Veolia Transport: where were the backup plans?

Written By: lprent - Date published: 6:10 pm, April 26th, 2012 - 73 comments
Categories: public transport - Tags: failures, veolia transport

I have and still do deal with quite a lot with systems in my day-job. But this…. I’m aghast at the self-evident stupidity.

A power outage has shut down almost all train services across the Auckland region.

The fault at KiwiRail’s National Train Control in Wellington, which controls Auckland signals and radio control, occurred about 4pm, and it is not know how long train services will be affected.

Apart from the poor quality of journalism, this really raises more questions than it answers.

This report tends to indicate that a single point of failure in Wellington is capable of taking out a major part of the transport system in a city more than 700km away.

Now speaking purely from my old training in earth sciences, there is absolutely no way that ANY system in NZ should rely on a single location as a point of failure. The risk of earthquakes at any one location anywhere in NZ is pretty high as Christchurch showed. But Wellington / Nelson has probably the highest probability of having a major earthquake of any location in the country.

Then there are those hundreds of kilometres between there and here in Auckland. Sure the comms, power lines, and roads in NZ go either side of the volcanic plateau (at least I hope they still do). But it isn’t hard for anyone who has looked at the past history of the Taupo, Rotorua, and even those smaller cones scattered around the region, to easily imagine conditions that would cut links from one side of the north island to the other.

There should be at least ones warm backup system in the north. What country do they think they are in? Frigging Britain? This is New Zealand where you have to build a lot of redundancy into every system. Hell I run this site with several backup systems at varying degrees of warmth.

But FFS. Even if they were stupid enough to just rely on a single geographical point of failure. Then where in the hell were their backup generators?

Perhaps the journo’s should examine why a single point of failure in Wellington should take out an essential service for tens of thousands of people in Auckland.

73 comments on “Veolia Transport: where were the backup plans? ”

Comments are now closed

Draco T Bastard 1

26 April 2012 at 6:17 pm

Perhaps the journo’s should examine why a single point of failure in Wellington should take out an essential service for tens of thousands of people in Auckland.

That’d be nice but I doubt that it would happen as that would require questioning the privatisation agenda.
- Bed Rater 1.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 7:46 pm
  
  How does criticising the operations of a state owned entity amount to ‘questioning the privatisation agenda’?
  - logie97 1.1.1
    
    26 April 2012 at 8:22 pm
    
    Veolia – that wonderful local Kiwi organisation?
    They also look after our waste disposal in Auckland.
    Roadside collection up over 100 % in 10 years. Paid for through the bags.
    No corresponding reduction in rates though.
    Inorganic collections – thing of the past. Take it yourself and pay big bucks.
    Don’t you love the service you get when multinationals take over?
    - ghostwhowalksnz 1.1.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 7:53 am
      
      Veolia arent the people in Wellington operating the tracks/signals!!!
      
      Yes they are the train operator but the tracks etc are ‘owned’ differently
      
      Someone has jumped to conclusions
      - lprent 1.1.1.1.1
        
        27 April 2012 at 7:59 am
        
        I was just taking it off the report in the Herald. So who does run the signal system?
        
        Kiwirail?
        
        ghostwhowalksnz 1.1.1.1.1.1
        
        27 April 2012 at 8:01 am
        
        Yes
        
        lprent …
        
        27 April 2012 at 8:33 am
        
        But Veolia run the commuter rail in Auckland? So they are the ones that commuters should scream at for letting them walk home in the rain? They are directly responsible for ensuring the service runs well.
        
        I think that Veolia need the incentive to push Kiwirail.
        
        In much the same way that Vector run the power lines in Auckland, Transpower run the grid, but screaming should be directed at your own power company if they drop you into the dark. I can’t influence either Vector or Transpower as I don’ have a contract with them.but I do with Meridan.
        
        handle …
        
        27 April 2012 at 9:47 am
        
        Think of this like the ports, Lynn. Kiwirail own and run the tracks and signals. Veolia run the passenger service on them, contracted by Auckland Transport which pays a lease for access to the tracks and signals.
        
        Auckland Transport is a CCO set up so it nominally reports to Auckland Council as well as the national transport agencies and Ministry.
        
        Buck ‘stops’ with Minister of Transport and Auckland Mayor.
        
        ghostwhowalksnz …
        
        27 April 2012 at 10:06 am
        
        Auckland Transport would only have long term oversight of contract with Veolia- who dont run the tracks/signals. Same goes for usage of tracks from Kiwirail
        Not sure how you say buck stops with Auckland Mayor because of above and he only appointed 2 out of 8 directors of Auckland Transport.
        You could say the buck stops with Rodney Hide , who appointed Chairman and 6 directors of Auckland Transport.
        
        handle …
        
        27 April 2012 at 12:57 pm
        
        You could say that but it is not much use in fixing the problem. We probably agree that the government has more power than the council.
  - Draco T Bastard 1.1.2
    
    26 April 2012 at 10:51 pm
    
    Veolia Transport Auckland
    
    The merger in March 2011 of Veolia Transport and Transdev Group created a group with operations in 28 countries worldwide and 120,000 employees. The combined Veolia Transdev is the largest private transport operator in the world.
    - prism 1.1.2.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 9:46 am
      
      Confusing info on Veolia pages between Home and About us – one says that the contract with Auckland Transport to March 2014 and other says June 2016.
Carol 2

26 April 2012 at 6:25 pm

Agree with this post. As I said in Open Mike. Unbelievable!

