sustainability
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Climate transition transport and the rural road tumbleweeds
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, June 16th, 2021 - 69 comments
Beyond the cycle/car wars.
Riverton rocks: support the pilot for social and economic rejuvenation and resilience in rural NZ
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 31st, 2021 - 12 comments
The South Coast Environment Centre is creating a local food network that connects growers and customers directly, creates food resiliency, and keeps money in the local economy. Today is the last day of their Pledgeme, and they need a bit more support to push them over the top.
Cycling Politics Is Damn Serious Business
Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 26th, 2021 - 73 comments
Don’t knock local politics until you’ve had to stand up and defend a cycleway in public.
What local food can look like (and why)
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 21st, 2021 - 10 comments
The South Coast Environment Centre is creating a local food network that connects growers and customers directly, creates food resiliency, and keeps money in the local economy. This is an exemplar of climate, economic and community sustainability.
Regenerative agriculture and climate solutions
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, May 6th, 2021 - 94 comments
Research is now showing the advantages of regenerative agriculture. Are we wise enough to make best use of them?
Sustainability and learning from forest gardening
Written By: - Date published: 6:15 am, April 11th, 2021 - 30 comments
The Guytons’ 25 year old food forest in Riverton is a showcase of sustainability practice and knowledge.
Will Technology Solve Climate Change?
Written By: - Date published: 6:01 am, February 14th, 2021 - 87 comments
What if we actually planned to reduce energy usage significantly while revamping the economy to promote happiness and well-being? Then it would be far easier to replace our remaining energy usage with renewable sources. – Richard Heinberg
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 […]
The Malthusian Spectre
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, December 20th, 2020 - 46 comments
Population has always been a critical driver of events and prior to the Industrial Revolution we lived in a zero sum world, with energy and resources effectively limited to that which could be harvested from photosynthesis, one person’s gain was at the limit, always someone else’s loss. Very low density hunter gather populations could thrive […]
What could possibly go right?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, December 6th, 2020 - 34 comments
Bridging the gap between the people who are involved in proactive, regenerative responses to the climate, ecological and social crises, and those who don’t know this is happening, feel overwhelmed, and don’t know what to do.
Being real about the climate emergency
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, December 4th, 2020 - 118 comments
Green tech, negative emissions and carbon capture and storage won’t save us, but we have other options.
Powerdown part two
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, November 16th, 2020 - 90 comments
Christchurch transition engineer Susan Krumdieck lays out the realities of the various crises we are facing, and why green tech won’t save us. What can we do instead?
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.
No Right Turn: The transport policy we need
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 30th, 2020 - 40 comments
All of these policies will get fossil cars off the roads, reducing emissions.
The Greens on urban farming
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 24th, 2020 - 25 comments
This is exactly the kind of approach the Green Party would like to encourage – it’s strategic, it’s intergenerational and it recognises the interconnectedness of our people, the environment and local communities.
What is this regenerative agriculture thing anyway?
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, September 13th, 2020 - 32 comments
Given the state of New Zealand land and water, changing how we do farming should be a strong political topic for the left this year. The Greens and Greenpeace are campaigning for a shift to regenerative agriculture, so it’s timely to look at what that is.
Will our cities revive?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 5th, 2020 - 43 comments
Our cities are the nation’s lungs; they recycle and accelerate external goods and transform them internally into faster circulation. Auckland and Christchurch have had tens of billions invested in them over successive local and central governments, but has this improved our strength or wealth as a country at all?
Covid recovery and bouncing forward
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 10th, 2020 - 21 comments
Central to the Transition movement from the outset has been the idea of resilience. Usually framed as the ability to ‘bounce back’, it is seen in the Transition movement as being better imagined as the capacity to ‘bounce forward’, i.e. to use it as the opportunity to move forward to something better. How then to ‘bounce forward’ from COVID-19 in such a way that we also move to a way of doing things consistent with the scale of the climate crisis?
We don’t have time for this shit
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, June 24th, 2020 - 52 comments
the government can’t agree is a euphemism for NZ First blocking climate action.
How to kill the car
Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, April 29th, 2020 - 45 comments
What would you do so that instead of wandering endlessly through tilt-slab monstrosities soaked in 80s music and fluorescent lighting, surrounded by oppressed minimum-wage slaves who hate being there and you hating being there worried about your wheeled asset damaged in their carpark instead you get freedom?
Tourism is the elephant in the living room
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, April 9th, 2020 - 148 comments
Rather than saving an industry that has multiple sustainability and resiliency failures, how about we regenerate local economies and set them to serve our communities?
RIP Jeanette Fitzsimons
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, March 6th, 2020 - 33 comments
Former Greens co leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has died.
Sustainable NZ not so sustainable after all
Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, February 21st, 2020 - 23 comments
It appears that National’s dream of an alternative Green party that would drive the real Green Party below the threshold is in tatters with news that Sustainable NZ is on the skids.
The Government’s $12 billion infrastructure package
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, January 29th, 2020 - 96 comments
The details of the Government’s $12 billion infrastructure announcement have been released.
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.
Brittle cities
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, October 29th, 2019 - 10 comments
It is pretty hard to miss a variety of cities around the world going nuts for apparently minor offences.
Why we save rivers
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 29th, 2019 - 47 comments
An application to dam the Waitaha River on the West Coast has been declined. When looking at how to meet human needs, we need to do better than ‘how much can we get away with taking from nature?’
photo – Zak Shaw
What if there were only 34 31 more whitebait harvests left?
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 20th, 2019 - 66 comments
If we want to prevent the extinction of whitebait it’s time to stop buying and selling it.
Fertile land is priceless
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, August 15th, 2019 - 220 comments
As Labour moves to protect prime food growing land around our cities, we should be having a wider discussion about food security in New Zealand.
Totally shit farming
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, August 12th, 2019 - 47 comments
Farmers blockading environmentalists to stop them taking photos of their degraded farms. Is this really what we’ve come to?
Dunedin South as Next Fox River Dump Disaster?
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 10th, 2019 - 75 comments
If we thought the devastation and mess caused by a flood ripping through the old dump at Fox Glacier village was bad, just wait until a decent storm punches through the old dump of New Zealand’s fifth largest city on its coastline. It’s getting close.
- Ending conversion “therapy”
The government has introduced a bill to outlaw homophobic conversion "therapy": Practices intended to change or suppress someone's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, also referred to as gay conversion therapy, will become a criminal offence under legislation announced today. Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi said today the ...39 mins ago - The Sin Of Cheapness.
