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The Californian canary
Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, May 2nd, 2015 - 42 comments
Not that I wish any ill on Californians, but in the grand scheme of things it is probably good for our global chances of action to limit climate change that such a clear example of the damaging effects are playing out in the USA’s back yard.
Tauranga oil spill
Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, April 30th, 2015 - 58 comments
If we can’t even do simple things like refuel safely there is no way that we can guarantee the safety of deep sea drilling off the coast of NZ.
Megan Woods: Democracy isn’t “risky”, Minister
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 22nd, 2015 - 60 comments
Nick Smith’s latest pronouncements on ECan are an insult to Cantabrians – and a chilling precedent for any other regional councils who step out of line.
National still attacking democracy in Canterbury
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, March 20th, 2015 - 10 comments
The Nats’ takeover of Environment Canterbury is the greatest attack on democratic rights ever seen in this country. They are about to extend the period of imposed rule, because a fully elected body carries “too many risks”. If you think the people of Canterbury can actually be trusted with democracy you can sign the petition.
Sand sculpture competition at Whatipu
Written By: - Date published: 7:37 am, March 1st, 2015 - 2 comments
If you are looking for something to do today there is a sand sculpture competition with an environmental theme happening at Whatipu.
This is not business as usual. This is not some hippy over-reaction. This is serious shit!
Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, December 11th, 2014 - 55 comments
New author Mandy Hager joins us with some reflections on having become a grandmother: “So that’s why I’m speaking out now, every opportunity I get. Not because I like the exposure (shudder), but because I love this tiny little person and I will fight for his future, come what may. It’s the right thing to do. …”
Clean rivers
Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, August 7th, 2014 - 84 comments
Labour has announced its water policy and proposed that a fair price for irrigation takes be imposed and that the country’s waterways be improved over this generation. But Amy Adams thinks that providing clean rivers is somehow an attack on rural New Zealand. It is strange that she thinks that clean rivers should be such a terrible thing.
Nick Smith losing it
Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, July 28th, 2014 - 76 comments
“Conservation Minister Nick Smith is threatening legal action against Fish and Game council members who accused him of trying to gag the organisation.”
NRT: More statistical censorship from National
Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, July 17th, 2014 - 1 comment
Last year, the Ministry for the Environment reported that 61% of New Zealand’s rivers were unsafe for swimming. National’s response? Shut down the monitoring program.
NRT: Election 2014: A clear choice on clean rivers
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, July 15th, 2014 - 6 comments
The National government’s policy for economic growth has been simple: pump up dairy production, export more low-value milk powder, and keep low-value farmers as the “backbone of the economy”. To achieve this, they have dismantled the protections for and then defiled our fresh water on an industrial scale. The Greens want to reverse that and thereby ensure a long-term future for both our farming and peoples. Updated.
Green Party election priorities launch
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, July 12th, 2014 - 107 comments
Today the Green Party launched the first of it’s election priorities in Hamilton at 11. 00 am. The focus is on building a cleaner, fairer, smarter New Zealand. The Internet Party is onboard with a new environment policy. There are differences between these 2 parties and Labour on oil and gas exploration. Equality continues to be a key priority for the Green Party. [Updated]
NRT: National standards for pollution
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, July 3rd, 2014 - 15 comments
Today the government announced the final version of its national standards for freshwater. They’re trying desperately to pretend that these will improve water quality, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is not a “balance” between the economy and the environment. It is destroying the environment for the profit of a few. And I’d like to see political parties making clear statements that these “bottom lines” will be improved, to outlaw pollution and make our rivers safe to swim in.
Amy Adams has some explaining to do
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, March 12th, 2014 - 33 comments
Amy Adams is now facing questions of conflict of interest after details have been published that land and company shares she owns may increase in value because of the proposed Canterbury Irrigation Scheme.
