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Escape Velocity
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, February 7th, 2021 - 93 comments
In this series so far I’ve examined three of the four terms in the Kaya Identity, population, economic intensity, and energy intensity. It can be conclusively shown that none of these factors can be reduced sufficiently to reduce CO2 emissions to zero – or even close enough to be useful. Let’s return to each one […]
Energy’s Iron Triangle.
Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, December 11th, 2020 - 62 comments
For those who don’t trawl through all the comments; a little personal background. I’ve been fortunate enough to have just finished up a 40 year career in technology and automation, most of it in heavy industry. Looking back it’s been one hell of an adventure, tough at times, but I’ve been one of those lucky […]
Labour’s new Oceans Ministry
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, November 3rd, 2020 - 23 comments
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to rename the Fisheries Ministery to “Oceans and Fisheries” and install David Parker instead of Stuart Nash shows a welcome desire to protect this most precious of resources.
Folly of the year
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, July 26th, 2020 - 41 comments
What is the strangest recent proposal for development in New Zealand?
A World That Just Doesn’t Need As Much Oil
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, June 18th, 2020 - 27 comments
BP yesterday sent a really big message that effectively now, Covid-19 is the break that tips the world away from oil dependence.
The wood, the trees and the ETS
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 3rd, 2020 - 4 comments
It’s a brutal thing to propose more taxes and costs on business during our worst economic meltdown in a century. But yesterday the Government increased the cost of Carbon. But we need to do more.
A Response to ‘No Exit’.
Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, May 3rd, 2020 - 91 comments
In a recent post, Bill hit his straps with – “Either way, wind power won’t save us. Solar power won’t save us. Carbon capture and storage won’t save us. Your God won’t save us. Nothing but ourselves will save us.”
I felt miffed and more than a little grumpy at Bill’s flippant reference to God, and so sent through this long form response. ~ Adam.
No Exit.
Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, April 30th, 2020 - 22 comments
Reaction to Covid 19 has done more in a few weeks to blunt the drive behind climate change than anything the environmental movement has managed to do in over thirty years.
Time to Pivot?
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, April 18th, 2020 - 11 comments
It would appear NZ and much of the rest of the world has made a first rather coincidental step on the AGW front.
Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change. But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.
The right is splintering on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, January 23rd, 2020 - 70 comments
The right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier. And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.
Australia is no longer the lucky country
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, January 6th, 2020 - 112 comments
Australia is arguably no longer the lucky country. And if it does not resolve its addiction to coal it may not have a future.
Fifty shades of meh
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, November 15th, 2019 - 130 comments
A group of farmers protested against Government climate policies yesterday including policies which the National Party either established or supported.
Sustainable Party launches
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, November 11th, 2019 - 99 comments
The Sustainable Party, National’s sock puppet party designed to weaken the Greens has launched. And its policies for some strange reason have not put climate change front and centre.
No Social welfare handouts for multinational corporations
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, November 2nd, 2019 - 98 comments
Rio Tinto is practising further brinkmanship and have reportedly sent in a closure team to assess the viability of Tiwai Point and no doubt seek a Government handout. Is it time to say no and provide cheaper cleaner power to the country instead?
Australia gets tough on climate change activists
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, October 17th, 2019 - 22 comments
Following on from Weka’s post yesterday concerning attacks on the right to protest in the United Kingdom, Australia has also shown a concerning tendency to attack and undermine that most important of rights.
Later climate change deniers
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, October 15th, 2019 - 73 comments
The recent local government elections resulted in a number of people committed to addressing climate change being elected. And an apparent thinning of those who think that it is a hoax.
Fonterra, again
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, September 29th, 2019 - 24 comments
Why New Zealand – and its government – need to engage much harder about Fonterra.
Unrelentingly negative
Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, September 26th, 2019 - 29 comments
National has chosen to attack Jacinda Ardern on her trip to New York for doing too much and not enough at the same time. It seems to be a pattern.
China, Climate Conference, and New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 18th, 2019 - 4 comments
At the United Nations Climate Action Summit next weekend the question may be asked what would happen if China stopped buying Australian coal?
Toxic masculinity
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, August 28th, 2019 - 153 comments
As the Amazon burns and the world looks on aghast as our lungs go up in flames Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has chosen to respond to an offer of help from the G7 by picking a fight with French leader Emmanuel Macron.
The thoughts of Matt King on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, August 26th, 2019 - 85 comments
National MP Matt King has been caught posting climate change denial material on his facebook page.
RIP David Koch
Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, August 24th, 2019 - 54 comments
David Koch, the man possibly most responsible for the growth of climate change denialism, has died at the age of 79 as the Arctic melts and the Amazon burns.
Maybe we should take the plane
Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, August 7th, 2019 - 119 comments
Activist Greta Thunberg is attending a United Nations global warming summit in New York, and will get there by boat not airplane. But should she consider flying?
National’s ranks are cracking about climate change
Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, July 22nd, 2019 - 90 comments
National Climate Change spokesperson Todd Muller has publicly stated that he is broadly supportive of the Government’s proposed EV incentive policy.
There is no climate emergency according to National
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, July 19th, 2019 - 194 comments
Simon Wilson has suggested in the the Herald this morning that for purely political reasons National will frustrate and stymie action on climate change
D Day for ETS?
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, July 16th, 2019 - 75 comments
There are rumours that the Interim Climate Change Committee will propose that agriculture is included in the Emissions Trading Scheme as an interim measure to allow a levy/rebate system that can operate at a farm level.
With enough trees …
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, July 6th, 2019 - 65 comments
Recent scientific analysis has suggested the planting of a trillion trees is feasible and may go a long way to addressing the effects of climate change.
100% carbon free power generation?
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, June 26th, 2019 - 77 comments
The Interim Climate Change Commission has come out saying that making our electricity generation 100% renewable would be really expensive and that that expense would land on the poor of New Zealand. But the Government has already indicated it could be flexible on the target. ICCC should be helping us plan, not throwing road blocks in the way.
The strange case of the missing Oregon Republican State senators
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, June 24th, 2019 - 67 comments
Republican State Senators in the state of Oregon have headed for the hills and are being protected by a local nut job militia in an effort to thwart the democratically elected majority from doing passing a law to address climate change.
Three disturbingly different views on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, June 10th, 2019 - 63 comments
In the same week that Donald Trump said that the American climate was the cleanest climate, Ian Dunlop, former chairman of the Australian Coal Association, has warned of massive social consequences ranging from increased religious fervour to outright chaos. And UK Chancellor Philip Hammond is questioning if remedial action is affordable.
- A failure of enforcement
Yesterday, Silver Fern Farms was fined $337,000 over a potentially lethal ammonia leak. Today RNZ reports that they've subcontracted some of their waste business to Whanganui's Tasman Tanning, which has an appalling environmental record: Tasman Tanning's plant in Whanganui was already the country's leader in breaching trade wastewater consents ...14 hours ago - Give the Rangitata backBack in 2018, National's unelected Canterbury dictatorship issued a resource consent to take water from the Rangitata river for irrigation, in violation of its Water Conservation Order. Now, after two years of legal battles, the company has "voluntarily" surrendered it: An irrigation company's decision to relinquish its consent to ...14 hours ago
- The rich should pay their fair shareNew Zealand is supposed to have a progressive tax system, which taxes people according to their ability to pay. But it turns out that the rich are cheating: The wealthiest New Zealanders pay just 12 per cent of their total income in tax on average, according to research from ...15 hours ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 25 February 2021
Housing Richard Harman: Government has little to say about housing crisis Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt set to bring out big tools to manage housing pressure Miriam Bell (Stuff): Housing affordability at worst point in ‘at least 17 years’ Adam Jacobson (RNZ): New Zealand housing affordability plummets to historically low levels Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Nicola Willis in disbelief as Megan ...19 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #8, 2021
Ground truths on warming When we think about rapid climate change of the kind we've accidentally unleashed and the warming of Earth systems inherent in the process, we tend to focus on phenomena in order of their immediate tangibility, their drama. Sea ice loss in the Arctic, atmospheric and ocean ...19 hours ago - Government threatening free speech rights over prison protest leaflet
by Daphna Whitmore The Department of Corrections has called in the police over a pamphlet that supports protests at Waikeria Prison, saying the material might incite another riot. The group People Against Prisons Aotearoa denies it advocates for riots and has said it “encourages persistent, peaceful protest action such as striking from ...1 day ago - The tyranny of the dishonest and stupid.
