Open mike 25/04/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 25th, 2016 - 108 comments
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108 comments on “Open mike 25/04/2016 ”

  1. save NZ 1

    “John Key says the Government is waiting for better data on whether there is a problem with overseas buyers purchasing houses…’

    Usual deflection and semantic weasel words.

    Yep the government collects plenty of migration data, but now trying to blame foreign investors who bizarrely like our tax haven status is all kept secret and no real data collected. Yep what a joke.

    He forgets to mention last year there were 67,000 migrants coming into NZ under the National immigration policy (more than migrants than births across the entire country) and 60% settled in Auckland.

    John Key’s “own “gut instinct” was that Chinese buyers in the Auckland market were New Zealand-based.”

    But not the governments fault obviously… In fact the answer is more immigration inspite of over 15 years of extreme levels of immigration our tradable sectors have gone nowhere.

    http://sciblogs.co.nz/the-dismal-science/2016/04/09/question-steven-joyce/

    Oravida is doing well, not sure about the rest of NZ with this insane experiment.

    Can we get the sock puppets out for Granny, because in spite of at least 5 property articles per day about how Kiwis can’t afford property or how they can, never let the idea of 67,000 new people entering NZ who will need to rent or purchase homes per year coming in, would affect property, or indeed jobs and wages in this country.

    Don’t worry I’m sure our ‘economists’ will tell Kiwis, don’t worry about being tenants in your own country, we can all rent with a WOF and everything will be fine, home owner ship is last decades dream, now just be happy you have a heat pump!

    • Bill 1.1

      I suspect a lot of properties, if they were being bought with money that otherwise sloshes around in a trust, would be vacant. I don’t live in Auckland, so don’t know if a lot of residential property is owned but empty…that, perhaps being an indication that the property is owned off-shore.

      67 000 people coming into NZ is, as far as market economics are concerned, a good thing. Germany is looking forward to an economic boost (in the medium term?) from the refugees it allowed to settle. All countries that are hooked on economic growth want an influx of skills and labour. So any political party jumping up and down about that is lying to you…dog whistling for your vote.

      Never quite understood the so-called dream of owning a home btw. Secure renting would be just fine, thanks. Oh – and fuck the heat pump. Anyway. I don’t care about houses being unaffordable. I do care that people can’t find a place to call home. And those two things are separate issues.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1

        All countries that are hooked on economic growth want an influx of skills and labour.

        The only growth that’s going to come from an influx of people is growth in consumed resources. This will show up in increased GDP and slightly higher profits but nothing else will happen as the article linked to shows.

        Oh – and fuck the heat pump.

        The most efficient and sustainable heating available. Yeah, fuck that eh.

        Never quite understood the so-called dream of owning a home btw.

        Seems to be mostly about people being afraid of the government. Fear that the next government will take it away from them because for everyone renting to be viable it needs to be the state/community that does the letting.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzjrIk05YyU

        • Bill 1.1.1.1

          Economic growth is a stupid idea. I think we agree on that one. And I guess we’d also probably agree that it’s coming to an end. I guess what we won’t agree on is a world without borders…absolute freedom for people to move to wherever they wish.

          As for heatpumps that are generally hooked to the grid and don’t work when the temperature outside gets below a certain point and crap out in a power cut, yeah… fuck them.

          My woodburner uses zero fossil (unlike your heat-pump), works during power cuts and also when outside temperatures are zero or less. Oh yeah, and heats the water into the bargain. Did I say it’s also aesthetically much more pleasing than a humming hunk of metal and plastic? Conducive to exercise too…all that chainsawing (battery operated chainsaws now on the market), chopping, stacking and carrying. And all that work tends to heat you up and that can negate the need to heat the room. And I can’t remember ever seeing anyone cook on top of a heat-pump either. Okay. Rant over. Fuck heat-pumps. (Did I say that already?)

          A really late edit because the site played up. BUT. Just read that “On average an ENERGY STAR qualified heat pump costs about $1501 less per year to run than other models”. That $1 500 saving is more than I’d pay for an entire year’s supply of wood if I bought it in…so what’s being saved? Also, depending on the model of heat-pump, my yearly electricity costs would be between 30 and 100% higher than at present…and no (or much less) hot water given a wet-back scenario. (Fuck heat pumps)

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1.1

            My woodburner uses zero fossil (unlike your heat-pump), works during power cuts and also when outside temperatures are zero or less.

            Although true it’s still unsustainable. Trees simply don’t grow fast enough for everyone to have a fire. And heat-pumps don’t require fossil fuels – only electricity that can be generated sustainably. Heat pumps can also work when temperatures are below zero. Theoretically, heat pumps could work in temperatures all the way down to Absolute Zero. The problem isn’t the temperature but the water in the atmosphere and there are solutions to that.

            Did I say it’s also aesthetically much more pleasing than a humming hunk of metal and plastic?

            That doesn’t make it sustainable. And personally I really couldn’t care less how aesthetically pleasing it is.

            Conducive to exercise too…all that chainsawing (battery operated chainsaws now on the market), chopping, stacking and carrying.

            Not enough time in the day to waste it doing shit like that.

            And all that work tends to heat you up and that can negate the need to heat the room.

            No it really doesn’t – cold rooms are bad for you.

            And I can’t remember ever seeing anyone cook on top of a heat-pump either.

            So?

            • Bill 1.1.1.1.1.1

              heh – going through this point by point.

              Point one. Coppicing can provide more than enough firewood if done correctly. Having said that, my situation doesn’t require it.

              Point one a) heatpumps require electricity and it is not all produced from non-fossil.

              Point one b) if everyone had a heat pump, humanity couldn’t build enough non-fossil supply side electricity generation before catastrophic CC hit. (We can’t even lay in that infrastructure in time on present usage)

              Point two. Aesthetics are about aesthetics – end.

              Point three. The type of work required to manage firewood is enjoyable. It’s not ‘wasted’ in any way shape or form.

              Point four. If your feeling the cold, set the fire, put on a jumper or throw a log on the fire. If you’re not feeling the cold, then you’re not feeling the cold. Ambient cold isn’t really bad for you…you can still be warm in ambient cold. Subjecting yourself to damp cold on the other hand, probably is. Rooms that are too hot ain’t flash for anyone’s health either btw – again, especially if accompanied by moisture.

