This is what Labour should be doing in the next 3 years.
Only a very small percentage of roofs have solar power (or at least serious solar) in Wanaka yet in South Australia roof solar was able to provide 77% of the state's power on this day and solar farms the other 23%.
It's bizarre beyond belief that NZ hasn't taken up various solar tech. I can only assume it's part of the rort that happens in the building industry. Not sure why governments haven't been keen, although I guess 9 Key years are obvious. That and few want to mess with the electricity industry (god knows why, if anything needed reform its that).
Is the market regulator tilting against feed-ins, or is the regulator abdicating responsibility and failing to regulate, leaving it all up to the retailer's beneficence in offering anything at all for power fed back in from home systems?
The electricity market should be competitive and deliver affordable, clean electricity
And that's the Greens not understanding economics.
Of course, its what everyone else believes as well despite all the evidence showing competition and the profit motive doesn't bring about the desired results of a better society.
Never mind, I guess I’ll have to ask a member of the Greens to confirm your view of them and interpretation of their path to implementation of their policies.
Shareholders of privatised electricity companies now have a vested interest in resisting change. Dealing with them will be a good test of this government's resolve. Or lack of it.
solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds. gov also needs to get serious about tyre recycling. private industry is a bust with that. ltsa needs to mandate a recycled tyre component into new road resealing. leaving things like this up to private industry is a nonsense.
Me too – and what would stop local governments from setting an example?
Wairarapa where I live has four district councils that already work together on some issues. Any region has a community of interests. Every region is concerned about solar power and water use among all the other issues. Let's see regions like mine develop good plans 'pour encourager les autres', which the government is likely to consider supporting.
As our PM has said, leadership is about taking the people with you. If we're to achieve the best of the changes our new world needs, doesn't that responsibility have to work both ways?
to woodart at 3.2 : absolutely agree re solar panels and water reticulation . I with others tried to get compulsory instalment of rain water storage built in to the then beginning explosion of housing around Gulf Harbour instead of bringing piped water along Peninsula.. We had 10.000 gallons under our deck in a modest house.
Big business prevailed even though Rodney and Auckland well aware and concerned about availability of supply.
I also remember discussion probably from a remit at a Labour conference some decades ago in favour of making cheap solar panels available.
Comment starts in the name field and people forget and simply start typing. Once they realise then they switch to the comment field but often forget to fix the name field.
Would probably be best to have it start in the comment field if the plugin supports it.
It's almost beyond depressing the disincentives toward solar and local generation in New Zealand. Most lines companies are reluctant at best, but they have a problem with networks that were designed to deliver in one direction and that can take a bit of changing. There's also systemic / structural difficulties where the electricity system has been turned from an essential social and economic service to a profit generating industry.
There's a couple of significant regions, Gisborne and Queenstown, that have only one feed from the Grid too, a loss of that feed is a big problem. Gisborne was without power for three days when a topdressing plane took out the line and the consequences of a span or pylon coming down on the Queenstown feed don't bear thinking about. Adequate embedded generation capacity is really handy on so many counts.
A program of dealing with the infrastructure and systematic barriers, and providing financial pathways to household solar, preferably with batteries, would have paybacks in so many areas. Unfortunately this could be a bit tricky as will mean a comprehensive reform of the sector.
It wouldn't need a 'big' quake to cause problems on either of those lines. In Gisborne's case they were lucky it was just a span down, if it had taken a pylon as well it would have been a lot longer.
In both situations there's multiple faults that could cause trouble, and quite unstable geology. But the loss of the line for a week would have an impact to a quake, but without the physical damage. We'd still be evacuating a large part of the district.
We haven't got time in between weather and other traumas in the precarious 21st century, to refit all the houses that would have been built to 20th century standards. Get the right practical designs (with good drainage sytems – no mediterranean-styled roofs) and systems, now under Labour before the wicked witch or wizard of the west gets back in power by casting a spell over the country!
As woodart says up near 3 – solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds.
"Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government."
Solar is good, but I'm more interested in household wind turbines.
I did a little research and found small turbines, which could be attached to a roof, can generate around 3kw per hour. Living in a windy area that's quite enticing, but there are planning regulations and hoops to jump through, and make it probably not worth the hassle and added costs to the original outlay.
With a smart meter, I see I use on average about 7kw per day, so likely I would not only be energy neutral, but be adding to the national grid. Multiply that by tens of thousands and that's plenty more renewables going in to the system.
What's the deal with being a contributor as far as the power companies are concerned? How much do they still try to milk you for, ie line costs etc…?
Wind mills can be made from smart drive washing machine motors for less than $20.But you will need an electrician to wire it up as it generates 240 volts .
yep…but thought you were talking about ridge line systems…have thought they might be a viable option as standard installation on new builds but havnt come across much about them and thought you may have.
The big commercial wind farms? Not to me. I'd rather see them all over than coal fired power stations belching carbon. When there's a better way of doing it, they can be taken down.
In an urban setting they're no more unsightly than rusting out satellite dishes.
Its not an entirely free-market as the its owned by profiteering schmucks and they pretty much have veto power over it. Considering that having solar power from private residential premises would cut their profits then they do everything they can to prevent people taking up solar up to, and including, blaming solar installations for rising power price for everyone else (yeah, can't find that article now – was from when National were in power).
It's worse than that Draco as solar power from private residential premises exported is sold next door, or wherever it ends up as Electrons go with the flow at full retail.
The solar export residence get's about 20% of retail and the power industry takes profit from infrastructure it neither owns, maintains and spreads BS about it being bad for the network.
An added kicker is when the grid is down the panels shut down as a safety feature so we get screwed over again.
Hydro involves modifying/wrecking the landscape way too much, as does onshore wind-power, though offshore is much better. (A single wind-farm would wreck the unsullied and wonderful 360 degree views in the Maniototo from near Ophir or from the rail-trail.)
Ideally when we have 8 million people in NZ in 2068 (link below) electricity needs will be 100% met from existing hydro, more efficient use of power, solar and, if necessary, additional wind-farms, but offshore only.
That's a very complicated question with a lot of variables for both PV and hydro.
Wikipedia quotes IPCC 2014 for a range (in grams CO2 eq/ kWhr) for PV of 18 to 180, for hydro it's 1.0 to 2200 (compared to coal at 740 to 910). I've seen a lot of stuff indicating producing PV panels has improved dramatically since 2014, so using 2014 figures makes PV look worse than it really is now.
Factors affecting hydro include how much land with vegetation is flooded that then releases methane from the lake, whether the scheme uses a huge dam and stored water or is run of the river through a tunnel or canal, whether dams and canals are concrete or earth construction, how long before reservoirs are silted up, the albedo of the reservoir compared to what was there before (forest, grassland, desert) etc.
Factors affecting PV include how efficient the manufacturing process is, how clean the energy used for production is, the previous albedo of where the PV panels are installed, lifetime of the panels etc.
Big picture takeaway still remains being careful about getting more efficient in necessary uses of energy, and reducing wastage wherever possible is the only emissions-free lunch. Otherwise, all energy supply involves some emissions, it's just a question of how much. In that big picture, for New Zealand, adding PV may well be one of our lower emissions paths.
Personally I'd rather do PV than new hydro, excepting the Onslow-Manorburn proposal which is a storage scheme rather than a new generation scheme.
Beat me to it! Pretty much agree with your above comment here.
The other factor involved in the environmental effects of solar, is the longevity of the technology, and the impacts of the materials used.
IIRC the early PV cells became useless after a few years, but the later silicon cells could last around 25 years. Now the newest technology involves spray on coatings which although cheap and quick to manufacture and replicate are less efficient than the silicon and don't last as long and worse are plastic based.
Unlike silicon solar cells, cells made from plastic require far less energy. However as a material plastic cannot generate electricity as efficiently as silicon. Not only that, solar panels made from silicon have a life expectancy of 25 years. While it’s doubtful that plastic solar cells would ever be able to compete, scientists are claiming that if energy costs can be lowered sufficiently plastic solar cells could potentially become more effective over their life cycle, compared to silicon cells. Scientists are currently working on increasing the energy conversion efficiency and the life cycle of plastic solar cells.
Andre-I notice adverse landscape effects don't figure in your world. Now I can see it wasn’t just the WT that put you off the Greens.
Fortunately we have people like Anton Oliver (ex-AB) in the community who helped to stop a wind-farm monstrosity in Central Otago in 2006.
I have driven several times through Spain over the past few years and seen plenty of landscape massively degraded by wind-farms.
Other energy-related highly invasive landscape effects include proposed small-scale hydro that destroy important wild rivers on the West Coast. From memory I think the coalition quashed one such proposal in the last term (ministers Parker/Sage?).
Gabby's question was specifically about how green, which generally means emissions. Hence my answer was focused on emissions.
If any forms of generation that have visible landscape effects are off the table, what is left? Idiot knee-jerk opposition to changes like that are what has kept a lot of coal and gas burning around the world.