One theme in the literature dedicated to democratic theory is the notion of a “tyranny of the minority.” This is where the desire to protect the interests of and give voice to electoral minorities leads to a tail wagging the dog syndrome whereby minorities wind up having disproportionate influence in ...1 day ago - One way of fixing the OIAI've just lodged my fourth complaint to the Ombudsman for deemed refusal of an OIA request by police this year. That brings their total to four for four - every request I have sent them has not been answered within the legal timeframe, even when they extend it to give ...2 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 24 February 2021Child poverty report and inequality Janet McAllister (Spinoff): What the new child poverty stats tells us – and what they don’t Claire Trevett (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s do-or-die child poverty promise (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Poverty figures a sigh of relief for PM – but will it last? Branko Marcetic (Democracy Project): NZ’s economic “bounce-back” is a myth – ...2 days ago
- Ian Powell: Rescuing Simpson from SimpsonWill the health reforms proposed for the Labour Government make the system better or worse? Health commentator Ian Powell (formerly the Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists) gives his analysis of what change is most necessary, and what should be avoided. The review of the Health ...2 days ago
- Climate lessons from Texas' frozen power outagesThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections An off-course polar vortex meandered toward the Mexican border, bringing with it frigid Arctic air rarely seen as far south as Texas. Frozen equipment rendered power generation systems in the state inoperable, forcing grid operators to begin rolling blackouts to customers then left to fend ...2 days ago
- Branko Marcetic: NZ’s economic “bounce-back” is a myth – but lifting benefits would bring it...Just as National once produced a “rock star economy” that Grant Robertson rejected as being only for the rich, the Labour Government has produced an economic “bounce back” that leaves out the poor. Branko Marcetic argues for a rise in benefit levels to give the poor a real bounce back. ...2 days ago
- One state at a timeVirginia has voted to abolish the death penalty: State lawmakers gave final approval on Monday to a bill that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people than any other. The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to the ...2 days ago
- A captive MinisterYesterday a New Zealand Judge issued a formal finding that the Department of Corrections had treated prisoners in a cruel, degrading and inhumane manner, illegally detaining them, using excessive force, denying them basic necessities unless they performed degrading rituals of submission first. Some of the conduct appears to be criminal: ...2 days ago
- Climate sea-lioningThe Herald reports that there is a "storm brewing for the Climate Change Commission". The "problem"? Polluters are unhappy with its economic projections saying that action will not be as costly as they have previously claimed: Last week a coalition of over a dozen New Zealand business and industry ...3 days ago
- How Powerful Is Labour's Maori Caucus?
You're Move: What would a genuinely powerful Maori Caucus do? What policies would it insist upon? More to the point, since the single most important question in politics is always “Or you’ll what?”, does the Maori Caucus possess the wherewithal to enforce its demands?THAT LABOUR’S MAORI CAUCUS is potentially powerful ...3 days ago - Trends and developments – February
This post is a mix of a few recent reports on trends, recent discoveries or developments. Topics covered are the future of work, the geopolitical shift from oil to semiconductors, transition to low carbon futures, disappearing Artic sea ice, and AI in health care. Yesterday’s Gone A Canadian report ...3 days ago - Hurricanes, wildfires, and heat dominated U.S. weather in 2020This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson One of the hottest years in U.S. history, 2020 was besieged by a record number of billion-dollar disasters, led by two of the most dangerous phenomena with links to climate change: wildfires and hurricanes. In its initial U.S. climate summary for 2020, ...3 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 23 February 2021Covid: General Tim Watkin (Pundit): The Law Of Diminishing Covid Returns: The Government’s Mood Management Task Liam Dann (Herald): Riding Dr Ashley Bloomfield’s Covid roller coaster (paywalled) Jamie Morton (Herald): Auckland lockdown was ‘frustrating’ but justified, says expert Josephine Franks (Stuff): Experts call for seven-tier alert level system as Auckland moves to level 1 Stuff Editorial: MIQ facility suggestion is poor ...3 days ago
- Graham Adams: Greens stir the pot on banning conversation therapyJust because something is bad, doesn’t mean it’s easy to criminalise. Graham Adams argues that the proposed ban on gay conversion therapy is messier than many realise, and he delves into some of the difficulties facing the Government in their promise to legislate. A highly successful petition has inadvertently ...3 days ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #8Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... ‘Absolutely ridiculous’: top scientist slams UK government over coalmine Exclusive: Prof Sir Robert Watson says backing of ...3 days ago
- The end of offshore exploration?The Otago Daily Times reports that following Beech Energy's surrender of its South Island exploration permits, the end of offshore oil exploration in the South Island may be on the horizon: The end of offshore exploration for gas and oil in the South Island is on the horizon. A ...4 days ago
- The first test of control ordersOver the weekend we learned that Turkey plans to deport a New Zealand woman and her children who had fled Syria after previously joing the Islamic State. Which means that Andrew Little's tyrannical Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Act 2019 - rammed through under all-stages urgency on the basis of an ...4 days ago
- An open door waiting to be pushed onWhile it has made a lot of noise about inequality, Labour has resolutely avoided reversing the 1990 benefit cuts and improving living standards for the poorest in our society. Meanwhile, 70% of kiwis think they should: A survey has found seven out of 10 New Zealanders believe the government ...4 days ago
- The French Connection.Anti-Philosopher President? Emmanuel Macron and his party’s reaction to the terrorist atrocities committed on French soil targets the very same philosophical movements excited and emboldened by New Zealand’s own terrifying tragedy.IT IS NOT the sort of thought experiment New Zealanders are encouraged to conduct in these culturally sensitive times. Even ...4 days ago
- The law of diminishing Covid returns: The government's mood management task
If Jacinda Ardern or ay of her Auckland-based cabinet ministers stepped outside this weekend, they would have realised that this afternoon’s cabinet decision on whether to move Auckland back to Level 1 has already been made. The residents of our biggest city have voted with their feet.While some places where ...4 days ago - NZ Politics Daily: 22 February 2021Housing Damien Grant (Stuff): Who’s to blame for housing unaffordability? Bernard Hickey (Stuff): Should Reserve Bank overheat economy to blast free of low interest rate trap? Gareth Vaughan (Interest): You can’t lose with property mate Zane Small (Newshub): Housing Minister Megan Woods fires up when quizzed on lack of property shortage figures Gill South (Stuff): Single buyers get it rough when it ...4 days ago
- Josh Van Veen: The Queen’s GambitAccording to epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker, the decision to end the second Auckland lockdown after just three days was a ‘calculated risk’. The possibility of undetected community transmission cannot be ruled out. In the United States, modelling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that the ...4 days ago
- Party Games
As I rose for the first time to speak from the Despatch Box in the House of Commons, I had the comfort of seeing that the Despatch Box had on it the inscription “A Gift from the People of New Zealand”. But I was also a little daunted, like so ...4 days ago - Prostitution or sex work? Language matters
This article is by Laura Biggs, from the Marxist-Feminist blog On the Woman Question. The term ‘sex work’ has come to replace the word ‘prostitution’ in contemporary discussions on the subject. This is not accidental. The phrase ‘sex work’ has been adopted by liberal feminists and powerful lobbyists in a ...5 days ago - B.1.1.7 variant – early result suggests longer infections, management questionsSometimes it’s smaller, intensive studies that shed light on issues. Just reported results of daily sampling of COVID-19 patients indicate patients with the B.1.1.7 variant first observed in Kent, UK may have a longer infection compared to patients infected with non-B.1.1.7 variants. This is the variant seen in NZ’s most ...5 days ago
- Redline passes one million viewsRedline has just passed one million views – as I start writing this we have reached 1,000,015 views. It took us nearly seven years to reach our first 500,000 and just three months short of three years to reach our second 500,000, with 2019 being our best year, with over ...5 days ago
- 2020: The History That Was – Part 4
. . As the rest of the world was perceived to be “going to hell in a handbasket with an out-of-control pandemic; ructions in Europe as Britain copes with “Brexit” chaos; Trumpism in the United States climaxing with the 6 January mob-led coup attempt in Washington’s Capitol; a deadly ...5 days ago - 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #8A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Feb 14, 2021 through Sat, Feb 20, 2021 Editor's Choice Q&A: Is Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Book a Hopeful Look at the Promise of Technology, or a Cautionary Tale? The Pulitzer Prize-winning ...5 days ago