Muddying the Waters
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, February 13th, 2014 - 62 comments
Dave Hansford contrasts the way that France handles its usage of waterways by farmers with the unsustainable degradation of NZ farmers. For that matter with the way that farming in the France is targeted at high value rather than commodity factory farming. Let’s have the really tough conversation: is a low-value, mass-market business model really the best we can do? Are cheap, anonymous, industrial commodities our finest work? And are they worth the hidden cost to farmers, taxpayers and the environment?
NRT: What happens if anything goes wrong?
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, December 18th, 2013 - 30 comments
No Right Turn looks at some of the past history of the company that this government trusts to deepsea drill at 1500 metres off the coast of Raglan.
They are cowboys who have a history of deliberately avoiding cleaning up their messes.
EDS attacks Nick Smith’s Ruataniwha Dam process
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, October 11th, 2013 - 19 comments
The Chair of the Environmental Defence Society has heavily criticised the Ruataniwha Dam process for requiring the voluntary sector to test the scientific evidence, for requiring the analysis of highly technical scientific evidence within a very short time period, and for not including a freshwater expert on the Board of Inquiry. He has described the process as being fundamentally flawed and has stated that the process appears to be designed to facilitate the granting of consents. There is something wrong going on here.
The many and varied problems with the Ruataniwha Dam proposal
Written By: - Date published: 11:39 am, October 6th, 2013 - 26 comments
The Ruataniwha Dam issue raises a number of issues, from a Board of Inquiry without scientific expertise being selected, a DOC submission inviting the Board to get more information and seek a peer review being dumped, submitters not being able to access the site, a model which NIWA is refusing to allow to be analysed, and a GNS Science contract being terminated because the scientists wanted a disclaimer inserted into their report. There is something fishy going on here.
“Dark, dirty and heartless” – Nats & Nick Smith
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, September 25th, 2013 - 52 comments
Two very good speeches in the General Debate in the House from opposition leaders. They highlight Nick Smith’s dodgy record, & why he should be stood down as a Minister in Key’s “Dark, dirty & heartless” government. [Update: Key – on (dis)honesty]
Nick Smith and the Ruataniwha dam
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, September 19th, 2013 - 37 comments
Nick Smith says he did not even know a document existed even though he was given a full briefing on it. And after he gets involved a submission critical of the environmental effect the proposed Ruataniwha Dam will have on the Tukituki River is drastically altered. There is something distinctly smelly about this.
Mighty Big Gamble on Mighty Big Gift
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 pm, August 20th, 2013 - 19 comments
Hey John, how much public money are you going to pay the wealthy to “buy” our assets? (And how just desperate are you…?)
It wasn’t a dirty pipe
Written By: - Date published: 8:27 am, August 15th, 2013 - 205 comments
It wasn’t a dirty pipe. That is the claim made by veterinarian and farm performance consultant Frank Rowson, as reported by Stuff yesterday. Rowson says “This disease originates in contaminated feed and animal manure”. Let the enquiries begin – we need to be honest about the problem and fix it.
Fonterra scandal and deregulation
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, August 9th, 2013 - 72 comments
Stuff’s Pattrick Smellie makes the case that the Fonterra scandal is a product of deregulation. The lesson here is that Mike Joy and other scientists are right. To protect its environment, its brand, its exports and its economy, NZ needs to strengthen regulatory protections and clean up its act.
Flooding
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, June 23rd, 2013 - 86 comments
Noticed a lot of flooding in the world headlines recently? Me too. What’s up with that?
OP: Fluoridation – it does reduce tooth decay
Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, June 21st, 2013 - 306 comments
Ken Perrott at Open Parachute has been debunking some of the nonsense around fluoridated water by investigating claims (his background is in scientific research). It is refreshing after reading some of the recent misinterpreted drivel around about the science.
Water under pressure
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, June 15th, 2013 - 38 comments
Water is becoming a precious resource, under threat from pollution, over use, population growth, & commercial profiteering. The Green & Labour Parties are very critical of Key’s government weakening the RMA in favour of commercial gains, while over-riding local government plans.
