A sustainable future?

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, June 15th, 2012 - 51 comments
Categories: sustainability - Tags: ,

You know Peak Everything is making the mainstream when it hits the business pages.

But the era of abundant cheap resources is drawing to an end, for reasons equally straightforward. […] And while demand for resources from an exploding and wealthier population soars, finding and extracting new sources of supply is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive.

Business has to plan for resource depletion of course, just as many are planning for climate change.  And for many that resource scarcity is already upon them.

Water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent of the globe. Forty-four million people were driven into poverty by rising food prices in the second half of 2010.

Urbanisation displaces millions of hectares of high-quality agricultural land each year – McKinsey estimates that prime land equivalent in size to Italy could be sacrificed to expanding cities in less than 20 years.

At the same time, tens of thousands of square kilometres of pristine forest are cut down to grow crops needed for food, of which we will need 70% more by 2050 to feed the world’s massively expanding population, according to the United Nations.

With 3 billion more middle class consumers by 2030, and the fact that we’re already using more than this planet can provide, we need to find a new way of living – one without our head in the sand.

Rio+20 next week is meant to be the opportunity for the world’s governments to change course and ensure both that the developing world can access the clean water and other resources they’re currently missing out on, while also committing themselves to living within the planet’s limits.

Early indications don’t look good however.

With three days of negotiations left, only 20% had been agreed.  Large chunks of The Future We Want have been deleted – mostly by the US or China and the G77 (developing nations).

Mikhail Gorbachev, now head of Green Cross International contrasts the “optimism and hope” of the first Rio Earth Summit 20 years ago with the “cynicism and despair” of this one:

I feel bitter when I look at the cavernous gulf between rich and poor, the irresponsibility that caused the global financial crisis, the weak and divided responses to climate change, and the failure to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The opportunity to build a safer, fairer and more united world has been largely squandered.

In New Zealand, National “aspire” for us to be fast followers.  This despite what the excellent Pure Advantage report earlier this week points out:

No country in the world promotes its clean, green image as much as New Zealand, or is as reliant on its clean, green image for its exports and tourism. So in the green growth race, and it is a race, New Zealand should be out in front, leading, but we are not. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, not least of which is the view that New Zealand can have its cake and eat it too. Despite our steadfast promotion of New Zealand’s clean, green image, we continue to lag behind a number of countries in environmental indices and we continue to look for economic solutions from extractive industries such as coal and oil. We do this in spite of the significant opportunities available from the global shift to green growth and the fact that we have considerable competitive advantages to access these markets.

So what role will we play at Rio+20?  We are but a small country, but will we lead the way?  25 years ago a Labour Government showed what we can do.

The world needs action, it needs leaders. Will we stand up?

51 comments on “A sustainable future? ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    We can just build the Starship Enterprise – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jun/01/final-frontier-starship-enterprise-plan

    and then go out and mine asteroids – http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/24/tech-tycoons-asteroid-mining-venture

    As a plan, it is probably a more realistic way of elevating ten billion humans to the middle class than anything the Greens can come up with.

    • Dr Terry 1.1

      The Greens are not in dreamland, they are intelligent, realistic, and fortunately their thinking is “down to earth”.

      • Robert Atack 1.1.1

        DT there is no way in hell the Labor/green savings scam Kiwi Saver is ‘down to earth’, to maintain KS for the 40 year period Norman was going on about during the last election, ‘we’ have to continue to destroy the environment.
        The Greens are part of the problem

  2. joe90 2

    And the sub-continent ticks away with an average population increase in Pakistan alone of 9,700 every day.

    • fatty 2.1

      True, its time the West stopped forcing the global South into poverty…population increases is their only means of survival. The West is stuck with a choice….either start treating them as humans and stop forcing them into poverty, or do nothing and accept that they will overpopulate the earth.
      Its a difficult choice for us…we can’t imagine life without our slaves.

      • True Freedom is Self-Governance 2.1.1

        Nice one Fatty, I completely agree.

      • Robert Atack 2.1.2

        Alas it is way to late to redistribute the ‘wealth’, to bring everyone up to our standard of lifestyle we would need several more planets, or we could all go down to the lifestyle of your average Bangladeshie, but who is going to vote for 80% unemployment?
        We have 2 options a hard landing – were you hit the pavement and shatter every bone, or a super hard landing where you hit the pavement and explode )
        Earth population zero humans 2050?

  3. ad 3

    Nothing but an overwhelming sense of Left Melancholy for me here.

