Oram on the ‘step change’

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 pm, February 21st, 2010 - 25 comments
Categories: Economy, Environment, Mining - Tags: ,

Another excellent piece by Rod Oram in the Sunday Star Times. There’s actually very little to add. We’re all aware of the economic and environmental issues covered but Oram does an excellent job in revealing the big picture: a country that is still over-reliant on exporting bulk and cheap, and a government that has no ideas except more of the same.

While more sophisticated governments elsewhere are focusing on smart and sustainable growth, our government seems to think wealth comes from more milk and selling off our irreplaceable natural resources as quickly as possible.

RIP, SHIT and bust is a classic strategy, seductive to many corporates and countries.

It often looks good in the short term. Exponents exploit abundance such as natural resources, cheap labour or lax regulation to make quick profits.

Yet in their careless haste, they sow the seeds of their own destruction. They over-exploit their present opportunity and under-invest in their future. In due course, the enterprise or nation goes bust.

Yet, this is exactly the economic strategy our government is proposing for New Zealand. Its language says it all. It talks of “growing the top line” to achieve a “step change” in economic growth. This is corporate speak for doing more of the same.

The government says it will make it easier to produce more in dairy farming, mining, aquaculture and other existing sectors. Superficially this is appealing. Why not do more of what we’re good at? The trouble is more of the same won’t fix our economic problems. For 150 years we’ve earned a living from exploiting our natural resources to produce low value commodity products. As a result, we’re relatively poor and, worse, competition is intensifying fast from far cheaper producers overseas.

Take the dairy sector. To try to keep its high volume, low value model working it is throwing increasing quantities of water, nutrients and capital at increasingly poorer land. The ultimate expression to date is the plan to bring cows indoors in the Mackenzie Basin.

But most dairy farmers are profitable only at peaks in commodity prices. So how will more production, thanks to increasing costly inputs, make them more profitable? Or generate real wealth for the country?

Yet, the government says we will prosper by doing more of the same. It is a very 1990 view of a simple world, one where the cold war is over and unfettered opportunity beckons to produce lots of cheap food and energy.

But it is 2010 and the world is very different. Scarcity is the absolute crux of any corporate or country strategy. All resources human, financial and natural are in chronically short supply.

Thus the smart strategies are dedicated to producing the highest value possible from the least resources. Crucially, successful companies and countries are doing so by pioneering new clean technologies and astute new business models.

How could the government miss this epoch-defining insight? By shonky analysis. At one point before Christmas, the course it is charting for the New Zealand economy “took the form of a dozen or so A3 sheets of paper, each covering a sector,” Colin James wrote in his February 8 column in the Dominion Post.

Honestly, what kind of amatuer operation are these twerps running? A few A3s full of brainstorming (cycleway! party central! drill baby drill!) is their idea of a plan for the economy?

Here are some of the government’s favourite ideas:

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee believes the government can unleash a “bonanza” of oil production. It is already our third largest export, generating $1 billion a year of revenues for the government of which $543m is royalties. He says there is the potential for “many billions more by 2025”.

Well, the world will certainly need oil for a long time yet before alternative fuels displace it. So we should contribute what we can to the world’s needs, although we would be wise to hold back our reserves until the price is even higher. But we won’t get much out of that extra oil production except some commodity export earnings, jobs and government revenues. The government is likely to spend the money on the likes of tax cuts rather than, as Norway has done with its North Sea riches, ring fence it in a sovereign fund to ensure it is invested in the country’s future.

Exactly. The last thing we want is to spend the one-off endowment we have in natural resources and be left with nothing to show for it in the end.

More oil won’t increase the sophistication of our science, innovation and commercialisation skills. Worse, it is a short-term distraction from investing in clean technologies such as geothermal, wind power and biofuels on which the world will ultimately depend and in which we have natural advantages, affinity and brand values.

This is the rentier state trap, the economy becomes over-dominated with one extraction industry and technology progress largely ceases, leaving the country unprepared when the resoruce runs out. We’ve encountered this problem time and agian through New Zealand’s history as the economy goes from being focused on exploiting one natural resource after another.

Likewise, minerals. Again we should contribute what we can to world supply. But we should do so by being a pioneer in green mining, thereby developing some valuable new science and skills.

That is not an oxymoron. It is possible to extract minerals in an entirely responsible way environmentally. And increasingly there are users who are prepared to pay more for that.