              Point five. If cooking is being done on or in a wood burner then that’s less gas or fossil generated electric being consumed. And (not that I quite understand this) it tastes nicer – that aesthetics thing again. 😉

              Point six is just a reiteration of what I’ve already said about heat pumps…fuck them.

              • Colonial Viper

                Point one. Coppicing can provide more than enough firewood if done correctly. Having said that, my situation doesn’t require it.

                They’d cut down almost all the wood in England by the 18th century. Too many people, too little land. Already smashed the Scottish so no more land to nick.

                Luckily coal came on to the picture big time.

                • Bill

                  Cutting down isn’t coppicing. Woodlands can be sustained and coppices planted and brought into use quite quickly (a few years if the right trees are chosen)

                  You’re talking of the past, not the present or the future. India was much more densely populated, had access to coal but didn’t use it, and people (unlike today) didn’t live in poverty or live a life that amounted to no more than a constantly worried scramble away from it.

                  Meanwhile, back in Britain, coal fired industry, and could only be mined by driving people down holes in the ground off the back of the enclosures and with the handy back up threat of guns and chains being presented on top of the possible starvation that resulted from the enclosures…and the British exported that nice suite of incentives, and for the same reason (mining), to India and elsewhere.

                  • Colonial Viper

                    Points taken, but not many places in India suffer freezing winters.

                    Also coppicing is useful but the bottom line is that the world is 5x to 10x over its human carrying capacity, and coppicing is not going to be able to bridge that gap.

                    • Bill

                      North India. Pretty damned fucking cold in the winter…much colder than many populated parts of NZ.

                      And the exchange was about the relative merits of heat-pumps and wood-burners? That was already a sideshow. Population is a kinda sideshow to the sideshow as it were. Anyway…

                      Population is irrelevant to energy use and climate change in the time scale that we have. Over population becomes an issue after we’ve either shot through +2 or (can’t see it) limited warming to around +2…then resource limits and population limits hit. But for now, debates about CC that bring up population are debates that hide our problems and potential solutions behind shoals of red herrings.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Do you mean that overpopulation is irrelevant now because there is nothing we can do about overpopulation now, or in the next (say) 10 years?

                      Every additional mouth to feed is another consumer of energy and physical resources.

                    • Bill

                      I mean that in the time we have to deal with CC, that the hundreds of millions, or few billions, of people who currently contribute 5/8ths of fuck all to climate change, will be in no economic position to contribute anything beyond what they already contribute today. The laws of thermo-dynamics are moving faster than the so-called laws of economic growth.

              • Draco T Bastard

                Point one. Coppicing can provide more than enough firewood if done correctly.

                How many coppiced trees per household per year?
                How much land will that cover?
                How many people to maintain it?

                Now multiply that by the number of houses, put it up against what else we need that land and those people for and tell me if it still works?

                Because I’m pretty sure that it won’t.

                Point one a) heatpumps require electricity and it is not all produced from non-fossil.

                But it can be. This is important and, also important, it uses less people to achieve the same result.

                Point one b) if everyone had a heat pump, humanity couldn’t build enough non-fossil supply side electricity generation before catastrophic CC hit.

                Good job not everyone is going to get a heat pump over night. This gives us time to build the renewable energy base up.

                Point three. The type of work required to manage firewood is enjoyable. It’s not ‘wasted’ in any way shape or form.

                No it’s not and yes it is.

                Point five. If cooking is being done on or in a wood burner then that’s less gas or fossil generated electric being consumed.

                Only if we’re still using fossil fuels which, quite simply, we shouldn’t be doing.

                • Bill

                  Draco. How long do you actually think we have to build entire energy supply networks that don’t run on fossil …ie, to replace all fossil supply?

                  I’m asking because time and again you come out with a ‘we have the technology’ line that doesn’t appear to take any account of time restraints. We, in the west, have until 2030 to be entirely free from fossil. The entire world needs to be free of fossil by 2050.

                  Do you really think we in the west can lay in the huge supply side infrastructures we need in the space of 15 years?

                  It doesn’t matter if we can run ‘everything’ from (say) batteries or from whatever fossil free energy sources if we can’t build the infrastructure fast enough.

                  Unless you know something that no engineer knows in terms of build, then our only option is to drastically reduce our energy use while using the decades required to lay in non-fossil supply. So electric car fleets and what not, while maybe do-able, have no place in any near or mid term future that takes reality into account.

                  btw. Globally, only 20% of our fossil based energy use is for electricity generation. So if 80% of our current fossil use has to be brought over to electric, then grids are going to have to expanded by some factors. And yes, problems notwithstanding, I know that some fossil can be replaced by other energy sources aside from electricity, but still…

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    Do you really think we in the west can lay in the huge supply side infrastructures we need in the space of 15 years?

                    If they decided to do so, yes. The problem is that the big donors to political parties won’t make any profit as it will all be done directly by government.

                    Unless you know something that no engineer knows in terms of build, then our only option is to drastically reduce our energy use while using the decades required to lay in non-fossil supply. So electric car fleets and what not, while maybe do-able, have no place in any near or mid term future that takes reality into account.

                    Considering how much I’ve been saying that cars are uneconomic what makes you think that I think that we should keep the bloody things? Get rid of them ASAP.

                    I know that some fossil can be replaced by other energy sources aside from electricity

                    Electricity isn’t an energy source but means of energy transmission.

                    So if 80% of our current fossil use has to be brought over to electric, then grids are going to have to expanded by some factors.

                    What’s the breakdown of how that’s used? Because IIRC, a lot of that is transport and we can replace the transport mode itself. Ships go to sail, aircraft become an as need only (no more foreign holidays) and cars can be replaced by walking, cycling and public transport (electric) and trucks can also be electric.

                    So, yes, there needs to be n increase in generation and a better grid but there’s no way that we can keep everything exactly as it is now. And, IMO, we shouldn’t even try.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      You keep saying we can do this, we can do that, government can do this, government can do that. But we won’t, and they certainly won’t.

                  • AmaKiwi

                    “Do you really think we in the west can lay in the huge supply side infrastructures we need in the space of 15 years?”

                    For the last 150 years, countries engaged in total war have transformed their economies in remarkably short times. When there is a collective sense of urgency, amazing transformations happen in months, not decades.