    A few local governments like Waitakere sought to take on Rio’s Agenda 21 like it really meant something – all the way from communitarial decision-making to a Greenprint and a compact city. Other cities did it as well, some better than Waitakere. Naturally the ideological fire dimmed in the course of 6 terms, but we had a really stable leadership that got about as much done as the money and the local economy could stand.

    Rio this year reminds me of the Shell long-range global scenario in which, rather than choosing the kind of world in which there is greater coherence and cooperation and binding global agreements towards good change, we have instead the:
    – dead Copenhagen talks
    – dead World Trade deal
    – dying Euopean ideal
    – withered United Nations
    – dying concept of international law other than for commerce
    – dying planet
    – and a global resource free-for-all

    So now as a result I constrain my world to working on infrastructure projects that can change behaviour for the good, within Cities. Really hard to have faith in a greater scale than that.

    • fatty 3.1

      “- dead Copenhagen talks
      – dead World Trade deal
      – dying Euopean ideal
      – withered United Nations
      – dying concept of international law other than for commerce
      – dying planet
      – and a global resource free-for-all”

      Those first 4 are a joke…international institutions create and perpetuate poverty…they want poverty, they profit from poverty, they maintain poverty.
      WTO, WB, IMF, UN, NATO…add some more if you want….they cannot be looked to for an answer, they are the problem. They create the structure, they demonise the Other.
      Its no different from hoping the ideology of the ACT Party will sort out the poverty in NZ.

  4. Bored 4

    The challenge we face is to change the consciousness of our own programming. So few of us will critically look beyond the memes and received wisdom they have accepted as their own mental and life paradigm. We are like rabbits caught in the headlights of our ingrained habits, our know constructs and paradigms. The car will run us over unless we understand that we have to move, but nobody has ingrained the concept of being squashed by a car, therefore it wont happen.

    The biggest ingrained notion I observe on this blog regardless of political affiliation is the concept of “growth”. I posted this link before, it is a rational explanation of why “growth” is not sustainable. Please watch it, and then give it to all your associates and friends. Then ask yourself “how does this change my relationship to my current world view”?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umFnrvcS6AQ

  5. weka 5

    Urbanisation displaces millions of hectares of high-quality agricultural land each year – McKinsey estimates that prime land equivalent in size to Italy could be sacrificed to expanding cities in less than 20 years.
     

    That in and of itself is not necessarily a problem. There is no reason why we can’t build cities that feed themselves (food can be grown in cities, and it’s more sustainably than conventional cropping and farming). There are of course other reasons for not building more cities, namely peak everything.
     

    No country in the world promotes its clean, green image as much as New Zealand, or is as reliant on its clean, green image for its exports and tourism. So in the green growth race, and it is a race, New Zealand should be out in front, leading, but we are not.
     

    “green growth” is an oxymoron. Export and tourism economies will fail in the face of resource depletion. Our aim should be to keep NZ ‘green’ because we need this land to grow food and to live on.
     

    • True Freedom is Self-Governance 5.1

      Green growth certainly is an oxymoron. But it makes those promoting the economic growth model who have a slight conscience feel a bit better I suppose. Really just another way to greenwash unsustainable practices though.

  6. True Freedom is Self-Governance 6

    I think, realistically, if we are to have a sustainable future people will have to accept a different standard of living. Not necessarily a lower standard (unless you are one of those people who feels the latest consumer gagdet is essential to your existence), just a change in what we view as important in our lives. Until there is enough political will to change our collective focus from the dinosaur-brained ‘endless growth to benefit a few’ model sustainable options will always be overlooked by pollies in favour of get rich quick schemes.

    That 100% pure slogan is almost as big of a joke as John Key being a self-made man.

  7. The Baron 7

    25 years ago we banned ourselves from peaceful application of one of the greenest energy sources in the world, and instead wedded ourselves to far dirtier coal/gas energy production and waterway ruining hydro.

    A nuclear weapons ban makes sense. Nuclear power ban does not. Funny precedent to bring up then isn’t it, Ben.

    • True Freedom is Self-Governance 7.1

      I’m not familiar with the latest waste-disposal practices in the nuclear industry. Have they come up with new practices that involve decontamination of the waste before burial or some kind of recycling system for it? Otherwise I cant imagine why it could ever be referred to as one of the greenest energy sources.

      • The Baron 7.1.1

        It’s about trade-offs though, isn’t it. Yes, the waste problem is an issue with nuclear – solutions are available to that. Not especially elegant, but you might consider them better than pumping out carbon from your coal fire (we haven’t solved that problem yet, have we?) or likewise from gas (nope, no solution there) or kept the rivers flowing (um nope again).