But the government doesn’t see it that way. It wants to ease environmental rules and, possibly, mine in national parks in order to compete on world commodity markets. Its idea of using some of the royalties to establish a conservation fund is an insult to intelligence and common sense. What’s the point of saving kakapo in one corner of the country if landscape is destroyed in another?

Establish an offshore financial services centre for managed funds. The idea is we can be a trustworthy back office, clipping for ourselves a minute faction of the multibillion-dollar flow of funds in and out of the country.

This is so 1980s it’s laughable. Back then we reckoned we could be “the Switzerland of the South Pacific”. Instead, we’ve seen a rapid atrophying of our financial sector as multinational companies consolidate services in larger centres far closer to major markets.

Why does the government think a tweak in tax regulations, a few incentives to lure expat workers and a marketing campaign can turn that around? Back office operations are the ultimate commodity business in finance, devoid of creativity, innovation and genuine economic value to the host country. Ask Ireland, the example the prime minister touts, how it feels about the swingeing job cuts multinationals are making in Dublin.

The Key government is living in the past and presenting the same old failed ideas – more intense use and abuse of the environment, tax cuts for the rich, social service cuts, privatisation. It’s never worked before and it won’t work now.

25 comments on “Oram on the ‘step change’ ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Neil 1
    22 February 2010 at 2:08 am

    this analysis suffers from presenting these options as mutually exclusive. EITHER we have smart industry OR we have mining.

    Since National is nor arguing that one is going to be sacrificed to the other it’s just a stawman.

    A bit more mining will help diversify our economy and provide funds to invest in other industries such as genetic engineering at the Liggins Inst.

    Much of what Oram says doens’t make sense. Oil production distracts from geothermal? Ah, they’re two seperate industries. But it certainly was a great pity that the Labour govt clossed the Geothermal Institute at Auckland University – run jointly with the UN, it trained many professionals from developing countries in geothermal energy production.

    • Mr Magoo 1.1
      22 February 2010 at 4:48 pm

      err..what now?

      He did no such thing?

      I am not sure what you are reading there sunshine? In fact towards the end he talked about having SMART MINING?!

      Anyways, another great article by Rod. Nice to see him come back from his holiday “swinging” into action. And he was fair swinging with this one. Good to see.

      Please god let him be back on the national radio with his weekly business slot. It was one of the highlights of my week (yes, its sad). They replaced him with whats-her-name in the interum and it was shocking and embarrassing. She is NOT a financial expert. Reporter on something does NOT equal expert on something.

      God help us from media people who think this way about… other media people. Guess it needs no explanation then.

  2. Neil 2
    22 February 2010 at 2:25 am

    closing the Geothermal Institute was a tragedy. But Labour stopping funding to the NZ Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA) was perhaps just as anti-science.

    Clark turned up to the launch of wed material for NZIMA and gave a good speech about science and our future etc. Two weeks later funding cut.

  3. rainman 3
    22 February 2010 at 8:10 am

    Neil, I think you’re missing the point. I agree Labour did a bunch of stoopid things while in government, but that’s just distractery from Oram’s argument. Which is: National’s not working on anything except the same old silly ideas from the 90’s, in a world that has changed considerably since.

    Such, I fear, is the nature of conservatives – no imagination.

  4. Neil 4
    22 February 2010 at 9:23 am

    I think I addressed Oram’s central thesis – that having a few more mines/oil exploration and developing a high tech economy are mutually exclusive.

    Both can be done. Key chose Peter Gluckman – who’s at the forefront of using science to create industry – as the govt science adviser, not a dairy farmer.

    • Clarke 4.1
      22 February 2010 at 10:15 am

      While you’re right in theory – there is no reason why extractive and high technology industries are mutually exclusive – the reality is that there is only a certain amount of capital and intellectual bandwidth that can be applied to these things. And if the Nats were really interested in balancing the two objectives then I would have expected the number of new tech and innovation announcements to be similar in number to the dinosaur announcements … which is clearly not the case, and pretty much makes Oram’s case.

      • Neil 4.1.1
        22 February 2010 at 10:26 am

        the capital that the oil and mining industries use does not come from funds that would otherwise go to the Liggins institute and the Liggins institute does not tend to lose geologists and mine engineers to the extractive industry.

        the two things can be and are done at the same time – in Australia for example.