                    • Bill

                      Countries have sometimes changed the things they were producing in fairly short order. But they haven’t retrofitted and expanded their entire energy system/ infrastructure and simultaneously stopped using the very fuel source that all their production relies upon.

                      To think that can be done across the entire western world – however many countries that amounts to – in the space of 15 years, while dropping to zero energy from fossil at the same time, is magical thinking.

                      Cut fossil related energy use by up to 15% per year as of now as the science demands; that has to be the first order of the day…the ‘war footing’. Begin laying down the infrastructure within that context. When the infrastructure is wholly in place (it’ll take decades) then we can get back to profligate energy use if we want to.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Simplest and fastest way to dramatically cut back fossil fuel energy use is to crash the real economy.

                      Building major infrastructure is not possible without massive expenditures of fossil fuels however, and such projects tend to cause Keynesian economic booms.

                    • weka

                      Consider a piece of technology like a bus. Pretty easy to convert to electric right? But if you want to reduce carbon emissions you also have to fuel the conversion without fossil fuels. So if it’s a new bus, that’s not just the power needed to run the bus, it’s the manufacture, which includes mining, which includes the manufacture of the mining equipment etc. Then there is the power supply and building and maintaining that without fossil fuels, so ditto, how are the wind turbines made, where does the metal come from, how is it transported etc.

                      Think cradle to grave.

                      Then consider how the economy will cope with that (Peak oil is a good field to look at because it factors in time and financials as well as fossil fuels).

                      Then political will.

                      It’s all doable on paper. But once you start trying to figure out how it would work in situ, it just looks impossible.

                      Nothing wrong with powering down though, we can still live good lives even if we have to change radically.

                      btw, I agree with your premise that we can achieve a lot when the pressure is on. The innovation that will come out of the powerdown will be impressive. It just won’t be a replacement that supports our current kinds of lives.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      The global aid budget according to that article is roughly the same size as NZ’s GDP. And it has to be spread around all the trouble spots in all the countries around the world.

                      Well, that’s nothing. A small fraction of the monies the 0.1% have hidden away in tax havens.

                    • Bill

                      @ Weka

                      We don’t necessarily have to fuel the conversion without fossil. As long as overall fossil related emissions are dropping by 15% per annum, the remaining ‘sinking lid’ of possible emissions can be allocated to whatever area we decide should be prioritised.

                    • Pat

                      that may be true CV…I haven’t checked, but the increased natural disasters and the cascading impacts including the foundation of Insurance in the (particularly advanced) world economy were the focus of my attention….the point is society in the near future will be unrecognizable, not some moderately adjusted status quo with windmills and private electric vehicles…..assuming we are able to get our shit together enough to avoid the worse scenarios

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      But if you want to reduce carbon emissions you also have to fuel the conversion without fossil fuels. So if it’s a new bus, that’s not just the power needed to run the bus, it’s the manufacture, which includes mining, which includes the manufacture of the mining equipment etc.

                      @weka
                      Energy Use in Cars 5: Gasoline Cars vs. Electric Cars

                      Summary

                      Therefore, greenhouse gas emissions for a gasoline car are over 40 times higher than for an electric car (in BC). Even if we use the Canadian average of greenhouse gas emissions for electricity generation, gasoline cars still emit over 5 times as much greenhouse gas as electric cars.

                      And mining is done using electric tools so shifting to renewable energy will reduce ghg emissions there as well.

                      Wind turbines don’t actually use a lot of metal. What they use is a lot of plastic and that can be produced from plants – hemp is a good source of the necessary oils.

                      Then political will.

                      Yes. The political will is the problem. How can we get it so that the people govern rather than the rich? Because the people do want the change – it’s the rich that are holding us back as they buy up the politicians to protect their ill-gotten wealth.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      DTB – these low GHG electric cars – don’t these require the high-GHG mining of many tonnes of ores and the large scale fabrication of aluminium and steel? Which also costs massive amounts of GHGs?

                      And mining is done using electric tools so shifting to renewable energy will reduce ghg emissions there as well.

                      What kinds of “electric tools” do you use to shift thousands of tonnes of ore from the bottom of the mine to processing areas kilometres away?

                      Do these electric tools use steel, aluminium or copper parts which require GHGs to extract, form and transport?

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Pat:

                      .the point is society in the near future will be unrecognizable, not some moderately adjusted status quo with windmills and private electric vehicles…..

                      I propose that this new “unrecognisable society” we may find ourselves in will actually – in some ways at least – be very highly recognisable by people who come from third world nations.

            • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.1.1.2

              Sorry mate, but human labour is going to become increasingly important again as we run down on surplus energy supplies.

              Not enough time in the day to waste it doing shit like that.

              Who are you going to get to do this work for you while you take it easy?

              • Draco T Bastard

                Sorry mate, but human labour is going to become increasingly important again as we run down on surplus energy supplies.

                You really do need to do some basic science/physics stuff so that you can stop spouting bollocks.

                The end of fossil fuels won’t really be the end of electricity due to the simple fact that electricity can be generated in many ways many of which are actually sustainable. Photovoltaic and wind are both sustainable. Then there’s passive heating which should be the main source of heating for all homes with the heat pump then a small supplementary. Of course, that does require building better houses and apartments.

                Who are you going to get to do this work for you while you take it easy?

                I said I was busy, not taking it easy.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Photovoltaic and wind are both sustainable.

                  I doubt it. Perhaps with completely alternative logistics and technology trees than those which actually exist today.

                  The end of fossil fuels won’t really be the end of electricity due to the simple fact that electricity

                  Draco, I talked about an end to surplus energy supplies. Why did you think I was talking about an end to electricity?

                  To demonstrate:

                  Baghdad in 2005 still had electricity. For a few hours a day. A few days a week. Not exactly in a surplus energy supply situation though.

                  I said I was busy, not taking it easy.

                  After fossil fuels largely go away, my bet is that you’re going to find that most of the activities you currently keep busy with, are simply not going to be a thing any more.

                  You really do need to do some basic science/physics stuff so that you can stop spouting bollocks.

                  Hmmm. Interesting. Don’t be upset just because I am pointing out that you may be making bad assumptions about the future.

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    I doubt it.

                    Yeah, that would be your complete and total ignorance of science and physics speaking.

