More from Sean Plunket, the man hired by TOP to do their communications, who got into a spat on twitter when in reference to someone who already had kids he said that poor people shouldn’t have babies.
You don’t know me Robert, so please don’t speak on behalf of me. Stick to what you know, growing things and wasting ratepayers money at environment southland.
Oh that’s a reveal “wasting ratepayers money at Environment Southland”.
No waste with Robert, he is against that sort of thing, and at supporting politicians who don’t take their job seriously and their supporters, concern trolls etc. It’s nice that The Standard gives people an opportunity to play at discussing politics isn’t it.
Simmons says “He is part time contractor with his own career. Doesn’t speak for TOP. U really want to dissect the words of every contractor to a party?”
Stuart Munro
I love those graphs going off in all directions – so sexy. Almost as much as the curvy Beyonce wearing sparkles and spangles in suitable places at the end on her end.
As for the unemployment stats, they are specially concocted bedtime stories for pollies and their madvisors. And don’t look at them twice you will turn to stone, or a pillar of salt, they are curs-ed, and no good will come of them.
Looked at your link this morning Stuart, thanks. Disturbing here too. No wonder wages remain static and some with full time jobs cannot manage. The Government MPs gloss over the part time workers who even with 5 hours a week are classed as employed. Wonder what the true unemployment is for NZ?
According to Indian officials, about 300 soldiers from either side face each other about 150 metres apart on the Doklam plateau, an area also claimed by India’s ally Bhutan.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the border road has serious security implications.
“If China unilaterally changes the status quo of the tri-junction, it becomes a matter of security concern for India,” Swaraj said in parliament last week.
Wu, however, reiterated that the withdrawal of Indian border guards was a precondition to resolving the situation.
China is very, very pushy and demanding of things that aren’t theirs.
The Chinese are on a roll, they are on a high plateau, which they built using special Chinese skill and nous and just to show they could. If they could come back to earth and get alongside their suffering peasants and have a spring roll, instead of pie in the sky which is so western and indigestible, they could settle down and run the Chinese economy that would save the world.
But no, they are planning to be a super race, and I have read, want to play around with genetics. What next, one sighs with a gasp.
Welcome to the world of the Han Chinese as they still remember the Mongol’s the Japs, half of South East Asia, the Indian’s, the Russians and us Westerners when we give them a flogging.
China had one of their Spook Ships in Australia’s EZZ during Ex TS17. The last time something like this happen was when a Russian Navy Task Group turned up during a APEC meeting in Brisbane some years back.
Unless someone needs a launchpad to the Antarctic.
We can raise the cost of invading us, maybe even as much as the actual getting here might cost, but really our main defence will be sitting between the superpowers and trying to stand away from the eventual bar fight.
Look’s like I’ve got to teach how use a ugly stick then? I think the old man still has my 2 SLR’s, couple of old 303’s, the L4 Bren and the M-14 take your pick? If we get real hard up we always draft old Lyn up as well and I know few Vietnam gunners who still own and operate a couple of 25 pounders.
Oh, I can use the ugly stick. And if it’s within 40 ft I can probably take me glasses off to do it. I’m just shite at hiding said stick behind my back.
But I’m not bad with reasonably precise mechanisms and a needle file, so I might be able to be useful.
Meh, the A-4’s were pretty much out of date when we retired them. The Aermacchi’s weren’t much better.
Better getting something new. Developing it ourselves would be better but buying to start with. We could do what the Chinese did and buy a few Russian 5th gen fighters and reverse engineer them.
And I’m not totally convinced that we need an air-strike wing. If we can see them then missiles will work.
If we were going that way we should develop drones – cost effectiveness is good, and the home advantage is that they don’t need amazing range. Drones are still relatively early at this point and a local variant might well be competitive. It would never happen politically though – major parties are not futurist.
You could plan for that – lots of other navigation options.
Planes wouldn’t be a goer unless we were invaded by someone with an equally antediluvian airforce – only fairly new stuff is competitive. Draco’s missiles would be better but anti ship is a lot easier to create than anti-aircraft.
The drone advantage is in cost of development and training – much more flexible that way than single use rocket motor development – and civil uses like search and rescue could provide some value other than the catastrophic invasion scenario.