Commodities, Commodities, Everywhere - And None Of Them Are Cheap! No less an authority than the Commerce Commission has determined that New Zealanders are paying too much for their food and groceries. An apparent aversion to aggressive competition has led the dominant players to match one another’s’ prices rather than better ...50 mins ago - Should We Trust The Science – Or Ourselves?“Pure” Science: The lesson to be drawn from the history of science, however, is that knowledge is always and everywhere embedded in culture. That the one cannot be separated from the other. Culture can empower knowledge, or suppress it; advance it or divert it to the utmost wickedness. Knowledge goes where it’s told. “TRUST ...1 hour ago
- Kids set free to roam on their own feel more confident navigating in adulthood
Vanessa Vieites, Rutgers University The distance from home that kids are allowed to roam and play has shrunk significantly over the last 50 years. That’s largely due to parents’ concerns over safety, especially in cities. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has further restricted children’s independent activity. As a Ph.D. ...3 hours ago - Running into Trouble: COVID-19 in Japan during the Tokyo OlympicsDr Leah Grout, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Michael Baker * The 2020 Olympic Games were originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delayed event has now opened, with the opening ceremonies held on 23 July 2021 and competitions scheduled to take place through 9 August 2021. ...3 hours ago
- Simon Bridges cannot be trusted
You may recall former National Party leader Simon Bridges gaining a lot of public attention last month after claiming he was a witness to a gang fight. The former Crown Prosecutor made a huge song and dance about it all over Facebook and Twitter while also attacking the Government with ...5 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30, 2021
88 articles Physical science of climate change, effects Energetics of surface melt in West Antarctica Ghiz et al. The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc Quantifying the Mechanisms of Atmospheric Circulation Response to Greenhouse Gas Increases in a Forcing–Feedback Framework Zhang et al. Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli ...15 hours ago - Hate Speech law is unworkable
Make a submission to stop this mess being codified into law The Free Speech Union is urging people to make submissions to halt the proposal putforward by the Ministry of Justice for hate speech laws. The FSU state: “[T]he proposals put forward by the Ministry of Justice are dangerously vague ...17 hours ago - Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – How the Government has fuelled rampant increases in wealth
Jacinda Ardern’s household wealth increased by an estimated $290,000 over the last year. Although she earnt nearly half a million dollars from her job, her windfall was solely due to the value of her Auckland house increasing. And by her own policy designs, it’s a capital gain which is untaxed. ...22 hours ago - Climate Change: The other Tiwai scamNewsroom has a good piece this morning about the government's consultation on industrial free allocations, revealing that Fletcher Building is getting an extra $5 million a year ($7 million at today's prices) due to miscalculated carbon subsidies. That's bad, and it needs to be stopped by resetting emissions baselines to ...24 hours ago
- End the Tiwai scamA little over a year ago, Rio Tinto was pleading povery, claiming its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter was unprofitable, and threatening to close it unless it got a government handout to keep it running. Their bluff worked, and we ended up paying the BluffGeld by giving them lower electricity prices ...1 day ago
- Holes in the Tundra: Why Burping Cows Are the Least of Our Worries.1 day ago
- Piers Morgan – Arsehole of the Week1 day ago
- Climate change and tornadoes: Any connection?This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Climate change may be the existential threat of our lives, yet when it comes to in-your-face weather, tornadoes are in a class of their own. Fortunately, human-warmed climate isn’t making violent U.S. tornadoes any more frequent. However, climate change may ...2 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – Labour’s sacrificing of the poorJacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson like to think of themselves as leftwing politicians. So why aren’t they prioritising and championing the vulnerable at the bottom of society? Since Covid hit they have chosen economic policies that benefit the rich while pushing more into poverty. Increasing inequality was thrown into stark ...2 days ago
- Climate Change: Just predatory delay againAnother day, another story arguing that climate change is Just Too Hard for farmers, and that they should be given more time to wait for a magic technological solution which will cut emissions while allowing them to continue doing exactly what they're doing at the moment. Today, the magic Technological ...2 days ago
- A note on the “jihadi bride.”
I ruffled a few feathers by referring to Gerry Brownlee as a “buffoon” during a radio interview this week. The subject in question was the involuntary repatriation of Suharya Aden and her children to NZ after Australia cancelled her citizenship. Brownlee was blathering about her being a terrorist security threat, ...2 days ago - Militaries plunder science fiction for technology ideas, but turn a blind eye to the genre’s socia...Will Slocombe, University of Liverpool Military planning is a complicated endeavour, calling upon experts in logistics and infrastructure to predict resource availability and technological advancements. Long-range military planning, deciding what to invest in now to prepare armed forces for the world in thirty years’ time, is even more difficult. ...2 days ago
- Still the same questionThe Independent Police Conduct authority has found another case where police used excessive force in making an arrest: A police officer broke a woman’s arm with a baton before dragging her out of her car by the hair following a chase. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found the ...2 days ago
- The Danger from the Extreme Right
Like other readers, no doubt, I recently experienced a “believe it or not” moment, when I read an account of a crowd at a recent Trump rally cheering the news that the US Women’s Football Team had been beaten at the Olympic Games. The reason for the cheering was, apparently, ...2 days ago - Why calling ordinary Kiwi cyclists ‘elitist’ just doesn’t add upTimothy Welch, University of Auckland Something strange has happened to the perception of cyclists and cycling in the more than 200 years they’ve been around. Once a novelty, bike riding has moved from being a critical transport mode to a children’s pastime to now being popularly perceived as an ...2 days ago
- Zebra Ethics: The Amazon Second Age Series and Lessons from Game of Thrones
Today I stumbled across a genuinely interesting reddit article, which looks at the (positive) influence Game of Thrones may have on the upcoming Amazon Tolkien series: https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/oqvi81/amazons_the_lord_of_the_rings_show_going_got/ Essentially, the argument is that the framework of Tolkien’s Second Age material inherently lends itself to “Machiavellian Thriller” stories, rather than to ...3 days ago - The War over Sex and Gender: Kathleen Stock talks to the Free Speech UnionSpeakeasy #1: Free Speech and the War over Sex and Gender from Free Speech Union on Vimeo. ...3 days ago
- Why governments will have to consider the costs of long COVID when easing pandemic restrictionsRichard Meade, Auckland University of Technology With governments worldwide under pressure to ease pandemic restrictions as vaccination rates rise and impatience with border restrictions grows, new threats become clearer. One of the costliest, it is now feared, could be a tsunami of “long COVID” cases. Long COVID is a ...3 days ago
- Taxpayers' Union gets destroyedThe Taxpayers’ Union scored another own goal yesterday when they decided to have a go at well-known journalist David Farrier (not to be confused with David Farrar) over Government funding he’d received to make a documentary.While that slinging match isn’t really worth reporting on, being that it was mainly just ...3 days ago
- Gender-specific health programs address important issues, but risk creating new biasesMatthew Jenkins and Victoria Chinn, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Gone are the days when health programmes were designed to simply punish or reward people to encourage behaviour change. We now know lasting behaviour change is more complex and nuanced, and this has prompted a proliferation ...3 days ago
- Fossil tooth fractures and microscopic detail of enamel offer new clues about human diet and evolut...Ian Towle; Carolina Loch, and Thomas Loho, University of Auckland Teeth can tell us a lot about the evolution of prehistoric humans, and our latest study of one of our species’ close relatives may finally resolve a long-standing mystery. The genus Paranthropus is closely related to ours, Homo, ...3 days ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – “Year of the vaccine” at riskA consensus is emerging that the Government has generally managed the Covid crisis very well over the last 18 months, but they have dropped the ball when it comes to the crucial vaccine rollout. This was nicely encapsulated in opinion polling last week showing that while 69 per cent of ...4 days ago
- Profiteering politicians delegitimise parliamentWhy aren't politicians interested in actually solving the housing crisis? Because virtually the entire political class is making massive profits from it: MPs have pocketed $50 million in capital gains from their property interests in the last year amid a growing housing affordability crisis, a Stuff analysis has found. ...4 days ago
- Democracy wins in SamoaOver three months ago Samoa had an election, in which the people voted out the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party and voted in the opposition FAST Party. The incumbent Human Rights Protection Party ignored the results and clung to power, hoping to get their patsy head of state to call ...4 days ago
- Climate Change: The solution farmers don’t want us to talk aboutRNZ this morning has a piece asking Can NZ really meet its methane emissions targets?. Posing it as a question like this frames it as difficult, more of the "but its too hard!" whine from farmers. But its not hard at all. Pretty obviously, we can meet methane reduction targets ...4 days ago
- A Conversation That Never Happened.4 days ago
- Graham Adams: Parliament is in recess but Kris Faafoi is too busy to discuss proposals for hate-spee...The Minister of Justice appears to have gone into hiding. Graham Adams provides an update on how the public debate on hate speech regulation is going, especially in terms of whether political opinion should or shouldn’t receive an exemption from new laws. It fell to RNZ to break the ...4 days ago
