Sun shines on Australia as over the last two months records are broken as demand from Grid FF electricity falls due to Aussie battlers rooftop solar installations (3 m households)
Australia grid and distribution networks are to be smartened to sustain frequency control,transfer to storage and education on usage such as control for houshold charging of ev.
So why are Australians so advanced with their uptake of solar power when new subdivisions in the sunniest province in NZ are conspicuous for the absence of solar roof panels on any houses while their fashionable black roofs require more assistance from heats pumps to cool them in summer?
Do the Aussies have incentives? Are they regulated in some way? Has the public awareness of the benefits of solar panels reached a general consensus of agreement? What caused that?
Mac1 incentives subsidies and the lack of them is a hangover from the Neo-lib experiment of the late 80s and 1990s. At that time there was fierce condemnation of the idea of subsidies from govt because
1 the market will look after everything
2 if the market didn't (look after everything) it was not worth pursuing anyway.
The impact of this has been hard to get over.
Also In NZ our introduction to energy saving or better devices etc has been faddish rather than researched. For instance now we have heat pumps, before that it was converting open fires to gas heaters etc etc.
In new builds we are still installing heat pumps, and these are great for retro use, but if you were planning a new build wouldn't it be more efficient for have whole house heating in the form of radiators etc. I sometimes look at show homes and only one recently had a whole house system using an Italian gas fired model. Yet a new build is an ideal time to install these.
In Wellington there are many villas built with lots of life left. In some the crawl space to install under floor insulation is limited. Two friends devised different low cost models of accessing through the floor. If we were really serious about energy research and accepting that subsidies have a place then we would have looked at these ideas, put some $$$ into research and possibly if the results came out OK then introduced via subsidies or low cost loans. But no.
In NZ we have accepted the mantra that subsidies = bad, bad, bad unquestioningly.
Energy efficient thermal mass, insulation and ventilation design for NZ would negate the need for household energy consumption in regards to temperature in many regions.
" Two friends devised different low cost models of accessing through the floor."
There were large outages in SA and other areas due to under investment in both grid and generation.Firstly SA offered first discounts then offsets against the GST component.
As uptake rose,economies of scale arose as both prices of solar fell,and installation costs decreased.Also local industry technology came with switching technology for using generation first for HW ,then to other uses in the home.Prices are around half the cost of NZ.
There has also been the uptake of both community and centralised battery storage,which allows for less transmission loss and distributed resilience from outages in emergency situations.
The incentives that Pat sourced include this- "Solar for low-income households help pensioners get affordable clean energy by providing 3kw solar systems, including installation, at no cost. After installation, you can save electricity bills of up to $600 annually."
In NZ we supply a $700 winter energy payment to keep people warm in winter, money which goes to energy providers for electricity, gas, wood or whatever. That $700 went in part for compensating me for the cost of my solar roof generation.
What Australia funds seems a better idea in providing free 3kw/h solar generation than the still well-intentioned and welcome winter warmth payment to us superannuitants.
With more distributed solar the transmission costs are better sustained (around 30% of your unit cost) during daytime usage it helps to conserve fast start hydro.
NZ uptake is low 38000 household connections,around 200mw by year end and 300mw by 2025 so still growing.
For your information Mac,Octopus energy has set up in NZ,and it targets the purchase of residential solar,with a buyback rate of 17c for exports to the grid.
That’s the problem in NZ, according to my son whose expertise is in this area, electric power production cost is only about 7c in NZ, the real cost is moving it over long distances and to relatively small settlements. The major problem here with a large uptake of solar is the need to maintain connection to the main grid so that privately produced power can be traded, if too many people go off-grid the transmission costs will rise because there will be fewer users to spread the costs over.
This is not an easy country to provide services economicaly for, the same goes for roading and rail.
The headline says it all. Union doesn't see the govts interim health plan making much difference to the staff shortage. Our health system is in real trouble. Expect it to get worse. Little needs to down tools and put all his energy into the workforce shortage, which is at crisis point.
Little puts the blame at the feet of National. FFS they have been in power for five years. Ian Powell former head of salaried medical specialists told David Clark, the then Minister of Health that there were three issues facing the Health system when Labour first came in……workforce shortage, workforce shortage and workforce shortage. We had two or so years covid free. That would have been very enticing for staff overseas dealing with covid to work in a covid free environment. But no, Labour and Little to busy spending money and wasting time on health reforms
Of course there is no quick fix, even more money won’t do it. Every country in the world is recruiting and there is a world wide shortage of nurses. The base pay is high by any measure and add-ons lift that by another 20%. $ 100k take home for an experienced nurse ( 5 plus years ) is not unusual ).