And all a terrorist or other armed and dangerous enemy of the NZ state would need to do would be to strategically lay a bomb in Wellington at a selected time and place, to throw both Auckland and Wellington into disarray.
- Rob 2.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 6:51 pm
  
  It wouldnt matter if they did, no one in Auckland bothers to catch the thing anyway.
  - Carol 2.1.1
    
    26 April 2012 at 7:00 pm
    
    Hi Rob. Thanks for your “concern” about my well-being.
    – signed No One.
  - tc 2.1.2
    
    26 April 2012 at 7:09 pm
    
    Nether accurate, funny or relevant, got back to pulling the wings off flies Rob.
    - Rob 2.1.2.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 9:04 am
      
      Were you looking in the mirror when you typed this statement tc.
  - Jilly Bee 2.1.3
    
    26 April 2012 at 7:45 pm
    
    Rob you obviously haven’t caught a train to Swanson from Britomart in the late afternoons – it’s usually standing room only.
    - Rob 2.1.3.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 9:07 am
      
      No Jilly Bee, I am working in the late afternoon in South Auckland, so I can’t catch the train from Britomart to Swanson.
  - Draco T Bastard 2.1.4
    
    26 April 2012 at 7:48 pm
    
    Oh, gee, a RWNJ proved wrong – again
    
    Auckland Transport’s Chief Executive, David Warburton says, “This is a significant milestone in our public transport journey. Four times the number of passengers are using rail now than eight years ago when Britomart was opened. In 2003, there were 2.5 million trips on rail compared with the ten million we have just reached.
Rich 3

26 April 2012 at 6:27 pm

I’m pretty convinced that as and when the Big One hits Wellington, we’ll be stuffed. Most DR systems in NZ work on a she’ll-be-right basis, even when they’ve bothered building one.

We were fortunate that very little infrastructure is centred or controlled in Christchurch. When Wellington goes, I’d suspect things like total failure of bank payments for several weeks. The people in a position to fix things, even if they survive, won’t be able to get to work through streets prowled by trigger happy foreign cops and squaddies.
- vto 3.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 7:44 pm
  
  Yes agreed. Everyone’s personal civil defence bag should also contain a plan to deal with this certainty. Do not rely on the public services – they are well intentioned but ………. (see EQC example)
  
  If there is one thing we all learnt in Chch it is that simply having a plan helps immeasurably. And practising that plan multiplies that help ten-fold. And also, quite simply saves lives.
- Gosman 3.2
  
  27 April 2012 at 8:59 am
  
  You obviously have no experience of the NZ Banking system. There is significant DR capacity and most (if not all) have operations centers in Auckland so if Wellington went there would be only minor disruptions to the rest of the country.
  - Rich 3.2.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 12:31 pm
    
    Hence a faulty patch lead took out interbank payments.
    
    Believe me, I have considerable experience and have seen it all, including a “DR” system involving having duplicated servers at the other end of the room from their supposed backups.
    - Gosman 3.2.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 1:26 pm
      
      That error was rectified within a day. You are implying that the NZ payments system would be out for several weeks if there was a serious disaster in Wellington. It is simply not the case.
      
      I have worked in banking for a number of years including in testing DR capabilities. There is simply no way that a failure in Wellington would lead to the situation you are postulating.
      
      It is obvious you have little understanding of the infrastructure the banks have put in place around this.
    - Gosman 3.2.1.2
      
      27 April 2012 at 1:30 pm
      
      What is your considerable experience of the NZ Banking industries payment system Rich?
Anne 4

26 April 2012 at 6:43 pm

LPRENT for parliament!
- lprent 4.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 6:56 pm
  
  No thanks… I have spent literally decades supporting people silly enough to want to do the job on the off-chance that my duty itch would overcome my programming obsession. I like the latter and think that I’d scare too many people (and get too enamoured of) growling at them to do the former.
  
  Also I really really don’t wanna be nice – and the voters expect that an attempt would be made to be so.
  - Anne 4.1.1
    
    26 April 2012 at 7:06 pm
    
    Goodness gracious, I didn’t expect such a polite response. 🙂
    - Matthew Whitehead 4.1.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 12:25 am
      
      I was not aware you were such an excrement exciter. 😉
marsman 5

26 April 2012 at 6:59 pm

Perhaps Kiwirail is being systematically sabotaged from within on behalf of the Roading Lobby et al’s glove puppets, given that this is about the fourth adverse story coming from them within a fortnight or so. Don’t forget, the head of Kiwirail was appointed by Shonkey’s Administration. Yes I know, conspiracy etc etc but…….
- tc 5.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 7:07 pm
  
  Yes Jim Quinn is very much the yes man……whatever Joyce wants he gets.
handle 6

26 April 2012 at 7:03 pm

During the last Christchurch earthquake in December, media reported that air traffic control for the whole country was down because it was still based in that city. Who on earth would regard that as sound management?
- Draco T Bastard 6.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 7:52 pm
  
  The RWNJs – minimising the number of people and locations used increases efficiency. Doesn’t do too well when the lone place gets crushed though.
  - Matthew Whitehead 6.1.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 12:26 am
    
    To everyone it increases efficiency. But to most people efficiency at the cost of reasonable redundancy is stupid- to extreme right-wingers, it doesn’t matter because they pay directly for the redundancies in things that effect them.
tc 7

26 April 2012 at 7:05 pm

Yes and of course the buses were all full leaving the city so no alternatives and no signs at station entrances letting people walk to platforms….FFS common sense people.