- Engineering A Miracle: Can Judith Collins Reprise Rob Muldoon?Miracle Worker? But Judith Collins and National cannot regain power by simply hoping for the worst. Elections are won by politicians like Rob Muldoon, who persuade the voters that the incumbent government is the worst choice.WAITING FOR THE MIRACLE, as Leonard Cohen observed, is an agonising test. Especially if its ...4 days ago
- Hearing loss and social isolation – the silent burdenFeature image: this picture was chosen as it illustrates two elderly people in each other’s company. Tying in with the theme of hearing loss and social isolation, this depicts the importance of connection to each other and the world in which we live. Charlotte Gordon* Untreated hearing loss is a ...4 days ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #30Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 18, 2021 through Sat, July 24, 2021 The following articles sparked above average interest during the week: Extreme rainfall in China: over 25 inches falls in 24 hours, leaving 33 dead, As scientists have ...5 days ago
- Capitalists in Space
. . Billionaire Richard Branson did it. Also-billionaire, Jeff Bezos, did it. Both will be the first money-hoarders into space (or sub-orbital near-space, to be more specific). Also-also-billionaire, Elon Musk – not content with sub-orbital ‘jaunts’ – has expressed a desire to go Full Interplanetary and personally colonise Mars. Meanwhile, ...5 days ago - Elizabeth Rata: Responding to Andrew Geddis on Treaty PartnershipsMy recent article about the role that the concept of a Treaty ‘partnership’ has played in the development of ethno-nationalism provoked a critical response from Professor Andrew Geddis. We obviously have different opinions about the value of a Treaty partnership in New Zealand’s liberal democracy. My purpose here is to ...5 days ago
- When tough on crime goes wrongIf there’s one thing that you can safely rely on, it’s right-wing politicians grandstanding with tough on crime rhetoric. It's understandable being that such propaganda is usually a sure bet, obviously because a very large proportion of the public wants to see less crime and fewer criminals in their communities.However ...6 days ago
- Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growthTim Jackson, University of Surrey Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, laments the Rocket Man in Elton John’s timeless classic. In fact, it’s cold as hell. But that doesn’t seem to worry a new generation of space entrepreneurs intent on colonising the “final frontier” as fast ...6 days ago
- Michael Cullen’s Policy Achievements
Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.Implicit in the title of the Michael Cullen’s memoir Labour Saving is his greatest policy achievement of improving the savings of the economy, as well as his saving the Labour Party from neoliberalism. But first, ...7 days ago - Call to ‘come home’ does not apply to our sleeper cells in Australia, says Government
A map of believed New Zealand sleeper cells in Australia, which the Australian Secret Intelligence Service has described as “painfully obvious” and believes is “pretty much comprehensive.” As the Covid-19 travel bubble with Australia closes once more, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins have made clear ...7 days ago - Cranky Uncle game now being translatedThe Cranky Uncle game is now being translated into multiple languages, paving the way to building public resilience against misinformation across the world. So far, we have had volunteers offer to help translate the game into Danish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian. But we are always looking ...7 days ago
- Andrew Geddis: Responding to Elizabeth Rata on Treaty PartnershipsIn a recent post on this site, Prof Elizabeth Rata expressed her concerns at the growth of what she terms “ethno-nationalism” and the role that the concept of a “Treaty partnership” has played in this development. She does so by telling a story about how this idea of a Treaty ...7 days ago
- The Greatest Cyber-Weapon May Be The Truth.Who's Hacking Who? So, let’s be clear: the very same Western powers who were voicing their alarm at China’s alleged outsourcing of its cyber-attack capabilities to private actors, are the identical Western powers who, for years, have winked at their friends in Jerusalem outsourcing their intelligence gathering to a shadowy Tel ...1 week ago
- Morbid Symptoms: Why Are Māori Vaccination Rates Plummeting?Not Enough Shots In The Arm: The percentage of 8-month-old Māori babies in Counties Manukau receiving their primary course of immunisation on time has fallen from 85 percent in May 2020 to 68 percent in May 2021. A report prepared for the Counties Manukau DHB attributes this startling drop-off to: ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29, 202194 articles Physical science of climate change, effects Three flavors of radiative feedbacks and their implications for estimating Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity Rugenstein & Armour Geophysical Research Letters DOI: 10.1029/2021gl092983 Observations of climate change, effects Multi-decadal change in western US nighttime vapor pressure deficit DOI: 10.1029/2021gl092983 Recent changes in ...1 week ago
- Looking for more coal is indefensibleSiberia is burning. China is flooding. Westport flooded last weekend. And against this backdrop of climate breakdown, the Southland District Council thinks its a good time to approve new coal exploration. This is a terrible idea. But its also a waste of time. Any coal discovered can never be burned ...1 week ago
- An end to imprisoning refugees?Back in May, Amnesty International exposed New Zealand's repuslive system of refugee detention, and the ongoing human rights abuses it leads to. It clearly embarassed the government, because today they've announced a formal inquiry into the practice - the first step to ending it: But following the release in ...1 week ago
- Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – The Seriousness of the rural revoltIt’s nearly a week since the “Howl of a Protest” took place throughout the country, and we’re still talking about the rural revolt. What are the farmers’ concerns? Are they legitimate? Has the rural-urban divide has become too deep, and will any of this have an impact on politics in ...1 week ago
- Extreme heat warning: what the first-ever UK Met Office alert meansChloe Brimicombe, University of Reading Summer 2021 will mark a turning point in how heat is seen by the public and communicated by experts. For the first time in its 167-year history, the UK’s Met Office has issued an amber warning for extreme heat for much of Wales and parts ...1 week ago
- Hydrogen in Southland?New Zealand wants to move to more renewable electricity. But there's a barrier: the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. It sucks up 13% of our total electricity supply, but its continued threats to shut down create ongoing uncertainty about demand, which puts people off building the additional renewables we need. But ...1 week ago
- When an ancient volcanic ‘supereruption’ caused sudden cooling, early humans got luckyBen Black, Rutgers University and Anja Schmidt, University of Cambridge Around 74,000 years ago, a “supereruption” on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, blasted out an estimated 5,000 cubic kilometres of magma. This was the Toba eruption, the largest volcanic eruption of the past 2 million years. To put 5,000 ...1 week ago
- Talley’s Group Ltd – Arsehole of the Week1 week ago
- Climate Crisis Intensifies Dramatically in 2021
In 2007 an organisation chose its name based on the scientific consensus that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was the uppermost level to avoid a climate tipping point. We are currently just short of 420pp of carbon and the last seven years have been the hottest ...1 week ago - Samoa’s women’s quota: Have I missed something?(Narrator voice: Yes, yes I did. See correction at the bottom) Another election petition was finalised in Samoa today, seeing the first finding of an illegal practice against a FAST candidate (a party roadshow made a customary gift - koha in NZ terms - during a period where these are ...1 week ago
- A promising startThe "rebate" half of the government's feebate scheme to lower transport emissions came into force three weeks ago. And it looks like its had an immediate effect, with two months worth of EVs registered in the first 19 days alone: More than 1300 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles ...1 week ago
- Taking shortsighted penny-pinching to a whole new levelOver the weekend Westport was hit by devastating floods. Half the town had to be evacuated, 89 homes (so far) are uninhabitable, and another 400 (of ~1700) need serious repairs. The total cost hasn't come in yet, but its going to be well into the tens of millions of dollars. ...1 week ago
- TORN’s Spy Report on the Amazon LOTR/Second Age Series
It’s been a while since we got an update on the upcoming Amazon Second Age series. Not since the leaked Synopsis. The poor fandom twisted itself into knots speculating about supposed nudity in a Tolkien adaptation, and then… nothing. Well, that has suddenly changed. The One Ring.Net has ...1 week ago - Calling out China for cyberattacks is risky — but a lawless digital world is even riskierAlexander Gillespie, University of Waikato This week’s multi-country condemnation of cyber-attacks by Chinese state-sponsored agencies was a sign of increasing frustration at recent behaviour. But it also masks the real problem — international law isn’t strong or coherent enough to deal with this growing threat. The coordinated announcement by several ...1 week ago
- Could Britain be sued for reopening and putting the world at risk from new COVID variants?Kris Gledhill, Auckland University of Technology With most COVID-19 restrictions now lifted in England, the world is watching to see what this so-called “freedom day” will bring. Some scepticism is warranted, given Britain’s approach throughout the pandemic has hardly been a success. By July 19, there had been 128,985 deaths ...1 week ago
- As scientists have long predicted, warming is making heatwaves more deadlyThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In its 2001 Third Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) foresaw that global warming would lead to increasingly deadly heatwaves. “More hot days and heatwaves are very likely over nearly all land areas,” the world’s top climate scientists warned. “These increases ...1 week ago
- Geoffrey Miller: NZ’s statement on China a shot across the bowA statement issued by the New Zealand Government alleging Chinese state involvement in hacking goes much further than a simple, pro forma endorsement of the views of New Zealand’s allies. Geoffrey Miller explains the significance. New Zealand joined Western allies on Monday by issuing a statement that called out ...1 week ago