                    I talked about an end to surplus energy supplies. Why did you think I was talking about an end to electricity?

                    Everything we do today can be done with electricity and we’re not going to run out of that. Not even going to run out of surplus – if we build up the sustainable energy generation.

                    Baghdad in 2005 still had electricity. For a few hours a day. A few days a week. Not exactly in a surplus energy supply situation though.

                    Because building up infrastructure is the same as being bombed 🙄

                    After fossil fuels largely go away, my bet is that you’re going to find that most of the activities you currently keep busy with, are simply not going to be a thing any more.

                    I’m pretty sure it’ll actually be more in demand.

                    Don’t be upset just because I am pointing out that you may be making bad assumptions about the future.

                    You’re the one who’s getting it all wrong and you’re getting it all wrong because of your ignorance.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Yeah, that would be your complete and total ignorance of science and physics speaking.

                      This from a guy who claims that electricity isn’t an energy source, but a means of energy transmission.

                      You’re the one who’s getting it all wrong and you’re getting it all wrong because of your ignorance.

                      *Shrug*

                      You should prepare for disappointment about the future as you’ve made a bunch of untenable assumptions and seem to consider your view the one and only truth. And read more John Michael Greer, of the Archdruid Report.

                    • RedLogix

                      This from a guy who claims that electricity isn’t an energy source, but a means of energy transmission.

                      Well a bit hinges on your exact definition of ‘source’ and ‘transmission’, but on the whole DtB is right in this instance. At least in the context of this discussion.

                  • Colonial Viper

                    Do you think so RL?

                    Then what is diesel if not a source of energy itself – maybe we are now going to start calling diesel a means of transporting energy? After all it is pretty inert stuff and pretty convenient to carry around.

                    I am more than happy to have an esoteric discussion on what this thing called “energy” is, but since the meter on your house measures electricity delivered to your residence in units equivalent to energy i.e. power x time I feel fairly safe describing electricity as energy itself, not a means of transmitting energy. (If electricity were a means of transmitting energy how shall we now consider the power grid – a means of transmitting the means of transmitting energy?).

                    It’s been a long time since I did my papers in instrumentation, control and process automation, but I do not feel like I have lost my grasp on physical science and technology is.

                    Look at DTB’s statement:

                    Then there’s passive heating which should be the main source of heating for all homes with the heat pump then a small supplementary. Of course, that does require building better houses and apartments.

                    Which on the face of it seems fair enough but in the NZ context its utterly incomplete.

                    To make “passive heating” the “main source of heating for all homes” doesn’t just take what he suggests “building better houses and apartments” – it will actually take the top to bottom refitting or tearing down of more than a million existing residences and commercial buildings in NZ over the next 25 years (or however much time we think we have to do this before we are out of fossil fuels).

                    To say that there is no will, money or understanding to do such a thing would be stating the obvious.

                    But could such a thing theoretically be done in order to fall into the general solution space suggested by DTB? Of course. But the chances that it will be done? Its so close to zero that my scientific calculator probably can’t represent it.

                    • Pat

                      to demonstrate the scale of task consider this….six years ago approximately half of christchurch was badly damaged and required repair/rebuild, replacing like with like, little in the way of developing new systems….with the assistance of a normally functioning world around it ….hows that going?

                    • Colonial Viper

                      DTB, and others, are falling into a trap which the Archdruid described quite well:

                      Understanding what solutions fall within the realms of theoretical or potential possibility (like Labour waking up and expelling its neoliberal contaminants and returning to its democratic socialist roots), while not understanding that the chances of it actually happening are so fucking close to zero, you need to be looking elsewhere for answers or risk still inhabiting a daydream lala land when the whole thing finally comes crashing down on your head.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Then what is diesel if not a source of energy itself – maybe we are now going to start calling diesel a means of transporting energy? After all it is pretty inert stuff and pretty convenient to carry around.

                      Well, technically, it’s a store of energy.

                      it will actually take the top to bottom refitting or tearing down of more than a million existing residences and commercial buildings in NZ over the next 25 years (or however much time we think we have to do this before we are out of fossil fuels).

                      And this is where you keep going wrong. You think we need fossil fuels to shift to not using fossil fuels when we don’t.

                      If we didn’t have any infrastructure at all with the knowledge we have we could build up a society with most of the mod cons we’ve got today without touching fossil fuels at all.

                      Understanding what solutions fall within the realms of theoretical or potential possibility (like Labour waking up and expelling its neoliberal contaminants and returning to its democratic socialist roots), while not understanding that the chances of it actually happening are so fucking close to zero, you need to be looking elsewhere for answers or risk still inhabiting a daydream lala land when the whole thing finally comes crashing down on your head.

                      Well, that’s one of the differences between you and me. I reach for the possible solutions rather than whinging that it just be done. Does this mean that the solution will be put in place? No but there’s a hell of a lot more chance of it happening than if I just keep my mouth shut. When it does come crashing down on our heads I’ll be there with a solution.

                    • RedLogix

                      @DtB and CV

                      As I said above, it all depends on how you define ‘store’ and ‘transmit’. The actual meanings are quite relative and can change from one context to another, and the time frame you are contemplating. The terms, source, transformation, and sink all depend on the definition of system you have are discussing.

                      But the ultimate source of all energy for life on Earth is the Sun. It’s various stored manifestations such as potential energy stored in the hydrological cycle, or chemical energy stored in living or fossil carbon, or nuclear energy stored in the earth core, or kinetic/heat energy stored in the wind, waves or tide are all derived from the Sun originally.

                      Each of the these stored energy forms can be transformed from one to another according to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the Second Law especially. This is handy because the kinetic energy of the wind blowing over a remote hilltop is not much use for heating your living room.

                      However wind turbine will create an electrical current or flow, that can be efficiently transmitted into your home, and then turned into heat via resistive element, or perhaps a heat pump.

                      While electrical charge (electrical potential energy) can be stored in capacitors, for all practical, everyday purposes it is electricity in the form of a current that we use for shifting large amounts of energy from one place to another.

                      Strictly speaking the energy is not transmitted by electron in the conductors at all, but by the E-M field between them. But that digs a little deeper than is needed to make the point.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Well, that’s one of the differences between you and me. I reach for the possible solutions rather than whinging that it just be done. Does this mean that the solution will be put in place? No but there’s a hell of a lot more chance of it happening than if I just keep my mouth shut. When it does come crashing down on our heads I’ll be there with a solution.