The two major problems are the growing complexity of treatment requiring a larger workforce because the hospital system can cure or fix far more conditions than even 20 years ago, and the on-going stupidity of the nursing spokespeople who constantly describe the job as onerous, over worked and underpaid making it seem like the last place on earth that a school leaver could possibly want to go to. Just STFU and it may become more attractive.
The job does require a quite high level of intelligence both mental and emotional, and that narrows the available cohort considerably. Want to solve the nursing crisis? Stop getting sick, stop doing stupid shit and stop everything that we enjoy that’s not good for us! Yeah, right. Fat chance.
Retaining medical staff after they finish training, could in part be addressed by reducing the financial pull of overseas, as they graduate with sizable student loans and debt.
Scholarships that require the student to remain for a period of time after study, not only retains those graduates in the country, but also retains them while they seek a better work/life balance, and most likely form relationships. If they do this overseas, their links to NZ have more chance of becoming tenuous, if they do this here, their connections grow and strengthen.
Address the issue of natural wanderlust, by creating robust programmes with other countries that create opportunities for medical staff – particularly in areas where NZ has little skill or experience. This will also allow medical staff to travel overseas on secondment, and increase the chances of them returning with needed skills rather than losing them completely.
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The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Pepping, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Griffith University Marvin / Shutterstock Are all single people insecure? When we think about people who have been single for a long time, we may assume it’s because single people have insecurities that make ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, Lecturer in Quantitative Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation, The University of Melbourne Trismegist san, Shutterstock Landscapes that have escaped fire for decades or centuries tend to harbour vital structures for wildlife, such as tree hollows and large logs. But these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, Lecturer in Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock/S Curtis Why are we crossing ecological boundaries that affect Earth’s fundamental life-supporting capacity? Is it because we don’t have enough information about how ecosystems respond to change? Or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Crocker, PhD Student in Economics, Deakin University Here’s something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a charity director outlines how she’s saving for retirement and buying secondhand. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 45 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Charity director, mum of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie Yates, Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late last year. Now a ...
It’s been called a failed experiment and a judicial straightjacket but the government says the revised three strikes law will be a more workable regime, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Three ...
New Zealand’s Palestinian community and Palestinian Youth Aotearoa are voicing alarm and disappointment with the lack of factual rigour present during the Israeli Ambassador’s appearance as a guest on TVNZ’s Q+A With Jack Tame Sunday (21/04). ...
Both ACT leader David Seymour, who played a key role in drawing up the assisted dying law, and hospice leaders say it's time the legislation was changed. ...
Public submissions on proposed gang control laws are being heard today. Rising gang membership has been cited as rationale for a crackdown – but what do we actually know about how many people belong to gangs in New Zealand?What’s all this then?A rise in the number of gang ...
Climate activists are setting their sights on an unpopular target, and hoping to bring lots of the public with them. It’s hard to miss the Majestic Princess: the enormous cruise ship, docked at Auckland’s Prince’s Wharf, looms over the nearby buildings. The ship, which can fit nearly 6,000 people, ...
Opinion: Making sure developers, local and central government, and landowners are all on the same page makes sense The post A new kind of city deal appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 23 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following korero between Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, author of the newly published memoir Hine Toa, one of the year’s most important books, and Dale Husband from e-tangata, was first published in October. It traverses her involvement with the activist group Ngā Tamatoa at Auckland University in the early 1970s, her ...
In the 16 years since it was bought by the government for $690 million, KiwiRail has had several overhauls and turnaround plans worth billions of dollars. Its ambitions as a successful, profitable operator of tourism, freight and ferries have often been derailed by disasters from earthquakes to cyclones, mine explosions ...
Black Ferns trailblazer Kendra Cocksedge was on the verge of tears when her young protégé, Hannah King, unassumingly broke the news. Three-time Rugby World Cup winner Cocksedge and Lincoln agriculture student King meet every few weeks over a hot chocolate, in an enduring mentorship that’s spanned years. “Before we even ...
Opinion: We’ve kicked the tyres on the perception NZ’s economy is in a parlous state compared to Australia. We take a quick tour of relative trends in GDP, housing markets, labour markets, trade, the fiscal situation, and the outlooks for inflation and interest rates. We find the cyclical positions of ...
By Russell Palmer, RNZ News digital political journalist New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters is putting off recognition of Palestine as a state, despite opposition Labour’s formal request that he make the move. Peters said diplomatic recognition of Palestine was a matter of “when not if”, but doing so now ...