- Climate Change: Calling time on “leakage”When New Zealand was trying to implement carbon pricing back in the early 2000s, polluters whined about "leakage", either threatening to take their production overseas so they could continue to pollute for free, or complaining that paying the full cost of their pollution would mean they would be out-competed by ...1 week ago
- Plague ships put elimination strategy at risk1 week ago
- Doping has become inevitable at the Olympics. And who wins gold in Tokyo might not be certain until...Jason Mazanov, UNSW Another Olympics is upon us, inexorable even in the face of COVID. With it comes the inevitable, salacious speculation around doping scandals. There have been doping scandals at every Olympics in my lifetime and a few before, reaching back to the middle of the 20th century. Now, ...1 week ago
- Baby talk 4: first transfer
Read the full Baby Talk series Content note: this one involves my vagina, like, a lot. Also blood. And that whole infertility/anxiety thing. Of our four fertilised eggs, two were deemed high-quality enough to proceed to the next stage, embryo transfer. The old days of putting multiple embryos back into ...1 week ago - Hate Speech Laws: The Polling
After the March 2019 Christchurch mosque attack, the New Zealand Government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into matters surrounding the tragedy. The Commission came back with recommendations, including a tightening of laws regarding Hate Speech. The Ardern Government has indicated support for such proposals, but has yet ...2 weeks ago - Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin: can they be more than ‘space’ joyrides for millionaires?Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of Birmingham Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson and his team successfully flew to the “edge of space” on the Unity 22 mission aboard a Virgin Galactic plane on July 12. The event was hailed as the start of space tourism, narrowly beating ...2 weeks ago
- Exporting their social licenceOne of the slogans of Friday's ugly farmer protests was "no farms, no food". But the truth is that most of what farmers grow is exported, and kiwis are increasingly being priced out of eating it at all: If you feel like red meat is more expensive than it ...2 weeks ago
- Graham Adams: Ardern’s nightmarish weekendCriticism of the government funding gangs and the media followed hard on the heels of nationwide protests by farmers It should have been a weekend of media adulation to further burnish the Prime Minister’s international reputation as a consensus-builder. Late on Friday night, Jacinda Ardern hosted a virtual Asia-Pacific ...2 weeks ago
- Why climate change is forcing conservationists to be more ambitious: by moving threatened species to...Sarah Elizabeth Dalrymple, Liverpool John Moores University As climate change brings record droughts and floods, extended fire seasons continue to make headlines, and the role of humans in this terrible situation is now undisputed, institutional change has been slow and unsteady. In particular, conservationists have been wary of pointing to ...2 weeks ago
- The government needs to act on this warningOver the weekend devastating floods hit the South Island. Half the population of Westport were forced from their homes, and it looks like hundreds have been made permanently homeless. Its a taste of what we can expect in the future due to climate change, and things are only going to ...2 weeks ago
- Free Speech vs Hate Speech – By Numbers.We Can Stop Guessing: New Zealand owes the newly-formed Free Speech Union (FSU) a debt of gratitude for commissioning Curia Research to find out exactly where the country stands on the Government’s Hate Speech proposals. JACINDA ARDERN faces a considerably less daunting task in selling her Hate Speech laws than many ...2 weeks ago
- 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 11, 2021 through Sat, July 17, 2021 The following articles sparked above average interest during the week: Repustar Fact Brief: Is carbon dioxide incapable of warming the planet any more than it already has?, The ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party welcomes conversion therapy prohibition bill
The Green Party welcomes the announcement by Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi to introduce a bill to prohibit conversion therapy used against Rainbow communities. ...2 hours ago - Green Party welcomes Commerce Commission’s draft findings, cautions against wait and hope solution...The Green Party welcomes the findings of the Commerce Commission’s report on competition in the retail grocery sector, which takes aim at the duopoly formed by Woolworths NZ and Foodstuffs. ...21 hours ago
- Building back better
It’s a three-week recess in Parliament – so, no bills are going through the House and no select committees are meeting. But the hard work of our ministers continues, and many of our MPs are back in their electorates, taking the opportunity to meet with local communities and businesses about ...7 days ago - Greens call for a Warrant of Fitness for rental homesThe Green Party is launching a petition today calling on the Government’s Healthy Homes Standards to be backed up with a proper Warrant of Fitness (WoF) for rental homes. ...1 week ago
- Securing our recovery: By the numbersOur plan to secure New Zealand’s recovery from COVID-19 is working, with the past three months seeing the second-highest number of people moved off a main benefit into work since records began. ...2 weeks ago
- More Kiwis in work through recovery planThe latest statistics show the Government’s focus on jobs is working. The net number of people on a main benefit dropped by around 11,190 people during the past three months, with around 31,240 people moving off a benefit into work. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party appoints new Chief of StaffThe Green Party has appointed a new Parliamentary Chief of Staff, Robin Campbell. ...2 weeks ago
- Communities backed to tackle wilding pines
Twelve community projects across New Zealand will receive a share of $2 million to carry out wilding pine control, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor announced as part of Biosecurity Week. “Wilding pines are a serious problem that threaten many of the unique landscapes that New Zealanders value. Community groups and trusts ...54 mins ago - Health Minister Andrew Little responding to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation's rejection of ...I was advised last night that the result of the ballot of Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation members have rejected the latest proposal to settle their collective agreement. Let me be clear: the proposal was one they put to the Government. The Nurses Organisation rejected their ...1 hour ago
- Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation introduced to ParliamentLegislation has been introduced to Parliament to protect against practices intended to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Introducing the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, Minister of Justice, Kris Faafoi, said the measures proposed were aimed at ending conversion practices which don’t work, are widely ...2 hours ago
- New school site for booming West AucklandThe Government will build on a new school site in West Auckland to cope with rapid population growth in the area, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Ministry is working with existing local schools to determine how the 1.5-hectare site at 279 Hobsonville Point Road will be used to support ...5 hours ago
- Trans-Tasman travel window to close at midnight tomorrowA further 500 MIQ rooms released for managed returnees from NSW Further Government actions announced today are balanced to provide more certainty for Kiwis wanting to return from Australia, while continuing to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, acting Minister for COVID-19 Response Ayesha Verrall says. The actions were foreshadowed last ...20 hours ago
- Govt investing millions in Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti schoolsNapier Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools are among those set to benefit from a $16.5 million investment in the Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti region, Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced today. The Government has set aside money in Budget 2021 to accelerate five projects in Napier, Hastings, Havelock North ...24 hours ago
- Game changing Jobs for Nature investment for NorthlandConservation Minister Kiri Allan has announced Jobs for Nature funding for a portfolio of projects that will create ‘game changing’ gains for nature and communities across Northland/Te Tai Tokerau as part of the Government’s acceleration of the economic recovery from COVID. “This portfolio of 12 projects will see over $20 ...1 day ago
- Third COVID-19 vaccine receives provisional approvalNew Zealand’s regulatory authority Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older, Acting Minister for COVID-19 Response Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. New Zealand secured 7.6 million doses (enough for 3.8 million people) of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through an ...1 day ago
- Bowel-cancer screening programme is saving livesMore than 1000 New Zealanders have had bowel cancer – New Zealand’s second-most-common cause of death from cancer - detected under the Government’s National Bowel Screening Programme, Health Minister Andrew Little said today. More than 1200 New Zealanders died from bowel cancer in 2017. The screening programme aims to save ...1 day ago
- Govt welcomes draft report on the retail grocery sectorThe Commerce Commission’s draft report into the retail grocery sector is being welcomed by Government as a major milestone. “I asked the Commerce Commission to look at whether this sector is as competitive as it could be and today it has released its draft report for consultation,” Commerce and Consumer ...1 day ago
- Christchurch’s Youth Hub ‘set to go’ thanks to further Government fundingConstruction of New Zealand’s first, purpose-built centre for youth well-being is ready to get underway thanks to an extra $2.5 million of COVID-19 response funding, Housing Minister and Associate Minister of Finance, Megan Woods announced today. “The Christchurch Youth Hub is about bringing together all the things young people need ...1 day ago
- Next step to protect Milford Sound PiopiotahiExpert group lays out plan to better protect iconic UNESCO World Heritage site Milford Sound Piopiotahi and its surrounds Funding confirmed for dedicated unit and Establishment Board to assess the recommendations and provide oversight of the process from here Milford Opportunities Project a test case for transformational change in tourism ...2 days ago