I'll limit my comment about your driving around Spain multiple times recently to noting that behaviour like that is a significant contributor to the climate crisis we're dealing with right now.
None of it is green. Some of it is less impactful than others (which is what I think you were asking), but until we move to steady state (including population) we will continue to be driven by over-extraction and climate disrupting tech.
All developed nations could now be mandating passive tech in new builds, thus lowering power consumption. High tech, esp large scale power generation shouldn't be the starting point, it should come after we've used passive tech and reduced demand.
those materials have to be extracted from somewhere. Theoretically at some point we might reach some kind of close to equilibrium with recycling and manufacture, but not if we keep perpetual growth as our main driver of economics.
There are printable solar panels/coatings now starting to be produced I believe. I've looked at it quite hard and with interest rates where they are just investing in panels using it to cut the daytime use of power out is starting to look better. Any storage is the expensive bit
It's reaching the point where the cost of the panels is becoming less and less of the cost, while regulatory costs, installation, inverters etc are staying high. Storage costs are coming down too, again it's the other associated bits keeping package costs high.
For me, I've got my electricity cost down to $600 – $700 year, so I really don't see value in adding a PV system. Let alone the overhanging trees regularly dropping stuff big enough to damage panels. If I were doing a new build however, getting a new lines connection is so fkn expensive that going off-grid might be close to the same initial cost.
But going on grid would be more beneficial to society especially if it was well planned and maintained.
In other words, going back to a state monopoly that includes the solar panels on private rooves is the only viable option because it would then remove the individualist decision making that fails to do what's needed for society.
+100 the solution is returning it to the people and running it as a single network not the dysfunctional club it currently is.
Bradfords reforms were all about creating a gravy train for the club members and obfuscation so the average punter gives up before they realise it's a con job.
Yes, returning power generation and supply to full public ownership would clear the way for sustainable electricity that most could afford including solar.
Compensation to the current gougers and their captive artificial market could be made over the next 50 years!
I don't know, but I've noticed that sometimes you can get more energy out of them than you put in, depending on how they're wound up. Could be a profitable line of research for someone. I'd be willing to put myself forward as a research subject if required.
One of the enlightened Stuart M thanks, and one of the Pillar Group who want to enable the country to conserve its good things, and prepare for the future known problems. 2002-2020 have we changed, have we any more agency than earlier, or just to be ignored or teased with schemes to keep us quiet? And our politicians, we must bring in a maximum of three terms or we have fat-necked pussies who 'know better' manipulating their electorate or constituency so they manage to stay and stay with dwindling returns to the citizens.
I'll just shove in here some words from Elton John's Song For You because I think they need to be our nation's theme song going further into the 21st century and spell out the way we all need to try to value each other.
"Your Song"
("Elton John" Version)
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song, and this one's for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on…
Mmm – I did use to listen to a bit of Elton John back in the day. But when it comes to the political culture of doing nothing, it's maybe more like Warren Zevon:
You're supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things.
Man, that's hard to do. And if you don't, they'll screw you.
And if you do, they'll screw you, too…
MmmmI guess the thing is to enter into politics and planning with goodwill, go on a quest for the most effective and practical outcomes, and get something done as a result of each plan, even something small!
"The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation."
and that is exactly why I after doing the sums did not go ahead. Also battery storage technology is still evolving and I would not put in a solar power system without the ability to store the surplus. Instead I bought a hybrid car which is saving me a huge % on my annual car runnin costs – and the car's batteries, when they are not effcient enough for the car, can be recycled to be solar storage batteries. But that is years away.
“A $9.5 million house is being built in Christchurch. Shaped like the letter Z, swimming pool and tennis court. When completed, it’s going to be one of the biggest and priciest properties in town. The owner? A director at Foodstuffs South Island and owner of Pak 'n Save Wainoni, one of Christchurch’s poorest areas.”
Everything that is wrong with our economy encapsulated here.
…One property in Havelock has been found using 33,000 litres of water a day, while another is going through 28,000 litres of water a day. The test results from Renwick showed a house leaking 67,200 litres of water a day.
The council notified owners "as a courtesy" when there was evidence of a significant leak, but it was up to property owners to find and repair them, she said. Some of the 62 properties with leaks were zoned commercial….
Under the new system, residents on water meters could be charged a flat fee of $200 for their first 200 cubic metres of water (200,000 litres). After that, Havelock residents could be charged $1.60 per 1000 litres used….
Properties with "large" leaks of more than 72 litres a day would therefore use at least 92 percent of their base water allocation if they continued without fixing the leak. Havelock residents paid an annual $510 fee at present….
Renwick dealt with water restrictions most summers and salt water could get into Havelock's water if demand jumped and water supplies dropped, as it had three years ago. Climate change was expected to put more pressure on the aquifer which supplied its water. A sea level rise could see salt entering Havelock's water more often, and higher temperatures could encourage higher water use…
Meters for commercial properties are fine, but not for dwellings. Because it enables right wing councils to charge for water on a policy change without requiring massive infrastructure investment.
Meters also enable landlords to evade costs by making the water bill the tenants' problem, like power or internet.
Why should domestic water wastrels and those too careless to look after their plumbing get to shift the cost of their profligacy onto all the other ratepayers?
IIRC, the law for costs where there are meters is the landlord pays for the fixed parts of the bill and the tenant pays for the variable usage parts of the bill. Here in Dorkland my bill is a fixed wastewater charge of $18.35/month, and because of the drought I've pared my water use down to somewhere around 30 litres/day (1 unit per month). My variable charge is $1.59/month to supply the water and $2.16/month to take it away again after I've filled it with piss and shit.
But we know there are constant efforts to privatise water supplies and stuff it up as royally as every other monopoly that gets privatised.
If regular flow monitoring shows a block or suburb is disproportionately using water, use the regular leak detection protocols to hone in on the cause. But routine monitoring of each household will result in privatisation of water supply, which means more people with skin infections in poor neighbourhoods, sometimes to the point of hospitalisation.
It has never been closely examined whether what ratepayers save in water gets paid by taxpayers via the health system.
All of Orcland is metered and charged by usage, so usage data should be available for any intrepid researcher that wants it.
Do you know of any studies around skin infections or other health problems in NZ being correlated with people feeling they need to not use water because of its cost? It's not something I can recall even hearing a whisper of.
Hell, even Penny Bright (R.I.P.) didn't try that as one of her arguments, and I was always quite impressed at how inventive she could get.
edit: meanwhile, that Auckland is universally metered is usually credited as one of the reasons Aucklanders are claimed to have the lowest per capita water usage of all population centers in NZ.
Watercare is about to take over the whole of Northland's supply as well.
So, together with the Waikato catchment they already supply, they are heading for about 2/5ths of New Zealand on metered and chlorinated and flourided happiness.
I can't understand why Councils don't look after their own water as part of their services. There should be no separate entity, just a department within the purview of the Council. This splitting up under I suppose neolib disruption just muddies the water, perhaps literally.
The way things are going, it won't be long before Watercare is the water department for all of the north island. Then all of New Zealand. Nationalisation by another route. Bwahahahaha, universal domination.
The best reason for a big organisation like Watercare to do it for the small councils is small councils are often really crap at it. Either they don't spend the money for the equipment and expertise, and produce lousy water quality (for trips around NZ I tend to bring along enough drinking water for my whole trip), or they do spend the money to do it properly and it ends up really expensive because those costs are spread over a small base.
We might speculate about that all day, but lowering flow rates to people who can't afford their bill could have something to do with their access to hygiene. The connection is plausible enough that I don't want to touch it with a bargepole.
All of auckland might be metred, but many other towns aren't, and frankly metering is only a precursor to attempted sell-offs.
Not to mention the concept that water is a right, not a commodity.
There are other ways to find heavy water users, if it's a problem. But metering is simply a way to disguise rate hikes for most people.
Catchment boards soon realised that a whole-farm approach was needed when several methods were in use. The farmer had to adopt a mutually agreed ‘farm plan’ over a set period, normally five years.
A farm plan was based on a land capability survey. This divided farmland into eight classes – four arable (crop-growing) and four non-arable. The surveys were first done in 1952.
Engineers vs conservators
The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 linked erosion with flooding. Catchment board staff were river engineers and soil conservators, who often disagreed on how to control flooding.
Some engineers believed that works such as stop banks and stone gabions (rocks inside wire mesh) would control flooding, whereas soil conservators considered that the upper parts of a river catchment should be the focus. Eventually both viewpoints were included in flood control programmes.
Pat I noticed that the article finished with a query. And this piece I have copied has relevance now as the RMA is under change. I am not sure what the effect of that will be. Do you know? People seem approving but will things be no holds barred? The idea of agencies run on business lines such as Watercare doesn't seem to be an automatic outcome of the previous legislation.
Regional councils as we know them today were established in 1989, under the Local Government Amendment Act. Regional council boundaries approximately followed river catchment boundaries. This legislation rationalised the bodies carrying out functions at a regional and local level – reducing the catchment boards and other government bodies that had proliferated over the last century from more than 800 to 86.
