Daily review 26/09/2024

18 comments on “Daily review 26/09/2024 ”

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1. Anne 1

   26 September 2024 at 6:25 pm

   As someone with former in-house experience, this comes across to me as bullshit:

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/529112/niwa-to-take-over-metservice-in-forecaster-merger

   I suspect it is a another cost-cutting exercise to pay for the tax cuts.

   The devil will be in the detail, but to my mind it could have a serious impact on climatological research and meteorological forecasting. Forget the nice sounding platitudes in the article. That is probably a sop to this climate-change-denying coalition government.

   This country needs a service that is dedicated solely to providing forecasts to the highest of standards. I have been hugely impressed with the advances the Met Service has made in the past 20 plus years. Due to our geological and maritime position, forecasting the weather is not an easy task in this country – so many variables to take into consideration. As a result of this, our forecasters have always been regarded with considerable respect in weather circles around the world.

   That I suspect is going to change in the near future.

   Edit: and another example of getting a a state entity ready to sell to the highest bidder?
   • Ad 1.1

     26 September 2024 at 7:04 pm

     It's a merger that reverses a false corporate split 25 years ago.

     We need more public entity mergers, not less.
     • Anne 1.1.1

       26 September 2024 at 7:17 pm

       Nope. I know a bit about the background to that split, Not saying any more than that.
       • adam 1.1.1.1

         26 September 2024 at 7:54 pm

         Anne, can you offer a link to more detail on the split – you have got me interested. Used doctor DuckDuckgo but it just gives me today's news. And I a few pages in trying to refine my search – arrrggggggggggggg with the best so far https://about.metservice.com/our-company/about-us/our-history/

         Also I agree it will in all probability, "will have a serious impact on climatological research". And they will try to sell it.
       • Ad 1.1.1.2

         26 September 2024 at 8:01 pm

         Don't be shy.

         We have waaaay to many entities to be coherent.
         • Anne 1.1.1.2.1

           26 September 2024 at 8:34 pm

           I am not going down that road because it is complex and involves some sensitive issues.

           There is a need to reduce the number of quangos etc. It was a path Labour was treading. National turned them around for puerile and vindictive reasons so I have no trust whatsoever in their recent apparent epiphany.

           I don't believe their reason for merging NIWA and Met Service has anything to do with 'reducing the number of entities'. More like they are getting the new NIWA/Metservice state enterprise ready for sale to a private enterprise. That would be a disaster.
           • tWig 1.1.1.2.1.1

             26 September 2024 at 10:17 pm

             Speaking as someone who worked in research, it is important to have a variety of organisations (well, at least two) where you can work at in NZ.

             Science forces you into extreme specialisation, and scientific staff have generally accepted lower pay for job security because of that. However, if something sours for you in one organisation, it is important for NZ's scientific institutional knowledge (decades-worth embodied in, well, each scientist's body) to be able to continue in NZ.

             MAF and DSIR used to provide alternative employers in the NZ research landscape for the agri-sector. Nowadays, the universities are sinking fast after over-extending in a profit model for post-grad education that was actually an easy pipeline to citizenship for those from overseas who could pay, or score a grant.

             Outside of Fonterra or Fisher&Paykel, working in industry research has always been hit-or-miss in NZ, with firms running a research arm for 3 or 4 years before dropping it.

             So apart from the cost of an exec board for CRIs, there is a lot positive for NZ science in having smaller, targetted research organisations.

             There was a nasty trend under the Nats in the 90's and '00s to believe that you can readily replace a scientist position just by plugging in a new post-doc. While nobody is indispensible, the value in people's heads (scientists and tech staff) is incalculable. Getting rid of institutional knowledge guarantees you will be reinventing the wheel in a cyclical fashion, at extensive cost.
           • Shanreagh 1.1.1.2.1.2

             27 September 2024 at 6:44 am

             I don't believe their reason for merging NIWA and Met Service has anything to do with 'reducing the number of entities'. More like they are getting the new NIWA/Metservice state enterprise ready for sale to a private enterprise. That would be a disaster.

             Having been around, like Anne, and knowing the background to many of these happenings in times past since the 1990s I would bet $$ to doughnuts that the real reason is to get ready for privatisation.

             It was also the real reason for the so-called policy/operational splits that have occurred in many departments over the years. They split the operational work away into a package that could be sold.

             Next thing there will be all manner of rounding operations called rightlining where pernickety information flows, greater good requirement and ethical considerations are smoothed away so as not to bother a cut throat private operator.

             In the 'olden days' prior to the 1980s/90s many departments carried out both functions with the operational function informing the policy work. With the splits getting real-time info about operational matters is supposed to happen via Memoranda of Understanding, $$$ flows but in practice these do not give as informed and trustworthy information as having both functions under the same roof.

