing her homework, and the grumpiest Chinese lady in the world. Above you, ...
New Zealanders are being called on to give Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones “the finger” in a cheeky new campaign that aims to dramatically boost marine protection in Aotearoa. ...
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Kia ora, welcome to Windbag, The Spinoff’s new Wellington issues column, written by me, Joel MacManus. In this first edition, I take a closer look at the first half of Tory Whanau’s term as mayor. If you want to understand Wellington’s local political landscape, you need to start in 2013 ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 20 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/350269895/tauhara-power-station-turbine-gets-test-drive
The knuckle dragging simian brown must have over looked this little bueaty when ranting about more gas needed for power production.
Marc Daalder writing for Newsroom has a brilliant fact filled explanation of the energy supply "problems." Brown should be shamed for using his misinformation about gas etc for political gains. (There is still more than enough gas available but usage has dropped.)
Actually Newsroom does a much better job than most Media outlets.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/10/government-hypes-gas-crisis-ahead-of-restarting-drilling/
Newsroom are well worth supporting with a subscription in my opinion.
Thanks for the link ian.
Informative and balanced, while being critical.
I figure if we are at the tipping point, for it to be cost efficient to go all electric domestically, then surely we are there for commercial purposes.
https://www.rewiring.nz/electric-homes-report
I freed myself from the shackles of the usurious power peddlers…
I have a large solar panel..two smaller panels..rechargable lights..sound system…cook with gas…
= Bye bye power bills…
It's not hard to do..
..imagine…no more power bills… self-sufficiency rules..!
Go you good thing.
When a Key commodity is privatised, shareholders rub their hands in glee when there are shortages.
Bradford's 'reforms' were what pushed me off grid. We are in the process of installing our 3rd and hopefully final system.
Then, commission the biodigester, made out of a 1000litre IBC(s) to get off the bottled gas…
So obvious..and such a no brainer. Sad that the NO brains were elected into, ironically, power .
Fast track coal, scream the shit heads.
As well as new building we also need to learn how to retrofit our existing housing stock and establish best practice for doing this.
Not everyone wants to live in a new house. Plenty still live and are happy in, an older house.
With the long time practice to ensure that older folk can stay in the community rather being warehoused somewhere else this is vital.
Families with children also need access to homes, that need not be new, that have good standards for warmth.
That’s precisely the situation my 88 year old mother is in. She still lives in the (small) family home we all grew up in in the ‘60’s and 70’s, but with ceiling insulation and a heat pump added. She has fantastic neighbours, and has no desire to move to something new.
Oh to be fortunate and wealthy enough to have that choice.
With the cost of new builds, some people have no choice but to stay in their old homes.
I didnt say they did. Also, did you read the link?
And it may be you are the fortunate person who has either their own home and managed to insulate…or fortunate enough to have a Landlord who cares about more than the rental income?
Unlike….
An..example of what the UNfortunate deal with
how far below best practice are we building?
I actually don't think we are. Most houses have good insulation: top, bottom,sides. double glazing, many have air/heat transfer kits, heat pumps. They don't have forced air mechanical ventilation or automatic temperature control. Still a limiting factor is our prevalent building material of wood
The trouble is that the features that would be the icing on the cake for many such as radiators or whole house heating are beyond the reach of the typical home house builder. We rely on heat pumps on walls rather than harnessing the power of heat pump technology to power whole house heating. (ie a bank of pumps connected to radiators) Solar is not yet mainstream in new builds. Individual wind turbines are not seen much here in the perennially windy city (clue not Chicago!)
But our existing housing stock is fine to be renovated. Many sustainable firms do not offer programmes with loans etc to insulate walls or do double glazing (except the poor people's Dble glazing kits which are great). They are not doing any research into solutions for accessing under floor insulation for home built with no human under floor access.
Our small street though we witnessed tunneling on the scale of Douglas Bader at Stalag Luft III B when a neighbour had tunnelers working to make tracks for humans to install underfloor insulation.
Even though we can do all of these things, some better/more effectively than others, the elephant in the room is always the cost of electricity.
Max Bradford needs to make himself ponder on how difficult his reforms have made it for most to afford even a modest heater to take the chill off. Failing Bradford seeing the light then some sort of review should be done with an aim of winding back the rich boys electricity 'reforms'.
Perhaps Labour could add this to the list, and any other 'state' owned assets that may fall into private hands with this Govt.
In a discussion about thermal performance how is timber, around R1.4/25mm, limiting?