The newly created regional councils inherited a range of resource management responsibilities from the existing boards and councils, including for flood and erosion control functions transferred from the catchment boards and planning functions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, as well as transport and civil defense functions.
But it was not until 1991, with the enactment of the Resource Management Act, that responsibilities under a cohesive and integrated resource management regime were delegated to regional councils.
But what of the significant challenges that regional councils face, and their ability to fulfill their natural resource management responsibilities in an increasingly challenging environmental landscape? These outstanding questions will be explored in an upcoming post.
"A second irony is evident in the way the Resource Management Bill evolved. The Bill was first developed in the late 1980s under a Labour Government, with Geoffrey Palmer as Minister for the Environment. The Bill was underpinned by the concept of “sustainable development”, based on a concept of balancing economic objectives against environmental objectives (otherwise known as “trade-offs”). However in 1990, before the Bill could be enacted, the Labour government lost power, and a National government took office, with Simon Upton assuming the environmental portfolio. To the surprise of many, Upton decided not to abandon the Bill but instead to review it. As a result of the review, there was a shift from balancing economic and environmental objectives, to that of economic objectives being “constrained” by environmental ones; a shift encompassed in the concept of “sustainable management”, which is fundamental to the purpose of the law (Section 5). As a result, when the Act was passed in 1991, it was, according long-time environmentalist and then-government advisor Guy Salmon, “greener” conceptually than the Bill originally conceived by the more left-leaning Labour government."
And i'm not sure I agree with that assessment….the old catchment boards had a more holistic view and a more environmentally focused response IMO….mind you they operated in a significantly different environment with far less pressure
Why people give any credence toward the USA beats me. What has the US done for the benefit of peace or peaceful co-existence, the only country to unleash a nuclear bomb x 2 murdering millions of civilians.
North Korea, flattened by them in 1950s, did that bring peace?. Vietnam, where the US used chemical weapons manufactured in NZ by Watkins/ Dow and mercenary fighters from around the globe including NZ. Still there are malformed births from Agent Orange. Peace?.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure. What a mess. Peace there?. Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess. Peace there?.
Left out many other atrocities against other lands by the war-virus that is the USA. a blight on humanity. What has changed, nothing, and nothing will change whilst people give support to this truly evil military regime. Do you?
You've a good example in Iraq, and a lousy one in Korea. Korea asked for US help to avoid the Japanese annexation before 1910, and having been abandoned by the retreating Japanese was only too pleased to resist Stalin's puppet regime. Had the North made a decent country of itself, you'd have a case – but they chose to be despots – deserving even less sympathy than Saddam Hussein. South Korea, in no small part through the sacrifice of Kim Jae-gyu, is a lively independent democracy today.
Brigid I don't know that Stuart was that positive about the USA. Why are you dissing him?
And Stuart – going to the Wikipedia link you put up on Kim Jae-gyu (it is important to get the latter name right! – many Kims), it is a great example of the awful competitive problems all countries can have, with people trying to gain or control power and turn it up or down.
Park was a patriot and a reformer who gradually became a dictator. The man who assassinated him was his old friend, who had no illusions of surviving the act. So Korea survived as neither a US puppet nor a nasty militarized regime – quite an achievement considering the pattern for US-backed strongmen.
Perhaps NZ parliamentarians need to be faced with a sign over the main doors – 'We don't promise you a rose garden'. Or with the malevolent sarcasm of the Nazi use of 'Work will set you free' a notice that 'Serving your country whether in the army or as a politician may cost you your life'.
I don't think that NZ pollies, especially from the right side, expect to front up to such ideological traumas as the South Korean you referred to. Having the ability to change pollies, and their civil service heads, prevents power concreting to the absolute corruption level.
Finding balance is the task it seems, between constant change with no long term responsibility for good planning and decisions, and the ability of the agile villain to appeal long-term to the infantile, lurking dissenter inside many, who will accept corruption as smart organising if the PR is plausible.
Yes, dead right – the abiding virtue of democracy, from a political science point of view, is that is allows peaceful transfers of power.
When democracy becomes as distorted as it has in the US under Trump however, it is no longer certain that this is possible, or that a peaceful process that accommodates Trumpism is preferable to a Heimlich manoeuvre that expels him forcefully from America's political throat.
Assassination has removed much better presidents than Trump.
It was the North that attacked however, first on their own, then, after they were repulsed, with Chinese support. The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them – which is why NZ troops were there to teach the locals this, which they call yeon ga.
One must be extraordinarily undiscriminating to endorse the North Korean regime.
When will you learn to make a compelling argument that goes beyond simple adjectives and mere reckons? None of your comments today contains any original input from you, no thought, no argument, no reason(ing) except for adjectives such as “absurd”, “repulsive”, or “brilliant”. Wow!
What are you going to ‘enlighten’ us with next, a GIF?
I have written on this forum many, many carefully argued critiques of radio dramas, TV shows, films, political speeches, political campaigns, etc. If you think that that extreme right wing racist casino billionaire who funds Trump's campaign is anything other than "repulsive", then you can enlighten us as to exactly why.
Do you think Evo Morales's performance on the Daily Show was not brilliant? Why not? The audience and the host were obviously deeply impressed by him. Was I wrong to point out that extremely rare quality in a political leader?
Your point about my use of the word "absurd" to dismiss Stuart's post is well taken. I apologise to Stuart and everyone else for my lazy and reductive putdown.
A well-written critique is more than a few adjectives leading to a superficial judgement.
When you use certain adjectives to describe your view of people without stating the reason, it becomes a shallow throwaway comment that offers no insight(s) and no point of connection with others who might read your comment. You might as well say that you hated Brussels sprouts when you were young, which may be 100% true, but it does not make for debate because we cannot discuss personal taste; all it does is saying something about you.
I hope you’re getting it because asking me to argue with you why those adjectives may not apply is putting the onus on me and asking me about my taste. For the record, I love Brussels sprouts, but I don’t know why.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure.
Apart from those poor sods who were gassed by the dictator who ruled through fear and violence
Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess.
Yeah, 'cause the brotherly leader Gadaffy Duck's third international theory wasn't brought down by widespread corruption and unemployment, by the people who were no longer fooled by cults of personality.
Don't know what you're talking about with the 'no' and 'yes' thing – I just pointed out a couple of gaping holes in your claims of Iraqi and Libyan peaceful democracies nonsense, but if you want to attribute something else you think I meant with that correction, so be it.
Libya was the most secular of the arab states…women had full equality of access to the education that was free to post-graduate level… there was universal free healthcare…when couples married they were given a house to live in..and $40,000 u.s. to help them on their way…gaddaffi was wiped out because he was setting up a new pan arab/african bank….this was obamas' war-crime..it is now a fundamentalist hellhole..
I am not saying gaddaffi was perfect…but everything I said about life in Libya for libyans is true..and also the reason for his overthrow…is all true….u CD google that….and life in Libya is better now..is it..?..that was good that obama did..?..was it..?…to give h.clark her due in this..she refused to play along with the charade…
That was how the trams used to be in Auckland. I rode on them when small. There was a narrow island platform which you crossed the road to stand on, they trundled along according to their timetable, you got on and paid the conductor – sitting on simple slat wooden seats. At certain points, the driver had to change his power pole to travel on another line, pulling down against a spring, and swinging it to connect onto the new line. Then off we would go, and at the other end the pole would be pulled down and the one at the other end would drive back retracing the route. (It was probably the same as the Christchurch one reinstalled on the initiative of John Britten.)
Thanks for the memory greywarshark. I remember the trams as a kid too. In the school holidays mums took us kids into Queen St. for a few hours on the roof of Farmers in Albert St., where we were left careering around in toy cars and crashing into one another as often as we could while said mums went off to do their shopping on the lower floors. Then it was sandwiches and cream buns for lunch in the cafetaria and back down to Queen St to catch the tram home. Good days them.
Edit: Maybe that is why we’re such a car obsessed nation. 😉
We'll all get updated once there's a Cabinet meeting with a new Cabinet.
From Twyford's answer to the Stuff article they already have the MoT advice they need and are just waiting for a chance to ratify at Cabinet: "It is our policy to press ahead…"
Very weird that Twyford is being quoted before the new Cabinet positions are set. At minimum it means either PM and Min Finance are totally on board, or the sources in the article are stale.
Or Stuff is being used to apply pressure by other players. The business case will be interesting reading, especially if Twyford has prioritised a fast trip to the airport for politicians and executives over frequent street-level connections and lower cost.
There are interesting anomalies in how women and men get treated FTTT. I hope sex-change aspirants and wannabes understand that. This is a new variant.
Two passengers from QR908 both told the ABC they had no idea what was happening to them when all women on the plane were asked to get off after a three-hour delay on 2 October….
It had been due to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha at 8:30pm local time but was delayed for three hours after a premature baby was found in a bathroom at the terminal – a detail confused passengers said was not communicated to them…
One of the women said all adult females were removed from the plane by authorities and taken to two ambulances waiting outside the airport.