                      You’ll be there with a caveman drawing of the sun god, beating your chest and calling it a solution, and it will be just as helpful.

                      If we didn’t have any infrastructure at all with the knowledge we have we could build up a society with most of the mod cons we’ve got today without touching fossil fuels at all.

                      Seriously, get your seriously over the top S.F. technofantasy arrogance in check here.

                      For starters, how would you even call a general meeting of the town to explain your proposal?

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Strictly speaking the energy is not transmitted by electron in the conductors at all, but by the E-M field between them. But that digs a little deeper than is needed to make the point.

                      The EM field we can measure is just the observable and quantifiable part of the underlying quantum process from which we access what we call “energy” which we then apply in practical terms to do “work”.

                      However wind turbine will create an electrical current or flow, that can be efficiently transmitted into your home, and then turned into heat via resistive element, or perhaps a heat pump.

                      So we have technology which turns relatively useless diffuse forms of energy into relatively useful forms of concentrated energy (to steal ideas that Greer has discussed before).

                      Cool.

                      Nevertheless, there is little as convenient (or dense) a “store” or “source” of energy than a fossil fuel like high quality coal or diesel.

                    • RedLogix

                      Personally I think technology will survive in it’s more useful forms. Simply because it creates such an undeniable competitive advantage.

                      Consider for instance how the outcome of a medieval battle field would be influenced if one side had the use of two-way mobile field radio. Or had the medical knowledge to defeat dysentery, or access to antibiotics?

                      While I fully expect future generations will value and use our current technologies in ways we can scarcely imagine, I do believe the core knowledge will never be lost. It’s just too useful.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      While I fully expect future generations will value and use our current technologies in ways we can scarcely imagine, I do believe the core knowledge will never be lost. It’s just too useful.

                      I think most of out current technologies are going away in a big way. If we are lucky, I think that highly self-maintainable highly robust 1950s and 1960s style technology will be back in fashion. Mainly because we will hit an era where all the new stuff will eventually break and not be fixable/replaceable with parts from South Korea or Norway from high tech factories which are no longer running let alone accepting foreign orders.

                      As for the core knowledge never being lost because it’s just too useful.

                      Greer has talked a lot about previous dark ages and how a future dark age may be similar and different.

                      Point being, there have been many times in history where the ‘useful knowledge’ of a civilisation disappeared from common circulation. For centuries at a time, if not forever.

                    • RedLogix

                      Greer’s weakness when he talks about technology is that he isn’t one himself. He’s very good on many topics, but he can’t be an expert on them all.

                      What he misses here is that while Dark Ages have caused much prior knowledge to pass from general use, it rarely disappeared altogether. Rather it became localised. And because of this it became vulnerable to damage. The Masters might meet untimely ends, the libraries burn.

                      Digitisation has changed this equation forever, now unlimited and perfect copies of knowledge are essentially so low in cost as to be essentially free, and can be cheaply distributed to all locations. Distributed knowledge is much harder to corrupt.

                      While it is true that the current system depends on a perilously small number of critical technical nexi, this is a result of capitalism not technology. And ultimately this is what a Dark Age is; a political failure not a technical or even resource one.

                      My other comment is that one should not underestimate nor demean the nature of the transformation human society has seen in the past 200 years. Indeed since about the 1840’s human knowledge has exploded more than exponentially. According to one study I saw years back (pre-Internet sorry no linky) the change from about the middle of that decade was more in the nature of a discontinuity than any normal growth law.

                      So while I admire and respect Greer’s expositions on the ancient laws of growth and decline, I do still think he has not fully grasped the entirely new world in which they now operate. The Scientific Method is the single most potent tool humans have ever devised for dealing with the material realms, and in a world competing for declining material resources it’s advantages are only sharpened and enhanced.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Greer is an expert in fraternal orders, the kind which were fundamental in preserving human knowledge so that it survived the dark ages. So in my view he gets that part of it.

                      As for the digitally distributed information age in a post carbon era with the trappings of the surveillance and security state. That’s a whole discussion in itself. I’m pretty sure every MS system and Android system can be kill switched at will, for instance. Certainly during Occupy the cops were shown to have killed internet and cell phone access at will.

                      New dynamics for a new age.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      If we are lucky, I think that highly self-maintainable highly robust 1950s and 1960s style technology will be back in fashion.

                      1950s/60s technology wasn’t even remotely sustainable. It all needed that high density fossil fuel.

                      So, no, we won’t be going back to that.

                      Mainly because we will hit an era where all the new stuff will eventually break and not be fixable/replaceable with parts from South Korea or Norway from high tech factories which are no longer running let alone accepting foreign orders.

                      And what’s going to stop a silicon processing plant and fabrication plant connected to the Hoover Damn, or the Three Gorges Damn or all of the dams on the Clyde? Loss of fossil fuels? They DON’T FUCKEN NEED THEM.

                      Point being, there have been many times in history where the ‘useful knowledge’ of a civilisation disappeared from common circulation.

                      Yep, back when only a few people knew how to read and guarded that ability jealously. Now most people can read and books on basic and advanced knowledge are everywhere. As well as those pesky, highly efficient memory storage devices known as computers and the internet.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Hey DTB.

                      Sorry to break your nice vision of a high tech comfy future.

                      Don’t get angry at me because I am carrying the message.

                      From what you have been saying, I doubt you’ve ever worked in a very high tech manufacturing environment before, like I have. Instead, all your knowledge of this sphere is from books and the internet.

                      1950s/60s technology wasn’t even remotely sustainable. It all needed that high density fossil fuel.

                      So, no, we won’t be going back to that.

                      Was energy use in NZ per capita – both fossil fuel and electrical – higher or lower than today in NZ?

                      Now I don’t have the stats to hand but I am guessing that it was much much lower.

                      So more sustainable.

                      BTW, DTB electric trams were a big thing in many NZ cities in the 50’s.

                      Now that’s what I am talking about. What are you talking about? Oh yeah driverless Google electric car-type shite. Good luck mate, ain’t happening.

                      No one can afford it, the technology is too complex to maintain and fossil fuel energy requirements too high in a degrading economic and energy environment.