My only experience with UAV’s is the and IAI Heron and Scan Eagle. I know the Heron has a ground base station and you can use another Heron to retrans to another Heron, but it’s leaves a rather big electronic foot print hence why most UAV’S use satellites as there primary Comms.
UAVs are really only useful out of visual range which means that the signal needs bouncing somehow. There are several technologies that may achieve this for short ranges around the NZ EEZ.
Helios – When I first heard about it the idea was to, maybe, have it fly over a single spot giving an effective geosynchronous unit that could over seas several million square kilometres. Doesn’t appear to have been developed past the crash though.
High Frequency Radio – been known for years but has some draw backs such as limited bandwidth.
Project loon – High altitude balloons used for receiving, amplifying and retransmitting comms signals.
As far as I know the only one available ATM is the HF radio.
Radio transmission always leaves a rather big footprint. The only way to reduce that is to minimise radio transmissions and keep the UAV in autonomous mode most of the time.
The airframes were ok just another rebuild like they were under the 1st Kahu, it was the black boxes, engines that need replacing and fitting of a proper anti ship missile on the centre ordnance position (whatever it was called) instead of the maverick ASM.
Don’t like a Italian then? You don’t know what you are missing out on!
Actually our former ACF were bloody good at Maritime Strike and even taught the Royal Navy a thing or too on the 5 Power Defence Ex’s after the Kahu update. As my Uncle said me yrs ago “it was a shame that we never had a proper anti ship missile and the stupid National government didn’t allow us to upgrade the black Boxes to have a real proper data link to the the P3’s and the to Frigates then we would’ve a world class maritime strike force.”
You want to pop over to the Wings over the New Zealand Forum site and listen to a couple of podcasts in the ACF. A lot of RAAF pilots who flew fast jets that I’ve meet have said the Kiwi A4’s were a real handful after their Kahu upgrade, especially if they stayed low and said they knew their stuff in low level attack and at low level air to air combat.
Actually our former ACF were bloody good at Maritime Strike and even taught the Royal Navy a thing or too on the 5 Power Defence Ex’s after the Kahu update.
I’m sure they were and did but were they good enough to bridge the technology gap that would exist today?
There’s more to the plane than just avionics. Specifically, there’s the stealth capabilities of the 5th gen fighters. The A-4s and the Aermacchi’s didn’t have those at all and so would have been easily detected at long range meaning that they could be effectively engaged and destroyed far beyond the range that they could detect and engage the hostile craft.
A jet’s radar cross section can be decreased with a coat of paint (the Indians have done it), and there’s still the matter of low-level attack and other tactics.
Besides, IR search & track is passive and apparently has an effective range of 50 miles, and that’s a black box. Alongside ECM, which is another black box.
And then we get into the cost per kill issue – why spend hundreds of millions developing an aircraft we can’t afford to lose?
As an aside, there’s an interesting model being floated in the US of having more stealthy drones/snaFu35 as sensor pickets forward of a more conventional airframe converted to a C&C-arsenal aircraft. Because the picket aircraft have limited armaments, a converted B52 or similar could carry a battery of long-range missiles to engage aircraft or surface targets identified by the pickets.
A jet’s radar cross section can be decreased with a coat of paint (the Indians have done it), and there’s still the matter of low-level attack and other tactics.
Besides, IR search & track is passive and apparently has an effective range of 50 miles, and that’s a black box. Alongside ECM, which is another black box.
And then we get into the cost per kill issue – why spend hundreds of millions developing an aircraft we can’t afford to lose?
Heh, that’s what effectively killed off the battleships. Please note where I said that I’m not enthused about having an air strike wing.
As an aside, there’s an interesting model being floated in the US of having more stealthy drones/snaFu35 as sensor pickets forward of a more conventional airframe converted to a C&C-arsenal aircraft.
Low level flight still applies, it just has limitations as your article pointed out.
Basically, even in your pessimistic model the stealthy opposition aircraft will be forced to launch their limited munitions at longe range, leaving plenty of time to figure out an evasion plan (because missiles are not stealthy, they’re hot). And then they’re out of ammo.
Whereas some small aircraft with long range anti-radiation missiles can play over-the-horizon peek-a-boo with any opposition radar emitters, if their black boxes are good enough to see them.