Beggars belief that akl system is 100% reliant on Wellington based infrastructure but then this is kiwi rail led by ex NZ Post old boy and govt muppett Jim Quinn.
Hilary 8

26 April 2012 at 7:25 pm

See how the media uses this as another opportunity to denigrate trains. The DomPost reports almost every late train in the capital. There is never any equivalent scrutiny of road costs, road transport issues and the constant traffic jams. There is also an ongoing campaign to build the Transmission Gully White elephant. Roads good, trains bad. So boring.
vto 9

26 April 2012 at 7:35 pm

EQC in Christchurch – not a back-up plan. Not even a plan. And their entire contract was to deal with a major earthquake in any of NZ’s main population centres. Epic fail.

Fukushima nuclear power plant – all back-up plans involved the use of electricity to cool an out of control meltdown. No simple mechanical device requiring no electricity. You would think they had never heard of gravity.

It doesn’t surprise me one iota.

Don’t rely on any systems seems to be the only reliable way.
jaymam 10

26 April 2012 at 7:41 pm

It’s absolutely unbelievable if there isn’t a backup power supply.
And also unbelievable that the so-called journalists didn’t ask if there was one.
- ghostwhowalksnz 10.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 8:04 am
  
  That was the problem, the backup power supply didnt ‘switch over’.
  
  Very poor reporting over this- usual situation when there isnt some sort of celebrity involved, then we would have all the gory details
Colonial Viper 11

26 April 2012 at 7:46 pm

It’s “efficient” to centralise everything and take out ‘unnecessary’ redundancy (hey why pay for back up systems when they wll go unused for 99.99% of the time???).

Shame when some little thing breaks though and everyone everywhere gets screwed simultaneously.
RedLogix 12

26 April 2012 at 7:47 pm

As someone who is largely responsible for running the technology side of a similar piece of major infrastructure… I can only agree in principle with Lynn’s original post. A large portion of our resources go into adding resilience to the system. We can never make it utterly bullet-proof in the face of every conceivable event, or sequence of events… but we can cover most of the predictable ones.

Having said that I’m reluctanct to put the boot in without knowing more of the technical details. It’s far too easy to get high and mightly about something that turns out to be a bit more complex than you initially imagined. And because most of our media is technically illiterate we’ll never get a coherent explanation out of them. I do have a back-channel into Kiwirail but I can’t count on it delivering.

Train Control is an exceedingly conservative and risk averse aspect of the system, and you don’t fiddle or upgrade the system without spending a lot of money. My educated guess is that Kiwirail has been cash and capital starved for far too many decades and the kind of redundancy you are thinking of just hasn’t been in the budget.
- Colonial Viper 12.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 7:53 pm
  
  My educated guess is that Kiwirail has been cash and capital starved for far too many decades and the kind of redundancy you are thinking of just hasn’t been in the budget.
  
  Should have just kept signal men on the line with mechanical signal boxes. Keep more people employed doing an important job. Those systems worked with zero fatalities for decades.
  
  Too “inefficient” I suppose.
  - insider 12.1.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 9:21 am
    
    Zero fatalities except for the single largest train disaster in our history siler fern derailment, Wellington rail yards crash, etc etc. those dead probably looked like no-one as you whizzed past in the Porsche
- lprent 12.2
  
  27 April 2012 at 12:03 am
  
  I don’t expect it to be bullet-proof, but the first thing I would have expected to see from Kiwirail woud have been a statement saying that the backup systems were being activated. More than three hours afterwards the only thing I could see was that some trains were starting to run – how?
  
  Anyway I went into a movie then. I will have a look in the morning. But it did seem somewhat fragile.
  - ghostwhowalksnz 12.2.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 8:01 am
    
    Ask Air NZ how their systems worked when their was a failure in the aircraft boarding computers. IBM who ran it had very little idea what to do when there was a problem and it took many hours to fix.
    