                      How about an original Mini Cooper, how much steel and aluminium did it require to put one of those together compared to a modern model? The answer is – a small fraction. Hence again, far less energy required.

            • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1.3

              gotta say, there are heat pumps and then there are heat pumps. Some get bloody expensive to run when the temperature gets down to the single digits, and their efficiency tends to encourage people to heat the whole house rather than one room. The biggest bills I’ve seen for power came from north islanders who came down south and thought heat pumps were cheap to run 24/7.

              So yeah, if you have a modern pump already installed and run it reasonably and aren’t in Ophir or wherever, heat pumps are the boss. Otherwise you’re down to the traditional fire/burner or panel heaters, especially if hoar frost snapping power lines might be an issue.

              • RedLogix

                there are heat pumps and then there are heat pumps.

                Absolutely correct on that point. Look carefully for makes and models that specify in exact detail how well they will perform down to -5degC at least.

                The ones to watch out for are the types that were primarily designed as air conditioners. Their design is optimised for a higher temperature range. It’s neither especially easy nor cheap to build a heat pump that works really well both heating and cooling over the range -10 to 40 deg C.

                Find reliable advice and you get what you pay for.

      • Gangnam Style 1.1.2

        Gareth Morgan said on telly the other day he owned 3-4 houses & didn’t tenant them out coz he didn’t want anyone messing the carpets. Why work for a living when your house earns more than median wage.

        • Rocco Siffredi 1.1.2.1

          And you believed that? A carpet for a typical 3 bed house is $7k, rent for a typical 3 bed in auckland is $26k pa.

          Do you really think Morgan doesn’t collect the $100k every year just because of the carpet?

          • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.1.1

            When you are wealthy enough you can run your life to suit yourself. And if a quarter million a year in capital gains without having to deal with pain in the arse tennants is good enough for Morgan, why not.

          • RedLogix 1.1.2.1.2

            Gareth Morgan is making a 100% correct observation. He most likely has no mortgage nor outgoings beyond rates and insurance on these houses. Tenants would improve the cash flow, but he would only have to pay income tax on that.

            Every new tenant brings an unknown risk with them, well beyond a few manky carpets. And an annual rent of only $26k is less than 3% of the capital value. Why put nearly a nearly $1m asset at risk for that paltry sum? Consider the impact of a P-lab operation.

            Because while the vast majority of tenants are indeed good people … sadly there are enough absolute ratbags out there to make a 3% return just not worthwhile. Better to leave it empty and let stupid government policy do your work for you via capital gains.

            Of course Morgan is only stating a truth few other people have the balls to state out loud.

      • save NZ 1.1.3

        Bill, the difference is in Germany the people coming in are Refugees with very little money and keen and grateful to get somewhere safe. In addition Germany is one of the worlds strongest economies and they have a lot of quality housing and the EU to bail them out.

        In NZ, we are a banana republic, our building materials cost 50% more than OZ, we sell 225million of water rights for $500, and selling the golden goose. But hey, according to John Key and the neolibs, don’t worry, someone on NZ wages can easily compete against the Billionaires at auction and the people who just got $200k dowry to invest with. Yep, keep going with that little fantasy about the free market.

        Now Aucklander’s are being displaced, and now displacing Kiwis in the provinces, probably hurting JK in the polls.

        • Bill 1.1.3.1

          To be fair, i think the crucial difference is that Germany is staring down the barrel of negative population growth. NZ has a fairly high positive population growth. But still…

          • Sabine 1.1.3.1.1

            there are 82 million German, and they have looked at the barrel of negative population growth for a while now, and are still one of the most populated places in Europe. In saying that, Germany is also in the middle of Europe and is not too worried about running out of people, especially because of Europe.

            The taking up of refugees is something that Germany does a. cause they are Germans, and with that particular history of the Germans it is not easy to refuse some but not others, b. it is better for society to not pretend shit is not happening in certain parts of the world – and again i think this is due to the history of the Germans.

            In saying that, there is a good sized part of the population that would stop migrants to Germany full stop or maybe adopt the rules and regulations of Switzerland.

            • save NZ 1.1.3.1.1.1

              Germany also has public transport unlike NZ.

              Germany are taking in refugees for humanitarian reasons, not like in NZ government bringing in 10 mill + investors no questions asked (and if you want to be in an offshore trust paying no tax even better) to displace your own people, so that you have some sort of financial social cleansing out of the cities that among other aims, provides you with more votes.

              NZ don’t take refugees in for humanitarian reasons. It is against the neolib agenda to help others.

              We just help create refugees by helping others bomb the crap out of places so they might buy some milk powder (or the farm) at a later date.

              Can’t see Merkel putting local Germans out of their ‘state houses’ to sell to billionaires and having wages so low, that it takes up your entire average wage to buy a house.

          • Colonial Viper 1.1.3.1.2

            NZ’s “fairly high positive population growth” is immigration driven. The birthrate in NZ is borderline insufficient to maintain the population by itself.

            Statistics NZ says the country’s total fertility rate – the number of babies a woman will have in her lifetime if current age-specific fertility rates stay the same throughout her life – fell from 2.01 in 2013 to 1.92 last year, the lowest since 2002.

            A fertility rate of 2.1 births per woman is required to maintain the population, allowing for infant mortality…

            Apart from these two blips, New Zealand’s fertility rate has been below replacement level for most of the time since the late 1970s, averaging just 2.03 births per woman over the past 30 years.

            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11403961

    • Chooky 1.2

      +100 save NZ…not hard to see where the housing crisis for New Zealanders is coming from

      …”last year there were 67,000 migrants coming into NZ under the National immigration policy (more than migrants than births across the entire country) and 60% settled in Auckland.

      John Key’s “own “gut instinct” was that Chinese buyers in the Auckland market were New Zealand-based.”

    • rod 1.3

      Great stuff Save NZ, Keep up your good work.

      + 100

  2. Ffloyd 2

    He’s waiting for *data* that will validate his *gut instinct* Someone, somewhere, sometime will come up with the RIGHT data.

  3. dv 3

    John Key says the Government is waiting for better data on whether there is a problem with overseas buyers purchasing houses…’

    How long have the NATs been in power.
    How come they haven’t got the data?

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1

      How long have the NATs been in power.