If you want to destroy the opposition before they get to our shores, you’ll need aircraft. Long range missiles are all well and good, but you can’t launch ’em until you need them. Land launchers are limited to land, and sea platforms don’t have the response time to fill in gaps that aircraft do.
leaving plenty of time to figure out an evasion plan (because missiles are not stealthy, they’re hot).
If you can generate a miss which itself is becoming less and less likely as missiles and detection systems become better. Which is the problem with the A-4s and the Aermacchi in that they’re very easy to detect and track.
Whereas some small aircraft with long range anti-radiation missiles can play over-the-horizon peek-a-boo with any opposition radar emitters, if their black boxes are good enough to see them.
That’s another if. The f35 and other stealth aircraft can use radar from other sources (Such as the C&C aircraft you mentioned) which themselves can be out of radar and missile range.
If you want to destroy the opposition before they get to our shores, you’ll need aircraft.
Not necessarily. Satellites for long range detection and guidance. Over the Horizon Radar for medium range detection and guidance and finally local radar (passive and active) on the missiles themselves. Best option would be to combine them.
Long range missiles are all well and good, but you can’t launch ’em until you need them.
Well, obviously you wouldn’t be launching them if you didn’t need them. You seem to be implying that we need aircraft for the initial detection which is wrong.
Aircraft may play a role but it wouldn’t be fighter aircraft but AWACs.
Land launchers are limited to land, and sea platforms don’t have the response time to fill in gaps that aircraft do.
Land launchers are limited to striking anywhere in the world. Sea launchers are a little shorter ranged.
This link show’s what Kahu 2 should’ve looked like if Labour decided to dump the F-16 and kept the ACF going as the then Maccih’s also due a mid life upgrade as well. This for everyone’s info the Maccih’s won’t the first choice for the Airforce btw.
There was some talk of using Radar Absorbent Material (RAM) and some short of RAM paint for the Kahu 2 upgrade to further reduce the A4’s radar signature. In the book called Black Box Canberras pg168 talks about the Brits conduct trails using a Canberra and most of that research project is still classified today.
There was a small team within ACF wing HQ that develop a lot if its tactics and this small team casted a rather large net that resulted talking to such Nations as RAF, Luftwaffe, Norway, Israeli, Swiss Airforces and of course the Argies to help re write its Training, Tactics and Procedures (TTP’s or SOP’s in old money) for ACF. This study also had a profound a effect in the way the RNZAF trained its pilots and its technical personal after the Kahu upgrade. The end result was that RNZAF ended up with a world class Pilot training syllabus and Technical training syllabus that the rest of world look on with envy and only be thrown out on a whim by then Labour government which turn took the RNZAF as a whole about 10yrs to recover from.
Low level attack and Low level Air to Air Combat is still quite valid in todays modern world and in fact both skill sets its become a dying art in most Airforces as they becoming more risk adverse in their training management policies as both subjects are very hard master. The ACF knew the only way for them to survive was to make the big boys come to them not the other way round which suited the A4 strengths and when you throw in atmospheric, environmental, terrain considerations, the law of physics etc and the high standard of training of RNZAF pilots made the A4 a very nasty aircraft to go up against.
This link show’s what Kahu 2 should’ve looked like if Labour decided to dump the F-16 and kept the ACF going as the then Maccih’s also due a mid life upgrade as well.
The Aermacchis may have been mid-life but the A4s were end of life and needed to be replaced. That’s what the f16s were for after all. The problems I had with the f16s is a) that we were being over charged for them and b) because they were second hand we were going to need to replace them in short order.
only be thrown out on a whim by then Labour government
It wasn’t really a whim you know. We really don’t have use for an air-strike wing.
I really would go for a land based missile shield with satellite and ground based detection and guidance. A high reliance upon the army with multiple fixed and mobile sites. I’d turn the airforce/navy into a coastguard with more of a policing and rescue role.
The so called Second Hand F-16’s some had no more than 10 hrs flying time and lowest had about 3hrs. Yes they were a block 15 model and the governments idea of getting the F-16’s was to save some money by not doing the Kahu 2 upgrade which would’ve push Skyhawk replacement out to possibly 2025-2030 and transfer that money to upgrading the F-16’s instead.
The Governemt of the day said that only 75SQN and 2SQN were going to get the chop and 14SQN would stay as its a vital part of the pilot training syllabus during the advance phase of basic wings cse and it could provide support to the other 2 services. Then there was a sudden about turn and 14SQN went as well, hence “ACF was only be thrown out on a whim by then Labour government”.