        NZ has a frankly immature attitude to nuclear power. Hell, its even a natural process for god’s sake. By doing so your wedding yourself either to a future as a lights out luddite or as a continual burner of carbon. Can’t have it all, so what side would you rather be on?

        • Bored 7.1.1.1

          I don’t think it is fair for you to trade off on behalf of some descendant to be born several thousand years down the track from now. These unborn will be working away to store your spent fuel rods at their cost, you will have had all the benefit. That is theft, grand larceny. Inter generational theft pure and simple.

          Besides the theft aspect you might want to consider that civilizations and states regularly collapse (read a history books or two please), just as our financial system threatens to do currently. What long term confidence can we have that a polity will exist to look after this nuclear waste a few thousand years down the track?????? Try thinking about the word “responsibility”.

          • The Baron 7.1.1.1.1

            OK, and you can explain to these same grandkiddies how you killed the environment with the carbon emissions and waterways damage that you’re implicitly endorsing instead. Theft and grand larceny? Grow up please – or are you going to tell the grandkids to turn the heater off as well?

            Make some choices and recognise that they all come with consequences. I acknowledge that nuclear has trade offs – so does every method of power generation. I prefer one right now that doesn’t directly ruin the environment through carbon emmissions – you clearly would rather keep doing that.

            As for your “I’m awesome cos I read lots of non-fiction” – um, LOLZ. Why don’t you try looking up the word “choices” and “uninformed hysteria” instead? Cos your immature argument style is pathetic.

            • Bored 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Did I get to you Baron? Your comments indicate to me your total egocentricity. A minor hissy fit at being called out. Grow up and you leave your mental kindergarten.

              • The Baron

                Uhuh. Let he who cast the first stone etc.

                Still haven’t told me how you’re going to explain to your grandkids why you didn’t stop rampant climate change by supporting non-carbon emitting sources of generation, have you? Too hard basket huh – or, um, do all your history books not have that answer for you?

                Hahahaha.

    • Kotahi Tane Huna 7.2

      Pull the other one Baron. We build a bunch of safe clean nuclear power stations, figure out how to dispose of the toxic waste they produce, make them earthquake proof and cheap to maintain, and after we have done all these things that no other country has managed, you will sell them to overseas investors at a fraction of their value.

      PS: Other than confiscation without compensation, what other mechanisms could be put in place to prevent or deter National Party scum from flogging everything New Zealand builds?

      • Bored 7.2.1

        Reply to the PS bit (from another post)…how to get assets back….

        incoming government buys 5% of the shares on the market so that they are clear majority shareholders then run everything at a loss, therefore depressing the share price. Next step buy up more shares at low cost until it is viable to run a profit and to buy the rest back from the profit.

        The last option is really just corporate raiding / asset stripping of minor shareholders, happens all the time. Evil I know, could not happen to nicer people.

        • Kotahi Tane Huna 7.2.1.1

          Not punitive enough to prevent a capital gain, and would still provide opportunity for short-sell profiteering with near-guaranteed returns.

    • Colonial Viper 7.3

      What do you have to do to decommission a nuclear power plant at the end of its 40 year safe operating life, Baron? How do you breakdown and mothball the plant, safely?

      Or do you do what they’ve been doing in the US and Japan – just granting repeated extensions to plant operating licenses until something breaks for real.

      • The Baron 7.3.1

        Oh yes, the irradiated wastelands that are the US and Japan huh. Seems to me that things seem to be working out rather well even despite your doomsdayism.

        And before you get started:

        – Three mile island is the worst that has ever happened in the states. Those exposed got doses equivalent to a chest xray.

        – Fukushima was hit by what, two tidal waves? And despite all the hullabaloo, the effects are pretty minor.

        I have no idea how you break down and mothball a plant. Other countries have done it though – I’m sure it ain’t that hard. But then again, its you who effectively want to keep pumping out carbon and ruining waterways by denying this as an option – oh, or forcing everyone to keep the heaters off all winter.

        It’s all about choices, but your an immature moron who wants to cross out one of your options based on hysteria. Nice.

        • Colonial Viper 7.3.1.1

          – Fukushima was hit by what, two tidal waves? And despite all the hullabaloo, the effects are pretty minor.

          LOL

          “hullabaloo”

          You should look up all the kindergartens and primary schools throughout Japan which are now contaminated by hot particles.

