” Nationals’ Boadicea likely to shrug off her week from hell ”
That’s the problem perhaps. Collins will simply shrug it off. Assisted in doing so by essentially congratulatory analysis the like of that from Audrey Young.
The O’Sullivan article contains some fresh details:
On Thursday, she confirmed she had another dinner with Xu during the invitation-only Apec Women Leadership Forum last November. Both Collins and Xu were forum speakers. So too were other prominent New Zealand women including Dame Jenny Shipley – the former National Prime Minister who has long been well connected in China – Auckland City Hospital’s Dr Emma Parry and entrepreneur Dame Wendy Pye.
Collins could have mentioned (but didn’t) that Oravida was also a key sponsor of the leadership forum. The company was one of two Platinum sponsors.
She should now reflect how her lapses have cost Oravida and her friends.
Oravida is a New Zealand based-company that promotes premium products for the Chinese market through direct online sales.
MS, I don’t know what Collins stated at the APEC conference, but I found this TVNZ video report on the connections between National and Oravida particularly enlightening.
Was Slippery the Prime Minister really as angry at the actions of Judith Collins during Her trip as Minister of Justice, along with the drip drip of revelations of what is best described as an incestuous relationship between Oravida and the Minister, as we all have been lead to believe,
My opinion says No, what angered the Prime Minister so was the fact that His Bullshit, usually so glibbly passed by the media into the public domain was within hours proven to be the Lies it actually was,
Slippery doesn’t give a ‘rats’ about Collin’s behavior or lack of it, that’s glaringly apparent with His initial approach to the accusations against Collins, it was only when caught out Lying about the Cabinet Office having obtained a translation of the Oravida literature showing Collins ‘endorsing’ Oravida’s products, a translation that never occurred, that our PM lost His rag….
b12 That is what I think as well. Considering he came out firing to shut things down knowing that he was going to lie to do so he deserves to sink in the bog as far and as quick as he can.
He also changed his rhetoric quite quickly from ‘UNEQUIVOCALLY NO CONFLICT!!!’ from ‘the ministry of guidelines’ or whatever they call themselves, to a hushed ‘no conflict to see here’ you can all go home now. What? No, sorry, I can’t show you the written advice I was given. Why? Because it doesn’t exist, how can I show you something that never existed. Moron.
Yes the final retreat of the compulsive Liar is to be found in the sudden appearance of ’emotion’ in their dialogue where no emotion has thus far been previously perceived,
Collins in what can only be described as ‘bizarre’ acting resorted to ‘Crocodile Tears’ seeking sympathy from the gathered media,
Slippery the Prime Minister not having the option of a public display ‘cry me a river’ in defence of being caught red handed lying to the press and public had only anger as the last refuge,
D grade acting from the pair of them, should the media continue to catch either of them using glib lies in the discourse in coming months i would expect such displays of anger to be directed at the media, a real Muldoonish scrape of the bottom of the barrell…
Gusher Collins is like many bullies who bash others and laugh at their tears but will break down when the truth of their actions is outed.
I don’t know why some MSM think she can come back from this. Her ‘Crusher’ brand is now too damaged and she’s too hard headed to reinvent herself. Justice for the Minister of it.
While news on The Internet Party has been very quiet for some time, this short report on Radio NZ news back on 3 March indicated that it had not died before launch.
The Internet Party of Kim Dotcom is waiting for Electoral Commission approval to gather membership data via online applications, including allowing a member to sign directly on to a computer screen with a finger or using a mouse.
IIRC Dunne and UF had no success in persuading the Electoral Commission to allow them to accept membership applications for the purposes of reregistration of UF.
So, it would seem from the Stuff article in your link that the Internet Party may have had some success in persuading the Commission to allow online membership applications.
KDC has said very little on his Twitter site about the IP of late, but on March 10 tweeted that:
” I welcome the Sept 20 election date. We’re doing our own polls now & the numbers look good. Get ready for our ‘Call for Members’. #InternetParty”
and
“Launching #InternetParty website, mobile apps, call for members and funny short film about my opponents next week. Its on!”
Re my comment re UF’s reregistration, here are a couple of links confirming that the Electoral Commission initially would not accept online/spreadsheet registrations, but then decded to allow this.
‘With a finger or using a mouse’ is delightfully phrased. Yes, Radio NZ, these days people can do things online! Using fingers! It’s like living in the future.
As I said before, Dotcom needs to boot the internet party pretty quickly before people start realising that his C: drive has no operating system loaded.
The IP intrigues me. Depending on its fleshed out form I might vote for it, given that Labour are slow and sluggish and need a good defragging — perhaps a reformat and clean install.
Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, are interest rate rises a cause of inflation in the economy, my opinion says Yes, raising interest rates is a definite inflationary push,
A further opinion would say that to ‘hide’ this inflationary push that has as a direct cause the Reserve Bank’s raising of the Official Cash Rate ‘the rack’ of a continuing series of rises in the OCR is employed by the Reserve Bank where in the ensuing ‘pain’ and ‘noise’ the fact that part of the inflation the bank is ‘stomping’ upon had as its direct cause the initial raising of the OCR by the Reserve Bank,
A Stuff article attempts to translate the numbers surrounding the raising of the official cash rate and subsequent raising of interest rates charged by the trading banks,
”According to the Reserve Bank the Business sector has $79.1 billion of debt with financial institutions while the Agricultural sector has $51.7 billion of debt”,
”Homeowners, Businesses, and Farmers could be paying an extra $6.3 billion a year in interest if mortgage rates rise as the Reserve Bank expects over the next two years”, unquote Stuff.co.nz,
While Stuff.co has to be applauded for at least making the effort to explain the numbers to the public surrounding the interest rates rises there is room for a far more detailed analysis, breakdown, and publication of the numbers and likely effects, so this article while highlighting the costs to the economy in dollar terms also highlights this countries general lack of in depth economic journalism,
The inflation caused by the Reserve Bank’s raising of the OCR???, its hidden in the $6.3 billion cost to the economy,to you,me, them, of raising those interest rates,
i have no means of ‘shaking the actual numbers out of that $6.3 billion dollar cost to the economy, But, lets apportion 60% of that ‘cost’ to Joe Public the average homeowner with a 300 thousand dollar mortgage, thus we are left with the Business sector and Farming sector, both carrying substantial amounts of debt carrying the can of 40% of that $6.3 billion dollar cost of two years of interest rates rising,
When faced with a rising input cost in any area what do Business as a rule use as the first means of maintaining their profit margins, You guessed it, Put Up The Price Of Their Goods Or Services,
So, the initial moves by the Reserve Bank supposedly with the impetus of clamping down on inflation will have in the first instance the creation of inflation as a direct result, supremely unworried by this inflation spike the Reserve Bank will then justify All it’s later OCR rises on the basis of that inflation spike that it initiated with its initial raising of the OCR,
Putting out the fires with gasoline???, you bet, its the monetary system of a tribe of primitive chimp like people who upon seeing a non-venomous snake enter their territory come down from the trees using heavy blunt clubs to beat the harmless snake to a pulp, only to realize belatedly that such a carcass has called predators of a far more dangerous nature onto their turf…
Anyone or party that rests it’s reputation of inflation rates is only IMO selling its succes based on the lack of our illeracy of economics. Success of inflation is how our non tradables trend. Nz has imported low inflation for all this century whilst paying for this with the exporting of employment and our high dollar.
The OCR rise this week was widely tipped and swap rates had already had most of the 25 pt rise already priced onto it, and we are incessantly being told that the 2 yr swap is the driving force for mortgage rates.
A note that banks make their greatest margins from floating mortgages , not fixed term.