The end result was flying and safety standards suddenly drop to a point where RNZAF almost couldn’t do its mandated tasks because the experience personal had left and the Government against Airforce advice to keep 14SQN going or buy a new training aircraft until National government came power and brought the T-6’s at cost of $250millon NZD or there about.
Clearly, there is no significant prioritisation process in place in the NZDF, which determines whether one particular project should be approved before another. Projects are ticked off, or not – as the case may be – when they have come to the top of the tendering process list, or are needed for an urgent deployment (to say East Timor or Bosnia); or are the subject of a special paper
to Cabinet because they are deemed to be an attractive opportunity buy”. The fifth maritime helicopter and the F-16 project are examples of the latter.
A paper prepared for the Treasury by Dr Arthur Grimes and Dr James Rolfe, completed late in 1999, titled Defence Objectives and Funding, notes that what this approach continually fails to do, is look at the desired outcomes of defence policy and expenditure from the perspective of questions like:
* What does national security mean?
* How best can it be achieved?
* What is the best balance between diplomatic and military means to achieve
* security?
* What trade-offs are there?
* What are appropriate roles for the armed forces?
We may not like it but it seems that prior to the 5th Labour government defence spending was on a whim.
Firstly I’ll thank you for the link and would have a look at it later.
My advice comes from my uncle (was once a Labour supporter) who was on the Project team for Strikemaster replacement, he also was involved with introducing the 339C macchi in service, number of former A4 drivers and technicians, The book called Skyhawks “The history of the RNZAF Skyhawk” by Don Simms and Nick Lee Frampton and the podcasts on Wings over the New Zealand forum sites.
I was serving in the Army in mid to late 90’s in a Recce SQN as part of 3 Land Force Group and we were ineffect asset strip to keep units that made up 2 Land Force Group operational. Hence why I finally punched out and that goose mallard told me to fuck off during the Labour Party Conference in Christchurch in late 97 when I standing as the Labour youth rep for the National Council and what he said to me was some nasty stuff about us work class should know our place etc. Informed my backers and to my grandmother and promptly went on the TF Ex that was begin held on that weekend. The rest is history.
One last thing, do you know the if the Quigley review ordered by the then Labour government is that available for public view? The reason I’m asking this, is it’s findings and the 2001 Review into options for a Air Combat Capability were not available for public because it went against the then government view that 75 and 2SQN’s should be disbanded with 14SQN to be retrained at reduced level. When the last review was presented to cabinet that the Alliance party went ape shit at the report and they demanded that 14SQN to disbanded as well at the last minute. That’s what I was told from Labour MP who was member of cabinet and certain faction threatened to walk out hence why it’s kept under wraps and it seems to be the view of a few other people associated with the last review.
There’s a couple of NATO Ex’s going on as well in the Baltic region according to Janes Defence ATM and surprise they aren’t collisions as it must be a little bit crowded in the Baltic Sea ATM.
That’s just it. I don’t know any more. It used to public but that I read said that private security guards were moving people out of it for being scruffy/noisy which they shouldn’t be able to do. I can’t recall clearly if it said that the place was now privately owned and I can’t find the article either.
unless they were perhaps employed by the council and they were enforcing some bylaw (maybe for noise, can’t imagine one for scruffy though nothing would surprise completely ) but i can see the similar issues existing here as we follow the same privatisation model as the UK, perhaps even more so.
Oh what a lovely war.
This is out of date clip but all discussions about war seem to be other-worldly. Always a bit different and always rather unsatisfactory an end.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr5ksOyxZRU
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In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
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 ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
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https://twitter.com/Kopapacafe/status/889046978985951232
Amen to that.
More from Sean Plunket, the man hired by TOP to do their communications, who got into a spat on twitter when in reference to someone who already had kids he said that poor people shouldn’t have babies.
https://twitter.com/publicaddress/status/889267031811293184
https://twitter.com/FrankMcRae/status/889336105836855296
“Man” is an excessively charitable description of Plunket.
Plunkett is a tosser and always has been.
Sara trying hard to sound like she is on our side. She must have so much time to spare…
Sarah’s not on our side (not in our tribe, not in our camp, not kin), it’s plain.