- The Adventures of Annalax: Volume XVII
Session Thirty-Five. We have had some in-game and out-of-game indication that we are drawing to the end of the Dreamland adventure… which has lasted since the fourth session. Getting back to the Waking World will require some mental adjustment, especially considering that Annalax has spent thirty-odd sessions not ...5 days ago - The Strange (And Sad) Demise of Radio New Zealand.A Friend In Need: I have grown up, and grown old, within earshot of New Zealand’s public broadcaster. Through times of peace and plenty, through days of tumult and recrimination, it has been a constant and reliable presence. The calm and authoritative voices of Radio New Zealand kept their fellow ...5 days ago
- Guest post: Why avoiding climate change ‘maladaptation’ is vitalThis article, authored by Dr Lisa Schipper, Dr Morgan Scoville-Simonds, Dr Katharine Vincent and Prof Siri Eriksen, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Feb 10, 2021. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments posted on Carbon Brief. Photo by ...6 days ago
- 2020: The History That Was – Part 3. . As the rest of the world was perceived to be “going to hell in a handbasket with an out-of-control pandemic; ructions in Europe as Britain copes with “Brexit” chaos; Trumpism in the United States climaxing with the 6 January mob-led coup attempt in Washington’s Capitol; a deadly resurgent ...6 days ago
- Please don’t sign this petitionby Georgina Blackmore Instead ask the government to separate the two issues caught under the heading of “Conversion Therapy”. 1) Gay Conversion Therapy which is what 99.9% of people believe this petition is about. It is a ban I personally support. 2) Gender Identity Conversion Therapy which doesn’t have any ...6 days ago
- Barbarians at the Library Gates
The burning of books has a long history. That it no reason why we should add to it.If you want to get Burning of the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack from the National Library you may have to hurry. It is in the overseas nonfiction section; many books ...6 days ago - Labour will cater to the woke not the brokeby Daphna Whitmore After promising to tackle poverty, housing, transport, and climate issues in 2017, and failing on all these measures, Labour has moved to a Helen Clark “promise little and disappoint less” style of government. Poverty – perversely called “child poverty” by Ardern – has worsened under Labour. Much ...6 days ago
- Of Falls and Neoplatonic Rises: Musings on Augustine and Boethius in Tolkien’s Middle-earth
This is one of those subject matters better suited to a thesis than a blog post, and far smarter people than I have tackled the question in a more detailed and accurate manner. But it’s a question that’s been running around in my brain for a fortnight or so. ...6 days ago - Earth’s magnetic field broke down 42,000 years ago and caused massive sudden climate changeChris Fogwill, Keele University; Alan Hogg, University of Waikato; Chris Turney, UNSW, and Zoë Thomas, UNSW The world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun’s behaviour. That’s the key finding of our ...7 days ago
- Drought-stricken Colorado River Basin could see additional 20% drop in water flow by 2050This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jan Ellen Spiegel Colorado is no stranger to drought. The current one is closing in on 20 years, and a rainy or snowy season here and there won’t change the trajectory. This is what climate change has brought. “Aridification” is what ...7 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 19 February 2021Covid: General Matthew Hooton (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s boldest and most adept Covid move yet (paywalled) ODT: Editorial – Trust and politicians in the Covid era Richard Harman: Living with covid Lisette Reymer (Newshub): New Zealand should stop living in fear of COVID-19 – expert Henry Cooke (Stuff): National says move out of alert level 3 lockdown is ‘bold’ and ‘ambitious’ Keith ...7 days ago
- Strength That Does Not Fail.Sweet Surrender: By 1933, Adolf Hitler was the last political leader left standing, and his Nazis the only party Germany had yet to try. It was ever thus. Dictators and dictatorships succeed by being the only medicine a desperately sick nation hasn’t swallowed; the only strength that hasn’t failed.NOT ALL ...7 days ago
- In The Know: Making Sense Of Labour’s Inaction."I know what you're not thinking!" Thanks to their polling agency and the participants in its focus-groups, the Labour leadership possesses a great deal more information about the Kiwis clamouring for action on the housing and inequality fronts than most journalists and lobbyists.ACCORDING TO PEOPLE “in the know”, Labour is ...1 week ago
- NZ tourism can use the disruption of COVID-19 to drive sustainable change — and be more competitiv...James Higham, University of Otago The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s second tourism report urges the government to take advantage of the disruption caused by COVID-19 to transform the tourism industry. Titled “Not 100% – but four steps closer to sustainable tourism”, it builds on commissoner Simon Upton’s 2019 “Pristine, ...1 week ago
- Facebook vs AustraliaThe Australian government is currently working on a law requiring major internet platforms to pay media companies for the content they use. The threat of regulation has been at lest partially successful, with Google agreeing a deal with Seven West Media. Facebook, OTOH, has decided to play hardball: Australians ...1 week ago
- Test, test, testMy column over at Newsroom this week points out the fairly obvious. The government can add daily saliva testing for everyone at the border to the existing testing regimen. If daily testing winds up proving the swab tests to be redundant, ditch the swab tests when we find that out. ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 18 February 2021Covid: Auckland outbreak decisions Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Contact tracing ‘Ferrari’ will be enough to contain future outbreaks Jamie Morton (Herald): Shift to Level 2 ‘not cautious enough’ – expert Science Media Centre: Auckland jumps down to Alert Level 2 – Expert Reaction Jason Walls (Herald): Auckland’s lockdown exit comes with a Jacinda Ardern warning Richard Harman (Politik): Living with covid Rowan ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #7, 2021Geoengineering heats up Sorry, that was irresistible. By chance in this edition of New Research are two intriguing papers including different perspectives on the subject of geoengineering, a topic increasingly arousing emotions. Happily both of these papers are open access and free to read. A third article underlines that enthusiasm ...1 week ago
- Censorship: Thinking you are right – even if you’re wrong
I posted this video four years ago – but repost it now because the message is still very valid (see Are you really right? and Warriors, scouts, Trump’s election and your news media). In fact, it’s more valid today than it was four years ago. Things have got worse – far ...1 week ago - No internet, no vaccine: How lack of internet access has limited vaccine availability for racial and...Tamra Burns Loeb, University of California, Los Angeles; AJ Adkins-Jackson, Harvard University, and Arleen F. Brown, University of California, Los Angeles Racial and ethnic minority communities that lack internet access have been left behind in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The average monthly cost of internet access, about ...1 week ago
- The Enduring Mystery of Critchfield’s SpruceZach St. George The first and only time Steve Jackson spoke to Bill Critchfield was in the late 1980s. Critchfield, an authority on the conifers of North America, was at home recovering from a heart attack. Jackson, then a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, had called looking for advice on how ...1 week ago
- Climate Change: The quicker the betterThe Marsden Point oil refinery lost $200 million last year, and its owners are saying it will speed their decision to shut it down and move to being an import business: The country's only fuel refinery at Marsden Point could exit the refinery business as early as next year. ...1 week ago
- Plastic in the ocean kills more threatened albatrosses than we thoughtRichelle Butcher, Massey University; Britta Denise Hardesty, CSIRO, and Lauren Roman, CSIRO Plastic in the ocean can be deadly for marine wildlife and seabirds around the globe, but our latest study shows single-use plastics are a bigger threat to endangered albatrosses in the southern hemisphere than we previously thought. You ...1 week ago
- An American solutionOn Monday, the US Congress failed to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for inciting an attempted coup against the US constitution. So now someone is doing it privately, in the traditional American way: suing him: Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, the former president’s personal lawyer, have been accused ...1 week ago
- Woodhouse lets the mask slip1 week ago
- As NZ gets serious about climate change, can electricity replace fossil fuels in time?Jen Purdie, University of Otago As fossil fuels are phased out over the coming decades, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) suggests electricity will take up much of the slack, powering our vehicle fleet and replacing coal and gas in industrial processes. But can the electricity system really provide for this ...1 week ago
- Ending our unjust warNearly twenty years after they first arrived, the last New Zealand troops will finally be leaving Afghanistan in May: New Zealand troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 2021. The current deployment consists of six Defence Force personnel - three deployed to the Afghanistan National Army Officer Academy, ...1 week ago