A poorer world
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, May 5th, 2013 - 59 comments
The Great Barrier Reef is dying. We are leaving the next generations a poorer world.
The big dry
Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, March 13th, 2013 - 77 comments
We’re now experiencing the worst drought in the North Island in recorded history. It comes just five years after the previous severe drought and there was a lesser one in between. Let’s not beat around the bush, it’s climate change. Bill English came very close on Monday to admitting that climate change induced-droughts will make bailouts unsustainable.
We’re all beneficiaries now
Written By: - Date published: 7:38 pm, March 6th, 2013 - 168 comments
The drought shows how important social protection systems are. When the unexpected happens – your farm dries up, you get sick, you lose your job, you find yourself alone raising your kids – the community steps in by way of tax funded Social Protection.
NRT: Pillaging the Rakaia
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, February 7th, 2013 - 35 comments
No Right Turn with the latest on National’s ongoing annexation of Canterbury.
NRT: Not even pretending anymore
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, January 21st, 2013 - 66 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on the Nats’ contempt for democracy in Canterbury. Elections remain on hold so that the commissioners’ agenda can be completed without unwelcome input from urban representation.
A plea to deaf ears
Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, January 19th, 2013 - 12 comments
The Antarctic Ocean Alliance is hoping that Key’s experience in Antarctica will move him to join the effort to create a marine reserve there. Seems unlikely to me – but I hope that Key proves me wrong…
- Cost of road cones, temporary speed limits ‘eyewatering’ – Transport Minister
Simeon Brown had previously raised concerns over the cost of road cones and temporary speed limits, asking the ministry to look into it. ...4 days ago - 10 years after the Lacrosse building cladding fire, the defects and disasters continue
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Metropolitan Fire Brigade, CC BY Ten years ago, a late-night cigarette started a fire that spread rapidly up 13 storeys on the Lacrosse apartment building in Melbourne. The ...4 days ago - What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder? And how is it different to PMS?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eveline Mu, Research Fellow in Women’s Mental Health, Monash University Austin Guevara/Pexels Periods can feel like an unwanted guest for many women and gender diverse people who menstruate, bringing cramps, mood swings and exhaustion. But how do you know ...4 days ago
- Bill would ‘render the treaty worthless’ – world reacts to national Hīkoi
RNZ News International media coverage of Aotearoa New Zealand’s national Hīkoi to Parliament has largely focused on the historic size of the turnout in Wellington yesterday and the wider contention between Māori and the Crown. Some, including The New York Times, have also pointed out the recent swing right with ...4 days ago
- PPTA Urges Government To Act For Children In War Zones
Children are our future and have the right to access education wherever they live. We must do everything we can to uphold this fundamental human right. ...4 days ago - ‘I’ll try any synonym under the sun’: Jacqueline Bublitz’s crimes against language
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Jacqueline Bublitz, author of new crime novel Leave the Girls Behind. The book I wish I’d written I was so impressed by the big reveal in All the Colours ...4 days ago - Financial forms of family violence affect 1 in 7 New Zealanders – but the law is lagging
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ayesha Scott, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, AUT Business School, Auckland University of Technology and Senior Lecturer in Finance & Financial Planning, Griffith University Economic harm – restricting access to, sabotaging or exploiting another person’s financial resources, and impeding their economic autonomy – is ...4 days ago
- Who is the new Police Commissioner, Richard Chambers?