Careful – she will get upset if you say that, and deliver a crushing defence of her stance. Or maybe not.
I don’t get upset In Vino, but I’m delighted that you think I would, have a pleasant day.
You don’t know me Robert, so please don’t speak on behalf of me. Stick to what you know, growing things and wasting ratepayers money at environment southland.
Oh that’s a reveal “wasting ratepayers money at Environment Southland”.
No waste with Robert, he is against that sort of thing, and at supporting politicians who don’t take their job seriously and their supporters, concern trolls etc. It’s nice that The Standard gives people an opportunity to play at discussing politics isn’t it.
Simmons says “He is part time contractor with his own career. Doesn’t speak for TOP. U really want to dissect the words of every contractor to a party?”
https://twitter.com/drivethrupod/status/889399631381020673
I don’t think I could name the communications bod for any other political party. Maybe they keep their heads down.
Was that Pam Corkery’s job for IP?
Losing votes…
Interesting walkthrough of the falsity of employment stats
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/unemployment-in-the-uk-is-now-so-low-its-in-danger-of-exposing-the-lie-used-to-create-the-numbers-2017-7?r=UK&IR=T
Stuart Munro
I love those graphs going off in all directions – so sexy. Almost as much as the curvy Beyonce wearing sparkles and spangles in suitable places at the end on her end.
As for the unemployment stats, they are specially concocted bedtime stories for pollies and their madvisors. And don’t look at them twice you will turn to stone, or a pillar of salt, they are curs-ed, and no good will come of them.
Looked at your link this morning Stuart, thanks. Disturbing here too. No wonder wages remain static and some with full time jobs cannot manage. The Government MPs gloss over the part time workers who even with 5 hours a week are classed as employed. Wonder what the true unemployment is for NZ?
China making another land grab:
China is very, very pushy and demanding of things that aren’t theirs.
Indeed! Apparently there have already been ‘incursions’.
It’s a bit like the land based equivalent of their Sth China Sea activities.
The Chinese are on a roll, they are on a high plateau, which they built using special Chinese skill and nous and just to show they could. If they could come back to earth and get alongside their suffering peasants and have a spring roll, instead of pie in the sky which is so western and indigestible, they could settle down and run the Chinese economy that would save the world.
But no, they are planning to be a super race, and I have read, want to play around with genetics. What next, one sighs with a gasp.
Welcome to the world of the Han Chinese as they still remember the Mongol’s the Japs, half of South East Asia, the Indian’s, the Russians and us Westerners when we give them a flogging.
This from the Australian ABC website
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-24/china-state-media-warns-more-warship-deployment-to-western-water/8738328
China had one of their Spook Ships in Australia’s EZZ during Ex TS17. The last time something like this happen was when a Russian Navy Task Group turned up during a APEC meeting in Brisbane some years back.
And it’s things like that that tells me we need to be able to defend ourselves.
Against China? Or Russia? Or the US?
Trick is to make attacking unpalatable – logistics go a long way in that direction already.
Unless someone needs a launchpad to the Antarctic.
We can raise the cost of invading us, maybe even as much as the actual getting here might cost, but really our main defence will be sitting between the superpowers and trying to stand away from the eventual bar fight.
How good are you at poker? Because I’m shit at it unless it’s the nags (trots)
lol I’m abysmal.
Is that poker or the nags or both?
If I walk into a room that contains games of chance and decide to play them to completion, I’d be lucky to walk out of there with a pair of pants on.
Same goes with any room that has an open bar, but for very different reasons 🙂
Basically, even playing for matchsticks I end up being the very early loser watching everyone else play for the rest of the night.
Look’s like I’ve got to teach how use a ugly stick then? I think the old man still has my 2 SLR’s, couple of old 303’s, the L4 Bren and the M-14 take your pick? If we get real hard up we always draft old Lyn up as well and I know few Vietnam gunners who still own and operate a couple of 25 pounders.
Oh, I can use the ugly stick. And if it’s within 40 ft I can probably take me glasses off to do it. I’m just shite at hiding said stick behind my back.
But I’m not bad with reasonably precise mechanisms and a needle file, so I might be able to be useful.
You better ring up Draken and ask if can have our A-4’s and macchi’s back.
Meh, the A-4’s were pretty much out of date when we retired them. The Aermacchi’s weren’t much better.