- Forests and intertemporal equilibriumI’m a bit of an ETS-absolutist. Or at least a carbon-pricing absolutist, in a place the size of NZ. I think the Weitzman reasons for preferring a carbon tax to an ETS are second-order relative to political economy considerations, and any weight at all put on switching costs makes it ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 17 February 2021Australia-NZ dispute over terrorist suspect in Turkey Dan Satherley (Newshub): Judith Collins defends Australia’s move to dump terrorist problem on New Zealand Tova O’Brien (Newshub): How Australia snookered New Zealand and angered Jacinda Ardern Audrey Young (Herald): Australia fails to meet its own ‘fair go’ test (paywalled) David Fisher (Herald): Isis bride grew up in Australia – now they’re ...1 week ago
- Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Despite the speed bump posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is rolling toward completion of its Sixth Assessment Report, the latest in a series that began in 1990. IPCC’s assessments, produced by many hundreds of scientists volunteering countless hours, ...1 week ago
- Luciferin, Luciferase, etymology, & innuendoOn Friday (5 February) we went for a walk in the Karangahake Gorge, and were very happy to discover (during the Windows Walk) that there are glow-worms in the darker parts of the mine workings. (Strictly speaking they’re glow-maggots as they’re the larvae of small flies/midges, but that is perhaps ...1 week ago
- “Science Control to Bridge. CTD is ready to deploy.”Alysha Johnson They say a good day is a busy day, and aboard the R/V Falkor (Seafloor to Seabirds in the Coral Sea – Schmidt Ocean Institute), almost every day is busy! On this particular day, we deployed a CTD, which stands for Conductivity, Temperature and Density. It is ...1 week ago
- Sex denialism the new creationismThis is a transcript of a speech by developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton delivered at on 29 November 2020 for the ‘Feminist Academics Talk Back!’ meeting. This talk was originally published by womentalkback.org Sex denialists have captured existing journals We are dealing with a new religion Thank you for the ...1 week ago
- The Words Of The Prophets.And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway wallsAnd tenement halls"Paul Simon, The Sound of Silence, 1963-64 BOMBER’S RIGHT about Adam Curtis’s latest offering, Can’t Get You Out of My Head, it is brilliant. You can tell it’s a work of genius by the ...1 week ago
- Money And Morality: Oil And Water.Familiar Excuses: Those wondering why our Prime Minister was so willing to countenance a reputationally damaging breaking of Air New Zealand's contract with the Saudi Arabian navy should wonder no longer. Pieces are in motion on the Middle East chessboard. The interests of the majority shareholder in Air New Zealand ...1 week ago
- Your questions on the latest NZ Covid cases, answeredThree new community cases of Covid-19 and an unknown source have plunged Auckland into lockdown and the rest of the country into alert level two. Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles tackles some of the critical questions we now face. Could we be looking at a situation as worrying as last August in ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 16 February 2021Covid outbreak: Lockdown decisions Michael Morrah (Newshub): New Zealand’s new COVID-19 outbreak ‘detected later than it could’ve been’ – expert Audrey Young (Herald): Political focus turns to whether lockdown was caused by border failure(paywalled) Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): The critical factors that will determine if lockdown is lifted Marc Daalder (Newsroom): New variants could push Level 3 to its limit ...1 week ago
- Tips on countering conspiracy theories and misinformationOver the years, members from our team have published several handbooks providing information about how to successfully counter misinformation and conspiracy theories. These include The Conspiracy Theory Handbook and The Debunking Handbook 2020, both published in 2020. In addition, we have our list of rebuttals as well as our MOOC Denial101x to specifically ...1 week ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #7Story of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Reports of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Article Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... IEA: India is on ‘cusp of a solar-powered ...1 week ago
- More solarA group of solar panel installers has applied for resource consent for a new PV solar farm in Northland: A massive 12ha solar panel farm – enough to power 2750 homes – is planned for the top of Northland, in what would be the largest of its kind in ...1 week ago
- MFAT’s blocked noseLast week, the public was appalled to learn that our national airline had been helping saudi Arabia commit war crimes in Yemen by servicing their military equipment. Jacinda Ardern was right that this sort of deal doesn't pass the sniff test. Meanwhile, her own Ministry of Foreign Affairs was approving ...2 weeks ago
- Tax data exposes gross inequity between the wealthiest and poorest New Zealanders
Government data today shows that the wealthiest New Zealanders aren’t paying their fair share of tax, whilst everyone else chips in, Green Party spokesperson on Finance Julie Anne Genter said today. ...15 hours ago - Government action to cool house prices still needed despite Reserve Bank changeThe Green Party welcomes the change in the Reserve Bank’s remit to consider the impacts on housing when making financial decisions, but housing affordability shouldn’t be left to the Reserve Bank, Green Party Co-leader and Housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said today. ...16 hours ago
- Māori now have a seat at the local government tableThe Green Party welcomes the passing of the Local Electorate Act Māori Wards Amendment Bill which ensures Māori have a say on local issues across Aotearoa New Zealand. ...18 hours ago
- Child poverty data shows disabled children, Māori and Pasifika being left behindThe Green Party is disappointed that disabled children and Māori and Pasifika children are still more likely to be living in poverty. ...3 days ago
- Research shows New Zealanders want income support increasedNew UMR research reveals that 69 percent of New Zealanders agree that the government should increase the amount if income support paid to those on low incomes or not in paid work. ...4 days ago
- Green Party celebrate fast tracked timeline for banning conversion therapy, will push for best bill ...The Green Party are celebrating the Labour Government bringing forward the timeline to ban conversion therapy, and will push to ensure any draft bill properly protects all of our Rainbow communities. ...4 days ago
- Green Party welcomes PCE report that calls for more sustainable tourismThe Green Party welcomes the report that calls for more sustainable tourism by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. ...1 week ago
- Green Party echoes calls for ‘brave’ action on rising inequalityThe Green Party is joining the call for ‘brave policy action’ to address rapidly increasing inequality in New Zealand, which is likely to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ...1 week ago
- Petition calling for ban on conversion therapy gains huge momentumAotearoa New Zealand is getting on board in record numbers to call for an urgent ban on conversion therapy. ...1 week ago
- Green Party to take precautions with COVID-19 responseGreen MPs currently in Auckland, Marama Davidson, Chlöe Swarbrick and Golriz Ghahraman, will remain in Auckland for the next 72 hours. Those in Auckland today for Big Gay Out who have flown home will self-isolate for 72 hours. These decisions will be subject to any new information that may arise ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party calls to end conversion therapy nowThe Green Party is calling on the Labour Government to urgently prioritise banning conversion therapy. ...2 weeks ago
- Supporting our Rainbow whānau
It’s Pride month, and as we celebrate our LGBTIA+ community, we’re taking the next steps towards a more inclusive Aotearoa. From investing in mental health services to banning harmful conversion therapy, we’re building a New Zealand where everyone can be safe, healthy and happy. ...2 weeks ago - New Green MP takes a stand on discrimination towards our Rainbow WhānauEnding discrimination and prejudice against takatāpui and rainbow communities will be the main priority for new Green MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere. ...2 weeks ago
- Air NZ’s possible assistance to Saudi military ships committing atrocities in Yemen appallingThe Green Party strongly condemns the revelation that Air New Zealand may have provided assistance and maintenance to Saudi Arabian vessels involved in committing atrocities in Yemen. ...2 weeks ago
- Week that was: Celebrating WaitangiThis week, Labour MPs headed north to take part in Waitangi events, and acknowledge Aotearoa’s shared history. Here’s a quick look at what our team got up to at Waitangi, and how we’re working together with Māori to build a better future for us all. ...3 weeks ago
- Three District Court Judges appointed
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges. Two of the appointees will take up their roles on 1 April, replacing sitting Judges who have reached retirement age. Kirsten Lummis, lawyer of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with jury jurisdiction to ...12 hours ago - Government announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver accessGovernment announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver access The Government changed the KiwiSaver rules in 2019 so people with life-shortening congenital conditions can withdraw their savings early The four conditions guaranteed early access are – down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder An alternative ...16 hours ago
- Reserve Bank to take account of housing in decision makingThe Reserve Bank is now required to consider the impact on housing when making monetary and financial policy decisions, Grant Robertson announced today. Changes have been made to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s remit requiring it to take into account government policy relating to more sustainable house prices, while working ...17 hours ago