          And the residents of Washington state and California who are coming to terms with radioactive contaminated fish swimming off their beaches.

          • The Baron 7.3.1.1.1

            … and, um, you should link to them.

            Even then, that is the most extreme example of a failure not of the plant itself, but of the havoc that two tidal waves can cause. Solution – don’t build our one that close to the coastline?

            But then agian, I’m the one trying to reduce our carbon footprint, aren’t I. You’re the one who wants to keep burning coal and destroying waterways. How does it feel to ride that high horse around, idiot?

            • lostinsuburbia 7.3.1.1.1.1

              Fukushima was built by the coast because it needed plenty of cooling water – that’s why most power plants are by the sea or large rivers – water is neccessary for even thermal power plants.

              As for nuclear being “carbon-neutral” – it is a debatable position given the environmentally damaging nature of uranium mining and processing. There is less than a century’s supply of usuable uranium deposits worldwide and a large upscaling of the nuclear industry would drain that supply even faster.

              Decommissioning is also a problem. Finland is the only country to come up with a permament solution so far – and that took constructing a deep tunnel complex into granite bedrock. No one else has come up with a solution. Instead they are left keeping used fuel in cooling ponds or reporcessing it (which still leaves you with nuclear waste).

              So all in all nuclear energy is only a transitional technology that still has a lot of problems.

    • joe90 7.4

      Solution – don’t build our one that close to the coastline?

      You could have a wee think about why nuclear power plants are built where they are.

      • The Baron 7.4.1

        Done that thanks Joe. Plenty are built by inland sources of water instead. Or, miracle of miracles – we invented things called PIPES a couple of thousand years ago. No reason your plant can’t be on a bluff.

        Wanna try again? Hahahahaha.

      • joe90 7.4.2

        No, not cooling. Try again.

        • The Baron 7.4.2.1

          I’m not going to play this game, Joe. Most nuclear power plant designs need to be close to a source of water. Maybe you in your infinite wisdom have designed one that doesn’t – I dunno.

          If you’re worried about your power plant getting hit by two tidal waves, which is more possible here than elsewhere admittedly, then build it up or inland a bit. Problem solved.

          Our anti-nuclear hysteria is preventing us from using what is, by in large, a safe and clean method of power generation. No, not perfectly so, but none of them are. The problem is that we have such a goddamn immature attitude to this conversation in this country, as the hysteria in this thread has proven.

          So instead, we will keep burning fossil fuels and fucking our rivers. Seems dumb to me, and far from sustainable.

          • lprent 7.4.2.1.1

            Operational and construction costs of raising a power reactor well up from sea level tend to be prohibitive. They’d have to lift their vast amounts of water.

            Of the three rivers that are likely to have sufficient volumes of water, the Waikato and Whanganui are drain the volcanic plateau and only a person with no understanding of geology would want to place a reactor close to those.

            The Clutha is probably the only viable one and it is in the South Island over the scrawny cook strait cables and rather wasteful lossy national grid.

            Similarly the only decent sized lakes are nice active volcanic craters.

            No, not perfectly so, but none of them are. The problem is that we have such a goddamn immature attitude to this conversation in this country, as the hysteria in this thread has proven.

            I haven’t even bothered with the getting into the issues of the scales of commercial reactors that are currently available. But having a single point of failure that large isn’t a good idea for the economy.

            Or the issues about how to remove the high level waste from NZ when we have no place that is geologically stable enough to store it and where the nearest storage facilities are half-way around the world. The costs of removal make that a non-cheap power source.

            I’m not going to play this game..

            Because it is pretty clear that you have no frigging idea of how to deal with actual real nuclear reactors? That is how it reads to me. A simple minded sloganeering idiot who seems to think that NZ is a nice stable land area like aussie..

            If the full cost of the nuclear reactors in NZ were built in from the start, then they’d be the most expensive possible source of power we could use.

            • lostinsuburbia 7.4.2.1.1.1

              Don’t forget nuclear reactors are good for baseload electricity production and NZ doesn’t have a problem with baseload given all our hydro resources. Its the peak that’s the problem and its an expensive and potentially dangerous solution to ramping electricity production at a nuclear power plant up and down.

              Nuclear energy may be a transitional solution for some countries with limited alternatives for electricity production but it is certainly not needed in NZ.

              • lprent

                There don’t seem to be any commercially available reactors on offer at less than about 1000MW, and as you say nuclear reactors aren’t like the nearest equivalent in NZ grid. The Huntly power station is a similar size but can be turned on or off with relatively little notice.