The plethora of links you have supplied make the non-sensical statement originally made just as abstruse as it was,
What exactly are you trying to impart as information here, that the trading banks have already raised their interest rates in anticipation of the movement of the Official Cash Rate,???…
That’s it and that many heres fascination with using inflation as a guide to the failure or success of govts policies is naive at best as this to me just displays how out of touch such comments are with how real households are coping or not.
i would suggest you are being more than a little less than honest then as 3 of the Trading banks have signaled that they will be lifting their interest rates in line with the OCR rise,
ANZ, ASB, and KiwiBank are all raising their rates,
The heavy blunt instrument of the OCR has long been criticized for it’s detrimental effects to the economy and if the current Government continues to rely on taking the wrecking ball to an economy which has not fully recovered from the effects of the GFC by continuing to support use of the OCR when such use is arguably of negative benefit to the economy then that Government deserves all the criticism it gets…
“Labour would also have to distance themselves from the Greens, or give an indication of what Green policy positions they would adopt, and what they would rule out. I like how Cunliffe is talking centrist economic policy, but I have no time for the Greens and would not vote to enable them.”
Without knowing either parties’ policies extensively (have only been through some of each) -I view that Greens and Labour have a lot of compatibility. I find it a bit difficult to know what is so wrong with the Greens that you would take such a stance.
The Greens emphasis on a healthy environment stands to benefit everyone health and ultimately wealth wise. (Taking care today saves a lot of costs in the future).
The Greens have proven themselves to be very disciplined and focused and have good principles when it comes to their party’s organisation, their politicians’ conduct and on aligning their policies and reactions to contemporary issues on research.
Can you please tell me what it is that you find so off putting about the Greens that you would take such a stance?
Would they support bright Kiwi innovation that lead to more productive fracking? How about better oil drilling technology? Somehow, I doubt it. Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Fine if we have some advantage in such areas, but if we did, we’d probably already be doing it.
The article you link contains a fair concern – governments investing into trends that then turn out to not be trends. Callaghan, however appears to justify the industries that are big now in NZ by the same logical error that he fears the Greens are falling for. i.e. milk products are big now and therefore we should continue expanding – this despite there are serious problems being caused to our water due to this industry. This despite there are increasing numbers of people moving away from using milk products (another trend that may or may not continue).
The question needs to be asked – considering sourcing drinking water is an increasing and serious problem occurring in many places throughout the world – does the money coming in from selling more and more raw milk products really balance with the risk this is posing to our water system? You can’t buy water once it is ruined throughout the world. Is this the smartest solution for NZ? Could we ‘add value’ to products prior to selling them and therefore require less expansion of cow farming – and all the environment costs this is creating?
Again, fracking is a process that threatens our water systems. What is the priority here? How useful is profit when we haven’t any water to drink? Do you think that wouldn’t happen? There are plenty of documentaries around about this world wide water issue. Specifically fracking – have you seen ‘Gaslands’?
Finally, how likely is it that ‘clean tech’ is a flash in the pan trend – given our universal and absolute human need for a healthy environment and our historic and ongoing use of energy?
He specifically states we cannot scale dairy indefinitely.
Is economic diversification a good idea? Of course. But, like I said, the Greens are bound by their narrow, ideological view that – I feel – is based on a falsehood. They will likely support innovation that is in line with the unproven AGW worst-case scenarios.
It does not follow we’ll have no water to drink if we undertake fracking. Gasland is an activist propaganda movie – possibly worse than “An Inconvenient Truth” – and I’m amazed anyone would take it seriously given court rulings on its depictions.
Clean tech may well be a flash in the pan. It may not. Either way, it doesn’t mean we have a comparative advantage in it. If we did, we’d already be doing it, and I’d be investing in it.
“Denier” is a religious term, not a scientific one. Also a vile attempt to associate someone with holocaust denial.
There is no consensus. Consensus is not science. IPCC are not credible as their guesswork so far has been wrong. They’re also a political organisation, and their politics appears self-serving and alarmist.
The fact is no one knows what is happening with climate long term in terms of warming or cooling. Anyone who claims they do is deluded. Fact.
High degree of complexity, very low degree of certainty.
lol yep the denier denies being a denier – woody is getting quite woolly and all the toys will come out the cot soon – give up justlikewood you are well outgunned and outclassed – too funny and good while waiting for the storm to arrive.
You simply believed what someone told you, like a child believing in Santa Claus. Your position is not evidence based.
Mine is.
The fact is that no one has a clue what is happening with climate. There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years.
None.
If you believe otherwise, you hold an irrational belief.
How do you explain the trend in the atmospheric carbon isotope ratio, little wingnut?
How do you explain the fact that winters have warmed more than summers, nights more than days, the Arctic more than the Antarctic? All predictions made in 1896, incidentally.
“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years”
Fact.
All the believers can produce is alarmism, speculation and some really bad guesswork.
Only an idiot looks for scientific “proof”. Science deals in probabilities, but we know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas – this can be shown experimentally and is theoretically explained by Quantum Mechanics. We know that the CO2 content of the atmosphere is rising, by observation, and -also by observation – we know that the extra CO2 is anthropogenic in origin.
We know that Svante Arrhenius’ predictions were all correct – by observation. We know that destructive weather events have increased in magnitude and frequency – cf: Munich re cited below.
The fact that you cite Anthony Watts and congressional testimony, rather than peer-reviewed research, demonstrates that as in statistics, you are out of your depth.
Earth to flat-Earther: the IPCC doesn’t do any “guesswork” – it collates and summarises existing research. If you’re going to criticise something you need to learn what it is first.
…the number of weather-related loss events in North America nearly quintupled in the past three decades, compared with an increase factor of four in Asia, 2.5 in Africa, two in Europe and 1.5 in South America.
Lost your mojo jltw.
How come the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of exxon mobil is fighting tooth and nail to prevent any fracking witin 200 miles of his private ranch in Texas.
“Mr. Tillerson does not object to the tower for its potential use for water and gas operations for fracking,” said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil.
Tillerson’s property is already adjacent to several oil and gas wells and fracking operations, Jeffers added.”
[lprent: Bit pathetic reaching back for a 10 year old link, that has since been proven to be a moronic lie (but still loved by morons like yourself). ]
“Muller: A few years later, McIntyre came out and, indeed, showed that the hockey-stick chart was in fact incorrect. It had been affected by a very serious bug in the way scientists calculated their principal components.”
“Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!”
As for Mann, his court case has reportedly collapsed:
“The fact Mann refused to disclose his ‘hockey stick’ graph metadata in the British Columbia Supreme Court, as he is required to do under Canadian civil rules of procedure, constituted a fatal omission to comply, rendering his lawsuit unwinnable. …….”
Oh, and find a better source of information on Mann vs. National Review et al, you’re being duped, again. The suit has not “collapsed” and will move to discovery unless further appeals are forthcoming. The previous appeal was denied in January of this year.
when fracking companies release detailed information about the chemicals they pump into the ground then you can discuss the pros and cons, till then it is just a con
funny
I always thought the phrase “release detailed information” when discussing something being pumped would involve quantities of the materials being pumped. Guess we have different ideas on what “detailed” means
Interestingly, a Wyoming Supreme Court has recently rejected the fracking industry’s argument to keep what chemicals they use a secret.
JustLikeTigerWoods
Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Firstly, the comparative advantage to the government in supporting clean technology instead of outdated polluting industries is easily quantifiable. In financial terms, National’s energy policy states that there is the potential for future royalties from all oil and gas production of $12 billion at the most. In comparison, a PWC reported in 2013 stated that clean technology could be worth $22 billion, plus there is no risk of widespread environmental damage.