- Investment to reduce cochlear implant waitlistThe Labour Government will invest $6 million for 70 additional adult cochlear implants this year to significantly reduce the historical waitlist, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Cochlear implants are life changing for kiwis who suffer from severe hearing loss. As well as improving an individual’s hearing, they open doors to ...21 hours ago
- Māori wards Bill passes third readingThe Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill passed its third reading today and will become law, Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. “This is a significant step forward for Māori representation in local government. We know how important it is to have diversity around ...1 day ago
- Government delivers 1,000 more transitional housing placesThe Government has added 1,000 more transitional housing places as promised under the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan (HAP), launched one year ago. Minister of Housing Megan Woods says the milestone supports the Government’s priority to ensure every New Zealander has warm, dry, secure housing. “Transitional housing provides people ...1 day ago
- Second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech doses arrives safely – as the first vaccinations take place in the...A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived safely yesterday at Auckland International Airport, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks,” Chris Hipkins said. ...2 days ago
- $18 million for creative spaces to make arts more accessibleThe Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni has today announced $18 million to support creative spaces. Creative spaces are places in the community where people with mental health needs, disabled people, and those looking for social connection, are welcomed and supported to practice and participate in the arts ...2 days ago
- Moriori Claims Settlement Bill passes first readingTreaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little today welcomed Moriori to Parliament to witness the first reading of the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. “This bill is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work from all the parties involved. “I am delighted to reach this significant milestone today,” Andrew ...2 days ago
- Government action reduces child poverty22,400 fewer children experiencing material hardship 45,400 fewer children in low income households on after-housing costs measure After-housing costs target achieved a year ahead of schedule Government action has seen child poverty reduce against all nine official measures compared to the baseline year, Prime Minister and Minister for Child Poverty ...3 days ago
- Entries open for the 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence AwardsIt’s time to recognise the outstanding work early learning services, kōhanga reo, schools and kura do to support children and young people to succeed, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins says. The 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards are now open through until April 16. “The past year has reminded us ...3 days ago
- Jobs for Nature benefits three projectsThree new Jobs for Nature projects will help nature thrive in the Bay of Plenty and keep local people in work says Conservation Minister Kiri Allan. “Up to 30 people will be employed in the projects, which are aimed at boosting local conservation efforts, enhancing some of the region’s most ...3 days ago
- Improvements to the Holidays Act on the wayThe Government has accepted all of the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommended changes, which will provide certainty to employers and help employees receive their leave entitlements, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to help address challenges with the ...3 days ago
- NZ’s credit rating lifted as economy recoversThe Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and faster than expected economic recovery has been acknowledged in today’s credit rating upgrade. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today raised New Zealand’s local currency credit rating to AAA with a stable outlook. This follows Fitch reaffirming its AA+ rating last ...3 days ago
- Speech to National Remembrance Service on the 10th anniversary of the Christchurch earthquakeTena koutou e nga Maata Waka Ngai Tuahuriri, Ngai Tahu whanui, Tena koutou. Nau mai whakatau mai ki tenei ra maumahara i te Ru Whenua Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora Tena koutou, Tena ...4 days ago
- Government reaffirms urgent commitment to ban harmful conversion practicesThe Minister of Justice has reaffirmed the Government’s urgent commitment, as stated in its 2020 Election Manifesto, to ban conversion practices in New Zealand by this time next year. “The Government has work underway to develop policy which will bring legislation to Parliament by the middle of this year and ...4 days ago
- New creative service aims to benefit 1,000 peoples’ careersMinister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni today launched a new Creative Careers Service, which is expected to support up to 1,000 creatives, across three regions over the next two years. The new service builds on the most successful aspects of the former Pathways to ...5 days ago
- Honey exporters busy meeting surging demandOverseas consumers eager for natural products in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic have helped boost honey export revenue by 20 percent to $425 million in the year to June 30, 2020, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says. “The results from the latest Ministry for Primary Industries’ 2020 Apiculture Monitoring ...7 days ago
- Government delivers more wellbeing support for young peopleThanks to more than $10-million in new services from the Government, more rangatahi will be able to access mental health and addiction support in their community. Minister of Health Andrew Little made the announcement today while visiting Odyssey House Christchurch and acknowledged that significant events like the devastating earthquakes ten ...7 days ago
- Government eases visa restrictions for visitors in New ZealandTwo month automatic visitor visa extension for most visitor visa holders Temporary waiver of time spent in New Zealand rule for visitor stays Visitor visa holders will be able to stay in New Zealand a little longer as the Government eases restrictions for those still here, the Minister of Immigration ...7 days ago
- Push for sustainable tourism gathers paceThe Tourism and Conservation Ministers say today’s report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) adds to calls to overhaul the tourism model that existed prior to COVID19. “The PCE tourism report joins a chorus of analysis which has established that previous settings, which prioritised volume over value, are ...1 week ago
- Government extends dietary supplements regulationsThe Government is providing certainty for the dietary supplements industry as we work to overhaul the rules governing the products, Minister for Food Safety Dr Ayesha Verrall said. Dietary supplements are health and wellness products taken orally to supplement a traditional diet. Some examples include vitamin and mineral supplements, echinacea, ...1 week ago
- New Zealand to join the Council of Europe Convention on CybercrimeThe Government is joining the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the Budapest Convention), Justice Minister Kris Faafoi and Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications Dr David Clark announced today. The decision progresses a recommendation by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack to accede to ...1 week ago
- Appointment round in 2021 for Queen's CounselAttorney-General David Parker announced today that an appointment round for Queen’s Counsel will take place in 2021. Appointments of Queen’s Counsel are made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Attorney-General and with the concurrence of the Chief Justice. The Governor-General retains the discretion to appoint Queen’s Counsel in ...1 week ago
- Government support for businesses kicks inThe new Resurgence Support Payment passed by Parliament this week will be available to eligible businesses now that Auckland will be in Alert Level 2 until Monday. “Our careful management of the Government accounts means we have money aside for situations like this. We stand ready to share the burden ...1 week ago
- Final preparations to ensure Phase 1 of the vaccination rollout is ready to goA dry run of the end-to-end process shows New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is ready to roll from Saturday, when the first border workers will receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “The trial run took place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch yesterday afternoon, ahead of the ...1 week ago
- Free Period products to be available in all schools and kuraFrom June this year, all primary, intermediate, secondary school and kura students will have access to free period products, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced today. The announcement follows a successful Access to Period Products pilot programme, which has been running since Term 3 last ...1 week ago
- Government accounts remain in good shapeThe latest update shows the Government’s books are again in better shape than forecast, meaning New Zealand is still in a strong position to respond to any COVID-19 resurgence. The Crown Accounts for the six months to the end of December were better than forecast in the Half-year Economic and ...1 week ago
- New DOC strategy champions responsible enjoyment of the outdoorsThe Department of Conservation’s (DOC) new Heritage and Visitor Strategy is fully focused on protecting and enhancing the value of New Zealand’s natural, cultural and historic heritage, while also promoting a sustainable environmental experience, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “It has been a quarter of a century since DOC first developed ...1 week ago