He is known to have long-held ambitions for the top job and is considered a favourite of frontline police. ...4 days ago
- COP29 Ends In Promise To Send More Taxpayer Money Overseas
This decision proves how out-of-touch this tax more, spend more, ship more overseas Government is with New Zealand taxpayers. Fix your house first before you go fixing the neighbourhood. ...4 days ago
- Richard Chambers to be announced as new Police Commissioner, RNZ understands
RNZ understands Chambers will take over from Andrew Coster, who stepped down last week to head up the new Social Investment Agency. ...4 days ago
- New Zealand a very difficult place to be blind – advocate
Jonathan Mosen says New Zealand is the worst country in the Western world in which to be blind. ...4 days ago
- A beginner’s guide to yum cha
Let Jean Teng show you how to do yum cha right. All photos by Jin Fellet. Yum cha is ritualistic. Being absorbed into the cacophony of Sunday morning chaos at a Cantonese restaurant pretty much always feels the same, no matter which one it is. There’s the same families ...4 days ago
- Vietnam war vets’ financial support claims boosted by new ruling
Sir Wira Gardiner made a claim in 2021 to have his brain tumour treated as a defence service-related condition. ...4 days ago
- Taxpayer-funded Hīkoi Organiser Shows Parliament’s Budget A Political Slush Fund
Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said “Taxpayers’ money is not a political slush fund. MPs shouldn’t be able to hide how they’re wasting our money, and it’s long-past time their budgets were covered by the OIA.” ...4 days ago
- Public Comments By Auckland CCO Bosses Demonstrate Need For Duty Of Political Neutrality
"Dean Kimpton is the poster child of what an undemocratic CCO model has led to," says Jordan Williams, a Spokesman for the Ratepayers' Alliance. ...4 days ago
- Modern cars are surveillance devices on wheels with major privacy risks – new report
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law & Justice; Lead, UNSW Public Interest Law & Tech Initiative, UNSW Sydney Varavin/Shutterstock New research reveals serious privacy flaws in the data practices of new internet connected cars in Australia. It’s yet another reason ...5 days ago
- The world reacts to te Hīkoi mō te tiriti
International media seem to agree the Treaty Principles Bill and national hīkoi put New Zealand at a pivotal moment in history. ...5 days ago
- City Rail Link: Mayor Wayne Brown unsure it will get across the line in time
Auckland's mayor has lost confidence that the City Rail Link will be finished on time, despite assurances from officials. ...5 days ago
- Women are still being paid almost $30,000 a year less than men and the gap widens with age
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leonora Risse, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Canberra Kaewmanee jiangsihui/Shutterstock Australia’s gender pay gap has been shrinking year by year, but is still over 20% among Australia’s private companies, a new national report card shows. But that gender gap is ...5 days ago
- Listen: Christopher Luxon says ‘no need to meet’ with hīkoi at Parliament
The Prime Minister says organisers were "closely aligned" with Te Pāti Māori, but acknowledged it was "a significant day". ...5 days ago
- ‘Burnt out, tired, frustrated’: how hospital pressures harm doctors’ mental health
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Lunnay, Senior Research Fellow in Public Health, Torrens University Australia Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock Even before the COVID pandemic, which added significant pressure to the health-care workforce, Australian doctors experienced poor mental health at higher rates than the overall population. The ...5 days ago
- When picking schools, don’t get stuck on single-sex vs. co-ed. Instead ask – are all students su...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Keddie, Professor of Education, Deakin University If parents have a choice, the decision about where to send a child to school and what will be best for them can be a really difficult one. One question that comes up frequently ...5 days ago
- Michelle Visage is now hosting Drag Race Down Under. It’s a milestone for cis women in drag
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yves Rees, Senior Lecturer in History, La Trobe University Stan Drag Race Down Under is back for a fourth season, only this time something is different. The Australasian franchise is no longer helmed by the eponymous RuPaul. Instead, this season the ...5 days ago
- ‘Impossible’ to know effect of new gang laws on victimisation – Justice Minister
The gang patch ban comes into effect at midnight tonight. ...5 days ago
- Luxon didn’t meet the hīkoi, but he won’t be able to hide from what comes next
An undeniable show of opposition to the coalition painted the streets of Wellington red, white and black, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...5 days ago
- In a global nursing shortage, NZ’s reliance on overseas-trained staff is not sustainable
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Holloway, Associate Professor, Director of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Practice, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Olafur Seinar Gestsson/Getty Images The global shortage of trained nurses has been described as a health emergency by the ...5 days ago
- Deportations hampered by availability and cost of flights
A lack of flights is being blamed for the number of deportations being hundreds short of government targets. ...5 days ago
- Live: te Hīkoi mō te tiriti is over, but the debate isn’t
After the hīkoi: supporters are proud of the message sent, but a six month long process for the Treaty Principles Bill still lies ahead. ...5 days ago
- What now for the Treaty Principles Bill?