    I remember a large industry in Australia ( Holden) had a motor generator/flywheel as the first part of a large battery backup. And it was tested at a quiet period every week.
    Dont reply on electronics to switch over your backup power
logie97 13

26 April 2012 at 8:23 pm

Veolia – that wonderful local Kiwi organisation?
They also look after our waste disposal in Auckland.
Roadside collection up over 100 % in 10 years. Paid for through the bags.
No corresponding reduction in rates though.
Inorganic collections – thing of the past. Take it yourself and pay big bucks.
Don’t you love the service you get when multinationals take over?
- ghostwhowalksnz 13.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 8:06 am
  
  Not Veolia . See above
  - lprent 13.1.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 8:28 am
    
    They do run our local commuter system. Therefore they are the organisation responsible for making it run correctly.
    - Gosman 13.1.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 9:17 am
      
      So you’re not really looking for the organisation responsible for the problem are you, only for a convenient scapegoat that you can complain to.
    - ghostwhowalksnz 13.1.1.2
      
      27 April 2012 at 10:15 am
      
      They cant run trains without signals, the responsible thing was to stop the trains. And they dont ‘buy’ the track access rights so Kiwirail isnt responsible to them directly.
      
      Welcome to the corporatised model of public services, where all complex organisations are sliced and diced by outsourcing and sub contracting.
xtasy 14

26 April 2012 at 10:31 pm

Personally I have never heard of any similar incident anywhere in the world, where such a failure was caused by one central “control” unit somewhere down the line. The train infratstructure so far in place leaves a lot to be desired. I was worried when I first ever saw Britomart and the trains in use. It seems to have been a rushed and cheapo decision to build the structures as they have been. Then again NZ companies involved took out of it what they could, pushing costs up beyond reason.

Auckland has a vulnerable, partly dysfunctional train infrastructure, which needs urgent attention.

But as long as the funding and other policies are not in place, NOTHING of substance will happen. It is not much wanted anyway by Joyce, Key and English, given the new 1 billion now suddenly missing of of government coffers. Maybe that is “creative accounting” though, because due to the large opposition to asset sales, some new trump card is needed now, to forcefully “convince” the public, there is NO other way?!

I suppose the trains in Jakarta, Mumbai and so forth run better than here. What does this tell us about NZ in 2012?
xtasy 15

26 April 2012 at 10:38 pm

LPRENT: “Now speaking purely from my old training in earth sciences, there is absolutely no way that ANY system in NZ should rely on a single location as a point of failure.”

Do you not remember the power outages in Auckland a few years ago? Was it not a similar scenario? NZ has appallingly poor infrastructure, and when Queen St in Auckland’s CBD was dug up and redone a few years back, I saw the exposed “infrastructure” for water and so forth. It was unbelievable, and this city up here still relies on a totally over aged, redundant and highly fragile network for electricity, water and gas sypply, and waste water networks are not any better.

The money went into some fancy and costly face saving projects for past mayors and Councils, who largely also feathered their own nests.

Just wait a few years down the line, and Auckland will have a total black out again, maybe no water in large parts and more. The infrastructure under the ground has been patched up, is cheap and highly vulnerable, just ask an insider engineer and so about it. This city, like much of NZ is built “Lego” style – without a solid, reliable infrastructure network in many areas. All quick deals, jobs and bucks for the companies involved, but NO long term solutions, same as in economic, trade, social and other policies. NZ will fall totally to pieces very, very soon.

Yes, please, China, China, help us out, will be the desperate scream, which Key is already trumpeting around. NZ is for sale, will not function and hundreds of thousands will leave to head offshore in the coming decades!
- Rob 15.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 9:10 am
  
  But its OK Xtasy, we will have an inner city train loop. That will help.
- insider 15.2
  
  27 April 2012 at 9:27 am
  
  The power failures were management failures not equipment ones. Poor maintenance and perhaps poor design at otahu and poor on site work practice at newmarket. The equipment never actually failed. The city centre failure in 98? Was due to ongoing managment failures not checking state of assets. People are often the greatest weakness in infrastructure.
  
  Note these were failures by state or city owned monopolies.
  - Draco T Bastard 15.2.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 11:27 am
    
    What was the cause? Human error (which is forgiveable) or cost cutting to boost profits (which isn’t)?
    - insider 15.2.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 1:08 pm
      
      It wasn’t cost cutting. Transpower is fully and guaranteed funded by power users and doesn’t get much push back on its budgets. Otahu was the result of failing to check a $20 shackle. But the cause was poorly designed and managed maintenance programmes and risk assessment over many years across the organisation.
      
      Basically their maintenance was scheduled ‘we do this every X period’ not ‘the risk of failure are generally X, but here the cpnsequences are X x Y, so we should be a bit more rigorous in our checks’. A huge lack of sophistication I think caused by the cosy complacency you can get in a fairly unaccountable monopoly.
      
      Similar with the central auckland outage in the 90s – people got lazy and oversight and accountability was poor, so basic checks and maintenance was not done on a complex piece of gear because it always worked, until it didn’t….
      
      With Newmarket, someone was working on the nearby substation transformers and didn’t follow correct shutdown procedure, but that was conveniently blamed on ‘old’ equipment because the transformer was 45 years old (easy to do in the age of disposable electronics but ignoring that the useful life of them is at least 70 to 80 years (most are not that old so we don’t really know what they are capable of), but soundbites are important when you are wanting to justify more cash for upgrades)
      - Draco T Bastard 15.2.1.1.1
        
        27 April 2012 at 2:37 pm
        
        And the maintenance was reduced because of…?
        