Sorry I meant in relation to brick or stone. We have to work with what we have got, stone & brick are so expensive, and so as compared with solid as stone or brick we do have a limitation to start with.
And sure we are good at upping the rating with innovative sheetings/sheathings behind.
The R-value for most cladding is negligible.
Thickness required of various insulation materials to achieve an R-Value of 22.
The most utility method of upping R values is to increase insulation on the house side of the vapour barrier.
Ok, I'll go all hippy on you and mention straw bale, cob, aircrete and rammed earth.
Having said all that we have just redone the lean-to in the west wall hat is part of the master bedroom on our villa. Ready for elderly Mum to occupy.
6×2 framing for the walls and 10×2 rafters for the ceiling for the thicker Batts, expol under floor and heat pump plus radiators.
My 1933 bungalow is constructed of kauri weatherboards on the outside and 9 by 1 inch rimu planking on the inside. Add building paper and a lining of Gib to the internal walls, lots of Batts in the attic, and insulation to the underfloor spaces, – it is very snug. I could retrofit double glazing, but for the moment, good curtains will have to do. There is a heat pump in the kitchen/family room and the site is north/west facing so gets good sun.
Nothing wrong with well built and insulated wooden houses.
wall insulation?
I really don't get why people build these insulated houses and don't put up curtains.
I don't either Weka.
Quite apart from the privacy aspect every little bit of protection against the cold helps. I suspect that they are related to the ones though who never pull their curtains back to get solar warming during the day or ventilate their houses to change air and prevent mould (and know the best times to do this).
We seem to have lost much of the commonsense about 'driving' a home somewhere along the way.
I really don't get why we have so many damn windows.
Glazing on north-facing walls can be reasonably large. Where there is good solar access and exposed concrete floors to provide thermal mass, north-facing windows should be approximately 10-15% of total floor area. With timber floors, north-facing windows should be closer to 10% of floor area. Where solar access is poor, the north-facing windows should be less than 8% of floor area.
Glazing that is east, west or south-facing should be smaller and designed mainly to meet daylight and view requirements. This glazing is usually a net heat loser in winter, depending on climate and heating.
East-facing windows should be reasonably small – less than 5% of the home's total floor area.
South and west-facing windows should ideally be less than 3% of floor area and be designed for daylight, views and cooling cross-flow breezes in summer.
https://www.level.org.nz/passive-design/glazing-and-glazing-units/
warmth, light, view. One of the reasons for having decent east facing windows is if you are in a hot climate you can open those windows in the afternoon when it is hottest, and close the curtains on the west and north sides. If there were limited windows on the east, it would be hotter inside and darker.
Yes Weka this is what my sister in inland Otago does in summer. East windows & doors open, west closed and curtained
I do agree that some house builds go completely over board. Also, why did high ceilings come back into style? It’s like the efficiencies gained by insulation and better passive solar were seen as something that could be spent by doing high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and no curtains. That’s not conserving energy, it’s excessive energy use despite the triple glazing and high R value insulation.
High ceilings have always been a display of wealth.
Interesting question. And why did high ceilings become 'fashionable' in the first place – a woman's (or man's) home is her/his castle?
Just for info – I don't know the answer, but joe90 is probably on to it.
"Adding to the list of the benefits of high ceilings, he gushed …"
Agree with this. My house has stood the test of time and is as warm and comfy as I want it to be. (I generally function on a lower temperature than many homes are heated to and having opening windows/access to fresh air are key to me. I suffered terribly (like no other time) with sinus and other chest/nasal infections while living in apartments with non opening windows in Europe.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350272573/nz-weather-live-power-grid-emergency-due-geomagnetic-storm
Labour and the Greens fault, no doubt.
Thanks for that link to the Stuff article – TS is a great source of news.
Friends in the South are hoping for aurora views this evening – though may be hampered by cloud-cover (not as cold as last night, but less visually exciting)
Sadly, we're not likely to see them in Auckland; both because we're likely too far north – but also the light pollution would drown it out. Perhaps they could save power by dowsing the street lights to let us see the aurora!
"Perhaps they could save power by dowsing the street lights to let us see the aurora!"
They would if they could but wouldn't dare. Some grinch would take them to court. Damn pity.
I've just seen images of the aurora taken in Foxton. Stunning!
I thought it was one of the things that was bragging rights for our southern cousins.
The most moral army in the world…
//
Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center
[…]
They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners’ limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being “a paradise for interns”; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.