It should also be stated that the National Party’s 2011 estimates are likely wrong, being that recent exploration has failed to find any new oil. That means the governments investment and subsidies, amounting to $326.6 million between 2008 and 2012, has been lost. It was in fact a complete waste of taxpayers money that would be better spent on clean technology endeavors that guarantee a return.
You appear to be another right wing idiot JustLikeTigerWoods who just spouts nonsense in the hope that nobody will fact check your gibberish.
Add the half a billion it cost to sell the assets, the various corporate handouts, the loss of dividends from everywhere, mix in plummeting tax takes and that surplus thingy is really starting to get some wonky legs eh! Before long I expect we will hear how the expected surplus was always in the 2015/2016 year and the reporters are just falling for lefty disinfo campaigns and John Key never mentioned a surplus and if Bill did you better ask him as the budget is really an operational matter.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all? If not, why not? You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people. The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
It is clear from your response JustLikeTigerWoods that you haven’t bothered to read my comment properly. Nor does it seem that you have read the article you have linked to either.
Here is what the Forbes article states:
There were close to 1,000 companies just in China involved with the solar industry. With crystalline-based module prices dropping by about 35% in 2012 a thinning of the herd had to occur even with increasing demand (partially fueled by the lower prices).
According to the link in the forbes article, last year there were 21 solar company bankruptcies worldwide. However many of those companies listed are mergers or branches of companies not wanting to compete anymore in a very competitive market. They are not actually bankruptcies. In other words the figures the article is based on are incorrect.
Just to make things a bit clearer for you…nobody is arguing that we should be competing to produce solar panels JustLikeTigerWoods. We should however be taking advantage of a competitive solar panel market to future proof our energy requirements.
It’s not either/or.
Unfortunately the current government has refused to help clean tech companies to anywhere near the extent they help the oil and gas industry with our tax dollars.
We’ll take the $12b AS WELL, thanks.
Wrong! The $12 billion was a best case scenario including large finds of new oil. That exploration has failed and it is unlikely that the oil and gas companies will consider further exploration without considerable government funding, investment that has no guarantee of any return at all. That type of investment is therefore not worthwhile, considering there is a viable alternative to simply throwing taxpayers money away on an environmentally damaging sunset industry.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all?
What makes you think the PWC report is guesswork? Is it simply that their findings don’t fit into your deluded philosophy, so you have dismissed the report out of hand…probably without even reading it?
You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people.
Considering there was approximately $254 billion invested globally last year into clean technologies, it appears that many people thankfully don’t share your defunct viewpoint.
The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
Do you have any actual figures to show that returns are abysmal? Please don’t link again to your industry driven propaganda.
It is true that investment has been dropping off recently, mainly because of the cost of photovoltaic systems reducing considerably because of competition, and the impact of archaic government policy towards renewable power.
In effect many governments around the world, including New Zealand’s, have failed to hold to any proper CO2 emission reductions because they are corrupted by the oil and gas industry who spend billions on lobbying to try and hold onto their out-dated business models.
Do they perhaps employ you to promote their disinformation JustLikeTigerWoods?
If you’re going to divert money away from areas that do make profits into areas that are pretty much guaranteed to make a loss, as this is the experience globally, then you’re going to harm a lot of people.
Green tech may sound warm, fuzzy and the “right” thing to do, but I would ask you to take a more thorough look at the performance of this sector globally. Keep in mind that areas of performance in this sector are almost entirely reliant on subsidy.
The ironic thing is that white men will now get rich off legal marijuana while whole generations of black men have been criminalised. A cynic might think that the war on drugs had served its purpose of marginalising the most potentially revolutionary force in American society and now it was time to go back to the real business of making a buck.
Thought this was a fucking disgusting depiction of Grant by Aussie Emerson. He has been fantastic in this and this depiction is- he’s gay so he can’t be a serious minister (not like Cunliffe or Key in a suit) but he has to be some kind of pervert…
Angry. Maybe we can role out Shano to get stuck into the almost Aussie monopoly on cartoons in our paper of record?
I don’t think we should regulate cartoonists…craziness. but I’ve never been a big fan of Emmerson’s. He’s an Aussie. You’d think for our one paper we’d manage to find a kiwi. And often he does a cartoon that really offers no insight or opinion it just is some kind of reflection of what’s been going on. There’s no real connection to waterboarding, but it was vaguely topical last year, so it passes for insight into what’s going on. But doesn’t really say anything at all.
And it seems BS that Robertson’s very credible showing in the house over this is turned into this cartoon…it would be interesting to go through (and other than the battle of the babes for Auck Central) it would be interesting to see how sexualised other depictions are. Do we regularly see cartoons of Bennett and Parata as whores or as dominatrixes? No? Because they can be shown a bit of respect, but Grant can’t?
Actually all three cartoons listed by Edwards make intelligent visual points and the Herald cartoon is just a sneaky attack on Grant Robertson.
The others show up Collins hypocrisy, or the persona of her apology. Anyway I guess one bad cartoon doesn’t make the guy a bad cartoonist- he’s had people liking him here before. But as you can guess I really disliked the cartoon. An actually he’s had 2 good cartoons on Oravida this week. Sorry Rod! But this was a shocker
This is beside the point, but it also doesn’t make any sense! If you’re going to make jokes about horrific torture methods shouldn’t you know what you’re talking about?
Over on WhaleOil, that nasty scote is trying to equate Judith Collins’ corruption with a publicly-announced opening of the law office of David Cunliffe’s wife, by PM Helen Clark a few years back. A secret dinner, a forgetting to tell the current PM what went on, an overseas taxpayer funded trip, and an endorsement of the company product your husband is connected with – is hugely different from an office opening which would have been announced publicly beforehand., and is a basic function of the prime ministerial office.
Meanwhile over here at the Standard the usual array of scrotal crabs that regularly appear have all gone into hiding having no defense of their Prime Minister being caught lying along with Justice Minister Collins being seen to have caught the same condition…
my reply to puckish rogue when it was posted here yesterday
an article, six years old no less,
Now the PM opening a NZ business in NZ, even if that business is owned by the wife of a Minister, is not really the same thing as a Minister having a private dinner with the owner of a company her husband is a director of, in the presence of a senior Chinese Government official who has influence over the importation of products supplied by the Minister’s husband’s employer.
Not the same thing at all.
The fact that Helen Clark’s visit was published openly in a legal magazine shows it was a public event and is more than likely clearly on record, as it was an opening of a commercial premises.
Compare this to Collins who despite having vast experience with Cabinet realities, not only decided against all procedural briefs, to consider the dinner not worthy of being recorded in her diaries, the Minister was not forthcoming until pressured by the PM to do so and is now openly stating that she is only allowed to say the words she has been told to say otherwise there may be an issue with China.
oh yeah Puck, I can see how you think they are comparable 🙄 🙄 🙄
wail boil is an expert at disinformation and plainoutright lying which is the national party preferred way of doing things.
they cant lie straight in bed.
But in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry — using his strongest language to date on the lingering crisis — called for an end to what he called a “terror campaign” by Maduro’s government.
Kerry, speaking before US lawmakers, called on the international community to “focus on Venezuela appropriately.”….
“We are engaged now with trying to find a way to get the Maduro government to engage with their citizens, to treat them respectfully, to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to hopefully respect human rights and the appropriate way of treating his people,” he said.
Comment on these insane remarks by Kerry seems unnecessary. I can only attribute them to desperaton on the part of Kerry given the USA’s almost total isolation in the hemiphere as exposed by the rcent OAS resultion on Venezuela…. http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-084/14
having a peep at the succession-jostling within national is interesting..
..you have slater in the collins camp..
..you have joyce-ites with enough reason to give collins that final trip of the ankle..
(..or they leave her there..as a damaged non-opponent..?..easily beatable ‘cos of that hint of corruption..)