        This is the bit you want to avoid because you don’t want to admit that exactly the same thing would have happened in a privately run outfit. I know because I’ve seen it, railed against it. Cutting costs to boost profit is systemic to all profit driven companies. All of them, doesn’t matter if its private or state owned.
        
        insider 15.2.1.1.1.1
        
        27 April 2012 at 4:10 pm
        
        Where did I say maintenance was reduced? You seem to have this view that chucking lots of money at everything will answer everything, and that there is an ongoing conspiracy to endanger things by cutting costs indiscriminately.
        
        In all of these cases there was no question of a lack of money. They were state monopolies with guaranteed revenues. The common issue was it was poorly directed because the management did not do their jobs and did not understand the risks they were dealing with. You can have the best maintained and best oiled machine in the world, but if Homer Simpson is the man with his hand on the switch, you are still going to have issues.
xtasy 16

26 April 2012 at 10:53 pm

The know how to get NZ working and functioning again simply no longer exists. The social order is broken and even destroyed. Education is focussed on the elite getting good education, the rest enough to sell burgers and cut hair to/for others. Some work in offices of corporations or even councils and what else, as typists, receptionists, well there is also still some good research going on, but who for, and who uses it.

Hence the government has decided, sell NZ bit by bit.

I have resigned to the fact that NZ cannot be sold bit by bit, it either has to radically re-invent itself with immense input by locals, migrants and investors with genuine intentions for the whole NZ good, or it has to take the sour step to sell THE WHOLE COUNTRY, to hand it over to a developed economy that may actually have good intentions and is willing to invest here.

Such advanced countries could be from different places, and they have to make reasonable offers to invest here, also agreeing on social, environmental and legal standards upholding first world conditions here. There are countries that could do so, but not without a price.

So the issue is clear. Many will object to a whole sale, simply because “we play rugby” and “they play soccer”, so “bugger off”.

Others will want to cling to every inch of ground and grass, for whatever reason, whether owned by Michael Fay, an iwi or more, or by whomsoever.

While the whole world economy is on the brink (and IT IS, despite of good share news at present), maybe rething the future of NZ as a whole. The choices are getting less, and Key and consorts are only in it for themselves and their mates. They will not be interested in the investment and economic development NZ needs. Good night, dear discussers of whatever.
- Colonial Viper 16.1
  
  26 April 2012 at 11:03 pm
  
  (and IT IS, despite of good share news at present)
  
  yeah, except Apple accounts for about 30% of that stock market increase, by itself. And its not hard to pump a market up when you print money into it and hide all the liabilities off balance sheet.
  - xtasy 16.1.1
    
    26 April 2012 at 11:14 pm
    
    The share markets are highly distorted, only representing a day to day sentiment of gamblers, such investors and opportunists seeking the best returns in the short term. It is not at all reflecting the whole economic and fiscal realities in all countries at present, as you rightly point out, also partly due to quantitative easing.
    
    Economics is not an easy discipline, and even the leading ones disagree on some core matters.
    
    Yet even top investors and gamblers like Soros understand that Europe’s crisis is anything but resolved. That is not necessarily saying Europe is bad, and it is all to blame on budget blow outs due to welfare costs. That may be part of the picture in SOME countries, yet if you have a globalised economy, where some players (e.g. Mainland China) are now members of the WTO, but still to a fair degree manipulate currency values, still breach intellectual property rights, still have their own blow outs internally, like in Chongquin, previously ruled by corrupt Bo Xilai, the whole country there is also built like a house of cards.
    
    NOTHING is safe and certain anymore, and NZ would be doing very well, to radically rethink economic policies, rather than continue to simply rely on FTAs and open borders and exchanges of goods for the future safety. English shows it is NOT working! Asset sales will aggravate the situation. NZ must focus on INTERNAL economic stabilisation and development.
    
    The US only relies on 4 or so per centage of the whole economic activity on imports and exports, the rest is LOCAL. Their issues are LOCAL. Some countries in Europe have local issues and can resolve them, with the help of the EU commisison and banks there. But global exposure is a two edged sword, which few in NZ understand.
    
    Those that will come with the Cuba and NOrth Korea argument are idiots, as they are ridiculing the challenges that exist.
  - ghostwhowalksnz 16.1.2
    
    27 April 2012 at 8:10 am
    
    Plus they have interest rates in the US at practically zero ( for the big banks) who wouldnt invest in even the most blue chip of stocks.
Rupert the Beer 17

26 April 2012 at 11:07 pm

I was left high-and-dry – we were told we could catch a bus using our train ticket, except every bus going along New North Rd was packed by the time they got to Mt Albert. Finally, I got onto one and the driver said that I couldn’t use my train ticket – didn’t have any cash on me, received a lecture from the driver about how I should get a Hop card (I will once they’re integrated with trains) before I got off and walked home. In a suit. In the rain.

Fuck the convention centre – let’s sort the basic shit out first.
- happynz 17.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 9:05 am
  
  Fuck the convention centre – let’s sort the basic shit out first.
  
  You got that right!
  