                And if the Taupo volcano gets breached and drops one of those massive floods of pyroclastic rock (ie ignimbrites) and water down the Waikato and cooks and washes the Waikato river valley away (which happens regularly in NZ geological history), the debris scattered down to the river mouth and along the coast from a coal power station at Huntly is a lot less of a problem than if there was a 1000MW nuclear reactor there.

            • The Baron 7.4.2.1.1.2

              Lyn,

              Contrary to some of your assertions in the end, I at least appreciate you taking the time to engage the argument on its merits. Nope, I am not and don’t think I have claimed to be an expert on constructing or operating nuclear power plants. I still think however that on balance a mature conversation about power generation in NZ would consider the option.

              Detail – as for a location, I thought Kaipara harbour. Doesn’t need to be a river per se, plus Kaipara is near the load points in Auckland. I’d also imagine, in near ignorance, that the east coast would be less prone to tsunami risk, as remote as that risk is.

              As for geological instability in general, I’m not taking aus as my baseline, but instead Japan, which seems to me to be significantly less stable than here. They can do it, why can’t we?

              As for base generation versus peak, or commercial viability of smaller reactors – again, dunno. If you’re worried about burning coal though, I’d rather have one of these than Huntly.

          • prism 7.4.2.1.2

            The Baron
            Your cosy suppositions about nuclear power without looking at its true cost from start to close down then how long it has to be left to lie ‘fallow’ mean that your comments are irrelevant.

        • joe90 7.4.2.2

          Logistics.

          They’re in close proximity to navigable waterways because the prefabricated components are so big and with such large volumes of construction materials being used the only viable transport option is by barge.

          And with components so big the only way to lift and manoeuvre them is the use of heavy lift seagoing cranes.

          Also with most radioactive materials transfers having a seagoing leg combined with local opposition to land transport, proximity to navigable waterways is crucial.

    • freedom 7.5

      There is a solution to disposing of nuclear fuel waste. It is serious kit but all in all relatively low cost once in operation. It consists of a magnalev launch ramp and an orbiting vehicle. The waste is launched into orbit and then retrieved and redirected to eventually get consumed by the Sun. (note: as it will not require any shielding etc the pod and its contents get consumed by Solar radiation millions of miles from the Sun’s surface, so any scaremongers screaming of fission disasters can quit before they waste their bandwidth) The best location would be from Australia where there is ample space to build the fifteen to twenty km launch ramp required and more than enough energy as it is all solar powered. Australia also has numerous coastal access points, albeit currently undeveloped, which would not require the waste to visit or transit through populated areas. The orbiting vehicle that captures and realigns the waste pod is a drone controlled from the ground and there is already all the technology necessary to make this happen. As with Solar power, the electric car and any number of real achievements humanity could be expanding upon, it is the lack of will and the perceived loss of future income that stymies the roll of progress.

      No-one has ever explained to me a quantitative reason why it should not occur. Implementation costs and greed being the most common mitigating factors that all arguments collapse into. In counterpoint i mention that this year 59% of the US Federal Budget is going on Military and Defense projects. That is approximately 1.2 Trillion dollars. The construction of a Nuclear Fuel Disposal System as described above has been costed in the thirty to fifty billion mark, let’s double that and it is still is only a tenth of what the US plans to spend on bombs and guns this year alone.

      • The Baron 7.5.1

        Hah. There we go. Or we could just get the good people at Space-X to do it as well – a modified one way version of their rockets could probably do it for even cheaper.

        Problem solved.

        • freedom 7.5.1.1

          rockets will never be cheaper than magnetics run from solar power, that is the whole point.

          If Solar had been allowed to develop properly then we would likely already have space tourism and a hundred thousand other cool things. The principle one being cheap sustainable domestic energy supplies. Which is of course the driving force behind making sure that the boot of authority is well and truely held on the neck of Solar development. Electricity must never be allowed to become a mass consumer item that the consumer actually controls. The entire machine depends on the everyday person being reliant on the grid. Control control control, it is not just about the dollars, they are nothing but icing on the cake.

        • freedom 7.5.1.2

          also Baron you must take into account the whole size-weight issue that comes with nuclear fuel waste . Smaller regular payloads would be required and all fuels, even the clever space ones, cannot compete with solar energy

  8. lostinsuburbia 8

    Unfortunately humans as a general rule are shortsighted and greed. People struggle to see how these issues individually effect them and are loathed to lose any of their luxuries.