The opposition has laid into the government's plan to reintroduce a "three strikes" regime, saying it's inequitable and there's very little evidence it works. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior research associate, University of Sydney Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has ordered social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to remove graphic videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney last week from the site. The incident ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney John Turnbull, CC BY-NC-ND In past bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, the southern region has sometimes been spared worst of the bleaching. Not this time. This year’s intense underwater heat has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne Darren Gill/Mackey, Darling & Collaborators The relationship between witchcraft and teenage girls has been the subject of many books, films and television shows. Over time, the traditional image of witch as crone ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Becky Freeman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney Andres Siimon/Unsplash There are no silver bullets, magic tricks or secret hacks to solving complex public health problems. Taking on the global tobacco industry and reducing the devastating consequences of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam B. Watts, Research Associate in galaxy evolution, The University of Western Australia ESO/A. Watts et al., CC BY We breathe oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere every day, but did you know that these gases also float through space, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Nielsen, Professor and Deputy Director, Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University Maxime Bhm/Unsplash A new group of drugs called nitazenes has been detected in Australia. They have been sold as heroin as well as other drugs like ketamine. Concerns ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor emerita, University of Sydney Image from Bradlow + Bock campaign Can the job of being a federal member of parliament be shared by two or more persons? Two prospective candidates for the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Higgins, Lucy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zoe Rathus, Senior Lecturer in Law, Griffith University Shutterstock In October 2023, the federal parliament passed major changes to how children’s cases are decided under the Family Law Act, which kick in next month. Among other things, they repeal a ...
By Salwa Amor in Istanbul Palestine solidarity activists are preparing a flotilla to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, vowing to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory on board the Akdeniz, a seven-deck passenger ship. Currently docked in Istanbul, the ship will carry 800 people from more than ...
Russia does a deal on grain and prices stabilise. Insiders go large on grain futures, Russia sinks the deal and futures spike.
That's how you do it.
/
https://twitter.com/FortuneMagazine/status/1587194247584907265
Sun shines on Australia as over the last two months records are broken as demand from Grid FF electricity falls due to Aussie battlers rooftop solar installations (3 m households)
https://twitter.com/AEMO_Energy/status/1581866199914192896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1581866199914192896%7Ctwgr%5Effaabf38d84cafa883722a4a7d5d6aa11fac4b56%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2022-11-02%2Faustralian-solar-records-tumble-as-coal-eclipsed%2F101606490
Australia grid and distribution networks are to be smartened to sustain frequency control,transfer to storage and education on usage such as control for houshold charging of ev.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-02/australian-solar-records-tumble-as-coal-eclipsed/101606490
So why are Australians so advanced with their uptake of solar power when new subdivisions in the sunniest province in NZ are conspicuous for the absence of solar roof panels on any houses while their fashionable black roofs require more assistance from heats pumps to cool them in summer?
Do the Aussies have incentives? Are they regulated in some way? Has the public awareness of the benefits of solar panels reached a general consensus of agreement? What caused that?
subsidies and incentives
https://instylesolar.com/solar-guides/full-list-australian-solar-rebates-incentives/#:~:text=The%20current%20incentive%20is%20%24825,you%20can%20receive%20around%20%244000.
Wow! Do we offer any similar incentives and subsidies, Pat? If not, do you know what's the sticking point?
We have none…I know not why…the Aussies have had various subsidies and incentives for years, the ones linked are only the current ones.
What proportion of renewables does their energy system have, and how much did they need to improve on that to meet climate targets?
Mac1 incentives subsidies and the lack of them is a hangover from the Neo-lib experiment of the late 80s and 1990s. At that time there was fierce condemnation of the idea of subsidies from govt because
1 the market will look after everything
2 if the market didn't (look after everything) it was not worth pursuing anyway.
The impact of this has been hard to get over.
Also In NZ our introduction to energy saving or better devices etc has been faddish rather than researched. For instance now we have heat pumps, before that it was converting open fires to gas heaters etc etc.
In new builds we are still installing heat pumps, and these are great for retro use, but if you were planning a new build wouldn't it be more efficient for have whole house heating in the form of radiators etc. I sometimes look at show homes and only one recently had a whole house system using an Italian gas fired model. Yet a new build is an ideal time to install these.
In Wellington there are many villas built with lots of life left. In some the crawl space to install under floor insulation is limited. Two friends devised different low cost models of accessing through the floor. If we were really serious about energy research and accepting that subsidies have a place then we would have looked at these ideas, put some $$$ into research and possibly if the results came out OK then introduced via subsidies or low cost loans. But no.