  One and three-quarters years commuting between Henderson and Newmarket on that clapped out piece-of-shit train set and I had had enough and moved down here to Christchurch where I moved into an inner city unit so I could walk to work. Since then we’ve had those earthquakes and I have had no work to walk to. Ah well, I like New Zealand and all (hence my username), but it isn’t easy sometimes.
  - insider 17.1.1
    
    27 April 2012 at 10:17 am
    
    Please don’t move to Wellington Happy, I’m now worried you are like the Rain God in Hitchhikers Guide….:-)
    - happynz 17.1.1.1
      
      27 April 2012 at 10:29 am
      
      😀
      
      You could pay me to stay out of Wellington.
- Rob 17.2
  
  27 April 2012 at 2:55 pm
  
  Thats why we shouldnt be paying for it, however we are paying for this useless rail loop, so good luck getting anything fixed now Rupert.
Peter 18

27 April 2012 at 12:06 am

I’ve got a bit of knowledge on railway signalling, and I’ve been trying to work out what happened here. The one time I went to Train Control was an enlightening experience – you still had large sections of the network as “dark territory”, where train progress was mapped with pen and paper on a reel of graph paper. For much of the country, this is still the system, except with the help of a computer (Track Warrant Control)

However, for Auckland, it’s a spanking new Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) system, without many local panels that would kick in the event of a failure of the control from Wellington. There might be one or two local control options, perhaps at Britomart and Otahuhu/Southdown, but that’s it I think. This would be anathema in the NZR days – where most local stations had some form of backup mechanical or electrical control over signalling, and someone to run them, or at least a crew that would readily be called out to fix them. Or in many cases, it was just stations on their own, running 80 year old tablet machines, with a single wire running between them. Antiquated yeah, and it required a lot of staff to run it, but it worked.
- insider 18.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 10:23 am
  
  ON the dark areas, if you are transporting a long or special load (like a house or transformer etc) across a railway crossing you have to go through an eloborate process of contacting the centre and waiting for periods because the controllers don’t know where trains are on sections of track. They know when the train left ‘point X’ but are never quite sure when they will go through the crossing you want to get across, so you have to wait until they are sure you are safe.
TEA 19

27 April 2012 at 9:11 am

Perhaps Kiwirail is being systematically sabotaged from within on behalf of the Cycling Lobby et al’s lycra puppets, I say lift the rails and turn the carriageway into cycle and walking tracks.
- ghostwhowalksnz 19.1
  
  27 April 2012 at 10:18 am
  
  Doesnt work as the train is the most efficient means of public transport, both in terms of carbon footprint and corridor land use. Cyclists generally love trains as they can take the bike onboard.
  But of course you were just talking nonsense
Carol 20

27 April 2012 at 10:22 am

So there is a back-up centre in Auckland, but it is not staffed for short term emergencies….?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10801750

Although KiwiRail had an alternative train-control facility in Auckland, it had been set up in case the Wellington centre was unable to operate for extended periods and was not staffed for an immediate switch-over.

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3 days ago

Release: Public transport costs to double as National looks at unaffordable roading project instead
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Release: Cost of living in Auckland still not a priority
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Greens look to fast-track submissions on harmful law
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Govt should stop making people’s lives harder and build more homes
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Melissa Lee missing in action on media
The action Melissa Lee promised to protect democracy and the media sector is missing, Media and Communications spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Landlord Government leaves little hope for renters
The Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Opportunity to build a more sustainable economy
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Significant step forward in fixing cruel and unjust past
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environment
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Don’t cut our lunches – clear message sent to Government
Tens of thousands of people are demanding the Government commits to fully funding free and healthy school lunches. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Govt makes U-turn on Suicide Prevention Office
Labour welcomes the Government’s U-turn on the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

CCC issues warning over further climate delay
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets lame and lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Luxon targets are lousy example of leadership
If talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Commitment to disability communities missing from Govt priorities
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Methane target review is dangerous duplication
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Government must commit to school building project for disabled students
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: National must take mental health seriously
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Referendums for Māori wards a racist step backwards
The Government's imposed referendum on Māori wards is a racist step backwards for Māori representation, and disregards Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Job losses at Health not worth it for tax cuts
New Zealand will feel the harm of the National Government’s reckless cuts to jobs at the health ministry for generations, says Ayesha Verrall. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Press release: No Māori initiatives in Government’s nothing plan
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Thirty six point PR spin
The Government’s ‘36 point’ plan for the next three months is as pointless as it is hollow. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Social housing off Government’s to-do list
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Less money in most people’s pockets this April
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

$41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 hours ago

Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
8 hours ago

Judicial appointments announced
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
9 hours ago

Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
10 hours ago

Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
10 hours ago

Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
10 hours ago

Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
13 hours ago

Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
24 hours ago

Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Taupō takes pole position
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Government backing mussel spat project
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Government focused on getting people into work
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Inflation coming down, but more work to do
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Roads of National Significance planning underway
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Navigating an unstable global environment
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Joint US and NZ declaration
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Communities Against The Fast-track Heartened By ‘Overwhelming’ Public Response; Disgusted By ‘...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Scoop politics
2 hours ago

Renters Rights To Drastically Reduce Under Landlord Government
The Government’s announced changes around tenancy rules set renters’ rights back by nearly a decade. ...
Scoop politics
2 hours ago