    Our society is now organised on the basis that everyone deserves instant gratification for their desires and that individual satisfaction should be sought at any cost.

    Also, people think we have more time and that any changes will be gradual. However human history and environmental society show us that change will occur in sudden abrupt shocks e.g. the signficant release of arctic methane deposits or the collapse of the Western Antartic ice shelf. Once these changes happen, it will be nigh on impossible to reverse them.

    With our self-centered attitudes I can’t imagine there being much political buy-in from the the general populace to undertake any signficant change before some really painful shocks are felt as parts of the world suffer resource and ecological collapse.

    And when those shocks happen, international relations (particualarly in Asia) will get very hairy indeed.

    • Colonial Viper 8.1

      And when those shocks happen, international relations (particualarly in Asia) will get very hairy indeed.

      bearing in mind if there is no diesel and no av gas (or if they are US$10/L), there is no war.

      • lostinsuburbia 8.1.1

        Possible, but they can always throw their nukes at each other, and governments and their militaries will be last to run out of fuel.

        • Oscar 8.1.1.1

          Shocks like when the magnetic field drops out and radiation rains on our heads from above until the magnetosphere gets itself back up again.

          Shocks like when a blizzard that comes “out of nowhere” kills 200 cows

          Shocks like when people come to the slow realisation that we’re heading into a cooling cycle

          Shocks like when people realise that 3 inches of rain equates to 30 inches of snow

          Shocks like when people gawp at the fact Cordon Caulle is still rumbling away 12 months later with several other volcanos regularly emitting sunlight blocking particles – most likely more now than in recorded history

          Shocks like when people realise that the oceans warming cause CO2 levels to rise, not that CO2 rises cause warming oceans

          Shocks like when scientists, real scientists, categorically state that they estimate 10,000 volcanoes are erupting underwater, and thats just the ones they know about out of an estimated 1,000,000 undersea volcanos – so what’s driving the increase in sea temperature again

          Shocks like when people finally wake up and realise they’ve been far too short sighted and fucking greedy by focusing on singular elements rather than looking at the bigger picture.

          Oh yes, I can’t wait for those shocks. Humanity is disgusting, foul, despicable and fuckwitted to the extreme. The day we introduce compulsory sterilization after your second child, the sooner we’ll start to balance out what this earth can sustain.

          The balance of nature is out. Harmony no longer exists. Humanity deserves to die, and Nature is the one that will come and wipe us out.

          • Kotahi Tane Huna 8.1.1.1.1

            The above comment is as good an illustration of how believing nonsense can lead to insanity, as any I’ve seen.

          • Murray Olsen 8.1.1.1.2

            All these real scientists and not a link in sight. The scientists might be real, but the nonsense you spout is about as far from reality as it’s possible to get.

  9. jaymam 9

    James Lovelock has the answers. You trust him don’t you, and the Guardian?

    James Lovelock: The UK should be going mad for fracking

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/15/james-lovelock-interview-gaia-theory

    [Lovelock] and his wife Sandy have decided to downsize and move to an old lifeguard’s cottage by the beach in Dorset. “I’m not worried about sea-level rises,” he laughs. “At worst, I think it will be 2ft a century.”

    He says “being allowed to change your mind and follow the evidence is one of the liberating marvels of being an independent scientist, something he has revelled in since leaving Nasa”

    [Lovelock] is now coming out in favour of “fracking”, the controversial technique for extracting natural gas from the ground. He argues that, while not perfect, it produces far less CO2 than burning coal

  10. captain hook 10

    jman. I dont trust anyone do I.
    I listen to them all and make up my own mind, don’t I.
    Thats what a democracy is, isn’t it?
    I’m a thinking man< aren't I.
    are you a democrat or not, isn't you?

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    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    19 hours ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    21 hours ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    21 hours ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    21 hours ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    22 hours ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    1 day ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    1 day ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    2 days ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    3 days ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Motorway madness

    How mad is National's obsession with roads? One of their pet projects - a truck highway to Whangārei - is going to eat 10% of our total infrastructure budget for the next 25 years: Official advice from the Infrastructure Commission shows the government could be set to spend 10 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Our transport planning system is fundamentally broken

    Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...
    3 days ago
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal

    And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In February 2021, several severe storms swept across the United States, culminating with one that the Weather Channel unofficially named Winter Storm Uri. In Texas, Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people. Hundreds of Texans died as a ...
    3 days ago
  • The ‘Infra Boys’ Highway to Budget Hell

    Chris Bishop has enthusiastically dubbed himself and Simeon Brown “the Infra Boys”, but they need to take note of the sums around their roading dreams. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Media Link: “AVFA” on the politics of desperation.

