Dirty oil

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, May 30th, 2010 - 38 comments
Categories: Conservation, energy, International - Tags: ,

I knew that disasters in rich white countries get much more media than disasters anywhere else. I knew that oil was a dirty business. None the less, this article by John Vidal surprised me:

The real cost of cheap oil
The Gulf disaster is only unusual for being so near the US. Elsewhere, Big Oil rarely cleans up its mess

Big Oil is holding its breath. BP’s shares are in steep decline after the debacle in the Gulf of Mexico. Barack Obama, the American people and the global environmental community are outraged, and now the company stands to lose the rights to drill for oil in the Arctic and other ecologically sensitive places.

The gulf disaster may cost it a few billion dollars, but so what? When annual profits for a company often run to tens of billions, the cost of laying 5,000 miles of booms, or spraying millions of gallons of dispersants and settling 100,000 court cases is not much more than missing a few months’ production. It’s awkward, but it can easily be passed on. … But the oil companies are nervous now because the spotlight has been turned on their cavalier attitude to pollution and on the sheer incompetence of an industry that is used to calling the shots.

Big Oil’s real horror was not the spillage, which was common enough, but because it happened so close to the US. Millions of barrels of oil are spilled, jettisoned or wasted every year without much attention being paid.

If this accident had occurred in a developing country, say off the west coast of Africa or Indonesia, BP could probably have avoided all publicity and escaped starting a clean-up for many months. … Big Oil is usually a poor country’s most powerful industry, and is generally allowed to act like a parallel government. In many countries it simply pays off the judges, the community leaders, the lawmakers and the ministers, and it expects environmentalists and local people to be powerless. Mostly it gets away with it.

What the industry dreads more than anything else is being made fully accountable to developing countries for the mess it has made and the oil it has spilt in the forests, creeks, seas and deserts of the world.

There are more than 2,000 major spillage sites in the Niger delta that have never been cleaned up; there are vast areas of the Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon that have been devastated by spillages, the dumping of toxic materials and blowouts. Rivers and wells in Venezuela, Angola, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and Sudan have been badly polluted. Occidental, BP, Chevron, Shell and most other oil companies together face hundreds of outstanding lawsuits. Ecuador alone is seeking $30bn from Texaco.

The only reason oil costs $70-$100 a barrel today, and not $200, is because the industry has managed to pass on the real costs of extracting the oil. If the developing world applied the same pressure on the companies as Obama and the US senators are now doing, and if the industry were forced to really clean up the myriad messes it causes, the price would jump and the switch to clean energy would be swift.

In an ideal world we could do it. Using the leverage of this environmental disaster in America’s back yard, the world could force through changes that would make the industry accountable. Oil prices would rise, consumption would fall, we would make the transition to renewable energy, our climate change crisis would ease. But the economic turmoil would be immense, so it will never happen. In the real world we the people will always choose catastrophe tomorrow over pain today.

[Update: Oh shit: BP’s top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak. It just gets worse and worse.

Also – The Guardian has another piece on the Nigerian spills].

38 comments on “Dirty oil ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. tc 1
    30 May 2010 at 10:09 am

    Oil’s been at the centre of many conflicts as we have a world, that as ROB says, can’t face the economic impact so doesn’t and the issue grows larger each cycle as we consume more of a dwindling resource.

    Which makes our own efforts to being as sustainable and less oil reliant in this part of the world so important. Also that we maximise any oil/gas royalties for NZ benefit that these powerful wealthy and well connected oil entities are after. We are but a speck in the big oil picture so we need to both get away from it and make whatever we have work for us…. this’s going to get very very ugly going forward globally, wait till Big oil starts eyeing up our southern basin seriously.

    • uke 1.1
      30 May 2010 at 5:42 pm

      Yeah I notice the NZ MSM hasn’t really got the angle yet, the comparison with the NZ Southern Basin.

      If drilling in the Gulf of Mexico had its hazards – think what oil extraction will be like in the roaring forties of the southern ocean.

  2. ghostwhowalksnz 2
    30 May 2010 at 10:49 am

    Big Oil was acting like a parallel government …in the US

    For a while they had two oil men in the White house , Cheney and Bush and they WERE the government

  3. mach1 3
    30 May 2010 at 11:03 am

    For around $500k the gulf spill could have been avoided, thanks Dick.