Better getting something new. Developing it ourselves would be better but buying to start with. We could do what the Chinese did and buy a few Russian 5th gen fighters and reverse engineer them.
And I’m not totally convinced that we need an air-strike wing. If we can see them then missiles will work.
Of course, that is a big if these days.
If we were going that way we should develop drones – cost effectiveness is good, and the home advantage is that they don’t need amazing range. Drones are still relatively early at this point and a local variant might well be competitive. It would never happen politically though – major parties are not futurist.
They will take out the GPS satellites and then we will be up shit creek with a fancy bit of kit on ground with no where to go.
You could plan for that – lots of other navigation options.
Planes wouldn’t be a goer unless we were invaded by someone with an equally antediluvian airforce – only fairly new stuff is competitive. Draco’s missiles would be better but anti ship is a lot easier to create than anti-aircraft.
The drone advantage is in cost of development and training – much more flexible that way than single use rocket motor development – and civil uses like search and rescue could provide some value other than the catastrophic invasion scenario.
My only experience with UAV’s is the and IAI Heron and Scan Eagle. I know the Heron has a ground base station and you can use another Heron to retrans to another Heron, but it’s leaves a rather big electronic foot print hence why most UAV’S use satellites as there primary Comms.
UAVs are really only useful out of visual range which means that the signal needs bouncing somehow. There are several technologies that may achieve this for short ranges around the NZ EEZ.
Helios – When I first heard about it the idea was to, maybe, have it fly over a single spot giving an effective geosynchronous unit that could over seas several million square kilometres. Doesn’t appear to have been developed past the crash though.
High Frequency Radio – been known for years but has some draw backs such as limited bandwidth.
Project loon – High altitude balloons used for receiving, amplifying and retransmitting comms signals.
As far as I know the only one available ATM is the HF radio.
Radio transmission always leaves a rather big footprint. The only way to reduce that is to minimise radio transmissions and keep the UAV in autonomous mode most of the time.
Yes the drones being used for useful stuff by responsible agencies sounds a good idea.
There’s solutions to that as well.
The airframes were ok just another rebuild like they were under the 1st Kahu, it was the black boxes, engines that need replacing and fitting of a proper anti ship missile on the centre ordnance position (whatever it was called) instead of the maverick ASM.
Don’t like a Italian then? You don’t know what you are missing out on!
It’s more a question of matching 2nd/3rd gen tech up against 5th gen that I don’t like.
Actually our former ACF were bloody good at Maritime Strike and even taught the Royal Navy a thing or too on the 5 Power Defence Ex’s after the Kahu update. As my Uncle said me yrs ago “it was a shame that we never had a proper anti ship missile and the stupid National government didn’t allow us to upgrade the black Boxes to have a real proper data link to the the P3’s and the to Frigates then we would’ve a world class maritime strike force.”
You want to pop over to the Wings over the New Zealand Forum site and listen to a couple of podcasts in the ACF. A lot of RAAF pilots who flew fast jets that I’ve meet have said the Kiwi A4’s were a real handful after their Kahu upgrade, especially if they stayed low and said they knew their stuff in low level attack and at low level air to air combat.
I’m sure they were and did but were they good enough to bridge the technology gap that would exist today?
without a further update after 30 years? seriously?
There’s more to the plane than just avionics. Specifically, there’s the stealth capabilities of the 5th gen fighters. The A-4s and the Aermacchi’s didn’t have those at all and so would have been easily detected at long range meaning that they could be effectively engaged and destroyed far beyond the range that they could detect and engage the hostile craft.
A jet’s radar cross section can be decreased with a coat of paint (the Indians have done it), and there’s still the matter of low-level attack and other tactics.
Besides, IR search & track is passive and apparently has an effective range of 50 miles, and that’s a black box. Alongside ECM, which is another black box.
And then we get into the cost per kill issue – why spend hundreds of millions developing an aircraft we can’t afford to lose?
As an aside, there’s an interesting model being floated in the US of having more stealthy drones/snaFu35 as sensor pickets forward of a more conventional airframe converted to a C&C-arsenal aircraft. Because the picket aircraft have limited armaments, a converted B52 or similar could carry a battery of long-range missiles to engage aircraft or surface targets identified by the pickets.
Quite aware of the paint. Even the B2’s have radar absorbing paint. And low level attack no longer applies. This is quite an informative on that.