    In this podcast Selwyn Manning and I talk about what appears to be a particular type of end-game in the long transition to systemic realignment in international affairs, in which the move to a new multipolar order with different characteristics … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • The cost of flying blind

    Just over two years ago, when worries about immediate mass-death from covid had waned, and people started to talk about covid becoming "endemic", I asked various government agencies what work they'd done on the costs of that - and particularly, on the cost of Long Covid. The answer was that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Seymour vs The Clergy

    For paid subscribers“Aotearoa is not as malleable as they think,” Lynette wrote last week on Homage to Simeon Brown:In my heart/mind, that phrase ricocheted over the next days, translating out to “We are not so malleable.”It gave me comfort. I always felt that we were given an advantage in New ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Unstoppable Minister McKee

    All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes downAnd all through the nighttimeOh, yeahOh, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeahSong by SiaLast night there was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Could outdoor dining revitalise Queen Street?

    This is a guest post by Ben van Bruggen of The Urban Room,.An earlier version of this post appeared on LinkedIn. All images are by Ben. Have you noticed that there’s almost nowhere on Queen Street that invites you to stop, sit outside and enjoy a coffee, let alone ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    4 days ago
  • Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government must stay below 30% of GDP

    Hipkins says when considering tax settings and the size of government, the big question mark is over what happens with the balance between the size of the working-age population and the growing number of Kiwis over the age of 65. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Your invite to Webworm Chat (a bit like Reddit)

    Hi,One of the things I love the most about Webworm is, well, you. The community that’s gathered around this lil’ newsletter isn’t something I ever expected when I started writing it four years ago — now the comments section is one of my favourite places on the internet. The comments ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Seymour’s Treaty bill making Nats nervous

    A delay in reappointing a top civil servant may indicate a growing nervousness within the National Party about the potential consequences of David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. Dave Samuels is waiting for reappointment as the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, but POLITIK understands that what should have been a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

    A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 1, 2024 thru Sat, September 7, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is about how peopele are not born stupid but can be fooled ...
    5 days ago
  • Time for a Change

    You act as thoughYou are a blind manWho's crying, crying 'boutAll the virgins that are dyingIn your habitual dreams, you knowSeems you need more sleepBut like a parrot in a flaming treeI know it's pretty hard to seeI'm beginning to wonderIf it's time for a changeSong: Phil JuddThe next line ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Six.

    The “double shocks” in post Cold War international affairs. The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global geostrategic context. In particular, the end of the nuclear “balance of terror” between the USA and USSR, coupled with the relaxation … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Buried deep

    Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation; and special guest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Have We an Infrastructure Deficit?

    An Infrastructure New Zealand report says we are keeping up with infrastructure better than we might have thought from the grumbling. But the challenge of providing for the future remains.I was astonished to learn that the quantity of our infrastructure has been keeping up with economic growth. Your paper almost ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Councils reject racism

    Last month, National passed a racist law requiring local councils to remove their Māori wards, or hold a referendum on them at the 2025 local body election. The final councils voted today, and the verdict is in: an overwhelming rejection. Only two councils out of 45 supported National's racist agenda ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Homage to Simeon Brown

    Open to all - happy weekend ahead, friends.Today I just want to be petty. It’s the way I imagine this chap is -Not only as a political persona. But his real-deal inner personality, in all its glory - appears to be pure pettiness & populist driven.Sometimes I wonder if Simeon ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    7 days ago
  • Government of deceit

    When National cut health spending and imposed a commissioner on Te Whatu Ora, they claimed that it was necessary because the organisation was bloated and inefficient, with "14 layers of management between the CEO and the patient". But it turns out they were simply lying: Health Minister Shane Reti’s ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all

    Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024

    Welcome to another Friday and another roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. As always, this and every post is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew. If you like our work and you’d like to see more of it, we invite you to join our regular ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies; Excerpt Four.

    Internal versus external security. Regardless of who rules, large countries can afford to separate external and internal security functions (even if internal control functions predominate under authoritarian regimes). In fact, given the logic of power concentration and institutional centralization of … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • A Hole In The River

    There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...