..then of course..(as was pointed out to me the other day..)..in the background you have english..
..who may well be looking at these two most unlikable candidates..
..and thinking that he could well be in with a chance..(as a compromise-candidate..for a stalemated party..)
..some are touting bridges and adams..
(but they must be just having a bit of a laff…adams has got upcoming dodgy-dealings/conflict-of-interest allegations of her own..on a slow simmer..and ready to be brought to the boil..)
..and if you were going to have an anti-superhero trio..called the unlikeables..
….you’d have collins/joyce..and bridges as their eager apprentice..
..so english may well be dreaming of a 2nd chance..
..(and if you thought labour leadership battles were ugly..?
..whoar..!..
..those tories get well down and dirty..
..i wd imagine the cabinet-meetings must have some interesting sub-texts/undercurrents going on..
Mr Swain acknow-ledged there was a lot of nostalgia around the network, but said a call had to be made. “They are less reliable overall, and they’re more costly to run.”
An interesting thing to say considering that:
NZ Bus owns the trolley buses, and chief executive Zane Fulljames said it was pointless deciding to get rid of them without deciding what would replace them. “A decision hasn’t been made . . . There needs to be a solid plan in place from trolleys to the next piece of technology.”
They haven’t actually made any comparisons to anything else.
If you like dumping toxic waste so much, then perhaps we should all have it trucked round to your place. Perhaps even pay you for the privilige.
I get sick off all these people who bash the green simply because they want to keep our rivers free of toxic waste. They really need to put their hands up and invite people to dump toxic waste in their own back yard.
Pollution is a crime against humanity and should be treated as such.
Looking at RadioNZ News about David Cunliffe’s speech to NZ Institute.
The heading – ‘Vision for economy short on detail’.
It appears to be inspired by a quote from Mr Key lifted from the last few lines of a 2.46 minute news item. Prime Minister John Key said on Friday that Labour is running out of time to come up with new policies ahead of this year’s election on 20 September.
“The truth is actually, Mr Cunliffe hasn’t said anything new today. The best announcement he’s come out with is he’s gonna make further announcements.
“Well, we are starting to run out of time before we get to an election – so if he had a new idea, it would be interesting to hear it.”
How is it that the heading is negative when there was so much detail in the speech that would have lent itself to a positiveone. Such as, with some hyperbole :
[Labour plans regional industry development with a hint of Think Big.]
from ‘ development of industry in the regions and a focus on more transformative projects’.
But the reporter found it all unsatisfactory because there was no firm detail on other projects!
As if. First Labour would not be releasing these too soon, and secondly it is possible that the reporter wouldn’t understand them anyway, and thirdly that little twist that gets put on (like mine of Think Big) can skew them in people’s minds from the start.
Fourthly, if past elections are anything to go by, Labour will produce detailed and costed policy before the election, National will produce a series of vague press releases, and reporters will apply the double standard.
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Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
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Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
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The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
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With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
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A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
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A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
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While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
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By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11219867
” Nationals’ Boadicea likely to shrug off her week from hell ”
That’s the problem perhaps. Collins will simply shrug it off. Assisted in doing so by essentially congratulatory analysis the like of that from Audrey Young.
Such ‘higher standards’ already.
John Armstrong disagrees.
Fran O’Sullivan says Collins is lucky Key needs to save face.
And David Fisher puts John Key more firmly in the Oravida picture.
So all is not looking that rosy for Collins.
The O’Sullivan article contains some fresh details:
The website for the event is at http://www.apecwomenleadershipforum.com
I would love to see a video of Collins’ comments and what she said about Oravida who were one of the sponsors for the conference.
MS, I don’t know what Collins stated at the APEC conference, but I found this TVNZ video report on the connections between National and Oravida particularly enlightening.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/links-between-oravida-and-video-5863797
And also this TVNZ report which identifies the cost of Collins trip to China at $36,000.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/key-puts-collins-warning-opposition-calls-sacking-5863577
Robertson mention that women’s leadership forum in Question Time last week.
Julia Xu, director of Oravida and one of the people Collins had dinner with in Beijing, was also a speaker at the leadership forum.
I can’t find any other link between them at the forum.
Steven Joyce was also in China, but I can’t find any link between him and Oravida.
Was Slippery the Prime Minister really as angry at the actions of Judith Collins during Her trip as Minister of Justice, along with the drip drip of revelations of what is best described as an incestuous relationship between Oravida and the Minister, as we all have been lead to believe,
My opinion says No, what angered the Prime Minister so was the fact that His Bullshit, usually so glibbly passed by the media into the public domain was within hours proven to be the Lies it actually was,
Slippery doesn’t give a ‘rats’ about Collin’s behavior or lack of it, that’s glaringly apparent with His initial approach to the accusations against Collins, it was only when caught out Lying about the Cabinet Office having obtained a translation of the Oravida literature showing Collins ‘endorsing’ Oravida’s products, a translation that never occurred, that our PM lost His rag….
b12 That is what I think as well. Considering he came out firing to shut things down knowing that he was going to lie to do so he deserves to sink in the bog as far and as quick as he can.
He also changed his rhetoric quite quickly from ‘UNEQUIVOCALLY NO CONFLICT!!!’ from ‘the ministry of guidelines’ or whatever they call themselves, to a hushed ‘no conflict to see here’ you can all go home now. What? No, sorry, I can’t show you the written advice I was given. Why? Because it doesn’t exist, how can I show you something that never existed. Moron.
Yes the final retreat of the compulsive Liar is to be found in the sudden appearance of ’emotion’ in their dialogue where no emotion has thus far been previously perceived,
Collins in what can only be described as ‘bizarre’ acting resorted to ‘Crocodile Tears’ seeking sympathy from the gathered media,
Slippery the Prime Minister not having the option of a public display ‘cry me a river’ in defence of being caught red handed lying to the press and public had only anger as the last refuge,
D grade acting from the pair of them, should the media continue to catch either of them using glib lies in the discourse in coming months i would expect such displays of anger to be directed at the media, a real Muldoonish scrape of the bottom of the barrell…
Gusher Collins is like many bullies who bash others and laugh at their tears but will break down when the truth of their actions is outed.
I don’t know why some MSM think she can come back from this. Her ‘Crusher’ brand is now too damaged and she’s too hard headed to reinvent herself. Justice for the Minister of it.
lolz @ “Gusher”.
I wonder how Q&A will report on this? Subject it to the same innuendo and digging that Cunliffe got?
I live in hope. Either way we will see how TVNZ is going to behave during this build-up to the election.
I thought the Internet Party had quietly died – it seems not.
that is precisely why anyone making predictions about election outcomes..
..is really just pulling it out of a lower-orifice..
..there are far too many unverifiable/unquantifiable variables..
..for it not to be so..
..and the internet party is one of them..
..and i repeat my claim from before..
..that this elections’ outcomes..more so than any in recent memory..
..will be largely driven by the quality/novelty of the policies on offer..
..this is crucial for labour esp…
..and as for the minnow..this policy-imperative perhaps none more so than for dotcoms’ vehicle..
..their policies will determine how they are viewed..
..and if just a libertarian-wank-fest…(put to a dance-beat..)
..they/the internet party will be largely ignored by most..
..and just seen as a competitor to act/chem-trails-col..
..way out there on the fringe..
..if they come up with big-ideas that grab the publics’ imagination/have broad appeal..
..they could do well..
..and as i say..throw any of the pundits’ current-predictions..
..out the window..
(and confirming the above..)
peters has just jumped-started his vote/support..
..vowing to buy back all the power-companies..
..and to return them under a single authority..
..plus a raft of other populist policies..
..and for those looking at craig/act..with a degree of alarm..