According to the accounts, the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.
“They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings,” said one whistleblower, who worked as a medic at the facility’s field hospital.
“(The beatings) were not done to gather intelligence. They were done out of revenge,” said another whistleblower. “It was punishment for what they (the Palestinians) did on October 7 and punishment for behavior in the camp.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd
Test
The Carrington Event in early September 1859 was the largest solar storm on record.
Auroras were visible in low latitudes and miners in the Rockies were said to have arisen and breakfasted in the middle of the night thinking dawn was approaching. Induced current in telegraph lines caused fires, ignited batteries, and allowed telegraphs to be sent and received despite batteries being disconnected.
An event of that magnitude today would likely cause hundreds of billion of dollars worth of damage.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350275087/rare-geomagnetic-storm-sparks-power-grid-alerts-around-world-stunning-auroras
Stunning photos of the Aurora including one from Blockhouse Bay Auckland. Can't see it from my place on the Shore. 🙁
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/stunning-aurora-lights-continue-for-nz-tonight-clear-skies-make-for-better-viewing-conditions/TDUYASBJBJDJ7AONV37Q75HRQE/
Stunning display south of here. Mostly red spreading from the southern horizon to near overhead, looks very like a bushfire sunset, with occasional vertical greens.
AJ.. heh heh. Waiting for the t-shirts. ..LABOUR DID THIS! Totally responsible for LARGEST SOLAR STORM ON RECORD!.
I might have believed you if you had claimed "Labour are planning to turn on the largest Solar Storm on Record"
Labour actually doing it? Who are you trying to kid? They never in actually succeeding with anything significant.
Alwyn’s more garbled than usual. Blame the aurora – it helps put things in perspective.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/11/awe-inspiring-aurorae-amaze-over-south-island-more-expected/
Our electromagnetic infrastructure, and indeed life itself as we know it, is possible only because of spaceship Earth's magnetosphere – and it's FREE! "Raise shields!"
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/sun-space-weather/earth-magnetosphere
Does anyone understand this Sharon Murdoch cartoon and can explain it?
https://twitter.com/domesticanimal/status/1789386842078380240
Women only so best I check.
The one on the right seems to have a penis on the end of the pointing arm, perhaps mocking the idea that a man can protect a woman's space literally/figuratively while having a penis. Or that anyone with a penis can protect a space designed for women or mocking that women, unless they have lady dick, are not women?
But I don't know…..
So many have got the wrong end of the press release because of the MSM mistake in saying NZ first were refusing access to unisex spaces. Par for the course for MSM in NZ. Wouldn't have a clue about women's issues even if they had said issues piled up in boxes in their lounge.
Hipkins repeated the lie about unisex as well. Totally fucking bizarre.
I usually find Murdoch's cartoons self explanatory, but I really have no idea what she is trying to say with that one. Does 'I trust you do have a women's space' refer to women's vaginas?
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2405/S00077/new-zealand-first-members-bill-to-protect-womens-spaces.htm
The proposed legislation (members bill only – not coalition) requires a minimum of two separate toilets – one for each sex. And legal consequence for those who use one not of their birth sex.
yes, I know, but I don't understand what Murdoch is saying with the cartoon.
She is inferring
She could have gone further – does one need a "birth certificate" or drivers licence or passport ID to access a public place toilet (all currently issued based on self gender ID). This is like the "phony war", just the beginning.
I don't see how you got those two points from that cartoon.
the problem isn't having ID or not, it's that sex isn't formally defined in NZ law.
Not sure what you mean by phoney war. There are coherent reasons for having single sex toilets.
The term phony war comes from a period in WW2.
It applies here because a member proposing legislation about having separate toilets based on sex, will come up against earlier parliamentary legislation to enable gender self ID (as per birth certificate, DL and passport).
To have any meaning, it would have to impact on other legislation.
And I do not know what other conclusions could be drawn.
generally yes, that is the norm. However there is legislation that predates self ID eg the right to discriminate on the basis of sex was established in BORA 1990 and HRA 1993
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/whole.html#DLM225519
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304617.html
Afaik, the BDMRR amendment was never intended to change the definition of sex, it was simply to make changing the BC easier.
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-problems-for-women-with-sex-self-id-in-law-and-society/
So what we have is protections that allow for single sex spaces, social conventions around that eg that sex refers to biology, and the DIA stating in 2021 that single sex spaces aren't affected by self ID.