- Funding for projects to reduce waste from construction and demolitionThe Government has announced funding for projects in Auckland and the lower North Island to help reduce construction and demolition waste. “Construction is the main source of waste sent to landfill, and much of this could be reduced, reused and recovered,” Environment Minister David Parker said. “The Government is funding ...2 days ago
- Plan to eliminate hepatitis C as a major health threat by 2030A plan to eliminate hepatitis C in New Zealand, reducing liver cancer and the need for liver transplants, has been released today by Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. “Around 45,000 New Zealanders have hepatitis C, but only around half know they have it,” said Ayesha Verrall. “Symptoms often ...2 days ago
- School upgrades and new classrooms for West Coast, Tasman and CanterburyA funding injection from Budget 2021 to complete four shovel ready projects and new classrooms at six schools and kura will provide a real boost to local communities, Minister Dr Megan Woods announced today. “This Government has committed to providing quality fit for purpose learning environments and 100,000 new student ...2 days ago
- Warmer Kiwi Homes smashes annual targetThe Government's highly successful insulation and heating programme, Warmer Kiwi Homes, is celebrating a key milestone with the completion of more than 38,000 insulation and efficient heater installs in the year to the end of June, smashing its target of 25,000 installs for the year. “The Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme ...3 days ago
- Exemption granted for Wallabies to enter NZBledisloe Cup rugby will be played in New Zealand after the Australian rugby team received an economic exemption to enter New Zealand. Travel between Australia and New Zealand was suspended on Friday for at least eight weeks following the worsening of the COVID outbreak across the Tasman. New Zealanders have ...3 days ago
- Minister of Foreign Affairs makes three diplomatic appointmentsForeign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta today announced three New Zealand Head of Mission appointments. They are: Mike Walsh as Ambassador to Iran Michael Upton as Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union Kevin Burnett as Ambassador to Indonesia Iran “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long-standing and constructive relationship with Iran, despite a ...3 days ago
- Enhanced Task Force Green Approved for West Coast and MarlboroughThe Government has activated Enhanced Task Force Green (ETFG) in response to the West Coast and Marlborough floods, Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “To assist with the clean-up, up to $500,000 will be made available to support the recovery in Buller and Marlborough which has experienced ...3 days ago
- Govt support for upgrade of Eden Park players facilitiesMinister for Sport and Recreation Hon Grant Robertson has announced funding to upgrade the players facilities at Eden Park ahead of upcoming Women’s World Cup events. Eden Park is a confirmed venue for the Rugby World Cup 2021, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, and a proposed venue for matches of ...3 days ago
- More jobs and quicker public transport motoring towards West AucklandWork to improve public transport for West Aucklanders and support the region’s economic recovery by creating hundreds of jobs has officially kicked off, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff this morning marked the start of construction on the Northwestern Bus Improvements project. It ...3 days ago
- Government backs critical health researchResearch into some of New Zealanders’ biggest health concerns including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease is getting crucial support in the latest round of health research funding, Health Minister Andrew Little announced today. The funding, awarded through the Health Research Council of New Zealand, covers 31 General Project grants ($36.64 ...3 days ago
- New Bay of Islands hospital facilities to bring services closer to homePrime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Andrew Little have joined a ceremony to bless the site and workers for Phase Two of the redevelopment of the Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa today. The new building will house outpatients and primary care facilities, as well as expanded renal care ...4 days ago
- Raukokore re-imagined with ‘smart’ relocatable rent to own housingIwi, Crown Partnership Relocatable, fully insulated housing, connected to a new solar plant Provides a pathway to home ownership New housing in the remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokore shows how iwi and Crown agencies can work together effectively to provide warm, dry, energy efficient homes in a ...4 days ago
- Cabinet accepts Turkish authorities’ request for the managed return of three NZ citizensCabinet has agreed to the managed return of a New Zealand citizen and her two young children from Turkey, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. The three have been in immigration detention in Turkey since crossing the border from Syria earlier this year. Turkey has requested that New Zealand repatriate ...4 days ago
- Govt delivers more classrooms so children can focus on learningExtra Government investment in classrooms and school building projects will enable students and teachers to focus on education rather than overcrowding as school rolls grow across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis say. The pair visited Ruakākā School in Whangārei today to announce $100 ...4 days ago
- New station a platform for AirportLink to take offEvery Aucklander with access to the rail network will now have a quick and convenient trip to the airport, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said during the official opening of the new Puhinui Interchange today. The new interchange links the rail platform with a new bus ...6 days ago
- 10 days sick leave for employees deliveredLegislation doubling employees’ minimum sick leave entitlement to 10 days comes into effect today, bringing benefits to both businesses and employees, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Our Government is delivering on a key manifesto commitment to help Kiwis and workplaces stay healthy,” Michael Wood said. “COVID-19 ...6 days ago
- Prime Minister congratulates Fiame Naomi Mata’afa on Election WinPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern tonight congratulated Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa on her victory in the Samoa’s general election. “New Zealand has a special relationship with Samoa, anchored in the Treaty of Friendship. We look forward to working with Samoa’s new government in the spirit of partnership that characterises this ...7 days ago
- Quarantine Free Travel with Australia suspendedQuarantine Free Travel from all Australian states and territories to New Zealand is being suspended as the Covid situation there worsens, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. From 11.59pm today Australians will no longer be able to enter New Zealand quarantine-free. This will be ...7 days ago
- Growing conservation efforts in GisborneA big injection of Jobs for Nature funding will create much-needed jobs and financial security for families in TeTairāwhiti, and has exciting prospects for conservation in the region, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The projects target local communities most affected by the economic consequences of COVID 19 and are designed ...1 week ago
- Flood recovery given further assistanceThe Government is contributing a further $1 million to help the flood battered Buller community, Acting Emergency Management Minister Kris Faafoi announced today. “Buller is a small community which has found itself suddenly facing significant and ongoing welfare costs. While many emergency welfare costs are reimbursed by Government, this money ...1 week ago
- Funding for five projects to reduce food wasteThe Government is funding five projects to help address the growing problem of food waste, Environment Minister David Parker announced today. “New Zealand households throw away nearly 300,000 tonnes of food every year, half of which could still be eaten. By supporting these initiatives, we’re taking steps to reduce this ...1 week ago
- Temporary Accommodation Service activated for West Coast flooding eventThe Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) has been activated today - meaning residents on the West Coast of the South Island and in the Marlborough region hit by flooding over the weekend can now access help finding temporary accommodation, announced Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing) Poto Williams in Westport today. ...1 week ago
- Pause to Quarantine Free Travel from South Australia to New ZealandQuarantine Free Travel from South Australia to New Zealand will be paused from 11.59am (NZT) tonight, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. However, people currently in the state who ordinarily live in New Zealand will be able to return on “managed return” flights starting with the next available flight, ...1 week ago
- New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity by Chinese state-sponsored actorsNew Zealand has established links between Chinese state-sponsored actors known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity in New Zealand. “The GCSB has worked through a robust technical attribution process in relation to this activity. New Zealand is today joining other countries in strongly condemning this malicious ...2 weeks ago
- Remarks to Diplomatic CorpsIt is a pleasure to be with you all this evening. Some of you may have been surprised when you received an invitation from the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, and I would forgive you if you were. New Zealand is unique in having established a Ministerial portfolio ...2 weeks ago
- Early Pfizer shipment boosts vaccine scheduleThe largest shipment of the Pfizer vaccine to date has arrived into New Zealand two days ahead of schedule, and doses are already being delivered to vaccination centres around the country, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “The shipment of more than 370,000 doses reached New Zealand yesterday, following a ...2 weeks ago
- Backing for Bay of Islands predator free effortThe Government is throwing its support behind an ambitious project to restore native biodiversity and build long-term conservation careers, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. Predator Free Bay of Islands aims to eradicate predators from the three main peninsulas in the region, and significantly reduce their impact throughout the wider 80,000-plus ...2 weeks ago
- Government commits $600,000 to flood recoveryThe Government is contributing $600,000 to help residents affected by the weekend’s violent weather with recovery efforts. Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor have been in the Buller district this afternoon to assess flood damage and support the local response effort. They have announced ...2 weeks ago
- There’s no escape from climate change – and NZ should brace for the tariffs imposed by our tradi...