Yep, they are – but it’s 50km rather than 50 miles and radar does 200km+ and the missiles can do 100km. That means that those non-stealth aircraft are dead before they even see the target. This is my point.
Heh, that’s what effectively killed off the battleships. Please note where I said that I’m not enthused about having an air strike wing.
Yep, saw that in a documentary but the arsenal aircraft is only needed to project power. If we’re only talking defence then we have the picket aircraft or other long range communications/detection systems and land and/or sea based missile carriers.
Low level flight still applies, it just has limitations as your article pointed out.
Basically, even in your pessimistic model the stealthy opposition aircraft will be forced to launch their limited munitions at longe range, leaving plenty of time to figure out an evasion plan (because missiles are not stealthy, they’re hot). And then they’re out of ammo.
Whereas some small aircraft with long range anti-radiation missiles can play over-the-horizon peek-a-boo with any opposition radar emitters, if their black boxes are good enough to see them.
If you want to destroy the opposition before they get to our shores, you’ll need aircraft. Long range missiles are all well and good, but you can’t launch ’em until you need them. Land launchers are limited to land, and sea platforms don’t have the response time to fill in gaps that aircraft do.
If you can generate a miss which itself is becoming less and less likely as missiles and detection systems become better. Which is the problem with the A-4s and the Aermacchi in that they’re very easy to detect and track.
That’s another if. The f35 and other stealth aircraft can use radar from other sources (Such as the C&C aircraft you mentioned) which themselves can be out of radar and missile range.
Not necessarily. Satellites for long range detection and guidance. Over the Horizon Radar for medium range detection and guidance and finally local radar (passive and active) on the missiles themselves. Best option would be to combine them.
Well, obviously you wouldn’t be launching them if you didn’t need them. You seem to be implying that we need aircraft for the initial detection which is wrong.
Aircraft may play a role but it wouldn’t be fighter aircraft but AWACs.
Land launchers are limited to striking anywhere in the world. Sea launchers are a little shorter ranged.
What gaps?
This link show’s what Kahu 2 should’ve looked like if Labour decided to dump the F-16 and kept the ACF going as the then Maccih’s also due a mid life upgrade as well. This for everyone’s info the Maccih’s won’t the first choice for the Airforce btw.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A-4AR_Fightinghawk#Specifications_.28A-4AR_Fightinghawk.29
Compare with the original Kahu upgrade,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Kahu
There was some talk of using Radar Absorbent Material (RAM) and some short of RAM paint for the Kahu 2 upgrade to further reduce the A4’s radar signature. In the book called Black Box Canberras pg168 talks about the Brits conduct trails using a Canberra and most of that research project is still classified today.
There was a small team within ACF wing HQ that develop a lot if its tactics and this small team casted a rather large net that resulted talking to such Nations as RAF, Luftwaffe, Norway, Israeli, Swiss Airforces and of course the Argies to help re write its Training, Tactics and Procedures (TTP’s or SOP’s in old money) for ACF. This study also had a profound a effect in the way the RNZAF trained its pilots and its technical personal after the Kahu upgrade. The end result was that RNZAF ended up with a world class Pilot training syllabus and Technical training syllabus that the rest of world look on with envy and only be thrown out on a whim by then Labour government which turn took the RNZAF as a whole about 10yrs to recover from.
Low level attack and Low level Air to Air Combat is still quite valid in todays modern world and in fact both skill sets its become a dying art in most Airforces as they becoming more risk adverse in their training management policies as both subjects are very hard master. The ACF knew the only way for them to survive was to make the big boys come to them not the other way round which suited the A4 strengths and when you throw in atmospheric, environmental, terrain considerations, the law of physics etc and the high standard of training of RNZAF pilots made the A4 a very nasty aircraft to go up against.
The Aermacchis may have been mid-life but the A4s were end of life and needed to be replaced. That’s what the f16s were for after all. The problems I had with the f16s is a) that we were being over charged for them and b) because they were second hand we were going to need to replace them in short order.
It wasn’t really a whim you know. We really don’t have use for an air-strike wing.
I really would go for a land based missile shield with satellite and ground based detection and guidance. A high reliance upon the army with multiple fixed and mobile sites. I’d turn the airforce/navy into a coastguard with more of a policing and rescue role.