"No-one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying," she said.
"There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave. A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane.
"There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I'm pretty sure she was searched."
…"Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing [the airport]."
Qatar Airways have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mother of the baby has not been located…
…"When I got in there, and there was a lady with a mask on and then the authorities closed the ambulance behind me and locked it," she said.
"They never explained anything.
"She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina.
"I said 'I'm not doing that' and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'we need to see it we need to see it'."
The woman said she took her clothes off and was inspected, and touched, by the female nurse….
Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne confirmed today that the women had contacted the Australian government at the time of the incident and that the government has formally raised concerns with Qatar….
"The advice that has been provided indicates that the treatment of the women concerned was offensive, grossly inappropriate, and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
"It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context.
A very mild comment from the Australian government when this was an assault on their nationals.
There is the problem in Australia where the uptake on solar is large. It means the costs of maintaining the wider system is borne by a smaller and less moneyed section of the community. As more become self sufficient on energy the more the poorer sections of the community bear the cost of the network.
DanS This should be up with the solar thread, which is about No.7 and pressing a Reply button there would have put it by the other solar comments.
It seems after reading your comment that falling profit and fewer numbers will result in companies selling out, and a monopoly left which would be the opposite to the governments intention to provide competition. The govt will have to buy back the electricity company/ies so government can run them with reasonable charges concentrating on a cost-recovery basis.
Some compromises are needed here I think. The elderly have more time and energy than those working and with family and care responsibilities, to think about and demand what they want and continue in the same vein. We have the same people writing to the paper here for many decades mostly with complaints.
"I make no apologies for being persistent," Millar said, noting he was a marina berth-holder at the time.
He had been emailing the council over a reduction in car parking at the inner harbour, and said he was stopped from further alerting councillors to "pertinent issues".
"This was just a smokescreen to cover the stuff that I had been trying to portray."
89 pages of correspondence
However, GDC internal partnerships director James Baty said it had 89 pages worth of correspondence with Millar about the inner harbour, dating back to 2011, and despite being advised he was an unreasonable complainant on 14 February, and being blocked from the council's Facebook page, Millar continued making contact with elected members and staff for another two months.
"At this point his email address was blocked," Baty said.
Interesting about the USA deporting Marshall Islanders back home and why.
Sounds like Australians deporting NZs home.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/429192/us-deportations-likely-up-in-fy2020 [Marshall Islands Attorney-General] Hickson said US authorities had requested the 33 be given an exemption to return to the Marshalls.
But he said local authorities informed the US that the border remained closed until further notice because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 202 Marshallese were deported from the US during the seven-year period from FY2013 to FY2019, an average of 29 per year. Crimes for which Marshallese are deported include violence such as sexual assault and murder as well as fraud involving money theft or failing to appear for scheduled court hearings.
Suspect Labour will end up closer to 51% than 50% after Specials … acknowledged expert Graeme Edgler guesses 49.9% … I think that’s too low.
(Only proviso … that no-one has mentioned afaik … is the uncertain implications arising from the unique disparity in 2020 between Advanced & Election Day Party Support)
Do you think the disparity between advanced party votes and Election Day party votes is due to the demographic differences? Older more conservative voters with longstanding election habits voting on polling day while other voters were happy to vote early?
.
Possibly … but bear in mind that if that demographic rationale is correct then it should've applied in 2017 too … and yet the Advance vs Election Day differences were minimal in that Election.
Just over 1 million Advanced Votes in 2017 (compared to just under 1.7 m in 2020):
Labour 1.7 points higher in Advance Voting vs Election Day(2017) but a massive 6 points higher in Advance Voting2020.
National 1.1 lower in Advance compared to Election Day(2017) but a significant 5 points down (2020).
The extra 700k Advanced Votes in 2020 can’t account for that massively increased disparity …
Sir Roger Penrose: 'The Big Bang was not the beginning. There was something before, and that something is what we will have in our future'
Isn't that great. The scientists and world-moulders have even more reasons to not look around them. Our planet is so boring, they've seen all they want to they say peevishly and in their blase' way they leave us coping with our own filth and bacteria and fungi which we now find are at the basis of life and death. So let's wallow in earth and leave the elevated minds to destroy themselves in space, as long as they leave our earth to us.
In the year 2525 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic
(The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas. Members of the Odessa Symphony also participated in the recording.
Artists: Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals (It went to No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and they never had another near hit. Outer space man.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
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Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
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Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party.When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events.When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game.Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.”Some think that’s ...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
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Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Another landslide election victory for the left. British Columbia NDP premier John Hogan has won big after calling a snap election.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-election-results-2020-1.5776058
The Greens got and excellent 15.3% in BC, and got 3 seats.
Your link to the results Scott said it was a bad night for the Greens but they came second in many races.
Under MMP the Greens would have got 13 seats.
Labour Day. Lest we forget.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Duncan_Parnell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
This is what Labour should be doing in the next 3 years.
Only a very small percentage of roofs have solar power (or at least serious solar) in Wanaka yet in South Australia roof solar was able to provide 77% of the state's power on this day and solar farms the other 23%.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-25/all-sa-power-from-solar-for-first-time/12810366
Central government really needs to step up here.
It's bizarre beyond belief that NZ hasn't taken up various solar tech. I can only assume it's part of the rort that happens in the building industry. Not sure why governments haven't been keen, although I guess 9 Key years are obvious. That and few want to mess with the electricity industry (god knows why, if anything needed reform its that).
+100
Market regulator tilts the new home owner against feed-ins.
Is the market regulator tilting against feed-ins, or is the regulator abdicating responsibility and failing to regulate, leaving it all up to the retailer's beneficence in offering anything at all for power fed back in from home systems?
Little difference in practise.
EA has just subbed out the whole idea of sustainable electricity to EECA, and buried it.
It's just on no policy radar anywhere so far as I can tell.
https://www.greens.org.nz/energy_policy
And that's the Greens not understanding economics.
Of course, its what everyone else believes as well despite all the evidence showing competition and the profit motive doesn't bring about the desired results of a better society.
Are you saying that the Greens believe that the path to and for progress and transformation is through market competition?
That does seem to be what they've stated – on many occasions IIRC.
Never mind, I guess I’ll have to ask a member of the Greens to confirm your view of them and interpretation of their path to implementation of their policies.
The whole electricity structure is weighted towards the corporate generators and transmitters.
With the transmitters,the bias is against both small generators (including households) and local generation.
Its a big f/up.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00254/labours-clean-energy-policy-promotes-predatory-investment.htm
Shareholders of privatised electricity companies now have a vested interest in resisting change. Dealing with them will be a good test of this government's resolve. Or lack of it.
solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds. gov also needs to get serious about tyre recycling. private industry is a bust with that. ltsa needs to mandate a recycled tyre component into new road resealing. leaving things like this up to private industry is a nonsense.
Weka and Woodart…..couldn't agree more.
Me too – and what would stop local governments from setting an example?
Wairarapa where I live has four district councils that already work together on some issues. Any region has a community of interests. Every region is concerned about solar power and water use among all the other issues. Let's see regions like mine develop good plans 'pour encourager les autres', which the government is likely to consider supporting.
As our PM has said, leadership is about taking the people with you. If we're to achieve the best of the changes our new world needs, doesn't that responsibility have to work both ways?
to woodart at 3.2 : absolutely agree re solar panels and water reticulation . I with others tried to get compulsory instalment of rain water storage built in to the then beginning explosion of housing around Gulf Harbour instead of bringing piped water along Peninsula.. We had 10.000 gallons under our deck in a modest house.
Big business prevailed even though Rodney and Auckland well aware and concerned about availability of supply.
I also remember discussion probably from a remit at a Labour conference some decades ago in favour of making cheap solar panels available.
please fix your user name on next comment.
Is that comment form field focus problem still not fixed?
Comment starts in the name field and people forget and simply start typing. Once they realise then they switch to the comment field but often forget to fix the name field.
Would probably be best to have it start in the comment field if the plugin supports it.
it used to do that but changed sometime this year I think.
It is standard for WordPress sites to focus on the comment field. No idea why it was changed here.
apparently not, although we seem to go through spates of name typos and then not as many.
It's almost beyond depressing the disincentives toward solar and local generation in New Zealand. Most lines companies are reluctant at best, but they have a problem with networks that were designed to deliver in one direction and that can take a bit of changing. There's also systemic / structural difficulties where the electricity system has been turned from an essential social and economic service to a profit generating industry.
There's a couple of significant regions, Gisborne and Queenstown, that have only one feed from the Grid too, a loss of that feed is a big problem. Gisborne was without power for three days when a topdressing plane took out the line and the consequences of a span or pylon coming down on the Queenstown feed don't bear thinking about. Adequate embedded generation capacity is really handy on so many counts.
A program of dealing with the infrastructure and systematic barriers, and providing financial pathways to household solar, preferably with batteries, would have paybacks in so many areas. Unfortunately this could be a bit tricky as will mean a comprehensive reform of the sector.
Depressing but not surprising. People generating their own power would cut the profits of the shareholders.