When a magazine as authoritative as The Economist heads up its lead “No Safe Place” , even climate change deniers should sit up and take notice. The Economist” says the most terrible thing about the spectacular scenes of destruction that have played out around the world over recent weeks ...42 mins ago - All sports interviews should be like this
Ruby Tui and Michaela Blyde aren’t just brilliant rugby sevens players: the pair look unassailable in the race for ‘best interview at the Tokyo Olympics’ gold.In a world of anodyne, cliche-replete sports interviews, Ruby Tui and Michaela Blyde of the Black Ferns sevens are a coruscating beam of light. Having ...42 mins ago - Health Minister Andrew Little responds after nurses reject pay offer
The Health Minister is speaking to media after nurses rejected the government's latest pay offer, meaning planned strikes would go ahead. ...50 mins ago - The Salvation Army Supports Proposed Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill
The Salvation Army is supporting the proposed Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, which will outlaw this unethical practice. The Salvation Army continues to oppose vilification of, or discrimination against, anyone on the grounds of sexuality ...2 hours ago - New Home Consents Continue To Break RecordsA record 44,299 new homes were consented in the year ended June 2021, Stats NZ said today. “The annual number of new homes consented rose again in the June 2021 year, the fourth consecutive month of rises,” construction statistics manager Michael ...2 hours ago
- Te Tiriti O Waitangi And Māori Equity Front And Centre In New Te Pūkenga ReportBoosted outcomes for Māori and te whakatinanatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi in practice) are key outcomes of Te Pae Tawhiti Insights Report released today. Te Pae Tawhiti is the biggest piece of Te Tiriti o Waitangi self-reflective ...3 hours ago
- What the hell has happened to the McFlurry®?Emily Writes has had enough of the lies – an unflurried McFlurry® is no McFlurry® at all.This post was first published on Emily Writes Weekly.At some point it changed. And we just accepted it. We didn’t rise up in the streets and demand our McFlurrys be flurried. And now it’s too ...3 hours ago
- EnviroWaste Partners With NZ Food Network To Feed Hungry KiwisEnviroWaste has joined NZ Food Network (NZFN) to put more food on the table for the thousands of Kiwi households experiencing food insecurity. The new partnership will see EnviroWaste working with its large food production clients to ...4 hours ago
- Offshore And Returning Kiwi Remain Keen To Contribute To New Zealand’s Prosperity Says Kea ReportThe Kea Future Aspirations survey of offshore and recently returned community members, released today, shows that a significant number of our offshore Kiwi still hope to return to New Zealand despite growing post-covid momentum in key markets. This report ...4 hours ago
- The cutting-edge tech helping NZ athletes shave seconds from their timesWhen our Olympic athletes train for their events, it’s no longer enough to have a coach standing on the sidelines keeping an eye on what’s going on. These days, performance monitoring tech is now a staple in every top New Zealand athlete’s training regime. Mirjam Guesgen reports.With the powerful pull ...4 hours ago
- Community concern a ‘risk’ to dramatic expansion of school zones and buildings
Today, 6yo Gus Milne wants to talk to the PM about learning to cook in his new class kitchen; his dad would like to talk about the millions invested in school infrastructure ...4 hours ago - How a perfect storm of events is turning Myanmar into a ‘super-spreader’ COVID state
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia Myanmar is facing a catastrophic health crisis that could have ramifications not just for the country’s long-suffering people, but across the region as well. The country is experiencing a major spike in COVID cases ...5 hours ago - If Australia is serious about fixing the culture at parliament, this is the code of conduct we needSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Blair Williams, Research Fellow, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL), Australian National University Lukas Coch/AAP Australia has been rocked by serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment that have poured out of parliament house this year. In February, former ...5 hours ago
- Australia shouldn’t ‘open up’ before we vaccinate at least 80% of the population. Here’s whySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute Shutterstock Earlier this month National Cabinet released a four-phase COVID response plan. It wasn’t so much a plan – it had no dates and no thresholds – but more a back-of-the-napkin thought bubble. ...5 hours ago
- Pest plants and animals cost Australia around $25 billion a year – and it will get worseSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University AAP Shamefully, Australia has one of the highest extinction rates in the world. And ...5 hours ago
- Climate change is causing tuna to migrate, which could spell catastrophe for the small islands that ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Seto, Research Fellow, University of Wollongong Small Pacific Island states depend on their commercial fisheries for food supplies and economic health. But our new research shows climate change will dramatically alter tuna stocks in the tropical Pacific, with potentially severe consequences ...5 hours ago
- Should the University of Melbourne host the Menzies Institute? The answer hinges on academic freedomSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Gelber, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, The University of Queensland The University of Melbourne will open the Robert Menzies Institute, in honour of Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, in September this year. The presence of board members with close ties to ...5 hours ago
- A COVID ‘ring of steel’ around Sydney would play havoc with Australia’s supply chainsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Romero Macau, Associate dean, Edith Cowan University Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock If a “ring of steel” was actually placed around Sydney, as suggested by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, the rest of Australia would suffer in ways that aren’t immediately apparent. Completely ...5 hours ago
- Friday essay: how ‘Afghan’ coats left Kabul for the fashion world and became a hippie must-haveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Bonyhady, Emeritus professor, Australian National University Masking Afghan coats for sale in Herat, 1974. Shutterstock The London launch of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in May 1967 was a musical and fashion landmark. While the clothes worn by all ...5 hours ago
- Live updates, July 30: Nurses resume pay talks after rejecting latest government offerWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 30, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz8.00am: Pay talks resume as nurses reject latest offerThe government’s latest pay offer to nurses has been rejected, with planned strikes in August and September once again on ...5 hours ago
- The incredible legacy of Merata Mita’s Patu!As part of an exhibition on the 1981 Springbok tour protest, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision has restored and remastered Patu!, the masterwork of wahine Māori filmmaker Merata Mita and her artistic collaborators. Dan Taipua looks back at the legacy of this cinematic taonga.Patu! is a documentary from a different ...5 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Supermarket duopoly laid bare, faces forced competitionGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Supermarket duopoly laid bare, one industrial action ends while another restarts, and window closing for quarantine-free travel from Australia.A couple of years ago former Spinoff staffer Henry Oliver made a very astute observation about the NBR Rich List, and I want ...6 hours ago
- Conversion therapy legislation to cover religious groupsThe government's ban on conversion therapy will cover religious groups, but they will still be able to freely express their beliefs. ...7 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 30 July
Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...7 hours ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Friday 30 July
...7 hours ago - Bernard Hickey: A long white tunnel back to the futureOur provincial cities had thriving public transport systems until they were wrecked in the early 1990s. Bernard Hickey visits Whanganui’s extraordinary Durie Hill Elevator to find out how (and why) we should look to the past to get to carbon zero.Follow When the Facts Change on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or ...8 hours ago