In NZ we have accepted the mantra that subsidies = bad, bad, bad unquestioningly.
Energy efficient thermal mass, insulation and ventilation design for NZ would negate the need for household energy consumption in regards to temperature in many regions.
" Two friends devised different low cost models of accessing through the floor."
That sounds promising. What were they?
There were large outages in SA and other areas due to under investment in both grid and generation.Firstly SA offered first discounts then offsets against the GST component.
As uptake rose,economies of scale arose as both prices of solar fell,and installation costs decreased.Also local industry technology came with switching technology for using generation first for HW ,then to other uses in the home.Prices are around half the cost of NZ.
There has also been the uptake of both community and centralised battery storage,which allows for less transmission loss and distributed resilience from outages in emergency situations.
The incentives that Pat sourced include this- "Solar for low-income households help pensioners get affordable clean energy by providing 3kw solar systems, including installation, at no cost. After installation, you can save electricity bills of up to $600 annually."
In NZ we supply a $700 winter energy payment to keep people warm in winter, money which goes to energy providers for electricity, gas, wood or whatever. That $700 went in part for compensating me for the cost of my solar roof generation.
What Australia funds seems a better idea in providing free 3kw/h solar generation than the still well-intentioned and welcome winter warmth payment to us superannuitants.
Thanks btw to pat and Poission.
With more distributed solar the transmission costs are better sustained (around 30% of your unit cost) during daytime usage it helps to conserve fast start hydro.
NZ uptake is low 38000 household connections,around 200mw by year end and 300mw by 2025 so still growing.
For your information Mac,Octopus energy has set up in NZ,and it targets the purchase of residential solar,with a buyback rate of 17c for exports to the grid.
Really? My provider offers me 9 cents per kw/h.
I get 12c,from genesis.
That’s the problem in NZ, according to my son whose expertise is in this area, electric power production cost is only about 7c in NZ, the real cost is moving it over long distances and to relatively small settlements. The major problem here with a large uptake of solar is the need to maintain connection to the main grid so that privately produced power can be traded, if too many people go off-grid the transmission costs will rise because there will be fewer users to spread the costs over.
This is not an easy country to provide services economicaly for, the same goes for roading and rail.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130314027/governments-interim-health-plan-will-not-fix-staffing-shortages-union-says
The headline says it all. Union doesn't see the govts interim health plan making much difference to the staff shortage. Our health system is in real trouble. Expect it to get worse. Little needs to down tools and put all his energy into the workforce shortage, which is at crisis point.
Little puts the blame at the feet of National. FFS they have been in power for five years. Ian Powell former head of salaried medical specialists told David Clark, the then Minister of Health that there were three issues facing the Health system when Labour first came in……workforce shortage, workforce shortage and workforce shortage. We had two or so years covid free. That would have been very enticing for staff overseas dealing with covid to work in a covid free environment. But no, Labour and Little to busy spending money and wasting time on health reforms
Of course there is no quick fix, even more money won’t do it. Every country in the world is recruiting and there is a world wide shortage of nurses. The base pay is high by any measure and add-ons lift that by another 20%. $ 100k take home for an experienced nurse ( 5 plus years ) is not unusual ).
The two major problems are the growing complexity of treatment requiring a larger workforce because the hospital system can cure or fix far more conditions than even 20 years ago, and the on-going stupidity of the nursing spokespeople who constantly describe the job as onerous, over worked and underpaid making it seem like the last place on earth that a school leaver could possibly want to go to. Just STFU and it may become more attractive.
The job does require a quite high level of intelligence both mental and emotional, and that narrows the available cohort considerably. Want to solve the nursing crisis? Stop getting sick, stop doing stupid shit and stop everything that we enjoy that’s not good for us! Yeah, right. Fat chance.
Retaining medical staff after they finish training, could in part be addressed by reducing the financial pull of overseas, as they graduate with sizable student loans and debt.
Scholarships that require the student to remain for a period of time after study, not only retains those graduates in the country, but also retains them while they seek a better work/life balance, and most likely form relationships. If they do this overseas, their links to NZ have more chance of becoming tenuous, if they do this here, their connections grow and strengthen.
Address the issue of natural wanderlust, by creating robust programmes with other countries that create opportunities for medical staff – particularly in areas where NZ has little skill or experience. This will also allow medical staff to travel overseas on secondment, and increase the chances of them returning with needed skills rather than losing them completely.