Yet another proof that the profit motive brings about the worst possible result as far as society is concerned.
we really should be designing systems with a big quake in mind too.
It wouldn't need a 'big' quake to cause problems on either of those lines. In Gisborne's case they were lucky it was just a span down, if it had taken a pylon as well it would have been a lot longer.
In both situations there's multiple faults that could cause trouble, and quite unstable geology. But the loss of the line for a week would have an impact to a quake, but without the physical damage. We'd still be evacuating a large part of the district.
Yep.
Start off with installing on state housing and then on to those most in need. If those most in need are renting then buy the bloody house.
But can you imagine the complaints from the new private owners of our power grid as their profits go down?
South Australia has much more sunlight than Wanaka.
True-according to the net, which is never wrong, Adelaide has 2774 hours per year compared with Wanaka 2100. But London has only about 1500.
2100 is masses of hours, and solar power is generated even when it is cloudy.
The Labour government needs to make sure first that people actually have roofs over their heads. Solar on the roof is a luxury.
We haven't got time in between weather and other traumas in the precarious 21st century, to refit all the houses that would have been built to 20th century standards. Get the right practical designs (with good drainage sytems – no mediterranean-styled roofs) and systems, now under Labour before the wicked witch or wizard of the west gets back in power by casting a spell over the country!
As woodart says up near 3 – solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds.
I've linked this before…
"Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_New_Zealand
"Entirely free market" …that should end.
We should start (as i've said before) Solar Panel Factories…and train Tradies/Apprentices to fit Solar. NOW
Solar is good, but I'm more interested in household wind turbines.
I did a little research and found small turbines, which could be attached to a roof, can generate around 3kw per hour. Living in a windy area that's quite enticing, but there are planning regulations and hoops to jump through, and make it probably not worth the hassle and added costs to the original outlay.
With a smart meter, I see I use on average about 7kw per day, so likely I would not only be energy neutral, but be adding to the national grid. Multiply that by tens of thousands and that's plenty more renewables going in to the system.
What's the deal with being a contributor as far as the power companies are concerned? How much do they still try to milk you for, ie line costs etc…?
got any links for those micro turbines?
Good info page about home wind power, with faq down page
https://www.smarterhomes.org.nz/smart-guides/power-lighting-and-energy-saving/wind-power/
A couple of links
https://www.futureenergy.nz/products/wind_turbines_tecnico.htm
https://www.powerhousewind.co.nz/residential-wind-turbines-off-grid-homes/
Wind mills can be made from smart drive washing machine motors for less than $20.But you will need an electrician to wire it up as it generates 240 volts .
yep…but thought you were talking about ridge line systems…have thought they might be a viable option as standard installation on new builds but havnt come across much about them and thought you may have.
Does the engine have a built in windmill thing..?….I live off-grid so could use one…
Aren't they noisy and a blot on the landscape Al1en?
The big commercial wind farms? Not to me. I'd rather see them all over than coal fired power stations belching carbon. When there's a better way of doing it, they can be taken down.
In an urban setting they're no more unsightly than rusting out satellite dishes.
Its not an entirely free-market as the its owned by profiteering schmucks and they pretty much have veto power over it. Considering that having solar power from private residential premises would cut their profits then they do everything they can to prevent people taking up solar up to, and including, blaming solar installations for rising power price for everyone else (yeah, can't find that article now – was from when National were in power).
It's worse than that Draco as solar power from private residential premises exported is sold next door, or wherever it ends up as Electrons go with the flow at full retail.
The solar export residence get's about 20% of retail and the power industry takes profit from infrastructure it neither owns, maintains and spreads BS about it being bad for the network.
An added kicker is when the grid is down the panels shut down as a safety feature so we get screwed over again.
Not if you run a 12 volt system .
Here are some pics and advice on what is good/bad. From Canada or the USA.
https://greensunnj.com/solar-hall-of-shame/
google keywords that bring up numbers of entries – solar ridge line roof power systems
Which bit?
How green are solar panels over their usable lifetime, compared with hydro?
Hydro involves modifying/wrecking the landscape way too much, as does onshore wind-power, though offshore is much better. (A single wind-farm would wreck the unsullied and wonderful 360 degree views in the Maniototo from near Ophir or from the rail-trail.)
Ideally when we have 8 million people in NZ in 2068 (link below) electricity needs will be 100% met from existing hydro, more efficient use of power, solar and, if necessary, additional wind-farms, but offshore only.
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/NationalPopulationProjections_MR2016.aspx#gsc.tab=0
That's a very complicated question with a lot of variables for both PV and hydro.
Wikipedia quotes IPCC 2014 for a range (in grams CO2 eq/ kWhr) for PV of 18 to 180, for hydro it's 1.0 to 2200 (compared to coal at 740 to 910). I've seen a lot of stuff indicating producing PV panels has improved dramatically since 2014, so using 2014 figures makes PV look worse than it really is now.
Factors affecting hydro include how much land with vegetation is flooded that then releases methane from the lake, whether the scheme uses a huge dam and stored water or is run of the river through a tunnel or canal, whether dams and canals are concrete or earth construction, how long before reservoirs are silted up, the albedo of the reservoir compared to what was there before (forest, grassland, desert) etc.
Factors affecting PV include how efficient the manufacturing process is, how clean the energy used for production is, the previous albedo of where the PV panels are installed, lifetime of the panels etc.
Big picture takeaway still remains being careful about getting more efficient in necessary uses of energy, and reducing wastage wherever possible is the only emissions-free lunch. Otherwise, all energy supply involves some emissions, it's just a question of how much. In that big picture, for New Zealand, adding PV may well be one of our lower emissions paths.
Personally I'd rather do PV than new hydro, excepting the Onslow-Manorburn proposal which is a storage scheme rather than a new generation scheme.
Beat me to it! Pretty much agree with your above comment here.
The other factor involved in the environmental effects of solar, is the longevity of the technology, and the impacts of the materials used.
IIRC the early PV cells became useless after a few years, but the later silicon cells could last around 25 years. Now the newest technology involves spray on coatings which although cheap and quick to manufacture and replicate are less efficient than the silicon and don't last as long and worse are plastic based.
https://www.solarguide.co.uk/latest-developments-in-solar-photovoltaics#/
Andre-I notice adverse landscape effects don't figure in your world. Now I can see it wasn’t just the WT that put you off the Greens.
Fortunately we have people like Anton Oliver (ex-AB) in the community who helped to stop a wind-farm monstrosity in Central Otago in 2006.
I have driven several times through Spain over the past few years and seen plenty of landscape massively degraded by wind-farms.
Other energy-related highly invasive landscape effects include proposed small-scale hydro that destroy important wild rivers on the West Coast. From memory I think the coalition quashed one such proposal in the last term (ministers Parker/Sage?).
Idiot.
Gabby's question was specifically about how green, which generally means emissions. Hence my answer was focused on emissions.
If any forms of generation that have visible landscape effects are off the table, what is left? Idiot knee-jerk opposition to changes like that are what has kept a lot of coal and gas burning around the world.
I'll limit my comment about your driving around Spain multiple times recently to noting that behaviour like that is a significant contributor to the climate crisis we're dealing with right now.
None of it is green. Some of it is less impactful than others (which is what I think you were asking), but until we move to steady state (including population) we will continue to be driven by over-extraction and climate disrupting tech.
All developed nations could now be mandating passive tech in new builds, thus lowering power consumption. High tech, esp large scale power generation shouldn't be the starting point, it should come after we've used passive tech and reduced demand.
solar panels mostly made up from aluminium and glass, two easily recyclable materials. bloody site greener than flooding land forever.
those materials have to be extracted from somewhere. Theoretically at some point we might reach some kind of close to equilibrium with recycling and manufacture, but not if we keep perpetual growth as our main driver of economics.
Hydro is getting more and more expensive while Wind and Solar are getting cheaper.
There are printable solar panels/coatings now starting to be produced I believe. I've looked at it quite hard and with interest rates where they are just investing in panels using it to cut the daytime use of power out is starting to look better. Any storage is the expensive bit
It's reaching the point where the cost of the panels is becoming less and less of the cost, while regulatory costs, installation, inverters etc are staying high. Storage costs are coming down too, again it's the other associated bits keeping package costs high.
For me, I've got my electricity cost down to $600 – $700 year, so I really don't see value in adding a PV system. Let alone the overhanging trees regularly dropping stuff big enough to damage panels. If I were doing a new build however, getting a new lines connection is so fkn expensive that going off-grid might be close to the same initial cost.
But going on grid would be more beneficial to society especially if it was well planned and maintained.
In other words, going back to a state monopoly that includes the solar panels on private rooves is the only viable option because it would then remove the individualist decision making that fails to do what's needed for society.
+100 the solution is returning it to the people and running it as a single network not the dysfunctional club it currently is.
Bradfords reforms were all about creating a gravy train for the club members and obfuscation so the average punter gives up before they realise it's a con job.