- New Zealand’s best real estate agent ads, reviewed and rankedIn a hot and overcrowded housing market, real estate agents are having to get creative with their promotion to attract customers and beat their rivals. Michael Andrew ranked some of the most compelling and eccentric ads out there.They’re in every newspaper. They’re on every building. They’re on every bus, bus ...8 hours ago
- Dom Harvey, music radio and the times they are a-Changin'
A top, controversial DJ hangs up his earphones as an industry struggles with how to limit offence, and his station's owner prepares to release a lawyer's inquiry into its culture and misconduct. MEDIAROOM: Dom Harvey and his repertoire of pranks, jokes, personal comments and controversies leave the airwaves Friday morning after 20 years ...8 hours ago - Photographer bridging the urban-rural divide
After travelling the country in search of sustainable and environmentally-friendly farms, a photographer is bringing her work to Auckland to show what it means to be stewards of the land Queen Street has been a bit of a Mecca for farmers lately. This month’s Groundswell protest saw a troupe of ...8 hours ago - First Kiwi Olympic gymnast still does the splits at 75
As Maddie Davidson becomes our first female Olympic trampolinist, Dido Götz recalls competing in NZ's first gymnastics team at an Olympics - also in Tokyo, but 57 years earlier Dido Götz puts on the elegant felt hat and black blazer with the silver fern, and hangs the well-worn travelling bag over ...8 hours ago - Opting out of employer responsibility – the case against Uber
Unions are heading to the Employment Court taking action over Uber's drivers - asking the question when a 'contractor' is really a 'worker', and should be offered worker benefits Earlier this year, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision, affirming that Uber drivers were not, as previously ...8 hours ago - NZ's blindspot on dairy emissions
Big Dairy worldwide is contemplating faster cuts to its emissions but Fonterra, the Ministry of Primary Industries and the Government don't seem to want to discuss doing anything more ...8 hours ago - Faafoi reviews rights of youth stuck in residency visa queue
Immigrant youth trapped without the ability to work or study have been promised an imminent resolution ...8 hours ago - Govt forgos $6m with green buildings policy
The Government's decision to enact a less ambitious policy for reducing emissions from buildings could see it lose out on emissions reductions and energy savings, Marc Daalder reports A 2018 cost-benefit analysis of options to reduce emissions in buildings showed the most ambitious policies would have net benefits of $18.5 million ...8 hours ago - Commission calls out Pak'nSave's six-month 'specials'
The Commerce Commission's investigation of competition in the grocery market found many items at supermarkets are on sale for half or three quarters of the year. ...8 hours ago - Outrage over Indonesian officers for stomping on disabled Papuan teen’s headWarning: Content may be distressing to some viewers. The video of the assault on the Papuan deaf teenager. Video: Benar News SPECIAL REPORT: By Yamin Kogoya Shocking video footage showing a brutal and inhumane assault on a deaf Papuan teenager named Steven has emerged from the Merauke region of Papua ...12 hours ago
- Grattan on Friday: Albanese lightens his boat, ahead of the battle of the ‘grey men’Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese this week sent a clear message – he intends to use John Howard’s 1996 model as his strategic guide to the election. With this in mind, it was predictable the opposition leader would ...13 hours ago
- The Tokyo Lowdown: Day 6
Can the new Olympic champion rowing pair bring home a pair of golds from Tokyo? Are we about to see one of NZ's greatest Olympic days? LockerRoom's daily wrap of our Kiwi sportswomen continues. Performances of the day There’s no more rewarding way to overcome the disappointment of being ...18 hours ago - Fiji’s other crisis – away from the covid emergency, political dissent can still get you arreste...ANALYSIS: By Dominic O’Sullivan, Charles Sturt University The arrest of nine Fijian opposition politicians, including party leaders and two former prime ministers, once again exposes Fijian democracy’s fragility. The intimidation doesn’t bode well for the parliamentary elections due next year (or early 2023). The political crisis has been overshadowed by ...19 hours ago
- Fiji covid-19 patient being flown to NZ for treatment in about-turnRNZ Pacific A covid-19 positive patient is being flown to New Zealand from Fiji today despite an earlier decision by the Ministry of Health to decline the transfer. The infected patient from Fiji is being flown to Auckland for hospital treatment. It is reported the person involved is a high-profile ...19 hours ago
- Fiji Olympic Gold … never to be missed even for Fiji’s youngest sevens fansCOMMENT: By Shailendra Singh in Suva This poignant photo by Max Vosailagi captures Fiji’s fixation with rugby sevens, with winning a second Olympic Gold last night by beating New Zealand 27-12 in the men’s final. Two young boys, glued to what is apparently a TV screen through a neighbourhood front ...19 hours ago
- Fiji dedicates Olympic sevens win to struggling people back homeRNZ Pacific Fiji has dedicated its Olympic rugby sevens win to the people back home who are struggling amidst the country’s covid-19 health crisis. Fiji defeated New Zealand 27-12 in the men’s sevens final in Tokyo to defend the title they won in Rio five years ago. Captain Jerry Tuwai ...19 hours ago
- PNG landowner group accused of ‘hijack’ over validation in PorgeraAsia Pacific Report newsdesk Allegations of “hijacking and manipulation” of a Papua New Guinea national government sanctioned validation exercise at the Porgera mine in Enga province have been raised, reports the PNG Post-Courier. Tieni Wuape clan leader from the Special Mining Lease (SML) Janet Yuwi told the Post-Courier that a ...19 hours ago
- Māori Party calls for indigenous debate to address NZ racism, white privilegeAsia Pacific Report newsdesk The co-leader of New Zealand’s minority Māori Party has launched a blistering attack on white privilege and the opposition National Party which it accuses of “igniting racism” in the framing of a debate about radical political change. In a provocative introduction to her weekly column in ...19 hours ago
- Should pregnant women have a COVID vaccine? The evidence says it’s safe and effectiveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University Shutterstock Having a baby brings enough stress and uncertainty without having to deal with a pandemic. Added to that is the difficult decision to ...19 hours ago
- Is the truth out there? How the Harvard-based Galileo Project will search the skies for alien techno...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ray Norris, Professor, School of Science, Western Sydney University ESO Can we find alien technology? That is the ambitious goal of the Galileo Project, launched this week by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb with substantial private financial backing. The project ...20 hours ago
- Business is Boring: How Tractor Ventures gives startups a new way to raise capitalJodie Imam and Lance Hodges of Tractor Ventures join Simon Pound to talk about the growing startup industry and how they’re helping fund it.Follow Business is Boring on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.Startup founders have a few very well known ways to get funding, and most of ...21 hours ago
- NZ supermarket giants warned: Change your ways or face break-upNew Zealand’s two grocery giants have been warned by the government’s guardian of free markets to allow significantly more competition into the sector – or parliament will be told to break you up. Justin Giovannetti reports.The conclusion that New Zealand’s grocery bills are among the world’s most expensive won’t come ...21 hours ago
- NZ Bus Welcomes Agreement Of Driver DealNZ Bus has welcomed today’s approval of a new collective employment agreement with its Wellington bus drivers. The agreement secures a fair and equitable outcome for existing staff and gives NZ Bus greater ability to recruit more full-time drivers. ...21 hours ago
- The charities taking on child poverty, from cause to effectChild poverty isn’t a problem with one set solution – it truly does take a village to help break the cycle. With help from their donors, Share My Super is putting money into charities addressing child poverty from all angles.New Zealand has one of the highest numbers of registered charities ...21 hours ago
- PODCAST: Buchanan + Manning on Cyber-Attacks and the Evolution of Hybrid WarfareA View from Afar: Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan present this week’s podcast, A View from Afar with a deep-dive into cyber-attacks and hybrid warfare – Especially how 2021 has witnessed a Cold War II styled stand-off between global powers. To re-cap, there has been: Allegations of a ...22 hours ago
- Supermarkets should check the Treaty – it might entitle them to a place among the decision-makers ...