- New Zealand to conclude its deployment to Afghanistan in 2021Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare have announced that New Zealand will conclude its deployment of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to Afghanistan by May 2021. “After 20 years of a NZDF presence in Afghanistan, it is now time to conclude ...1 week ago
- Supporting Māori to Succeed in Trade – International Inter-Tribal Trade and Investment Organi...Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. This is a special time in our country. A little over a week ago, it was the anniversary of the signature by Māori and the British Crown of Te Tiriti O Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), a founding document in ...1 week ago
- Prime Minister’s statement on the arrest of former dual citizen in TurkeyThe Government is in contact with relevant authorities in Turkey following the arrest of a former Australian and New Zealand dual citizen there, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Contingency planning for the potential return of any New Zealander who may have been in the conflict zone has been underway for ...1 week ago
- Household incomes rise but more work neededFigures released today by Stats NZ show there was strong growth in median household incomes in 2020, before surveying was halted due to COVID-19. Stats NZ found the median annual household income rose 6.9 percent to $75,024 in the year to June 2020 compared with a year earlier. The survey ...1 week ago
- Business support under COVID resurgence confirmedLegislation will be introduced under urgency today to set up a new Resurgence Support Payment for businesses affected by any resurgence of COVID-19. “Since the scheme was announced in December we have decided to make a change to the payment – reducing the time over which a revenue drop is ...1 week ago
- New Zealand welcomes appointment of new WTO Director GeneralTrade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor congratulated Nigeria’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her ground-breaking selection as the next Director General of the World Trade Organization last night. Dr Okonjo-Iweala will be the first female and first African Director General of the organisation. She has a strong background in international ...1 week ago
- Government delivers on promise to working low-income familiesFrom 1 April 2021, people getting a benefit will be able to earn more through work before their benefit payments are affected, Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni has announced. “Overall, around 82,900 low-income people and families will be better off by $18 a week on average,” says Carmel ...1 week ago
- First batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrives in NZThe first batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrived in New Zealand this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed. The shipment of around 60,000 doses arrived as airfreight at Auckland International Airport at 9.34am today. “The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s arrival allows us to start New Zealand’s largest-ever immunisation programme,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...1 week ago
- Prime Minister’s statement on alert level changesGood evening Cabinet has met this evening to make decisions on our response to the three cases reported earlier within a household in Auckland. Shortly I will ask Dr Bloomfield to set out some further information we now have relating to these cases. New Zealanders have enjoyed more freedoms for ...2 weeks ago
- First ever nationwide funding of mental health services for Rainbow youngFor the first time, the Government will provide targeted nationwide funding to services that provide mental health support to Rainbow young people Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. The announcement fulfils an election commitment to allocate $4 million specifically targeted to Rainbow mental wellbeing initiatives aimed at young people. There ...2 weeks ago
- Billion dollar milestone for regional economiesA significant milestone in support to the regions has been passed with more than one billion dollars pumped into economic development projects to back local jobs and businesses. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says the Provincial Development Unit (PDU) has now invested $1.26 billion in regional projects since ...2 weeks ago
- Grattan on Friday: Linda Reynolds’ future as defence minister is in her own hands
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Defence Minister Linda Reynolds faces an agonising question. Should she say to Scott Morrison she doesn’t feel up to staying in what is one of the most demanding portfolios in the government? Reynolds broke down ...2 hours ago - ‘Crisis within a crisis’: Violence more risky for Fiji women than covidSPECIAL REPORT: By Sheldon Chanel in Suva Much of archipelagic Fiji was forced indoors by lockdowns and a nationwide curfew in March last year when the country recorded its first case of covid-19. The quick and decisive action by legislators was successful in helping contain the spread of a highly ...3 hours ago
- West Papuans reject Jakarta plan for extension of special autonomyAsia Pacific Report The indigenous people of West Papua have rejected the extension of special autonomy and the planned expansion of new provinces announced by the central government of Indonesia. The rejection comes from grassroots communities across West Papua and Papuan students who are studying in Indonesia and overseas. Responding ...4 hours ago
- Peter Winder appointed to lead Wellington coucil review
The man who led the review into the dysfunctional Tauranga City Council before it was taken over by a commissioner has been appointed to lead the review into Wellington's council. ...8 hours ago - Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March's partner's visa application in questionOpposition MPs are questioning whether there had been any special treatment from immigration officials in regards to Ricardo Menéndez March's partner's application. ...8 hours ago
- Tiger Woods’ car crash injuries explained, according to a trauma surgeonSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Harris, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, UNSW Tiger Woods’ medical team has released a statement on Twitter to explain the injuries he sustained in his car crash earlier this week. The statement was from the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a trauma centre, where ...9 hours ago
- Business is Boring: The Christchurch mum getting people moving in the morning
In this week’s episode, host Simon Pound meets Lisa Fong (aka Move It Mama) whose Facebook Live workouts have found a loyal – and huge – audience worldwide.Nearly every morning, thousands of people around New Zealand and the world start their day with a workout led by a mum of ...9 hours ago - ACT rails against Māori ward legislationThe comparison of new Māori ward legislation with apartheid South Africa by the ACT Party has been labelled offensive and insulting. ...9 hours ago
- A Forest of Hooks and Nails is a joyous exhibition about the art of hanging artSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ted Snell, Honorary Professor, Edith Cowan University Review: A Forest of Hooks and Nails, Fremantle Arts Centre for Perth Festival Several years ago, when being shown around an exhibition under preparation with a Nobel prize-winning guest, an academic colleague asked what one ...9 hours ago
- Against the odds, South Australia is a renewable energy powerhouse. How on Earth did they do it?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael McGreevy, Research Associate, Flinders University Less than two decades ago, South Australia generated all its electricity from fossil fuels. Last year, renewables provided a whopping 60% of the state’s electricity supply. The remarkable progress came as national climate policy was gripped ...10 hours ago
- Oh dear – see who was offended when Goldsmith called for Kiwis to be treated equally in electoral ...
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s parents – according to a report in Stuff – delivered some strong mantra to live by. One of them: “Don’t accept, you push back, be provocative, but always be respectful.” But what happens when political opponents don’t accept, push back and – dare we suggest it? – are ...10 hours ago - Indigenous expertise is reducing bushfires in northern Australia. It’s time to consider similar ap...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kamaljit K Sangha, Senior Ecological Economist, Charles Darwin University Northern Australia is by far the most fire-prone region of Australia, with enormous bushfires occurring annually across thousands of square kilometres. Many of these vast, flammable landscapes have precious few barriers to slow ...10 hours ago
- We can’t trust big tech or the government to weed out fake news, but a public-led approach just mi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tauel Harper, Lecturer, Media and Communication, UWA, University of Western Australia The federal government’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which passed the Senate today, makes strong points about the need to regulate misinformation. In response, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TikTok, ...10 hours ago
- There Is No Plan For Fortress New Zealand
...11 hours ago - A short list of the ‘wokesters’ Simon Bridges should target nextInspired by Bridges’ brave stand against the evil wokesters, Emily Writes unearths other examples of the woke peril.This week, Simon Bridges described NZ Police’s Andrew Coster as a “wokester commissioner” who isn’t fit for the job. The “too nice” Coster is not arresting enough baddies, you see.When asked why Coster ...12 hours ago
- Banks Support New Housing Remit For RBNZBanks welcome today’s announcement that the Reserve Bank will consider the impact of its monetary and financial policy decisions on the housing market. “Banks support today’s announcement and are keen to be involved in discussions around how to tackle ...12 hours ago
- Houses by the dozen – Woods rebuffs sneers about game-changing policies while Robertson brings RBN...