Yes, returning power generation and supply to full public ownership would clear the way for sustainable electricity that most could afford including solar.
Compensation to the current gougers and their captive artificial market could be made over the next 50 years!
storage of energy has always been the $$$ bit. maybe store energy in whingers, always plenty of them!
lol
How would that work?
I don't know, but I've noticed that sometimes you can get more energy out of them than you put in, depending on how they're wound up. Could be a profitable line of research for someone. I'd be willing to put myself forward as a research subject if required.
On AC-DC or something like that.
There are two principle barriers to solar uptake.
The biggest is the housing crisis. Tenants aren't about to put panels on the landlord's house.
The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation.
I was writing to Pete Hodgson about strategies to lower the entry cost back in 2002 – but he of course thought he knew much better.
One of the enlightened Stuart M thanks, and one of the Pillar Group who want to enable the country to conserve its good things, and prepare for the future known problems. 2002-2020 have we changed, have we any more agency than earlier, or just to be ignored or teased with schemes to keep us quiet? And our politicians, we must bring in a maximum of three terms or we have fat-necked pussies who 'know better' manipulating their electorate or constituency so they manage to stay and stay with dwindling returns to the citizens.
I'll just shove in here some words from Elton John's Song For You because I think they need to be our nation's theme song going further into the 21st century and spell out the way we all need to try to value each other.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSLQnBbA3k0
Mmm – I did use to listen to a bit of Elton John back in the day. But when it comes to the political culture of doing nothing, it's maybe more like Warren Zevon:
You're supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things.
Man, that's hard to do. And if you don't, they'll screw you.
And if you do, they'll screw you, too…
MmmmI guess the thing is to enter into politics and planning with goodwill, go on a quest for the most effective and practical outcomes, and get something done as a result of each plan, even something small!
"The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation."
and that is exactly why I after doing the sums did not go ahead. Also battery storage technology is still evolving and I would not put in a solar power system without the ability to store the surplus. Instead I bought a hybrid car which is saving me a huge % on my annual car runnin costs – and the car's batteries, when they are not effcient enough for the car, can be recycled to be solar storage batteries. But that is years away.
From, https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/123193640/govt-needs-to-target-our-soaring-cost-of-living
“A $9.5 million house is being built in Christchurch. Shaped like the letter Z, swimming pool and tennis court. When completed, it’s going to be one of the biggest and priciest properties in town. The owner? A director at Foodstuffs South Island and owner of Pak 'n Save Wainoni, one of Christchurch’s poorest areas.”
Everything that is wrong with our economy encapsulated here.
Boris given the Spitting Image treatment.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDmaWP1tEg
Water meters are good provided that water rates are kept reasonable.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429175/water-meter-test-runs-in-marlborough-continue-to-throw-up-eye-watering-results
…One property in Havelock has been found using 33,000 litres of water a day, while another is going through 28,000 litres of water a day.
The test results from Renwick showed a house leaking 67,200 litres of water a day.
The council notified owners "as a courtesy" when there was evidence of a significant leak, but it was up to property owners to find and repair them, she said. Some of the 62 properties with leaks were zoned commercial….
Under the new system, residents on water meters could be charged a flat fee of $200 for their first 200 cubic metres of water (200,000 litres). After that, Havelock residents could be charged $1.60 per 1000 litres used….
Properties with "large" leaks of more than 72 litres a day would therefore use at least 92 percent of their base water allocation if they continued without fixing the leak. Havelock residents paid an annual $510 fee at present….
Renwick dealt with water restrictions most summers and salt water could get into Havelock's water if demand jumped and water supplies dropped, as it had three years ago.
Climate change was expected to put more pressure on the aquifer which supplied its water. A sea level rise could see salt entering Havelock's water more often, and higher temperatures could encourage higher water use…
Meters for commercial properties are fine, but not for dwellings. Because it enables right wing councils to charge for water on a policy change without requiring massive infrastructure investment.
Meters also enable landlords to evade costs by making the water bill the tenants' problem, like power or internet.
Why should domestic water wastrels and those too careless to look after their plumbing get to shift the cost of their profligacy onto all the other ratepayers?
IIRC, the law for costs where there are meters is the landlord pays for the fixed parts of the bill and the tenant pays for the variable usage parts of the bill. Here in Dorkland my bill is a fixed wastewater charge of $18.35/month, and because of the drought I've pared my water use down to somewhere around 30 litres/day (1 unit per month). My variable charge is $1.59/month to supply the water and $2.16/month to take it away again after I've filled it with piss and shit.
But we know there are constant efforts to privatise water supplies and stuff it up as royally as every other monopoly that gets privatised.
If regular flow monitoring shows a block or suburb is disproportionately using water, use the regular leak detection protocols to hone in on the cause. But routine monitoring of each household will result in privatisation of water supply, which means more people with skin infections in poor neighbourhoods, sometimes to the point of hospitalisation.
It has never been closely examined whether what ratepayers save in water gets paid by taxpayers via the health system.
All of Orcland is metered and charged by usage, so usage data should be available for any intrepid researcher that wants it.
Do you know of any studies around skin infections or other health problems in NZ being correlated with people feeling they need to not use water because of its cost? It's not something I can recall even hearing a whisper of.
Hell, even Penny Bright (R.I.P.) didn't try that as one of her arguments, and I was always quite impressed at how inventive she could get.
edit: meanwhile, that Auckland is universally metered is usually credited as one of the reasons Aucklanders are claimed to have the lowest per capita water usage of all population centers in NZ.
Watercare is about to take over the whole of Northland's supply as well.
So, together with the Waikato catchment they already supply, they are heading for about 2/5ths of New Zealand on metered and chlorinated and flourided happiness.
Interesting. Do you have any links about that.
You'll have to wait.
But not too long into 2021.
I can't understand why Councils don't look after their own water as part of their services. There should be no separate entity, just a department within the purview of the Council. This splitting up under I suppose neolib disruption just muddies the water, perhaps literally.
The way things are going, it won't be long before Watercare is the water department for all of the north island. Then all of New Zealand. Nationalisation by another route. Bwahahahaha, universal domination.
The best reason for a big organisation like Watercare to do it for the small councils is small councils are often really crap at it. Either they don't spend the money for the equipment and expertise, and produce lousy water quality (for trips around NZ I tend to bring along enough drinking water for my whole trip), or they do spend the money to do it properly and it ends up really expensive because those costs are spread over a small base.
This is back-door way Labour crushes Federated Farmers and Fonterra.
Plenty of public health reasons officially.
But no more fucking around with those morons.
The target is clear.
We are already metered in Whangarei but at 40% more cost than Auckland last time i compared. Hopefully they can pull the price down.
Skin infections are definitely correlated to deprivation index.
We might speculate about that all day, but lowering flow rates to people who can't afford their bill could have something to do with their access to hygiene. The connection is plausible enough that I don't want to touch it with a bargepole.
All of auckland might be metred, but many other towns aren't, and frankly metering is only a precursor to attempted sell-offs.
Not to mention the concept that water is a right, not a commodity.
There are other ways to find heavy water users, if it's a problem. But metering is simply a way to disguise rate hikes for most people.
Mahuta has made a guarantee that there will be no public water privatisation under the reforms.
I think she's trustworthy.
She's also very clear that there aren't many good water providers, so many of them will be amalgamated.
I wrote on this a while back.
Water reforms of all kinds are really kicking off in this new term.
She might be trustworthy, but the next lot? Metering makes it easier for them.
Metering makes sure our common water isn't wasted.
No, it just enables the rich to waste it. Because they can pay for it.
If you want to detect water wastage on the house side of the tap, follow the same procedures for if the pipe leaks on the street side of the tap.
https://envirohistorynz.com/2010/04/17/a-short-history-of-regional-government-in-nz/#more-2188
Whole-farm plans
Catchment boards soon realised that a whole-farm approach was needed when several methods were in use. The farmer had to adopt a mutually agreed ‘farm plan’ over a set period, normally five years.
A farm plan was based on a land capability survey. This divided farmland into eight classes – four arable (crop-growing) and four non-arable. The surveys were first done in 1952.
Engineers vs conservators
The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 linked erosion with flooding. Catchment board staff were river engineers and soil conservators, who often disagreed on how to control flooding.
Some engineers believed that works such as stop banks and stone gabions (rocks inside wire mesh) would control flooding, whereas soil conservators considered that the upper parts of a river catchment should be the focus. Eventually both viewpoints were included in flood control programmes.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/soil-erosion-and-conservation/page-5
Germany continues to be a hostile environment for humane and considerate Jewish people
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/berlin-art-college-withdraws-funding-to-israelis-seeking-to-unlearn-zionism/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-on-the-jvl-blog-newsletter-total-articles-for-you_1
Pat I noticed that the article finished with a query. And this piece I have copied has relevance now as the RMA is under change. I am not sure what the effect of that will be. Do you know? People seem approving but will things be no holds barred? The idea of agencies run on business lines such as Watercare doesn't seem to be an automatic outcome of the previous legislation.