NZPI Submission on Fast Track Approvals Bill
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
Scoop politics
2 hours ago

Fast Track Invite List Includes Most Destructive Industries In New Zealand
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
Scoop politics
2 hours ago

Eugene Doyle: Helen Clark on why AUKUS isn’t in New Zealand’s national interest
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
2 hours ago

Government releases list of organisations shoulder-tapped for fast-track consents
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 hours ago

The Week in Politics: Job cuts surge and Waitangi Tribunal trouble
Analysis - It's been a grim week for public servants, while trouble is also brewing between the government and Waitangi Tribunal. ...
Radio NZ – political
4 hours ago

It never rains but it pours: intense rain and flash floods have increased inland in eastern Australi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
5 hours ago

Watch: Christopher Luxon speaks to media in Manila
The PM has defended how he's talked up NZ trade on his trip to Southeast Asia, after criticism from his own delegation. ...
Radio NZ – political
5 hours ago

‘It could be the death of the museum’: why research cuts at a South Australian institution have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
5 hours ago

Government signs off $41m clean energy deal with Asian Development Bank
The government has committed $41 million to clean energy transition at the Asian Development Bank's Energy Transition Mechanism. ...
Radio NZ – political
5 hours ago

Are 2 mid-career AFL retirements a sign Australian athletes are taking brain health more seriously?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
7 hours ago

Luxon: Waitangi Tribunal comments from coalition parties 'ill considered'
Comments from ACT and NZ First ministers about the Tribunal were "ill considered" and "that message will be underscored" to them, the PM says. ...
Radio NZ – political
7 hours ago

Mental Health Foundation Facing Staff Cuts From Govt Funding Squeeze
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Scoop politics
8 hours ago

I wholeheartedly recommend The President: a brilliant revival of a play of decay, terror and revulsi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
8 hours ago

How the coolest little capital is shrinking
It's not the first time a government has targeted public servants for job cuts, but this time Wellington is really feeling it. ...
Radio NZ – political
8 hours ago

Ministers accused of Cabinet Manual breach with threats to Waitangi Tribunal
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
8 hours ago

Many prisoners go years without touching a smartphone. It means they struggle to navigate life on th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
8 hours ago

Good news: midlife health is about more than a waist measurement. Here’s why
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
8 hours ago

The Friday Poem: ‘Mitochondrial Problem’ by Evangeline Riddiford Graham
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The SpinoffBy Evangeline Riddiford Graham
8 hours ago

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 18
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38) Hot off the press, this debut ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
8 hours ago

Department of Conservation closing Dunedin centre, but no jobs lost
Visitor habits are changing and DOC needs to adapt in a financially sustainable way, its operations director says. ...
Radio NZ – political
8 hours ago

Unions Collaborate With Thousands Of Job Cuts
With New Zealand officially in recession, a swathe of mass sackings is currently sending shockwaves through the entire working class. ...
Scoop politics
9 hours ago

Watch live: Christopher Luxon speaks to media in Manila
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is speaking to reporters in Manila after pledging greater defence cooperation with the Philippines. Watch live. ...
Radio NZ – political
9 hours ago

Government sent please explain letter to Wellington City Council over transport disagreement
The contents were revealed in correspondence from Simeon Brown and Chris Bishop to Wellington's Mayor. ...
Radio NZ – political
9 hours ago

Some families push back against journalists who mine social media for photos – they have every rig...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
9 hours ago

Mental Health Foundation staff cuts loom, with funding falling behind rising costs
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
Radio NZ – political
9 hours ago

The ‘devil comet’ 12P/Pons-Brooks has finally become visible from Australia. What can we expect?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Pons–Brooks visible from Utah, March 9 2024. James Peirce/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND If you’re a fan of all things space, you’ve doubtless heard about the “devil comet”, which has been captivating keen-eyed observers in the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
10 hours ago

Rugby stadiums are sold as an economic asset – but NZ needs to ask if they’re really worth it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hamlin, Senior Lecturer in Marketing , University of Otago A multi-billion dollar stadium precinct has been proposed for Auckland, one of three proposals in front of Auckland Council for a new stadium in the city. The council is also considering revamping ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
10 hours ago

Auckland dog attacks: Callouts for attacks on other animals going up
Roaming dogs are responsible for more than a thousand attacks on animals each year, and the number is growing. ...
Radio NZ – political
10 hours ago

What access to puberty blockers means for trans young people and their whānau
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
The SpinoffBy Julia de Bres
10 hours ago

NZ and Philippines pledge defence cooperation amid rising tensions
The commitment came after a sit-down meeting between Christopher Luxon and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr overnight. ...
Radio NZ – political
12 hours ago

How superblocks can help reimagine city life
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
The SpinoffBy Ellen Rykers
12 hours ago

Fire engineering expertise may take a big hit with job cuts at MBIE
The public sector cuts are poised to take out a big chunk of expertise at the country's building regulator. ...
Radio NZ – political
12 hours ago

“Fast-track Law To Kill Kiwi”: Students Say Fight Against Anti-democracy Legislation Is Only Jus...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Scoop politics
13 hours ago

‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
13 hours ago

Online schooling is not just for lockdowns. Could it work for your child?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
13 hours ago

Hear me out: You can shove your reusable period products
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
The SpinoffBy Kristin Kelly
13 hours ago

Rip It Up And Start Over – Fast-Track Approvals Bill Needs To Be Scrapped
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
Scoop politics
13 hours ago

Maori Authority Warns Government On Fast Track Legislation
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Scoop politics
14 hours ago

Why the government’s haste in changing the health system could come back to haunt it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

Many suicides are related to gambling. How can we tackle this problem?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

Things that go buzz in the night – our global study found there really are more insects out after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

Why don’t Australians talk about their salaries? Pay transparency and fairness go hand-in-hand
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

‘Character’ And Its Impact On Immigration Status
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
Scoop politics
14 hours ago

20,000 more on jobseeker benefits than this time last year
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
The SpinoffBy Catherine McGregor
15 hours ago

All of the Raglan Roast cafes in Wellington, ranked from worst to best
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
The SpinoffBy Zoë Mills
17 hours ago

Auckland uni students threaten rent strike over rising accommodation fees
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously. The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund
17 hours ago

Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved
Shane Jones says people voted for change, but opponents say small cuts such as ending a special oceans secretariat are starting to add up The post Warning of death from a million cuts as Oceans Secretariat dissolved appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Andrew Bevin
17 hours ago

Defence deal to counter Beijing’s aggression in South China Sea
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
NewsroomBy Laura Walters
17 hours ago

Wellington’s ebb and flow of public servants
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
NewsroomBy Tom Kitchin
17 hours ago

New Zealand transport planning has gone off the rails
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
NewsroomBy Dr Timothy F Welch
17 hours ago

Daily crossword, Friday 19 April
The post Daily crossword, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
17 hours ago

Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slows
The transport sector is currently in the slow lane The post Brakes on transport and logistics sector as demand for freight slows appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Emma Hatton
17 hours ago

Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 19 April
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
17 hours ago

Financial literacy should be on all of us
Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Bryce Marsden
17 hours ago

Missy rustles to stardom in Canada
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
NewsroomBy Aiden McLaughlin
17 hours ago

Emissions fall again – now NZ needs to up the pace
Official figures confirm New Zealand produced less climate pollution in 2022 than in any other year in the 21st century The post Emissions fall again – now NZ needs to up the pace appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
17 hours ago

Grattan on Friday: Ethnic tensions will complicate the Albanese government’s multicultural policy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
23 hours ago

Group plans work to improve safety of female MPs
New research shows harassment of elected officials - especially women - is on the rise. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Ukraine warns of WW3 ahead of long-stalled Congress aid vote
Ukraine's Prime Minister says his country desperately needs the US to approve long-stalled security assistance. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

PSA astonished Education Minister expects hiring of contractors to review curriculum
Hiring contractors is an appalling solution when people who could do the work are losing their jobs, the PSA says. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Crown lawyers attempt to block Waitangi Tribunal summons to Minister for Children
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Luxon refuses to guarantee public consultation on AUKUS Pillar 2
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it's "far too premature" to be confirming whether the public would be consulted on joining AUKUS Pillar 2. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Visualising the 1800s or designing wedding invitations: 6 ways you can use AI beyond generating text
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Falls, fractures and self-harm: 4 charts on how kids’ injury risk changes over time and differs fo...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Choice and control: will NDIS reforms mean people with disability don’t get to decide who they liv...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University Shutterstock/Ground Picture Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Asbestos in playground mulch: how to avoid a repeat of this circular economy scandal
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salman Shooshtarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Salman Shooshtarian Asbestos has been found in mulch used for playgrounds, schools, parks and gardens across Sydney and Melbourne. Local communities naturally fear for the health of their ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Could Albanese’s bet on homegrown green industries be the boost our regions deserve?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Taylor, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University Cloudy Designs/Shutterstock Right now, there’s a global race underway. The goal: bring back manufacturing and energy jobs as the energy transition speeds up. In 2022, America launched its mammoth Inflation Reduction Act and the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Watch: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon won't say if government will consult public on joining ...
Asked multiple times if the public will be consulted on joining the defence pact, Luxon repeatedly said that was yet to be worked through. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Watch live: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks in Philippines
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is speaking to reporters on the third leg of his Southeast Asia trip, from Manila in the Philippines. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Māori lawyers call Shane Jones' Waitangi Tribunal comments 'inappropriate'
The Māori Law Society says his comments breach the principle of the separation of powers and the Cabinet Manual. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Abortions Increase 25% Since Law Change
Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Over Half Of New Zealanders Feel That The Country Is In Decline And That Our Society Is Broken
Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders. MORE DETAILS AND FULL REPORT HERE Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Australia’s new defence strategy is big on ideas, but lacks one key ingredient: well-trained soldi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University There have been a lot of defence announcements recently about buying new equipment, building up Australia’s manufacturing capabilities, creating local jobs, new legislation to support AUKUS and even a new defence chief. In ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Veolia Transport: where were the backup plans?

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