      Long enough but Labour should have put something in place to register ownership nationality and place of residence back in the early 2000s really. They probably didn’t see the need due to a booming economy. It’s amazing what happens when the SHTF and people suddenly realise that there are problems that we need to identify and correct (or, in National’s case, try to deny that there’s a problem).

      How come they haven’t got the data?

      They put in place the need for foreign investors to pay tax last year. It’s going to take awhile to collect and collate that data.

      • Muttonbird 3.1.1

        They began to collect data because Phil Twyford placed enough pressure on them to do so. Phil Twyford risked a lot of political capital in asking for the data. Hopefully young Kiwis will benefit from his bravery.

        This is yet another example of Labour governing from opposition.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.1

          Yep, agreed. That doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t have been done sooner.

      • dv 3.1.2

        They should have a yrs data now then, which will at least give an indication.

        HA
        SHTF management!!!!

      • Pat 3.1.3

        “It’s going to take awhile to collect and collate that data.”

        They knew full well the outcome but if you deliberately don’t measure then those stats cannot be used against you….they’ll drag this out as long as possible, then say “well it appears unbridled immigration and open slather on access appear to have created a bubble….who could’ve known?!!!”….might even swing them another term

    • AmaKiwi 3.2

      “John Key says the Government is waiting for better data”

      The Nats act on ideology, not data.

  4. save NZ 4

    From Granny Herald, just replace Grandmother with ‘Social welfare minister’ and “grandparents or either parents’ home ” with food banks to get our modern social welfare system.

    “24yo looking for her third property”

    “Her grandmother taught her how to budget and she had a unique way of deciding what her necessities were.

    “First you work out what it costs for all your needs – a place to live, power and water,” Mrs Verheul said.

    “Notice that I didn’t put food? This is the most variable need we have as people and it always comes into my budget second to savings. Once you have calculated your basic needs, you decide how much you ideally want or need to save.

    Then what ever is left over after that is left for food. Cereal bread and milk doesn’t cost the world, and neither does a can of tuna or a bag of rice.”

    As a student, she got her weekly food bill down to $40.

    “I mentally had to tell myself that food is just fuel for your body, cause of course you get sick of eating the same things over and over.”

    When she wanted a “a decent feed” she would grandparents or either parents’ home for dinner.”

    • Sabine 4.1

      is property one or two paid for? If not then the headline should be

      “24 year old looking at signing up third mortgage”

      hopes to all that is holy that she never looses her job or falls ill.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.2

      24 yo trained into being a sociopath by our dysfunctional society.

      • Sabine 4.2.1

        aside from that it still deserves pointing out that all these ‘property heroes and heroines’ don’t own anything at all. She owns a thousand or two of mortgage payments per week, which she would find hard to finance if she or her hubby would have an issue such as a job loss or an illness.

        I would like to see a follow up interview in four years time, and I would also then like to hear the opinion of the husband.

        It would be interesting to see how that went for them as a couple. I have worked for a girl very much like her a few years ago. The husband lasted 3 years and quit. He eventually felt like his ‘wife’ was his boss and quit. Funny that guy was an electrician.

      • North 4.2.2

        I remember the backlash when John-Key-Suck-Sheet-Herald went all gaga over the young guy on the way to a rental property empire starting with a $200K parental gift.

        Undeterred the Suck-Sheet’s broken a threshhold in social malice…….”Cereal bread and milk doesn’t cost the world, and neither does a can of tuna or a bag of rice.”

        It’s like “Listen up folks…….beyond that you’re a wastrel !”

        • save NZ 4.2.2.1

          @North – forgot to mention – the tuna probably made from slave labour… and tuna fishing is so abhorrent it should be banned.

          But aside from that. What the F is going on. People landed on the moon in 1969, what has happened to society when in the 21st century we have fishing slaves, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11627739, youth who feel they have to give up food to get shelter in NZ and people in the .1% suffering from affluenza and have so much money ,they buy gold shower curtains and live a life of fear someone will try to take their money or be put in jail.

          What a fucked up society we live in!!

          We need radical change in attitude and governments!! World wide!!!

    • Acting up 4.3

      What a miserable existence!

      • North 4.3.1

        I pity the hubby-to-be when the pre-nup’s jammed under his nose. It’ll be a bastard !

  5. maui 5

    Its on the feeds section on the right hand side, but its worth repeating for Anzac Day:
    http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-lest-we-forget

  6. Chooky 6

    ‘McAfee: If FBI gets backdoor to people’s phones, US society will collapse’

    https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/340570-digital-war-information-fight/

    They said that the war never changes – but what if it does?

    The introduction of digital technologies, the cyberspace of the World Wide Web has introduced new battlefields. Law enforcement, drug trade, political fights and terrorism have gone online. The fight for information and access to the hidden data is raging on, both in the legal sphere, with authorities trying to tighten the grip on the digital flow, and international, with army-like hacker groups searching for the cracks in the cyber defense of nations.

    How far will this fight go? Who has the upper hand?

    And can battles in virtual reality claim real lives? We ask the cyber-expert extraordinaire – John McAfee is on Sophie&Co today.

  7. Chooky 7

    Fracking under TPPA?

    ‘People should be terrified fracking is spreading’ – Australian MP who set river on fire to RT’

    https://www.rt.com/news/340752-australian-mp-river-fracking/

    “Fracking should be banned as a “global threat” as it causes methane leaks contaminating water in the communities near gas wells, says an Australian MP who literally set a river ablaze to draw attention to the adverse effects of the practice…

  8. b waghorn 8

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/302268/overworked-farmers-awarded-$20k-by-era
    Excellent , about time more of these “pretty hopeless” employers were named and shamed.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      The company was ordered to collectively pay Mr Reiher and Ms Morgan $21,907.42 in unpaid wages and compensation and was criticised for repeat offending.

      A business, when found to be breaking the law, needs to be nationalised with the ex-owners continuing to hold the debt and for those owners not to be allowed to own or run a business for a few years.

      Really, time to get as hard on business crime as all the others.

      • North 8.1.1

        Hear hear, just like the law already provides for disqualification from holding directorships and engaging stewardship of business entities. Even beyond the usual three year duration of bankruptcy.

  9. greywarshark 9

    There’s been comment on housing and share living lately so probably this Radionz piece has been put up but it won’t hurt to repeat it and repeat it….