..peters will be looking like a safe pair of hands..
..and of all the leaders’ interviews to date..on the nation..
..peters has pulled one out of his hat..
The Nation was predicting this morning that the chemtrail Conservatives will get 3 MP’s at the next election. I wonder what they’ve been smoking?
While news on The Internet Party has been very quiet for some time, this short report on Radio NZ news back on 3 March indicated that it had not died before launch.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/237705/internet-party-seeks-commission-approval
As it is very short, the report in full
The Internet Party of Kim Dotcom is waiting for Electoral Commission approval to gather membership data via online applications, including allowing a member to sign directly on to a computer screen with a finger or using a mouse.
IIRC Dunne and UF had no success in persuading the Electoral Commission to allow them to accept membership applications for the purposes of reregistration of UF.
So, it would seem from the Stuff article in your link that the Internet Party may have had some success in persuading the Commission to allow online membership applications.
KDC has said very little on his Twitter site about the IP of late, but on March 10 tweeted that:
” I welcome the Sept 20 election date. We’re doing our own polls now & the numbers look good. Get ready for our ‘Call for Members’. #InternetParty”
and
“Launching #InternetParty website, mobile apps, call for members and funny short film about my opponents next week. Its on!”
Re my comment re UF’s reregistration, here are a couple of links confirming that the Electoral Commission initially would not accept online/spreadsheet registrations, but then decded to allow this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=10891656
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/electoral-commission-decision-united-future-request
The Elctoral Commission approved the Internet Party’s logo on 18 February.
http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/registration-internet-party-logo
‘With a finger or using a mouse’ is delightfully phrased. Yes, Radio NZ, these days people can do things online! Using fingers! It’s like living in the future.
As I said before, Dotcom needs to boot the internet party pretty quickly before people start realising that his C: drive has no operating system loaded.
The IP intrigues me. Depending on its fleshed out form I might vote for it, given that Labour are slow and sluggish and need a good defragging — perhaps a reformat and clean install.
Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, are interest rate rises a cause of inflation in the economy, my opinion says Yes, raising interest rates is a definite inflationary push,
A further opinion would say that to ‘hide’ this inflationary push that has as a direct cause the Reserve Bank’s raising of the Official Cash Rate ‘the rack’ of a continuing series of rises in the OCR is employed by the Reserve Bank where in the ensuing ‘pain’ and ‘noise’ the fact that part of the inflation the bank is ‘stomping’ upon had as its direct cause the initial raising of the OCR by the Reserve Bank,
A Stuff article attempts to translate the numbers surrounding the raising of the official cash rate and subsequent raising of interest rates charged by the trading banks,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money…/interest-cost-pain-to-slow-spending
”According to the Reserve Bank the Business sector has $79.1 billion of debt with financial institutions while the Agricultural sector has $51.7 billion of debt”,
”Homeowners, Businesses, and Farmers could be paying an extra $6.3 billion a year in interest if mortgage rates rise as the Reserve Bank expects over the next two years”, unquote Stuff.co.nz,
While Stuff.co has to be applauded for at least making the effort to explain the numbers to the public surrounding the interest rates rises there is room for a far more detailed analysis, breakdown, and publication of the numbers and likely effects, so this article while highlighting the costs to the economy in dollar terms also highlights this countries general lack of in depth economic journalism,
The inflation caused by the Reserve Bank’s raising of the OCR???, its hidden in the $6.3 billion cost to the economy,to you,me, them, of raising those interest rates,
i have no means of ‘shaking the actual numbers out of that $6.3 billion dollar cost to the economy, But, lets apportion 60% of that ‘cost’ to Joe Public the average homeowner with a 300 thousand dollar mortgage, thus we are left with the Business sector and Farming sector, both carrying substantial amounts of debt carrying the can of 40% of that $6.3 billion dollar cost of two years of interest rates rising,
When faced with a rising input cost in any area what do Business as a rule use as the first means of maintaining their profit margins, You guessed it, Put Up The Price Of Their Goods Or Services,
So, the initial moves by the Reserve Bank supposedly with the impetus of clamping down on inflation will have in the first instance the creation of inflation as a direct result, supremely unworried by this inflation spike the Reserve Bank will then justify All it’s later OCR rises on the basis of that inflation spike that it initiated with its initial raising of the OCR,
Putting out the fires with gasoline???, you bet, its the monetary system of a tribe of primitive chimp like people who upon seeing a non-venomous snake enter their territory come down from the trees using heavy blunt clubs to beat the harmless snake to a pulp, only to realize belatedly that such a carcass has called predators of a far more dangerous nature onto their turf…
Anyone or party that rests it’s reputation of inflation rates is only IMO selling its succes based on the lack of our illeracy of economics. Success of inflation is how our non tradables trend. Nz has imported low inflation for all this century whilst paying for this with the exporting of employment and our high dollar.
The OCR rise this week was widely tipped and swap rates had already had most of the 25 pt rise already priced onto it, and we are incessantly being told that the 2 yr swap is the driving force for mortgage rates.
A note that banks make their greatest margins from floating mortgages , not fixed term.
A few links to my earlier post ( as I hate to make unsupported comments )
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/238685/interest-rate-rises-where-to-from-here
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/68951/anz-increase-floating-mortgage-rates-25-basis-points-and-flag-ship-savings-account-ra
“The reality is in the last three to five months funding costs have gone up in anticipation of what the Reserve Bank did today. They’ve increased quite differently depending on the term.”
So if the OCR rate increases at a slower pacer or less aggressively will rates charged also be adjusted and under what time frame ??
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/68613/bank-bill-rates-reach-their-highest-28-months-markets-assume-ocr-about-be-hiked
However, bank margins on floating mortgages are considerably higher than on fixed rate terms.
And how the RBNZ models what impacts mortgages.
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research_and_publications/analytical_notes/2012/an2012_10.pdf
And support re non-tradables, because through necessity we cannot escape rises in power, rates etc yet we can and in many cases do defer purchasing cheap TV’s that reduce our reported inflation numbers !!
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/55400/opinion-bernard-hickey-argues-rbnz-should-target-non-tradable-inflation-deal-structura
The plethora of links you have supplied make the non-sensical statement originally made just as abstruse as it was,
What exactly are you trying to impart as information here, that the trading banks have already raised their interest rates in anticipation of the movement of the Official Cash Rate,???…
That’s it and that many heres fascination with using inflation as a guide to the failure or success of govts policies is naive at best as this to me just displays how out of touch such comments are with how real households are coping or not.
i would suggest you are being more than a little less than honest then as 3 of the Trading banks have signaled that they will be lifting their interest rates in line with the OCR rise,
ANZ, ASB, and KiwiBank are all raising their rates,
The heavy blunt instrument of the OCR has long been criticized for it’s detrimental effects to the economy and if the current Government continues to rely on taking the wrecking ball to an economy which has not fully recovered from the effects of the GFC by continuing to support use of the OCR when such use is arguably of negative benefit to the economy then that Government deserves all the criticism it gets…
From Cunliffe’s Speech thread
Reply to Just Like Tiger Woods
“Labour would also have to distance themselves from the Greens, or give an indication of what Green policy positions they would adopt, and what they would rule out. I like how Cunliffe is talking centrist economic policy, but I have no time for the Greens and would not vote to enable them.”
Without knowing either parties’ policies extensively (have only been through some of each) -I view that Greens and Labour have a lot of compatibility. I find it a bit difficult to know what is so wrong with the Greens that you would take such a stance.
The Greens emphasis on a healthy environment stands to benefit everyone health and ultimately wealth wise. (Taking care today saves a lot of costs in the future).
The Greens have proven themselves to be very disciplined and focused and have good principles when it comes to their party’s organisation, their politicians’ conduct and on aligning their policies and reactions to contemporary issues on research.