Regional councils as we know them today were established in 1989, under the Local Government Amendment Act. Regional council boundaries approximately followed river catchment boundaries. This legislation rationalised the bodies carrying out functions at a regional and local level – reducing the catchment boards and other government bodies that had proliferated over the last century from more than 800 to 86.
The newly created regional councils inherited a range of resource management responsibilities from the existing boards and councils, including for flood and erosion control functions transferred from the catchment boards and planning functions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, as well as transport and civil defense functions.
But it was not until 1991, with the enactment of the Resource Management Act, that responsibilities under a cohesive and integrated resource management regime were delegated to regional councils.
But what of the significant challenges that regional councils face, and their ability to fulfill their natural resource management responsibilities in an increasingly challenging environmental landscape? These outstanding questions will be explored in an upcoming post.
"A second irony is evident in the way the Resource Management Bill evolved. The Bill was first developed in the late 1980s under a Labour Government, with Geoffrey Palmer as Minister for the Environment. The Bill was underpinned by the concept of “sustainable development”, based on a concept of balancing economic objectives against environmental objectives (otherwise known as “trade-offs”). However in 1990, before the Bill could be enacted, the Labour government lost power, and a National government took office, with Simon Upton assuming the environmental portfolio. To the surprise of many, Upton decided not to abandon the Bill but instead to review it. As a result of the review, there was a shift from balancing economic and environmental objectives, to that of economic objectives being “constrained” by environmental ones; a shift encompassed in the concept of “sustainable management”, which is fundamental to the purpose of the law (Section 5). As a result, when the Act was passed in 1991, it was, according long-time environmentalist and then-government advisor Guy Salmon, “greener” conceptually than the Bill originally conceived by the more left-leaning Labour government."
https://envirohistorynz.com/2010/03/20/resource-management-law-in-nz-a-potted-history/
And i'm not sure I agree with that assessment….the old catchment boards had a more holistic view and a more environmentally focused response IMO….mind you they operated in a significantly different environment with far less pressure
Why people give any credence toward the USA beats me. What has the US done for the benefit of peace or peaceful co-existence, the only country to unleash a nuclear bomb x 2 murdering millions of civilians.
North Korea, flattened by them in 1950s, did that bring peace?. Vietnam, where the US used chemical weapons manufactured in NZ by Watkins/ Dow and mercenary fighters from around the globe including NZ. Still there are malformed births from Agent Orange. Peace?.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure. What a mess. Peace there?. Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess. Peace there?.
Left out many other atrocities against other lands by the war-virus that is the USA. a blight on humanity. What has changed, nothing, and nothing will change whilst people give support to this truly evil military regime. Do you?
You've a good example in Iraq, and a lousy one in Korea. Korea asked for US help to avoid the Japanese annexation before 1910, and having been abandoned by the retreating Japanese was only too pleased to resist Stalin's puppet regime. Had the North made a decent country of itself, you'd have a case – but they chose to be despots – deserving even less sympathy than Saddam Hussein. South Korea, in no small part through the sacrifice of Kim Jae-gyu, is a lively independent democracy today.
That's a No then.
You've missed the bit between 1910 and when South Korea was declared a 'lively independent democracy'.
You know the period when more bombs were dropped on North Korea by the US than during the entire World War II Pacific campaign.
For those who are interested in the facts Stuart has conveniently omitted read this.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/06/us-destruction-of-north-korea-must-not-be-forgotten/
Yes, true. First time ever Korea has not been as one.
Brigid I don't know that Stuart was that positive about the USA. Why are you dissing him?
And Stuart – going to the Wikipedia link you put up on Kim Jae-gyu (it is important to get the latter name right! – many Kims), it is a great example of the awful competitive problems all countries can have, with people trying to gain or control power and turn it up or down.
Park was a patriot and a reformer who gradually became a dictator. The man who assassinated him was his old friend, who had no illusions of surviving the act. So Korea survived as neither a US puppet nor a nasty militarized regime – quite an achievement considering the pattern for US-backed strongmen.
Perhaps NZ parliamentarians need to be faced with a sign over the main doors – 'We don't promise you a rose garden'. Or with the malevolent sarcasm of the Nazi use of 'Work will set you free' a notice that 'Serving your country whether in the army or as a politician may cost you your life'.
I don't think that NZ pollies, especially from the right side, expect to front up to such ideological traumas as the South Korean you referred to. Having the ability to change pollies, and their civil service heads, prevents power concreting to the absolute corruption level.
Finding balance is the task it seems, between constant change with no long term responsibility for good planning and decisions, and the ability of the agile villain to appeal long-term to the infantile, lurking dissenter inside many, who will accept corruption as smart organising if the PR is plausible.
Yes, dead right – the abiding virtue of democracy, from a political science point of view, is that is allows peaceful transfers of power.
When democracy becomes as distorted as it has in the US under Trump however, it is no longer certain that this is possible, or that a peaceful process that accommodates Trumpism is preferable to a Heimlich manoeuvre that expels him forcefully from America's political throat.
Assassination has removed much better presidents than Trump.
Greywarshark please pull your head in. Your attempts at peace keeper are uninvited and arrogant.
Oh dear did I step on your toes. I don't want to see things misrepresented by people with a bias and quick fingers on the keys.
Yes, a lot of bombs were dropped.
It was the North that attacked however, first on their own, then, after they were repulsed, with Chinese support. The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them – which is why NZ troops were there to teach the locals this, which they call yeon ga.
One must be extraordinarily undiscriminating to endorse the North Korean regime.
The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them
???
That is an absurd statement.
Because …?
When will you learn to make a compelling argument that goes beyond simple adjectives and mere reckons? None of your comments today contains any original input from you, no thought, no argument, no reason(ing) except for adjectives such as “absurd”, “repulsive”, or “brilliant”. Wow!
What are you going to ‘enlighten’ us with next, a GIF?
I have written on this forum many, many carefully argued critiques of radio dramas, TV shows, films, political speeches, political campaigns, etc. If you think that that extreme right wing racist casino billionaire who funds Trump's campaign is anything other than "repulsive", then you can enlighten us as to exactly why.
Do you think Evo Morales's performance on the Daily Show was not brilliant? Why not? The audience and the host were obviously deeply impressed by him. Was I wrong to point out that extremely rare quality in a political leader?
Your point about my use of the word "absurd" to dismiss Stuart's post is well taken. I apologise to Stuart and everyone else for my lazy and reductive putdown.
A well-written critique is more than a few adjectives leading to a superficial judgement.
When you use certain adjectives to describe your view of people without stating the reason, it becomes a shallow throwaway comment that offers no insight(s) and no point of connection with others who might read your comment. You might as well say that you hated Brussels sprouts when you were young, which may be 100% true, but it does not make for debate because we cannot discuss personal taste; all it does is saying something about you.
I hope you’re getting it because asking me to argue with you why those adjectives may not apply is putting the onus on me and asking me about my taste. For the record, I love Brussels sprouts, but I don’t know why.
Well said. A palpable hit, sir!
It wasn’t a hit, it was a challenge to you to lift your game here. Why do you act like a recalcitrant and petulant child?
Apart from those poor sods who were gassed by the dictator who ruled through fear and violence
Yeah, 'cause the brotherly leader Gadaffy Duck's third international theory wasn't brought down by widespread corruption and unemployment, by the people who were no longer fooled by cults of personality.
That's a No then.
Of course, I meant a Yes then.
Don't know what you're talking about with the 'no' and 'yes' thing – I just pointed out a couple of gaping holes in your claims of Iraqi and Libyan peaceful democracies nonsense, but if you want to attribute something else you think I meant with that correction, so be it.
Libya was the most secular of the arab states…women had full equality of access to the education that was free to post-graduate level… there was universal free healthcare…when couples married they were given a house to live in..and $40,000 u.s. to help them on their way…gaddaffi was wiped out because he was setting up a new pan arab/african bank….this was obamas' war-crime..it is now a fundamentalist hellhole..
I'm guessing you know what democracy means, so you'll also know that
Political parties were banned in Libya from 1972 until the removal of Gaddafi's government, and all elections were nonpartisan under law
doesn't really fit in to any definition of the word.
It's a simple google search for Libyan democracy and located in the first hit. Basic stuff really.
I am not saying gaddaffi was perfect…but everything I said about life in Libya for libyans is true..and also the reason for his overthrow…is all true….u CD google that….and life in Libya is better now..is it..?..that was good that obama did..?..was it..?…to give h.clark her due in this..she refused to play along with the charade…
It is hard to know what you are saying when having to guess the bits you have cut out of your reply.
Whether you're right, or not, about life in the jamahiriya is up for debate, but fair democracy happening in Libya under Gaddafi's just isn't.
Latest Pie
Where is that rail link when you want it?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429166/project-forces-main-road-to-auckland-airport-to-temporarily-shut
The main road to Auckland Airport will be shut for five consecutive nights this week, from Tuesday to Sunday.
Right down the middle of that road if there was any justice.