    • felix 3.1
      30 May 2010 at 11:09 am

      But, you know, red tape. Over-regulation. Nanny state. Safety wowsers. Ruining all our fun. Telling us what to think. Market knows best, after all.

      • ianmac 3.1.1
        30 May 2010 at 1:58 pm

        A chilling clip thanks Mach 1. It is interesting that Cheney/Halliburton link – again! (The deregulation also abandoned the water pollution rules in the USA. eg The massive pig farms can now allow their effluent to overflow into rivers killing life and destroying water supplies. Freely. Same thing.)

  4. mach1 4
    30 May 2010 at 11:11 am

    BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling was exempted from an environmental impact study, nice.

  5. Bill 5
    30 May 2010 at 11:56 am

    A few years ago I watched a video of some well meaning young activists who descended on the house the then CEO of BP located some quiet and quaint little hamlet in the SE England. From memory, they were chanting and bannering about the activities in the Niger Delta. Well, out comes Mr CEO looking quite reasonable and even a little grandfatherly. He engages with the activists very politely and before you know it his wife has appeared with cups of tea and biscuits and all and sundry are sitting on a quaint English lawn having a civilised cuppa where Mr CEO impresses upon the activists that he is really quite a nice guy ( Would you care for another biscuit? – ah, yes. They’re my favourite too!) and so could not possibly be held accountable or responsible for the stuff happening in the Niger Delta ( Yes, yes. A terrible situation. A tragedy, don’t you think? But what can one do? I think you are a wonderful example of how deeply people care. I care too. But my hands are tied.) by any reasonable, right thinking people.

    Eventually the activists left, a little confused and possibly crestfallen, waving a cheerio to the nice man and his wife on the lawn.

    And what the activists missed was that evil is banal, that it does not come wrapped up with snarls, blackened finger nails and hunch backs…that it simply, merely follows the rules. So if the Ogoni’s were being murdered, it was because the rules and legislations determined such a conclusion to the situation in the Delta. Which was lamentable, but there you go.

    No one person or group of people could reasonably be held to blame. It had nothing to do with pressures being brought to bear on the government by BP. It had nothing to do with armed militia or the army being armed by and paid by either BP or as a direct result of their operations in the region….and so on. It was simply an unfortunate consequence of the way things were.

    Just like the oil spill in the Gulf. It’s an unfortunate consequence of the way things are.

    And if the government was weaker and the accountability less or non-existent. That would just be a consequence of the way things were.

    And if there were armed militias scooting around the rigs harassing and sometimes killing local fishermen who ventured too close, then that would just be a consequence of the way things were.

    And so it goes.

    And never is ‘the way things are’ anything that BP or any BP personnel deliberately brought into being. They merely follow the rules, tick the boxes and petition for changes to the rules where they feel such a thing would be good for business. Unbusiness like consequences of all this are just, well…unfortunate.

    Now. Cup of tea, anyone? Long straw?

    • felix 5.1
      30 May 2010 at 12:19 pm

      I think the grandfatherly CEO chap was from Shell.

      But yes.

      • Bill 5.1.1
        30 May 2010 at 12:45 pm

        Yup. You’re probably right.

        From memory it was part of a quite enlightening wee series. I seem to remember some decidedly middle class English types taking direct action against a marshalling yard or some such. The poor wee PC Plod was all quite flustered and lost at being disobeyed and firmly defied by a kindly wee tweed, woolly hat and hush puppies trespasser.

        Which is why the middle classes….and in particular those who look middle class…need to be part and parcel of demo’s and protest. It throws the so-called public servant way off balance when they are confronted by a personage conforming to the image they hold in their head of their ‘natural’ master…the actual public they serve to serve as it were.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.2
      30 May 2010 at 1:02 pm

      Manufacturing Consent or The Corporation

      One of the two but both are worth watching though.

    • ianmac 5.3
      30 May 2010 at 2:05 pm

      You mean friendly, smiling, chap with a cute little wave? Dishonest CEOs can be like hat can’t they!

  6. Draco T Bastard 6
    30 May 2010 at 12:56 pm

    In the real world we the people will always choose catastrophe tomorrow over pain today.