Can you please tell me what it is that you find so off putting about the Greens that you would take such a stance?
There are many reasons, but here’s just one.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10755089
Would they support bright Kiwi innovation that lead to more productive fracking? How about better oil drilling technology? Somehow, I doubt it. Yet they would, in all likelihood, back some clean-tech farce, even if we have no comparative advantage in such areas. I doubt they even know what that term means.
Fine if we have some advantage in such areas, but if we did, we’d probably already be doing it.
Thanks for the response Just Like Tiger Woods
The article you link contains a fair concern – governments investing into trends that then turn out to not be trends. Callaghan, however appears to justify the industries that are big now in NZ by the same logical error that he fears the Greens are falling for. i.e. milk products are big now and therefore we should continue expanding – this despite there are serious problems being caused to our water due to this industry. This despite there are increasing numbers of people moving away from using milk products (another trend that may or may not continue).
The question needs to be asked – considering sourcing drinking water is an increasing and serious problem occurring in many places throughout the world – does the money coming in from selling more and more raw milk products really balance with the risk this is posing to our water system? You can’t buy water once it is ruined throughout the world. Is this the smartest solution for NZ? Could we ‘add value’ to products prior to selling them and therefore require less expansion of cow farming – and all the environment costs this is creating?
Again, fracking is a process that threatens our water systems. What is the priority here? How useful is profit when we haven’t any water to drink? Do you think that wouldn’t happen? There are plenty of documentaries around about this world wide water issue. Specifically fracking – have you seen ‘Gaslands’?
To Gaslands website: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
Finally, how likely is it that ‘clean tech’ is a flash in the pan trend – given our universal and absolute human need for a healthy environment and our historic and ongoing use of energy?
He specifically states we cannot scale dairy indefinitely.
Is economic diversification a good idea? Of course. But, like I said, the Greens are bound by their narrow, ideological view that – I feel – is based on a falsehood. They will likely support innovation that is in line with the unproven AGW worst-case scenarios.
It does not follow we’ll have no water to drink if we undertake fracking. Gasland is an activist propaganda movie – possibly worse than “An Inconvenient Truth” – and I’m amazed anyone would take it seriously given court rulings on its depictions.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2013/07/10/fiction-masquerading-as-news-in-the-oil-and-gas-shale-world/
Clean tech may well be a flash in the pan. It may not. Either way, it doesn’t mean we have a comparative advantage in it. If we did, we’d already be doing it, and I’d be investing in it.
No point trying to argue with a climate change denier who rejects scientific consensus.
Even conservative IPCC is now saying 4 deg C warming is possible by the end of the century.
You won’t be around then though so what do you care eh?
“Denier” is a religious term, not a scientific one. Also a vile attempt to associate someone with holocaust denial.
There is no consensus. Consensus is not science. IPCC are not credible as their guesswork so far has been wrong. They’re also a political organisation, and their politics appears self-serving and alarmist.
The fact is no one knows what is happening with climate long term in terms of warming or cooling. Anyone who claims they do is deluded. Fact.
High degree of complexity, very low degree of certainty.
Lol!
Thanks for that……you big ‘ol denier.
Evidence based decision making.
You believe whatever alarmist monster-under-the-bed story you like. Like a child.
Too funny. Are you trying to tick all the wingnut boxes, you innumerate flat-Earther?
I doubt you have any more idea of Climatology than you do of Economics.
lol yep the denier denies being a denier – woody is getting quite woolly and all the toys will come out the cot soon – give up justlikewood you are well outgunned and outclassed – too funny and good while waiting for the storm to arrive.
You simply believed what someone told you, like a child believing in Santa Claus. Your position is not evidence based.
Mine is.
The fact is that no one has a clue what is happening with climate. There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years.
None.
If you believe otherwise, you hold an irrational belief.
How do you explain the trend in the atmospheric carbon isotope ratio, little wingnut?
How do you explain the fact that winters have warmed more than summers, nights more than days, the Arctic more than the Antarctic? All predictions made in 1896, incidentally.
Hey don’t get snotty with me just because you can’t accept scientific facts.
Talk about childish…
Moore’s evidence to the senate committee.
http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=415b9cde-e664-4628-8fb5-ae3951197d03
“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years”
Fact.
All the believers can produce is alarmism, speculation and some really bad guesswork.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/05/benchmarking-ipccs-warming-predictions/
The sceptics were right. The believers were wrong.
Only an idiot looks for scientific “proof”. Science deals in probabilities, but we know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas – this can be shown experimentally and is theoretically explained by Quantum Mechanics. We know that the CO2 content of the atmosphere is rising, by observation, and -also by observation – we know that the extra CO2 is anthropogenic in origin.
We know that Svante Arrhenius’ predictions were all correct – by observation. We know that destructive weather events have increased in magnitude and frequency – cf: Munich re cited below.
The fact that you cite Anthony Watts and congressional testimony, rather than peer-reviewed research, demonstrates that as in statistics, you are out of your depth.
Even nuttier than I had suspected…
Then produce the proof.
There’s a Nobel prize awaiting the first person to do so.
The proof? Prove things is what Mathematicians do.
Physicists, not so much. Quantum Mechanics is a branch of Physics, not Mathematics.
Before we go any further, please indicate that you understand these simple concepts.
@JLTW Perhaps I’m being too complicated. An example:
How many possible series (n1-nx), with a mean, m, are there where all n>0.6m?
Multiple choice answers:
a. 0
b. ∞
The fact that (in the context of a discussion of the minimum wage) you answered (a) is proof of your innumeracy.
However, it is impossible to prove Quantum Mechanical principles because they rely on probabilities – cf Heisenberg’s Uncertainty.
Do you see the difference?
Earth to flat-Earther: the IPCC doesn’t do any “guesswork” – it collates and summarises existing research. If you’re going to criticise something you need to learn what it is first.
Climate change forecasts vs Treasury forecasts
http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/climate-forecasts-setting-the-record-straight
One set of probabilities seems believable.
unproven AGW worst-case scenarios
In strict scientific terms all AGW scenarios are unproven. However all the most probable ones commit us to a greater than 2degC global average rise.
What is most probable is that we are within natural variation. It is a non-problem, although prudent to keep asking questions.
Numerate capitalists disagree.
Please everyone DNFTT
Right on, Paul
Lost your mojo jltw.
How come the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of exxon mobil is fighting tooth and nail to prevent any fracking witin 200 miles of his private ranch in Texas.
Because he doesn’t like the height of a proposed water tower.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-usa-fracking-tillerson-idUSBREA1P24O20140226
“Mr. Tillerson does not object to the tower for its potential use for water and gas operations for fracking,” said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil.
Tillerson’s property is already adjacent to several oil and gas wells and fracking operations, Jeffers added.”
And you just proved that you’re not worth listening to as you obviously just parrot the BS that conforms to your inbuilt bias.
Don’t tell me you fell for that as well?
What happened to your hurricanes? And your melted icecaps? And your silly hockey stick? All now proven wrong.
You lack the intellectual honesty to admit you were had by Al “Mansion By The Sea” Gore.
Which hockey stick? Mann et al? Or Huang et al? Or Oerlemans et al? Or Muller et al? Or Smith?
You are out of your depth little wingnut.
PS: and yes, you idiot, the ice is melting.
You just keep believin’ in the c02 scare story. Like a religious nut. Pray for your soul, brother else y’all burn in hell, I tells ya!
I’ll stick to evidence-based decisions.
Each to their own….
That would be rather difficult to do when you’re denying the evidence.
Nah ya see, DTB, evidence is just the sentence that precedes Tiger writing “FACT”
Which hockey stick do you believe is wrong, little wingnut?