That was how the trams used to be in Auckland. I rode on them when small. There was a narrow island platform which you crossed the road to stand on, they trundled along according to their timetable, you got on and paid the conductor – sitting on simple slat wooden seats. At certain points, the driver had to change his power pole to travel on another line, pulling down against a spring, and swinging it to connect onto the new line. Then off we would go, and at the other end the pole would be pulled down and the one at the other end would drive back retracing the route. (It was probably the same as the Christchurch one reinstalled on the initiative of John Britten.)
Indeedly. Auckland is still not back up to the number of public transit trips per year before the trams were ripped out. https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2015/06/01/aucklands-old-tram-maps-modernised/
Thanks for the memory greywarshark. I remember the trams as a kid too. In the school holidays mums took us kids into Queen St. for a few hours on the roof of Farmers in Albert St., where we were left careering around in toy cars and crashing into one another as often as we could while said mums went off to do their shopping on the lower floors. Then it was sandwiches and cream buns for lunch in the cafetaria and back down to Queen St to catch the tram home. Good days them.
Edit: Maybe that is why we’re such a car obsessed nation. 😉
And Hector. 🙂
Oh yes, beloved Hector the parrot. When one carked it, they would replace with another that looked the same. We kids were none the wiser.
That sounds lovely Anne. I went up to the glassed in? Farmers top lounge or whatever too. And rode in the Farmers bus.
Nostalgic childhood events. You might like this.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3QPt0eMVc
Twyford in Stuff says NZInfra decision immanent.
Though I suspect we should wait until an actual government is formed again.
Link please. There was a premature article about that last week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300139063/twyford-denies-claims-government-is-backing-nz-infras-light-rail-proposal
That is the follow-up article the day after Stuff's initial one, yes. Both many days ago now.
Interested to hear which one Ad was referring to.
Ad is well connected; it might not be in MSM yet.
That link is only 5 days old.
When I see someone write "Twyford in Stuff says" I expect it means in that publication – and today, not 5 or 6 days ago.
Here is the initial article, for completeness: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300137382/election-2020-nz-super-fund-closes-in-on-billiondollar-auckland-light-rail-deal
And Twyford's response:
https://twitter.com/PhilTwyford/status/1318346951880892416
If Ad is well-connected, then no doubt we will hear an update.
We'll all get updated once there's a Cabinet meeting with a new Cabinet.
From Twyford's answer to the Stuff article they already have the MoT advice they need and are just waiting for a chance to ratify at Cabinet: "It is our policy to press ahead…"
Note the commentary from NZTA's CE that their head of light rail has left.
https://eminetra.co.nz/2020-elections-nz-super-fund-closes-to-1-billion-auckland-light-rail-contract/52242/
Very weird that Twyford is being quoted before the new Cabinet positions are set. At minimum it means either PM and Min Finance are totally on board, or the sources in the article are stale.
Latter is v unlikely.
Or Stuff is being used to apply pressure by other players. The business case will be interesting reading, especially if Twyford has prioritised a fast trip to the airport for politicians and executives over frequent street-level connections and lower cost.
No other players are being invited.
And given this procurement is such a mess, no others would want to.
Players within agencies, or parties.
There are interesting anomalies in how women and men get treated FTTT. I hope sex-change aspirants and wannabes understand that. This is a new variant.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/429187/australia-demands-answers-after-passengers-strip-searched-at-doha-airport
Two passengers from QR908 both told the ABC they had no idea what was happening to them when all women on the plane were asked to get off after a three-hour delay on 2 October….
It had been due to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha at 8:30pm local time but was delayed for three hours after a premature baby was found in a bathroom at the terminal – a detail confused passengers said was not communicated to them…
One of the women said all adult females were removed from the plane by authorities and taken to two ambulances waiting outside the airport.
"No-one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying," she said.
"There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave. A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane.
"There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I'm pretty sure she was searched."
…"Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing [the airport]."
Qatar Airways have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mother of the baby has not been located…
…"When I got in there, and there was a lady with a mask on and then the authorities closed the ambulance behind me and locked it," she said.
"They never explained anything.
"She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina.
"I said 'I'm not doing that' and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'we need to see it we need to see it'."
The woman said she took her clothes off and was inspected, and touched, by the female nurse….
Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne confirmed today that the women had contacted the Australian government at the time of the incident and that the government has formally raised concerns with Qatar….
"The advice that has been provided indicates that the treatment of the women concerned was offensive, grossly inappropriate, and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
"It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context.
A very mild comment from the Australian government when this was an assault on their nationals.
There is the problem in Australia where the uptake on solar is large. It means the costs of maintaining the wider system is borne by a smaller and less moneyed section of the community. As more become self sufficient on energy the more the poorer sections of the community bear the cost of the network.
DanS This should be up with the solar thread, which is about No.7 and pressing a Reply button there would have put it by the other solar comments.
It seems after reading your comment that falling profit and fewer numbers will result in companies selling out, and a monopoly left which would be the opposite to the governments intention to provide competition. The govt will have to buy back the electricity company/ies so government can run them with reasonable charges concentrating on a cost-recovery basis.
Some compromises are needed here I think. The elderly have more time and energy than those working and with family and care responsibilities, to think about and demand what they want and continue in the same vein. We have the same people writing to the paper here for many decades mostly with complaints.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/429190/gisborne-district-council-lifts-block-on-prolific-writer-of-emails
"I make no apologies for being persistent," Millar said, noting he was a marina berth-holder at the time.
He had been emailing the council over a reduction in car parking at the inner harbour, and said he was stopped from further alerting councillors to "pertinent issues".
"This was just a smokescreen to cover the stuff that I had been trying to portray."
89 pages of correspondence
However, GDC internal partnerships director James Baty said it had 89 pages worth of correspondence with Millar about the inner harbour, dating back to 2011, and despite being advised he was an unreasonable complainant on 14 February, and being blocked from the council's Facebook page, Millar continued making contact with elected members and staff for another two months.
"At this point his email address was blocked," Baty said.
Interesting about the USA deporting Marshall Islanders back home and why.
Sounds like Australians deporting NZs home.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/429192/us-deportations-likely-up-in-fy2020
[Marshall Islands Attorney-General] Hickson said US authorities had requested the 33 be given an exemption to return to the Marshalls.
But he said local authorities informed the US that the border remained closed until further notice because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 202 Marshallese were deported from the US during the seven-year period from FY2013 to FY2019, an average of 29 per year.
Crimes for which Marshallese are deported include violence such as sexual assault and murder as well as fraud involving money theft or failing to appear for scheduled court hearings.
About the Islands:
There is a population of around 50,000.
The Compact of Free Association allows them to freely relocate to the United States and obtain work there. A large concentration of about 4,300 Marshall Islanders have relocated to Springdale, Arkansas,.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands#Demographics
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now a sovereign state in free association with the United States….
During World War II, the United States took control of the islands from Japan (which governed them as part of the South Pacific Mandate) in the 1944 Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. The US military conducted nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll in 1946 through 1958.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands%E2%80%93United_States_relations
Chileans gone cool on their constitution.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/429195/chileans-vote-to-tear-up-constitution
Proper rejection of neoliberalism at last.
Suspect Labour will end up closer to 51% than 50% after Specials … acknowledged expert Graeme Edgler guesses 49.9% … I think that’s too low.
(Only proviso … that no-one has mentioned afaik … is the uncertain implications arising from the unique disparity in 2020 between Advanced & Election Day Party Support)
Graeme Edgeler put some meat on the bone for us to chew on.
https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/election-20-the-special-votes/
@swordfish 20
Do you think the disparity between advanced party votes and Election Day party votes is due to the demographic differences? Older more conservative voters with longstanding election habits voting on polling day while other voters were happy to vote early?
.
Possibly … but bear in mind that if that demographic rationale is correct then it should've applied in 2017 too … and yet the Advance vs Election Day differences were minimal in that Election.
Just over 1 million Advanced Votes in 2017 (compared to just under 1.7 m in 2020):
Labour 1.7 points higher in Advance Voting vs Election Day (2017) but a massive 6 points higher in Advance Voting 2020.
National 1.1 lower in Advance compared to Election Day (2017) but a significant 5 points down (2020).
The extra 700k Advanced Votes in 2020 can’t account for that massively increased disparity …
So, there's probably something else going on.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/06/earlier-universe-existed-big-bang-can-observed-today/An earlier universe existed before the Big Bang, and can still be observed today, says Nobel winner
Sir Roger Penrose: 'The Big Bang was not the beginning. There was something before, and that something is what we will have in our future'
Isn't that great. The scientists and world-moulders have even more reasons to not look around them. Our planet is so boring, they've seen all they want to they say peevishly and in their blase' way they leave us coping with our own filth and bacteria and fungi which we now find are at the basis of life and death. So let's wallow in earth and leave the elevated minds to destroy themselves in space, as long as they leave our earth to us.
In the year 2525 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic
(The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas. Members of the Odessa Symphony also participated in the recording.
Artists: Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals (It went to No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and they never had another near hit. Outer space man.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525