The so called Second Hand F-16’s some had no more than 10 hrs flying time and lowest had about 3hrs. Yes they were a block 15 model and the governments idea of getting the F-16’s was to save some money by not doing the Kahu 2 upgrade which would’ve push Skyhawk replacement out to possibly 2025-2030 and transfer that money to upgrading the F-16’s instead.
The Governemt of the day said that only 75SQN and 2SQN were going to get the chop and 14SQN would stay as its a vital part of the pilot training syllabus during the advance phase of basic wings cse and it could provide support to the other 2 services. Then there was a sudden about turn and 14SQN went as well, hence “ACF was only be thrown out on a whim by then Labour government”.
The end result was flying and safety standards suddenly drop to a point where RNZAF almost couldn’t do its mandated tasks because the experience personal had left and the Government against Airforce advice to keep 14SQN going or buy a new training aircraft until National government came power and brought the T-6’s at cost of $250millon NZD or there about.
No, it wasn’t a whim:
We may not like it but it seems that prior to the 5th Labour government defence spending was on a whim.
Firstly I’ll thank you for the link and would have a look at it later.
My advice comes from my uncle (was once a Labour supporter) who was on the Project team for Strikemaster replacement, he also was involved with introducing the 339C macchi in service, number of former A4 drivers and technicians, The book called Skyhawks “The history of the RNZAF Skyhawk” by Don Simms and Nick Lee Frampton and the podcasts on Wings over the New Zealand forum sites.
I was serving in the Army in mid to late 90’s in a Recce SQN as part of 3 Land Force Group and we were ineffect asset strip to keep units that made up 2 Land Force Group operational. Hence why I finally punched out and that goose mallard told me to fuck off during the Labour Party Conference in Christchurch in late 97 when I standing as the Labour youth rep for the National Council and what he said to me was some nasty stuff about us work class should know our place etc. Informed my backers and to my grandmother and promptly went on the TF Ex that was begin held on that weekend. The rest is history.
One last thing, do you know the if the Quigley review ordered by the then Labour government is that available for public view? The reason I’m asking this, is it’s findings and the 2001 Review into options for a Air Combat Capability were not available for public because it went against the then government view that 75 and 2SQN’s should be disbanded with 14SQN to be retrained at reduced level. When the last review was presented to cabinet that the Alliance party went ape shit at the report and they demanded that 14SQN to disbanded as well at the last minute. That’s what I was told from Labour MP who was member of cabinet and certain faction threatened to walk out hence why it’s kept under wraps and it seems to be the view of a few other people associated with the last review.
I was meant to reply to DTB, sorry using my ipad atm and got more fat fingers than a fat kid in a candy shop.
They’re busy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/21/us-closely-tracking-chinese-navy-baltics-war-games-russia/
There’s a couple of NATO Ex’s going on as well in the Baltic region according to Janes Defence ATM and surprise they aren’t collisions as it must be a little bit crowded in the Baltic Sea ATM.
A clear call to vote: Something is brewing in NZ politics.
Edit: link keeps changing!? http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/something-brewing-nz-politics/268/288464
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/revealed-pseudo-public-space-pops-london-investigation-map
truly disturbing (right down to the private policing of unknown rules)….is there a similar process emerging here i wonder?
Probably. I heard a awhile back of something similar happening to Catherine Street in Henderson.
is that a public/private space?
That’s just it. I don’t know any more. It used to public but that I read said that private security guards were moving people out of it for being scruffy/noisy which they shouldn’t be able to do. I can’t recall clearly if it said that the place was now privately owned and I can’t find the article either.
unless they were perhaps employed by the council and they were enforcing some bylaw (maybe for noise, can’t imagine one for scruffy though nothing would surprise completely ) but i can see the similar issues existing here as we follow the same privatisation model as the UK, perhaps even more so.
Yes. Have a look at Joel Cayford’s blog to see a few examples – particularly in downtown Auckland.
Don Brash insists that his Hobson’s Pledge organisation exists to promote racial equality. Why, then, has the group’s facebook page been promoting apartheid and neo-Nazis? http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2017/07/brashs-ugly-facebook.html
Oh what a lovely war.
This is out of date clip but all discussions about war seem to be other-worldly. Always a bit different and always rather unsatisfactory an end.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr5ksOyxZRU