We also have a sociopolitical push from gender identity activists to make changes socially eg remove single sex spaces. That is why this Bill exists. That it's being done by Peters/NZF as a form of populism doesn't alter that changes are being made without consultation and that will attract backlash. I'm not convinced that this Bill is necessary, nor that it is well written, but it's what we have in the absence of meaningful debate.
The Post today told an outright lie about the Bill,
https://twitter.com/aniobrien/status/1789117790034772361
one that the leader of the Opposition repeated. It's bizarre beyond belief, but here we are.
Ani did a mega thread,
https://twitter.com/aniobrien/status/1789133707619836231
The meaning is that self ID no more impacted on spaces than the right given since 1995 to identify differently (via a managed process) to birth sex – or the more general point that there was no legal definition of sex identity.
Thus sex based identity can be extended (via gender identity) to those not born of that sex, and unless this is seen to be in conflict with the rights of those born of that sex it would not be a breach of human rights.
Not that they are prepared to put it that baldly without a court determination.
Is it then possible to identify the legal circumstance of any bathroom "incident" without court precedent (and after Court of Appeal and Supreme Court also concluded)?
In the meantime, police action launched as a result of managing an incident – without any legal resolution, until a case went to court.
At the moment there is presumably no requirement to have separate male and female sex toilets in new public buildings, but this is common and with unisex areas as well – often with wheel chair access, which "others" can use.
A headline saying that the legislation would ban the provision of just unisex toilets in new buildings would be valid.
actually self ID legislation is having a significant impact in that it is affirming social change that is distorted because of No Debate. Consider why there are no posts about this on TS now. Or why there are few left wing voices address the issues for women.
what is sex based identity? Sex isn't an identity, it's a fixed state of being.
If you mean that trans women can self ID into women's toilets even where those toilets are designated female only, then use, this is exactly what the Bill is designed to address.
Consider a pub that has a women's toilet, men's and unisex. The women's toilet is a large room with basins/mirrors and cubicles that don't got floor to ceiling. Under the proposed law, if a man goes into that space, women could go to the owner of the pub and ask them to take action eg evict the man from the pub. If the man refuses to leave, the police can be called. Just like any other barring that happens in a pub.
At the moment, the same pub could take the same actions, because single sex spaces are protected in law. But I think the legislation used in court would be whatever allows pubs to evict patrons. The problem we have at the moment is that self ID is effecting a cultural shift. No Debate means that many places that might want to remove men from women's toilets won't do so for fear of being cancelled. And there are of course many people who are ok with men in women's spaces and they're not going to support women in that situation.
This is a really good example of why the issue isn't about genital inspections or transphobia. Even allowing for Bomber's fairly extreme and nonsensical rant style, it neatly points to the fact that men can just decide to ride roughshod over women's rights and then women have to fight. That's the war.
Agree Weka. I am concerned that there is so little in the way of widespread support for women from the community of men generally. This is not about being kind or using pronouns.
I think the community of men should step up and say, 'it doesn't matter how you are dressed fellow man you are able to come into the the toilets of your biological sex'.
This would work for all the well intentioned trans 'women'. They would recognise that it doesn't matter how you are dressed you are still a male.
It would not work on the AGP males.
Autogynephilia is defined as a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female. Being frank the ability to do something about being sexually aroused is to masturbate, possibly rape. The numbers of pictures of males masturbating in womens toilets is legion.
I have not got figures but I suspect that in this cohort it is highly unlikely that they would have surgery to create a vagina, that would miss the point. They need male apparatus to do the next step. Sorry for being frank but in the dreamy world of rainbows and so called 'trans rights' this is ignored
Part of 'passing' as a female is to do 'female' things like going to the womens toilets. Of course they look nothing like a female. They are instantly recognisable as male. Many women have an inbuilt/innate sense of being able to recognise males no matter how they dress. This most acute at times when we have to let our guard down eg toiletting, breastfeeding children, tending to childrens' needs generally a fractious child in a stroller will take most of a mother's attention.
If there were unisex toilets then anyone could use them. This of course would not be supported by the AGP men.
The aim and object of these men is to gain access to women's toilets. I suspect this is who the legislation is primarily aimed at. It cannot come soon enough.
I hope that along with it, in the future, we will look at the building regs that seem to have screwball requirements for the proportions of male/female toilets. Many women have found themselves using or guarding men's toilets, at say concert venues, so that other women can use them, while an equal number, and counting, are using and lining up to use the women's toilets.