Or are you lying when you say you’re all about evidence?
I think you’re lying, and you had no idea that hockey sticks were so abundant, and all from independent lines of evidence, too.
I don’t need to “believe” anything.
Tell me what it means if a Monte Carlo analysis produces a hockey stick shape, too?
On which data set?
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/403256/global-warming-bombshell/
[lprent: Bit pathetic reaching back for a 10 year old link, that has since been proven to be a moronic lie (but still loved by morons like yourself). ]
Show me the Monte Carlo analysis on Muller’s data set.
I suspect Tiger’s meal ticket is tied to the petroleum/gas industry. Which would explain his fringe perspective.
I suspect your “argument” is ad hominem.
I have nothing to do with the oil industry.
“Muller: A few years later, McIntyre came out and, indeed, showed that the hockey-stick chart was in fact incorrect. It had been affected by a very serious bug in the way scientists calculated their principal components.”
Which journal was McIntyre’s rebuttal of the BEST analysis published in?
The hockey stick has been shown to be more or less correct and Mann is now taking people to court over the defamation that he’s received over it.
Incorrect.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/403256/global-warming-bombshell/
“Now comes the real shocker. This improper normalization procedure tends to emphasize any data that do have the hockey stick shape, and to suppress all data that do not. To demonstrate this effect, McIntyre and McKitrick created some meaningless test data that had, on average, no trends. This method of generating random data is called Monte Carlo analysis, after the famous casino, and it is widely used in statistical analysis to test procedures. When McIntyre and McKitrick fed these random data into the Mann procedure, out popped a hockey stick shape!”
As for Mann, his court case has reportedly collapsed:
http://www.principia-scientific.org/michael-mann-faces-bankruptcy-as-his-courtroom-climate-capers-collapse.html
“The fact Mann refused to disclose his ‘hockey stick’ graph metadata in the British Columbia Supreme Court, as he is required to do under Canadian civil rules of procedure, constituted a fatal omission to comply, rendering his lawsuit unwinnable. …….”
What about Huang, Oerlemans, Smith and Muller?
Muller’s the one I like best. Fuckwits like you had him convinced it was all a hoax until his own study confirmed the facts.
Oh, and find a better source of information on Mann vs. National Review et al, you’re being duped, again. The suit has not “collapsed” and will move to discovery unless further appeals are forthcoming. The previous appeal was denied in January of this year.
You really do spout a load of bullshit man!
http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2014/02/25/setting-the-record-straight-on-misleading-claims-against-michael-mann/
Read the last paragraph at least..
when fracking companies release detailed information about the chemicals they pump into the ground then you can discuss the pros and cons, till then it is just a con
There you go:
http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used
funny
I always thought the phrase “release detailed information” when discussing something being pumped would involve quantities of the materials being pumped. Guess we have different ideas on what “detailed” means
I guess you didn’t specify quantities. So, you have no issue with the chemicals unless they exceed quantity X?
The fact that you think that would be an unusual position to take on chemicals just shows how utterly illiterate you are.
Interestingly, a Wyoming Supreme Court has recently rejected the fracking industry’s argument to keep what chemicals they use a secret.
JustLikeTigerWoods
Firstly, the comparative advantage to the government in supporting clean technology instead of outdated polluting industries is easily quantifiable. In financial terms, National’s energy policy states that there is the potential for future royalties from all oil and gas production of $12 billion at the most. In comparison, a PWC reported in 2013 stated that clean technology could be worth $22 billion, plus there is no risk of widespread environmental damage.
It should also be stated that the National Party’s 2011 estimates are likely wrong, being that recent exploration has failed to find any new oil. That means the governments investment and subsidies, amounting to $326.6 million between 2008 and 2012, has been lost. It was in fact a complete waste of taxpayers money that would be better spent on clean technology endeavors that guarantee a return.
You appear to be another right wing idiot JustLikeTigerWoods who just spouts nonsense in the hope that nobody will fact check your gibberish.
Add the half a billion it cost to sell the assets, the various corporate handouts, the loss of dividends from everywhere, mix in plummeting tax takes and that surplus thingy is really starting to get some wonky legs eh! Before long I expect we will hear how the expected surplus was always in the 2015/2016 year and the reporters are just falling for lefty disinfo campaigns and John Key never mentioned a surplus and if Bill did you better ask him as the budget is really an operational matter.
It’s not either/or.
We’ll take the $12b AS WELL, thanks.
As for the $22b guesswork, will they be advising their clients to invest boots and all? If not, why not? You see, if clean tech was a sure thing, I would already be investing, as would many other people. The reason I don’t is because it is very high risk and the returns, globally, have been abysmal.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/04/09/solar-companies-continue-to-go-bankrupt/
http://live.wsj.com/video/economics-clean-tech-funds-yielding-poor-returns/B80B7F56-55C8-467C-B45F-00DD08817FEF.html#!B80B7F56-55C8-467C-B45F-00DD08817FEF
This is the last thing we should be “investing” in. If the US can’t even do it, after pouring billions into it, then what makes you think we can?
It is clear from your response JustLikeTigerWoods that you haven’t bothered to read my comment properly. Nor does it seem that you have read the article you have linked to either.
Here is what the Forbes article states:
According to the link in the forbes article, last year there were 21 solar company bankruptcies worldwide. However many of those companies listed are mergers or branches of companies not wanting to compete anymore in a very competitive market. They are not actually bankruptcies. In other words the figures the article is based on are incorrect.
Just to make things a bit clearer for you…nobody is arguing that we should be competing to produce solar panels JustLikeTigerWoods. We should however be taking advantage of a competitive solar panel market to future proof our energy requirements.
Unfortunately the current government has refused to help clean tech companies to anywhere near the extent they help the oil and gas industry with our tax dollars.
Wrong! The $12 billion was a best case scenario including large finds of new oil. That exploration has failed and it is unlikely that the oil and gas companies will consider further exploration without considerable government funding, investment that has no guarantee of any return at all. That type of investment is therefore not worthwhile, considering there is a viable alternative to simply throwing taxpayers money away on an environmentally damaging sunset industry.
What makes you think the PWC report is guesswork? Is it simply that their findings don’t fit into your deluded philosophy, so you have dismissed the report out of hand…probably without even reading it?
Considering there was approximately $254 billion invested globally last year into clean technologies, it appears that many people thankfully don’t share your defunct viewpoint.
Do you have any actual figures to show that returns are abysmal? Please don’t link again to your industry driven propaganda.
It is true that investment has been dropping off recently, mainly because of the cost of photovoltaic systems reducing considerably because of competition, and the impact of archaic government policy towards renewable power.
In effect many governments around the world, including New Zealand’s, have failed to hold to any proper CO2 emission reductions because they are corrupted by the oil and gas industry who spend billions on lobbying to try and hold onto their out-dated business models.
Do they perhaps employ you to promote their disinformation JustLikeTigerWoods?
Comparative advantage is a load of bollocks.
No we wouldn’t because the free-market paradigm has worked to destroy our economy.
It’s pretty simple, Draco.
If you’re going to divert money away from areas that do make profits into areas that are pretty much guaranteed to make a loss, as this is the experience globally, then you’re going to harm a lot of people.
Green tech may sound warm, fuzzy and the “right” thing to do, but I would ask you to take a more thorough look at the performance of this sector globally. Keep in mind that areas of performance in this sector are almost entirely reliant on subsidy.
And you can back up this statement with facts?