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thiswayup/audio/201798190/communal-living-arrangements
    Shared living
    Just about everyone will have had some experience of sharing a house with flatmates. Maybe when you first leave home, at university, or when you get your first job.

    But the changing dynamics of rising rent and property prices, home ownership rates, and a more mobile workforce mean that more people are sharing living spaces, and doing it for longer. So in the US the number of 18 to 35 year olds living as roommates has almost doubled over the past 30 years.
    this is leading to opportunities for people trying to make a business out of offering flexible shared housing.

    Jana Kasperkevic has been taking a closer look at some of the communal living- or co-living- businesses in the market and how they work.

    Co-living examples: Open Door, Common. WeLive
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201798190

    • Bill 9.1

      Get together with some people on more or less ‘the same page’ as yourself. Set up a ltd company (not a trust – that’s all a bit stupid). Find a suitable property (old school?). Buy it. (Put a deposit down)

      Have good procedures for acceptance and rejection of tenants. All tenants are also company shareholders during the time they reside in the property. All tenants essentially pay rent to themselves (to the company) and that pays down the mortgage.

      The catch is to create an income stream in situ that means no-one has to engage with the job market.

      Once/if that’s achieved, and people sensibly agree to move beyond the scenario of individual income, then the money they help earn becomes subject to company tax. There is no PAYE (nothing is being earned), also meaning no student loan repayments 🙂

      Then peeps can get back down to exploring the possibilities of community – free from the divisive dynamics that inevitably flow from people competing with one another in order to secure individual incomes.

      Easily and legally do-able in NZ. And yet….

    • Graeme 9.2

      Yeah, was listening to that on Saturday. Thought it very similar to what’s been happening in the retirement market, where corporates / public companies have been taking over retirement homes and villages from the previous Ma & Pa operators and then moving the industry off into another level. This is doing the same thing to the boarding houses that used to be around up until the 70s.

      The US examples seem to be reasonably up market, a lot like the current crop of retirement villages. Got to remember that these people are in to turn a profit, hopefully a good one.

      There was something similar built down here last cycle but it went tits up pretty quickly, undercapitalised. Looks like the second mouse might have got the cheese though. There’s also the Chalets in Cromwell, ex MOW single mens camp, that’s still going strong but in private ownership. There’s a very strong market for market for that sort of accomodation around Queenstown from people who have come into the district for work and/or lifestyle. There’s talk of some big rental and co-living developments in the old Gorge Road industrial area and old High School with a proposed high density residential zoning in the new District Plan. A couple of the big employers are taking a lead here, NZSki has taken most or all of the Chalets this winter for skifield staff and are looking at permanent arrangements. Weather they do it themselves or sub it out to a specialist provider to be determined.

      We’ve got a Housing Trust doing social housing on a co or captive ownership model, they are looking at rental models now.

      Someone also mentioned Council involvement, which brought a sharp intake of breath from some of “small government” members of our community.

    • millsy 9.3

      Communual living arrangements are all good, but people still need their own space.

      • Colonial Viper 9.3.1

        I don’t disagree with you. But just a note that is a luxury concept for billions around the world in places like China, India and Africa.

  10. greywarshark 10

    Looking at the latest agricultural invasion outrage – velvet leaf. Got away because tainted seed was apparently deliberately bought from a contaminated area probably because it was cheap enough to make a big profit and still sell it to farmers at a discount with a proviso that it was second grade or somesuch.

    Quote from Robert Guyton:

    Hence the huge, sustained and very expensive efforts to seek and destroy the plants. Not much comment in the media about how the situation arose, why the decision was made to import from an infected area and why the seed was not “clean”.

    It’s a major botch-up by MPI, I reckon and a very expensive one. Our own regional council is redirecting much of its energies away from its core functions into this search and while we are assured that MPI will pay back what we’ve had to spend, Environment Southland is losing valuable time in the fight to protect the waters of Southland from those other threats that have long been identified.

    That last point was my bold. One, this is an expense that someone has to wear, government or local govt, for an unprincipled business deal definitely not an inadvertent one from some idiot that doesn’t know shit from clay. And, secondly, we are stamping out bush fires but not successfully. There are huge problems trying to remediate substantial ongoing problems from last decades botch ups and foul practices. This is additional. We have huge problems looming to deal with known future climate change effects that are happening, and already observable. WTF is the awareness and action in NZ? Do we have to storm government, storm the bastille to get responsible government and action!!@!

    Here is the link to take you back to the original comments.
    http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24042016/#comment-1164612
    edited

  11. Penny Bright 11

    More historical background on Major General Smedley Butler – seen this?

    //www.counterpunch.org/2011/12/02/wall-streets-failed-1934-coup/
    DECEMBER 2, 2011
    Wall Street’s Failed 1934 Coup
    by MICHAEL DONNELLY

    “In the last few weeks of the committee’s official life it received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country…There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.”

    – Report of the McCormack-Dickstein Committee

    A Patriot, not the Traitor they wanted

    You know the coup plot they teach all young Americans about in 10th Grade History class? Oh yeah…

    In November 1934, famed double Medal of Honor winner Marine Gen. Smedley Butler gave secret testimony before the McCormack-Dickstein committee – a precursor to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In it, Butler told of a plot headed by a group of wealthy businessmen (The American Liberty League) to establish a fascist dictatorship in the United States, complete with concentration camps for “Jews and other undesirables.”
    …….

    ________

    Penny Bright
    2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.

  12. weka 12

    is it just me or is the standard loading very slowly in the past week?

    • Bill 12.1

      No, it’s not just you experiencing slow loading.

    • Incognito 12.2

      Very slow indeed and OM often appears as an empty page (i.e. nothing else displayed) with a little red flag in the URL.

      • CoroDale 12.2.1

        Slow loading n broken links usual means comments are on target, so good work team. Govts world-wide are looking like fish-food at the moment. Can media be civilised long enough to allow fair elections? The damage seems too deep – back to regional govt where possible. Fingers crossed that China will run our bankrupt Reserve Bank, with sympathy. Till we’re ready at the ground level, ready to get things back in rhythm, for the people.

    • whispering kate 12.3

      It isn’t just you Weka, I am also experiencing slow loading. We also had the same problem with our names disappearing from our address area – that has been fixed though.

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    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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