             But we knew (sensed) this didn't we? But we were helpless in the face of this Chicago School of Economic/IMF inspired rubbish then just as we will be now.

             Willis and Luxon's WFH bully-boy spiel was an, inadvertent I think, master stroke seting everybody against Public Service so there will be little support for keeping such roles within the Public Service
             • Anne …

               27 September 2024 at 9:55 am

               … I would bet $$ to doughnuts that the real reason is to get ready for privatisation.

               Got it in one Shanreagh

               My reason for not coming up with details is pretty much what you were referring to – a lack of trust in the new management teams who had scant knowledge of the subject matter. A kind of dog eat dog mentality ensued and morale plummeted to all time lows. Perfectly sound operational and policy strategies were discarded for no reason other than they had been part of the 'old' system. It was bonkers.

               In the end the Bolger government decided to split them into two groups in the early 1990s. I think it was the right decision and that has been borne out by the huge advancement both have achieved since.
   • Binders full of women 1.2

     27 September 2024 at 6:05 am

     The most accurate forecasting available for NZ weather is a Norwegian website.
     • Adrian 1.2.1

       27 September 2024 at 4:22 pm

       No not really, I’m a farmer who can lose a years income in 20 minutes to frost and YR is not terribly accurate, they presume the rest of the world cannot possibly get any warmer than Finland does, Windy from Czech Rep is a bit better but both lack the local knowledge and feedback from those that work outdoors or remotely who let the forecasters know, mostly gently, when they get it wrong and why. I look at 4 or 5 sites many times a day, like today, when a threat is looming so I’ve got a reasonable knowledge of what I’m talking about.
   • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.3

     27 September 2024 at 8:09 am

     Re NZ Metservice…the unbelievable amount of advertising they have on their site, to the level of being so bad lately that I emailed their feedback contact. (yes I know.. adblockers etc, but still )

     I hadnt expected it, but got a prompt and reasonably detailed response.

     And unsurprisingly, its because being an SOE…they are expected..to turn money over.

     Everything the NACT1 govt does is increasingly in this vein.

     I also do use NIWA Weather..its no frills…but also no ads !

     I would absolutely agree that a merger of the 2 will not be for NZ's best interests.

     And observing everything else NACT1 are urgently pushing, and the cutbacks to NIWA, GNS et al, Its not difficult to see NACT1 as anti Science : (

     https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522846/former-niwa-scientist-scathing-about-cuts-to-climate-modelling-team

     https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/523729/dozens-of-jobs-look-set-to-be-cut-at-gns-science

     …Sale/privatisation is entirely possible.
   • KJT 1.4

     27 September 2024 at 2:43 pm

     Have to say that two Government organisations competing to supply the same meteorological services and weather forecasts, is an extra cost we probably don't need. As inefficient as all the other fake competition that has been introduced.

     Having to pay for detailed weather forecasts,something that I and many others contributed data to improve, gratis, for decades, really grates with me, and is another monetisation of the commons that we built up.

     Getting fattened for sale?
2. Patricia Bremner 2

   26 September 2024 at 7:40 pm

   Well more often than not Rotorua has no forecast lately, so not sure how this will go.
   • tc 2.1

     26 September 2024 at 8:22 pm

     Easy. Forecast persistent austerity with occasionally bouts of gloating from the speculator/rentier class.
3. adam 3

   26 September 2024 at 9:25 pm

   What we have to look forward to with the muppets in charge.
4. tWig 4

   26 September 2024 at 11:26 pm

   President-elect refuses to invite Spanish king to her inauguration after lack of apology for crimes of conquest.

   Cool, good on her. Spain's colonial past in the Americas was particularly brutal.

   ‘Although Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony on 1 October, King Felipe has not.’
5. weston 5

   26 September 2024 at 11:47 pm

   As the mask slips steadily from the face of the psychopath day by day and as the river of blood grows deeper and wider so does the vail slip steadily day by day from the eyes of the world looking on in horror .This army that likes to call its self " the most moral army in the world " is enabled /funded /armed /protected principally by three countries America, Britain ,and Germany afaik and whatever the weasel words emanating from these countries like " we have to have a cease fire bring back the hostages "etc etc their support for Israel is unending and their actions totally contradict the crap coming out of their mouths .Ive never heard one of these genocide enablers ever talk about the ten thousand or so palestinian hostages held by israel or of the conditions in which theyre kept !!

   Amongst all the bullshit coming out of or not !!of MSM its handy that we can still count on alternative media to keep us informed The Electronic Intifada is one of the best imo.As well as a general news segment on the conflict and interviews when possible of people involved in actual events on the ground E I provides a current update on resistence actions against the IDF by Jon Elmer which in this edition starts about an hour in .

   
   
   

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