"Kill the bill" was the cry from the hīkoi - and that's likely to happen with National and NZ First saying they will not support the Treaty Principles Bill at its second reading, but it may not be as quickly as protestors would like. ...5 days ago
- The smack: How a family’s plea to Oranga Tamariki for help with their son unravelled
A family living in fear of their young son's increasingly dangerous behaviour asked for support. Instead, the agency turned its focus on his mum. ...5 days ago
- Was the hīkoi New Zealand’s largest-ever protest?
Media estimates of the crowd size ranged from 17,000 to 100,000+, but one thing we can say for sure — it was bloody massive. Thirty-five thousand people. That’s the crowd size police initially estimated for the final leg of the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, the nine-day march in protest of ...5 days ago
- How has Luxon’s position on the Treaty Principles Bill changed over time?
The prime minister has never supported David Seymour’s bill in principle, or beyond first reading in practice, but his language has certainly changed. The National Party has spent a large amount of time in this parliamentary term talking about a bill it doesn’t like. Which is not much fun. In ...5 days ago
- Has Netflix forgotten about New Zealand?
Following the opening of the Netflix ANZ office in Sydney and lacklustre commissioning of New Zealand content, the local industry has been left wondering where we fit in. Here at the bottom of the globe, we’re used to being overlooked. New Zealand has been left off the world map so ...5 days ago
- Reserve Bank likely to cut key interest rate by 50bp next week
Reserve Bank has had Kiwi economy in a chokehold to kill inflation, and it now needs to loosen its grip, Kiwibank says The post Reserve Bank likely to cut key interest rate by 50bp next week appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago - Foodstuffs’ merger now hinges on narrow view of Commerce Act
Analysis: Foodstuffs and the Commerce Commission’s different interpretations of Commerce Act will be tested in court The post Foodstuffs’ merger now hinges on narrow view of Commerce Act appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- The Kiwi business leader giving exploited migrants a second chance
Indian immigration to New Zealand has been going on for more than 100 years, but in the past 25 it’s become synonymous with exploitation.The stories come thick and fast – dozens of Indian men living in squalid conditions, their promised jobs amounting to nothing; nurses training for and gaining Kiwi ...5 days ago
- Three generations: the court queens of Kāhu
At seven months old, little Holitopa won’t yet comprehend she’s part of basketball history. But her mother, grandmother and aunties hope that one day, she will follow in their shoes.“I hope she’s taller and longer than all of us,” says her mum, Krystal Leger-Walker. “There are a lot of basketball ...5 days ago
- Wellington intervention looks like a first resort, not the last
Opinion: This looks like ‘punching down’, in the mayor’s words The post Wellington intervention looks like a first resort, not the last appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Homeowners move house sooner than you think: Why the average stay is shrinking
It turns out that the so called ‘seven year itch’ is more like five these days. The latest data from realestate.co.nz shows how long people hold onto their homes before they sell. And it’s shorter than you’d think.Kiwis keep their homes for an average of just five and a half ...5 days ago
- Country calendar: woolsheds
Milking sheds, I know intimately; the headlights of a farmbike illuminating mysterious valleys in the darkness before dawn, herding the old moos, working the pumps, tuning the transistor to the Concert Programme to soothe yourself and the beasts, the whole place reeking of wet pooh and spilt milk; but of ...5 days ago
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