Our Beehive Bulletin … It’s all go – well, sort of – on the housing front. The Nats yesterday were scoring brownie points by scoffing at the state’s spending on a professional promotional video, including drone footage, celebrating a housing scheme that has helped only 12 families. But Housing Minister ...12 hours ago - Organic Products Bill A Major Boost For ExportersLegislation regulating New Zealand's organic sector is about to pass through its final stages in Parliament and will be a major boost for exporters meeting the global demand for safe, 'clean', GE-free organic products. The Organic Products Bill helps ...12 hours ago
- The Offspin: World Test Championship here we comeThe Spinoff’s cricket podcast is back! Join Simon Day and Alex Braae on the road to Lord’s with special guest, White Fern Frankie Mackay.With the Blackcaps headed for the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s in June, Simon Day and Alex Braae have successfully appealed to ...12 hours ago
- One year on from Covid case #1: Five lessons for 2021 and beyondUniversity of Otago public health experts Michael Baker, Amanda Kvalsvig and Nick Wilson ponder what we’ve learned about the pandemic over the past 12 months, and how we can improve our response in the future.Exactly one year ago tomorrow (February 26) the first confirmed case of Covid-19 arrived in Aotearoa ...13 hours ago
- Attaching a beeping device to people with Autism isn’t treatment. It’s tortureA crowdfunding campaign for a ‘tool’ that attaches to the back of the neck is abhorrent to people with lived neurodivergent experience, writes ADHD and Autism advocate Rory McCarthy.Just over a fortnight ago, I discovered a device on Kickstarter that was being marketed as a treatment for children and adults ...13 hours ago
- A year on from the arrival of COVID-19 in NZ: 5 lessons for 2021 and beyondSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago Exactly one year ago tomorrow (February 26) the first confirmed case of COVID-19 arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand. Identified only as “a person in their 60s recently returned from Iran”, the case marked ...13 hours ago
- For teens, getting access to speech pathology services depends on where you liveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nichola Shelton, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Tens of thousands of Australian teenagers live with a communication disability, meaning they struggle with speaking, listening, reading, writing, and/or social skills. Communication disability can include It can start in early childhood and much of ...13 hours ago
- Gang crackdown: Simon Bridges, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster face off at select committeeSenior National Party MP Simon Bridges has continued his attack on Police Commissioner Andrew Coster in a fiery Justice Select Committee this morning. ...13 hours ago
- Tenant at Auckland open home later tests positive for Covid-19Health officials have contacted attendees of a Papatoetoe home viewing for a property in which a tenant later tested positive for Covid-19. Alex Braae reports. An open home took place at a Papatoetoe address on Saturday while a tenant who had been deemed a “causal-plus contact” was present. The tenant later ...14 hours ago
- How Angela Walker’s Olympic dream became a realityNew Zealand rhythmic gymnast Angela Walker’s sporting career ended with her winning a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. It was the culmination of a dream that started 14 years earlier.I remember the day I set my heart on going to the Olympics. I was a little kid watching ...15 hours ago
- Biden’s negotiating skills will be tested as he aims to have posts filled and programmes approvedNow the honeymoon is over, it’s down to hard work for American President Joe Biden and his new administration. Only a handful of his Cabinet nominees have been approved in Congress and he faces the prospect that up to three candidates may fail to pass muster. This will test his ...15 hours ago
- Union Calls On Air New Zealand To Rebuild BetterE tū is calling on the country’s national carrier to ensure it rebuilds better than before, after the half-year announcement of a profit loss of $185 million, before other significant items and taxation. E tū Head of Aviation, Savage, says the announcement ...16 hours ago
- Why Is David Parker Commissioning Voodoo Economics From Treasury?Treasury’s research on the ‘economic income’ of high-wealth individuals is voodoo economics, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “David Parker has commissioned research from Treasury estimating ...16 hours ago
- Reserve Bank must consider impact on housing of its policy decisions, Robertson saysThe Reserve Bank is now required to consider the impact on housing when making monetary and financial policy decisions, Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced. ...17 hours ago
- My body is not the problem – my school’s obsession with ‘modesty’ isNevada Wolfgramm, a year 13 student at Mount Aspiring College in Wānaka, has been repeatedly censured by the school for breaching its dress code, told by teachers that what she’s wearing is distracting boys and male teachers. Here, she explains why it must stop. The first time I was “dress coded” ...17 hours ago
- RBNZ Supports Focus On HousingThe Reserve Bank – Te Pūtea Matua welcomes the direction it has received today from the Minister of Finance. The Bank is tasked with considering how it can contribute to the Government’s housing policy objectives, consistent with its financial stability ...17 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – February 25 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Housing Richard Harman: Government has little to say about housing crisis Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt set to bring out big tools to manage housing pressure Miriam Bell (Stuff): Housing affordability at ...17 hours ago
- Govt funding for Air NZ is among the big issues around future of our tourism industry
As reports pile up on the success of vaccines against Covid 19, is it time for New Zealand to think of how it will return to normal? The vaccines will not simply eradicate the virus, so governments will need to start thinking about how to live with it. The London ...17 hours ago - Dunne Speaks: An Unpopular View?...18 hours ago
- Remembering Weta, New Zealand’s greatest lost rock bandBefore his passing in 2020, Weta frontman Aaron Tokona initiated the vinyl reissue of the band’s sole album Geographica. Released last week, it’s a poignant reminder that the band were on the cusp of cracking Australia 20 years ago. Rock bands in Australia reside at one of two poles, according ...18 hours ago
- A token sale: Christie’s to auction its first blockchain-backed digital-only artworkSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Thwaites, Assistant Professor in Digital Arts and Humanities , University of Canberra Since May 2007, US-based digital artist Mike Winkelmann (who goes by the name Beeple) has posted a new artwork online every day. He posted the 5,000th one in January, ...19 hours ago
- ‘Destruction by a thousand cuts’: the relentless threat mining poses to the Pilbara cultural lan...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Holcombe, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Just as the parliamentary inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters was reconvening in Canberra, another culturally significant site was damaged at one of BHP’s iron ore mines in ...19 hours ago
- Paid on par with cleaners: the broader issue affecting the quality of aged careSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Farr-Wharton, Associate Professor in Management, Edith Cowan University The aged care royal commission is due to hand down its final report on February 26, and it will be tabled in parliament in the days after that. The long-term sustainability of the ...19 hours ago
- The Texas deep freeze left the state in crisis. Here are 3 lessons for AustraliaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Nelson, Associate Professor of Economics, Griffith University The US state of Texas has this month experienced some of its coldest weather on record. Houston recorded a temperature of -10.6℃, which is around 20℃ below average. And Dallas-Fort Worth recorded its lowest-ever ...19 hours ago
- School banking programs target ‘vulnerable consumers’. But research shows kids are smarter than ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shasha Wang, Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology The ACT Legislative Assembly recently passed a motion to ban banking programs, like Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmites, from schools later this year. The move comes a few months after Victoria announced it would also ban such ...19 hours ago
- I teach architecture and have been in quarantine a lot lately. Here are ways design can protect us a...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mengbi Li, Lecturer in Built Environment (Architecture), First Year College and Research Fellow, ISILC, Victoria University The coronavirus has been escaping with distressing frequency from quarantine hotels, threatening serious outbreaks. To make things worse, multiple variants of the virus, possibly more infectious ...19 hours ago
- Facebook versus News: Advertising is the real problemSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland The fight between Facebook and the Morrison government is over almost before it began. Having drastically overplayed its hand by banning a vast range of content, Facebook has been forced to settle ...19 hours ago