    My conclusion last week was that The Rings of Power season two represented a major improvement in the series. The writing’s just so much better, and honestly, its major problems are less the result of the current episodes and more creatures arising from season one plot-holes. I found episode three ...
    1 week ago
  • Who should we thank for the defeat of the Nazis

    As a child in the 1950s, I thought the British had won the Second World War because that’s what all our comics said. Later on, the films and comics told me that the Americans won the war. In my late teens, I found out that the Soviet Union ...
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #36 2024

    Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...
    1 week ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live at 5pm

    Photo by Jenny Bess on UnsplashCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 pm - 5.10 pm - Bernard and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Media Link: Discussing the NZSIS Security Threat Report.

    I was interviewed by Mike Hosking at NewstalkZB and a few other media outlets about the NZSIS Security Threat Report released recently. I have long advocated for more transparency, accountability and oversight of the NZ Intelligence Community, and although the … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • How do I make this better for people who drive Ford Rangers?

    Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • A missed opportunity

    The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Nicola Willis Seeks New Sidekick To Help Fix NZ’s Economy

    Synopsis:Nicola Willis is seeking a new Treasury Boss after Dr Caralee McLiesh’s tenure ends this month. She didn’t listen to McLiesh. Will she listen to the new one?And why is Atlas Network’s Taxpayers Union chiming in?Please consider subscribing or supporting my work. Thanks, Tui.About CaraleeAt the beginning of July, Newsroom ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Inflation alive and kicking in our land of the long white monopolies

    The golden days of profit continue for the the Foodstuffs (Pak’n’Save and New World) and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 5:The Groceries Commissioner has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The thermodynamics of electric vs. internal combustion cars

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler I love thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is like your mom: it may not tell you what you can do, but it damn well tells you what you can’t do. I’ve written a few previous posts that include thermodynamics, like one on air capture of ...
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.

    The notion of geopolitical  “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Venus Hum

    Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • I Went to a Creed Concert

    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago

  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

    The coalition Government has introduced legislation to tackle youth vaping, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping.  “While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rise in youth vaping ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

    Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have welcomed interest in the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. The review by the Ministry for Regulation is looking at how to speed up the process to get farmers and growers access to the safe, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is moving at pace to ensure lotteries for charitable purposes are allowed to operate online permanently. Charities fundraising online, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and local hospices will continue to do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • Tax exempt threshold changes to benefit startups

    Technology companies are among the startups which will benefit from increases to current thresholds of exempt employee share schemes, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Revenue Minister Simon Watts say. Tax exempt thresholds for the schemes are increasing as part of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • Getting the healthcare you need, when you need it

    The path to faster cancer treatment, an increase in immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments and quick assessment and treatments when you are sick has been laid out today. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has revealed details of how the ambitious health targets the Government has set will be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Targeted supports to accelerate reading

    The coalition Government is delivering targeted and structured literacy supports to accelerate learning for struggling readers. From Term 1 2025, $33 million of funding for Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support will be reprioritised to interventions which align with structured approaches to teaching. “Structured literacy will change the way children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Survivors invited to Abuse in Care national apology

    With two months until the national apology to survivors of abuse in care, expressions of interest have opened for survivors wanting to attend. “The Prime Minister will deliver a national apology on Tuesday 12 November in Parliament. It will be a very significant day for survivors, their families, whānau and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Rangatahi inspire at Ngā Manu Kōrero final

    Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini kē - My success is not mine alone but is the from the strength of the many. Aotearoa New Zealand’s top young speakers are an inspiration for all New Zealanders to learn more about the depth and beauty conveyed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Driving structured literacy in schools

    The coalition Government is driving confidence in reading and writing in the first years of schooling. “From the first time children step into the classroom, we’re equipping them and teachers with the tools they need to be brilliant in literacy. “From 1 October, schools and kura with Years 0-3 will receive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Labour’s misleading information is disappointing

    Labour’s misinformation about firearms law is dangerous and disappointing, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.   “Labour and Ginny Andersen have repeatedly said over the past few days that the previous Labour Government completely banned semi-automatic firearms in 2019 and that the Coalition Government is planning to ‘reintroduce’ them.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Govt takes action on mpox response, widens access to vaccine

    The Government is taking immediate action on a number of steps around New Zealand’s response to mpox, including improving access to vaccine availability so people who need it can do so more easily, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. “Mpox is obviously a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Next steps agreed for Treaty Principles Bill

    Associate Justice Minister David Seymour says Cabinet has agreed to the next steps for the Treaty Principles Bill. “The Treaty Principles Bill provides an opportunity for Parliament, rather than the courts, to define the principles of the Treaty, including establishing that every person is equal before the law,” says Mr Seymour. “Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government unlocking potential of AI

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