The Commerce Commission’s draft report into the retail grocery sector is being welcomed by the government as “a major milestone”. It is providing ammunition for Opposition criticisms of government economic and commerce policies, too. Commenting on the report, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark said the draft findings indicate ...22 hours ago - Fiji’s other crisis: away from the COVID emergency, political dissent can still get you arrestedSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University GettyImages The arrest of nine Fijian opposition politicians, including party leaders and two former prime ministers, once again ...22 hours ago
- How can the new Closing the Gap dashboard highlight what indicators and targets are on track?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janine Mohamed, Distinguished Fellow, George Institute for Global Health The 2021 Close the Gap report declared the national agreement on Closing the Gap “a game changer” that sets a new standard for how governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations ...22 hours ago
- Zero-COVID is no longer an effective strategy. We need to learn from other countries how to adaptSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Soutphommasane, Professor of Practice (Sociology and Political Theory) Director, Culture Strategy, University of Sydney DAN HIMBRECHTS/AAP It’s four more weeks of lockdown for Sydneysiders, with no end yet in sight. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is still to outline a ...23 hours ago
- Why those in energy poverty should be angry about Rio Tinto’s latest resultsWhile Tiwai Point’s owner posts spectacular results – crediting dirt-cheap NZ power as a key factor – New Zealanders struggle with high electricity prices that are set to rise even further.This column first appeared in Bernard Hickey’s newsletter The KākāLast night, when the average temperature in Christchurch was minus one ...24 hours ago
- Clark on supermarket report: 'I think we all want a better deal'Supermarket operators not behaving as they should need to analyse whether they have consumers' best interests at heart, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says. ...24 hours ago
- History made the world we live in: here’s what you’ll learn if you choose it in years 11 and 12Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Sharp, Associate Professor, History and Curriculum Studies, University of Newcastle Temple of Edfu temple, Egypt. Shutterstock This article is part of a series providing school students with evidence-based advice for choosing subjects in their senior years. History is for students curious ...1 day ago
- NZ tops list of societies likeliest to survive global collapse of civilisationRenewable energy, food supply and an isolated spot in the world see plucky Aotearoa punching above its weight again. Turns out Peter Thiel and assorted billionaire doomsday preppers were on to something when they stuck a pin in the New Zealand map as location of choice for the apocalypse bunker. A ...1 day ago
- ‘I don’t want realism. I want magic’: behind the fantasy fuelling our real estate voyeurismSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Toland, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, University of Technology Sydney alice kang/Unsplash In 2014, a Florida real estate group began advertising its latest in a series of luxury condominiums designed by global “starchitects”. The ads featured photorealistic computer-generated ...1 day ago
- How the Polynesian Panthers are raising a new generation of leadersThe government will deliver its apology for the dawn raids this Sunday, but what will it mean for the current generation of Pacific youth? Justin Latif tagged along with the Polynesian Panthers on their visit to Māngere College to find out. Māngere College’s Anne Tupou and Jordan Mau’u admit most of ...1 day ago
- UN Covid-19 case to arrive in NZ from Fiji
A United Nations worker in Fiji who has contracted the Delta variant of the coronavirus will be brought into New Zealand and cared for at Middlemore Hospital A hospitalised Covid-19 case from Fiji is arriving in New Zealand later today, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. The person is an ...1 day ago - Jobs for Nature: Northland projects set for $20m boostProjects in Northland targeting pest control, kauri protection and ecological restoration have been earmarked for an expansion of the Jobs for Nature programme. ...1 day ago
- Govt Must Heed CommComm Warning: Land Use Regulation Drives Up Grocery PricesThe New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the Commerce Commission’s draft report on New Zealand’s grocery market, which highlights how complex land use regulations restrict competition and drive up prices. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, ...1 day ago
- Employment Indicators: Weekly As At 26 July 2021The experimental weekly series provides an early indicator of employment and labour market changes in a more timely manner than the monthly employment indicators series. Key facts The 6-day series includes jobs with a pay period equal to or less than ...1 day ago
- Supermarket Competition ‘not Working Well’ For Kiwis – Expert ReactionA draft report released by the Commerce Commission says New Zealand’s supermarket sector is a ‘duopoly’, with other grocery stores largely unable to compete on price. The report , which was commissioned by the Government last year, recommends ...1 day ago
- Govt must intervene to break supermarket stranglehold – Commerce Commission
The two big supermarket chains are pocketing high profits by charging Kiwis the sixth-highest prices in the OECD, the Commerce Commission has found. Tough action is needed to allow a big new nationwide player to compete in NZ's towns and cities. Separately, the Commission is to investigate apparent misconduct, ...1 day ago - Use Of Force On Youth In Wellington JustifiedThe Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that an officer was justified in using force to restrain a youth after he resisted an arrest for disorderly behaviour. On 4 September 2020, a 14-year-old male was arrested for disorderly behaviour outside ...1 day ago
- Simone Biles is taking back her power
In the seismic shift in global gymnastics, Simone Biles is taking back control of her career and her life, NZ Olympic gymnast Angela Walker writes Like Olympic viewers the world over, I was deeply shocked when Simone Biles withdrew from the women’s artistic gymnastics team finals in Tokyo earlier this ...1 day ago - The Ring Around Jacinda – The March Of Migrants – MaskOrRaidJoin us to celebrate the deliverance of long overdue apology for the dawn raids. Back in the 1970s many migrants from the Pacific Islands were deported from New Zealand, after being used as cheap labour for a long time. The deportations were harsh and ...1 day ago
- Law Commission Proposes Changes To Surrogacy LawsTe Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is proposing a new legal framework to provide legal recognition for the parents of surrogate-born children. The Commission has today published an Issues Paper and is seeking feedback on options to change how ...1 day ago
- Abuse in care costs: Govt considered asking churches for moneyThe government considered asking churches to help pay for the Royal Commission into historic abuse in care as it grappled with the inquiry's skyrocketing spending, new documents show. ...1 day ago
- So Kafkaesque: a search for meaning in storyYou wake up and you’re a cockroach. What does it even mean? A few weeks ago the legendary biologist, science writer, evangelical atheist and grumpy old man Richard Dawkins tweeted: Kafka’s Metamorphosis is called a major work of literature. Why? If it’s SF it’s bad SF. If, like Animal Farm, it’s ...1 day ago
- Building Industry In CrisisMaterials shortages, labour shortages, supply delays and increased costs are now all part of the everyday experience of those in the building industry. From talking to people across the industry, I have heard of issues like: Merchant shelves are ...1 day ago
- Dunne Speaks: The Steadily Eroding Sands Of Credibility...1 day ago
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