- Guide to the classics: Darwin’s The Descent of Man 150 years on — sex, race and our ‘lowly’ ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Hesketh, ARC Future Fellow and Association Professor, The University of Queensland When Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was first published in On the Origin of Species in 1859, the book was conspicuously silent about how his theory applied to humans. ...19 hours ago
- Live updates, February 25: Māori wards bill passes, National instantly promises to overturnWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for February 25. All the latest news from New Zealand, updated throughout the day. Reach me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur Members make The Spinoff happen. Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us from ...19 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Corrections minister picks fight with activist groupsGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Corrections minister picks fight with activist groups, Foster calls in independent Wellington Council governance review, and OCR kept unchanged.For a lead story today, a confrontation that has been brewing for a while, with several flashpoints along the way. Corrections minister Kelvin ...20 hours ago
- Returning Kiwis taking houses – Reserve Bank
Expats driven home by the pandemic are contributing to both housing and broader demand pressures, the Monetary Policy Committee says ...20 hours ago - Reserve Bank remit now covers housing costs
The Reserve Bank will now have to take into account the impact on housing affordability when making monetary and financial policy decisions The Government has widened the central bank's remit, with immediate effect, requiring it to take into account government policy relating to "more sustainable house prices", while still working ...20 hours ago - Te Pāti Māori Celebrate Māori Wards Bill, Vow To Continue Fight For Māori Rights In Local Govern...Te Pāti Māori is celebrating the third reading of the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill and vowing to continue the fight for guaranteed tangata whenua representation in local government. “The passage ...20 hours ago
- No taper here: Reserve Bank unmoved
Business & Investing: The Reserve Bank's careful juggling act, Plus Spark and Meridian's results are lower ...20 hours ago - Green Party Accept Petition Calling For Equal Distribution Of COVID-19 Vaccine GloballyGreen Party spokesperson on Human Rights and Foreign Affairs Golriz Ghahraman will today accept a petition from Oxfam calling on a fair and equitable global distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. “If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that in order ...21 hours ago
- An epic poem for Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 101
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the last of the Beats, died this week. To mark the occasion we republlish Nelson poet Cliff Fell's epic tribute to Ferlinghetti , published at ReadingRoom last year to mark his 101st birthday. 101 Bows to Lawrence Ferlinghetti on the Occasion of His 101st Birthday Like one who ...21 hours ago - How much ACC has paid in quake claims
ACC predicted quake-related claims would hit $200 million but payments to date are nowhere near that. David Williams reports Mark Maynard returned to full-time work just before last year’s Covid-19 lockdown – for a single day. “I got to 4 o’clock,” the Christchurch carpet salesman quips. “I thought, shit, I’m ...21 hours ago - Disgust at China's state-sponsored 'Uyghurface'
Wellington's mayor is the latest NZ politician to be used as a propaganda tool in China's campaign against Uyghur Muslims. ...21 hours ago - Mea Motu climbing ranks to world title shot
A Kiwi pro boxer inspired by her kids to 'keep going', now has her eyes set on a world title fight. Ashley Stanley reports Mea Motu may be blitzing through her boxing opponents now but it was only last year the featherweight needed some nudging into the professional arena. The mother-of-five ...21 hours ago - Controversial internet filtering law may be overhauled
Analysis: Labour was the only party to support the first reading of a law to enable internet filtering, but the minister in charge of the bill says it could be overhauled before a final vote, Marc Daalder reports The minister responsible for a controversial bill which would empower the Government to ...21 hours ago - A drunk, a misogynist, a haunted genius
Fiona Kidman remembers the great , and greatly damaged, Denis Glover I have only to close my eyes for a moment when I hear the name Denis Glover, and hear that unmistakeable concrete mixer voice, laced with English vowels, to be back in his presence. It is a vanity ...21 hours ago - NZ challenged to buck trend on climate conservatism
The chair of the UK's Climate Change Committee says NZ has a unique opportunity to lead the world on reducing emissions. ...21 hours ago - Where next for the Pacific Islands Forum?
The pan-Pacific organisation's problems go beyond a leadership spat. ...21 hours ago - National Party's missed opportunity
When Judith Collins asked her MPs not to get distracted this year, her colleague and former leader Simon Bridges missed the memo, writes political editor Jo Moir Stay focused and don’t get distracted. That was the instruction from Judith Collins when the National Party met for its annual caucus retreat ...21 hours ago - Reasons to be (not too) cheerful
News of the vaccine rollout is great, but even if it goes more smoothly than our recent mass vaccination attempts, Covid still has pain in store for us. ...21 hours ago - SKY and NZME: Life by a thousand cuts
MediaRoom: Media firms report positive results from the first year of the pandemic, but can cost-cuts counter the economic and tech currents buffeting the industry? New Zealand's two big listed media companies have cost-cut their way to improved profits - with both Sky TV and NZME using the Covid-19 economic downturn ...21 hours ago - Who is Lucinda Baulch, the Australian who refused a Covid test?Having refused to take a Covid-19 test over the duration of her 28-day stay, Australian woman Lucinda Baulch was released on Tuesday from managed isolation in Wellington. Contrary to some initially credulous reporting, her claim that she only wanted ‘informed consent’ on the PCR test was far from the full ...22 hours ago
- Our maternity sector is at crisis point Days away from giving birth after a high-risk pregnancy, Kiki Van Newtown has experienced first-hand the dire state of our maternal health services. She’s calling on the government to take urgent action.It’s late on the maternity ward at Wellington Hospital, and I’m curled onto a couch at the end of ...22 hours ago
- Trouble in the Pacific
The Pacific Islands Forum is facing unprecedented disruption at a time when it's arguably needed the most, to present a united front on issues such as Covid and climate change. Five northern Pacific islands, from the grouping we call Micronesia, are heading out the doors of the Pacific Islands Forum ...22 hours ago - Concern grows over PMC after shock office ‘closure’ and no director1 day ago
- LIVE VIDEO: Buchanan + Manning on private enterprise and the conflict marketA View from Afar: Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will conduct a deep dive into the largely covert role of private enterprise in the intelligence, conflict, and war markets. Most recently, New Zealanders discovered that its national airline had been in business with the Saudi Arabia military which ...1 day ago
- West Papua needs urgent Red Cross intervention over crisis, says WendaAsia Pacific Report The Indonesian state is causing a renewed humanitarian crisis in West Papua. Three young West Papuan men have been murdered by the Indonesian military in Intan Jaya Regency, and hundreds of residents have now fled the area in fear. Indonesia must urgently allow the International Committee of ...1 day ago
- Facebook and Google deals may leave small publishers out in the coldAsia Pacific Report The federal government must act urgently to support small Australian news outlets that could be shut out of commercial deals with Facebook and Google under its News Media Bargaining Code, says the union for Australia’s journalists. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said in a statement ...1 day ago
- Māori wards amendment bill passes final reading in ParliamentThe public can no longer veto a councils' decision to introduce Māori wards. ...1 day ago
- Recap: There’s something fishy going on with The Bachelorette NZBachelor superfans Jane Yee and Tara Ward recap the highs and lows of week four of The Bachelorette NZ.Hear more from Team Jack on this week’s episode of The Real Pod. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you normally listen to podcasts.Tara Ward: Jane, I wanted to make a ...1 day ago
- Government seeks other options for Whakatāne Mill after closure proposedOfficials are scrambling to see if they can do anything for the mill, where more than 200 jobs are at risk. ...1 day ago
- When vaccinating 26 million Australians, expect a mistake or two. But we can minimise the risk of re...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nigel William Crawford, Associate Professor, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute It emerged today that two aged-care residents in Brisbane were given an incorrect dose of the Pfizer vaccine — more than the amount recommended. The 88-year-old man and 94-year-old woman were receiving their ...1 day ago
- Wellington councillors taken aback over independent reviewWellington mayor Andy Foster appears to have ambushed at least some of his colleagues with his announcement of an independent review into council governance. ...1 day ago
- Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Covid-19: Where are the New Cases now?1 day ago
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