“..Colbert on Colorado: ‘The Market Has Spoken – and the Market Is Toking’..” (video..)
http://www.alternet.org/colbert-colorado-market-has-spoken-and-market-toking
The ironic thing is that white men will now get rich off legal marijuana while whole generations of black men have been criminalised. A cynic might think that the war on drugs had served its purpose of marginalising the most potentially revolutionary force in American society and now it was time to go back to the real business of making a buck.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11220184
Thought this was a fucking disgusting depiction of Grant by Aussie Emerson. He has been fantastic in this and this depiction is- he’s gay so he can’t be a serious minister (not like Cunliffe or Key in a suit) but he has to be some kind of pervert…
Angry. Maybe we can role out Shano to get stuck into the almost Aussie monopoly on cartoons in our paper of record?
Ick. That’s very off.
Definitely over the very loose line we give cartoonists.
The castle clown is given license no-one else would get away with; but every now and then one of them finishes up feeding the moat-monsters.
I don’t think we should regulate cartoonists…craziness. but I’ve never been a big fan of Emmerson’s. He’s an Aussie. You’d think for our one paper we’d manage to find a kiwi. And often he does a cartoon that really offers no insight or opinion it just is some kind of reflection of what’s been going on. There’s no real connection to waterboarding, but it was vaguely topical last year, so it passes for insight into what’s going on. But doesn’t really say anything at all.
And it seems BS that Robertson’s very credible showing in the house over this is turned into this cartoon…it would be interesting to go through (and other than the battle of the babes for Auck Central) it would be interesting to see how sexualised other depictions are. Do we regularly see cartoons of Bennett and Parata as whores or as dominatrixes? No? Because they can be shown a bit of respect, but Grant can’t?
Send him back to Aussie. Wanker. Grrrr.
like this cartoon mentioned above actually making a point and bringing an actual relevant quote in:
https://twitter.com/bryce_edwards/status/444198339349708800/photo/1/large
Actually all three cartoons listed by Edwards make intelligent visual points and the Herald cartoon is just a sneaky attack on Grant Robertson.
The others show up Collins hypocrisy, or the persona of her apology. Anyway I guess one bad cartoon doesn’t make the guy a bad cartoonist- he’s had people liking him here before. But as you can guess I really disliked the cartoon. An actually he’s had 2 good cartoons on Oravida this week. Sorry Rod! But this was a shocker
This is beside the point, but it also doesn’t make any sense! If you’re going to make jokes about horrific torture methods shouldn’t you know what you’re talking about?
yep – disgusting and sick – tells us more about the cartoonist than most would want to know. Jokes about waterboarding? What a scum.
Over on WhaleOil, that nasty scote is trying to equate Judith Collins’ corruption with a publicly-announced opening of the law office of David Cunliffe’s wife, by PM Helen Clark a few years back. A secret dinner, a forgetting to tell the current PM what went on, an overseas taxpayer funded trip, and an endorsement of the company product your husband is connected with – is hugely different from an office opening which would have been announced publicly beforehand., and is a basic function of the prime ministerial office.
Meanwhile over here at the Standard the usual array of scrotal crabs that regularly appear have all gone into hiding having no defense of their Prime Minister being caught lying along with Justice Minister Collins being seen to have caught the same condition…
my reply to puckish rogue when it was posted here yesterday
wail boil is an expert at disinformation and plainoutright lying which is the national party preferred way of doing things.
they cant lie straight in bed.
John Kerry calls on Venezuela to call off “terror campaign”
from Joe Emersberger, Media Lens, 14 March 2014
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1394797682.html
http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-cracks-down-protests-rage-000008363.html?.tsrc=appleww
excerpt:
But in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry — using his strongest language to date on the lingering crisis — called for an end to what he called a “terror campaign” by Maduro’s government.
Kerry, speaking before US lawmakers, called on the international community to “focus on Venezuela appropriately.”….
“We are engaged now with trying to find a way to get the Maduro government to engage with their citizens, to treat them respectfully, to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to hopefully respect human rights and the appropriate way of treating his people,” he said.
Comment on these insane remarks by Kerry seems unnecessary. I can only attribute them to desperaton on the part of Kerry given the USA’s almost total isolation in the hemiphere as exposed by the rcent OAS resultion on Venezuela….
http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-084/14
having a peep at the succession-jostling within national is interesting..
..you have slater in the collins camp..
..you have joyce-ites with enough reason to give collins that final trip of the ankle..
(..or they leave her there..as a damaged non-opponent..?..easily beatable ‘cos of that hint of corruption..)
..then of course..(as was pointed out to me the other day..)..in the background you have english..
..who may well be looking at these two most unlikable candidates..
..and thinking that he could well be in with a chance..(as a compromise-candidate..for a stalemated party..)
..some are touting bridges and adams..
(but they must be just having a bit of a laff…adams has got upcoming dodgy-dealings/conflict-of-interest allegations of her own..on a slow simmer..and ready to be brought to the boil..)
..and if you were going to have an anti-superhero trio..called the unlikeables..
….you’d have collins/joyce..and bridges as their eager apprentice..
..so english may well be dreaming of a 2nd chance..
..(and if you thought labour leadership battles were ugly..?
..whoar..!..
..those tories get well down and dirty..
..i wd imagine the cabinet-meetings must have some interesting sub-texts/undercurrents going on..
..making things maybe not quite so ‘relaxed’…
..(darting/narrowed eyes to the fore..)
The Stupid, it hurts:
An interesting thing to say considering that:
They haven’t actually made any comparisons to anything else.
Of course Nicky Wagner CHCH MP wasnt in CHCH to help out after the floods….
Her piss ass sad excuse
Her vote was needed in Wgtn hahahahahah
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9832173/Talkbacks-Chris-Lynch
I think Wagner is in for a whitewash in Sept 2014 election….
bye bye wont be missed…..
I think National as a whole have given up on any ideas they might once have had at holding Chch Central.
what was she supposed to do in CHCH. Heat Jerry Brownlies pies for him.
You are a tugger dude.
“..How to unhook all those apps with access to your data..
..how to kick forgotten corporate eyes out of your Twitter – Facebook – and Google accounts:
‘it’s time to start deleting’..”
http://boingboing.net/2014/03/14/how-to-unhook-all-those-apps-w.html
Hi JustLikeTigerWoods,
If you like dumping toxic waste so much, then perhaps we should all have it trucked round to your place. Perhaps even pay you for the privilige.
I get sick off all these people who bash the green simply because they want to keep our rivers free of toxic waste. They really need to put their hands up and invite people to dump toxic waste in their own back yard.
Pollution is a crime against humanity and should be treated as such.
+1 Millsy
Looking at RadioNZ News about David Cunliffe’s speech to NZ Institute.
The heading – ‘Vision for economy short on detail’.
It appears to be inspired by a quote from Mr Key lifted from the last few lines of a 2.46 minute news item.
Prime Minister John Key said on Friday that Labour is running out of time to come up with new policies ahead of this year’s election on 20 September.
“The truth is actually, Mr Cunliffe hasn’t said anything new today. The best announcement he’s come out with is he’s gonna make further announcements.
“Well, we are starting to run out of time before we get to an election – so if he had a new idea, it would be interesting to hear it.”
How is it that the heading is negative when there was so much detail in the speech that would have lent itself to a positiveone. Such as, with some hyperbole :
[Labour plans regional industry development with a hint of Think Big.]
from ‘ development of industry in the regions and a focus on more transformative projects’.
But the reporter found it all unsatisfactory because there was no firm detail on other projects!
As if. First Labour would not be releasing these too soon, and secondly it is possible that the reporter wouldn’t understand them anyway, and thirdly that little twist that gets put on (like mine of Think Big) can skew them in people’s minds from the start.
+1
Fourthly, if past elections are anything to go by, Labour will produce detailed and costed policy before the election, National will produce a series of vague press releases, and reporters will apply the double standard.
+1 One Anonymous Bloke