        I think there’s continual progress being made in the tech industry in NZ, maybe Key could make more play out of that but just because he doesn’t doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

  5. sk 5
    22 February 2010 at 9:35 am

    The isssue is that the goverment has no growth strategy at all, and is not even thinking of one. Mining in national parks or dreaming of an oil strike is a fig leaf to cover their policy / strategic nakedness.

    It is time to stop re-litigating Labour’s term. Our crisis lies in the future .. . not the past

  6. prism 6
    22 February 2010 at 10:50 am

    Thinking about dairying. The growth in dairying business seems to require irrigation and we are allowing this sector to soak up so much of our precious water and it’s promised to them on long-term legal arrangements. But water is already going out of the commodity class of traded goods. And they throw the water up in the air as they bulk water their paddocks with wheeled irrigators, losing much to evaporation. Sustainable farming would have more dams, perhaps edible trees limiting evaporation and providing available feed supplement grown hedge like, or coppiced.

    It is crazy to allow this milk-rush, this house of cards, this unicycle industry balancing on a pin to have such control over both the economy and our water.
    Domestic financial planners say that the investor needs to have a balanced portfolio, that risk should be spread. Yet as a country we charge ahead with a single focus like children after a lolly scramble.

    f there is a small scare about disease, our agricultural industry can be shut down, and for cows there is foot and mouth etc. I think that there is a vaccine which could be used to control this but I don’t think anything has been done here or it has been discussed globally.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      22 February 2010 at 11:35 am

      Yet as a country we charge ahead with a single focus like children after a lolly scramble.

      And that shows just how far back Nationals thinking actually goes. Countries producing specialised goods cropped up in the 18th/19th centuries. Got to a university economics course and you’ll still get shown the “proof” that countries should specialise in what they’re good at rather than having a broad economic base. If NZ becomes an even bigger farm (which National seems to want) watch as even more of our best and brightest leave. Not everyone wants to be a farmer.

  7. prism 7
    22 February 2010 at 11:05 am

    Really like this quote from the Rod Oram piece – it summarises and pulls no punches about us and the NZ economy.
    ” This fundamental flaw runs right across our economy. Quite simply, we have failed through 25 years of economic reforms and their aftermath to increase exports as a percentage of GDP, let alone shift them into more sophisticated, higher value activities.

    Yet, the government says we will prosper by doing more of the same. It is a very 1990 view of a simple world, one where the cold war is over and unfettered opportunity beckons to produce lots of cheap food and energy.”

    And financial markets fed that unfettered opportunity for advancement built on shoddy business deliberately subverting the standards for financial dealings that the ordinary person trusted to be in place and be followed in a supposed ethical, clever and experienced business world.

  8. Rodel 8
    22 February 2010 at 7:47 pm

    Love the word ‘twerps’. Haven’t heard it for along time but it sums up John, Gerry, Rodney and co.

  9. Zak Creedo 9
    22 February 2010 at 9:21 pm

    Okay, so what is Oram arguing for — a Steppes change! — liek one o’ those ten-year plans?

    Seriously, he cites The Energy Minister who is known in some of the places I frequent as gerry and the place-takers. Why..? Bcos he is now famously known as the guy on a huge put.. like you may have seen his Hansard (I think it is) assertion of NZ producing some 75 percent of the current OPEC output — 28 million bpd.

    Short advice: don’t buy. Who would.? Mebbe Steppes-type planners. And look where they went. Real quick!

  10. Geoff 10
    23 February 2010 at 4:15 pm

    Rod Oram hits the nail on the head. The real challenge for Labour now is to offer the alternative. Unfortunately with its RMA reforms, support for market-based environmental policies and support for the expansion of Solid Energy’s mining on Stockton Plateau, the last Labour-led Government was really National-lite.

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Modern insurance law will protect Kiwi households
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago

  • Government recommits to equal pay
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Transforming how our children learn to read
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • NZ not backing down in Canada dairy dispute
    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’ ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Stronger oversight for our most vulnerable children
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Streamlining Building Consent Changes
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    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.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
    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). ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech – Eid al-Fitr
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Government saves access to medicines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Pharmac Chair appointed
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Diplomacy needed more than ever
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.    “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
    Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service.  It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk Bair
    Distinguished guests -   It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders.   Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
    Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia.   Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order.  “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-05-02T11:15:21+00:00