    That does seem to be the case. Take the ETS and how many people are saying that by implementing it it’s going to cost us more to live. People are struggling to live so making things cost more is going to be a problem but not paying the extra costs isn’t going to make them go away. Of course, the people struggling to live should be paid more from the businesses that are using them to make a few people rich but we won’t hear that. What we get instead is the PM telling us how necessary the rich are and that we should make them richer – even though they’re actually worthless.

    In the real world, “the people” aren’t given much of a choice.

  7. RedLogix 7
    30 May 2010 at 2:19 pm

    In the real world we the people will always choose catastrophe tomorrow over pain today.

    Otherwise known as short-term thinking. The reason why people choose reward now over bigger reward later is simple… the reward now is far more certain than reward later. In unequal, unjust societies people become accustomed to having the rug pulled out from under their plans and therefore quite rationally adjust their behaviour to suit.

    While it is well known that the most successful people are those who make long-term plans and are capable of delayed gratification…what these studies never capture are all those people who also made long-term plans but never got to the pay-off because some other untrustworthy bastard stole it off them along the way.

    The more unequal a society becomes the less likely people will agree with the statement “Most people can be trusted.” A belief that corrodes the very foundation of all human society.

    • Bill 7.1
      30 May 2010 at 2:38 pm

      “Otherwise known as short-term thinking.”

      I think that is something else you are referring to when a small positive now is taken in lieu of a bigger positive later.

      What the post is referring to, I would see as being more akin to ‘Hanging on for Grim Death’ than ‘short term thinking’…’n fact I don’t reckon there’s too much of any thinking involved at all.

      It’s like not letting go ’cause the water you’ll drop into is deep and you reckon it’ll be incredibly cold and you might drown or bang your head or whatever. Whereas, it’s quite warm hanging out here in the sun off the edge of a cliff by your fingernails. And yes you know that the guy swinging the machete will chop off your fingers…at which point you’ll fall into the cold, deep water with the added bonus of missing fingers, immense pain and no way of clawing your way back out. But for now, at least it’s warm out here in the sun…

  8. r0b 8
    30 May 2010 at 2:49 pm

    See post update: BP’s top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak. The gulf is totally screwed.

    • infused 8.1
      30 May 2010 at 9:13 pm

      It was never going to work. The only solution that is going to fix this, which should have been done in the first place, is nuke it. You can cry all you want about the fall out of this, but atleast it’s most probably going to fix the issue. There’s been over 30 days now of oil gushing out… I don’t know what’s worse, the oil effect or the nuke effect.

      • Anita 8.1.1
        30 May 2010 at 9:21 pm

        How would a nuke solve this?

        • infused 8.1.1.1
          30 May 2010 at 9:44 pm

          Use your brain. The pressure is to great to cap it. The only reason they are trying to cap it so they can get the oil from it.

          • Anita 8.1.1.1.1
            30 May 2010 at 10:12 pm

            I did use my brain, but I don’t know enough about the physics of either nuclear blasts or oil wells to figure it out.

            I thought maybe the point was that the nuke would melt the rock and seal the well, but then I wasn’t sure how that would work as the molten rock might be too small a plug and why wouldn’t it cause radiating fractures the oil could pass along.

            Then I thought maybe it was to fracture the rocks on the sides of the well so that they would fall inwards and block the well, but then I thought the pressure might simply flush back out the broken rock leaving a wider well.

            So, seriously, how would it work?

            P.S. Before you say something about using google, I did search and I only found people saying it had worked in the USSR on a number of occasions, but no explanation of the physics beyond handy phrases like “moves the rocks” and “squeeze the channel” and “fuse the leak”.

  9. ianmac 9
    30 May 2010 at 3:01 pm

    It might be a bit naive but since they are talking about huge tanker sized volumes and since the oil floats on water, would it be feasible to suck up the oil and tanker it to land where the oil can be recovered and sold? (Salvager’s rights to ownership of course. There are dredges which suck. There is the technology for recovering oil from impurities.)

    Or are the volumes of oil just too vast?

    • Pascal's bookie 9.1
      30 May 2010 at 3:12 pm

      A lot of it isn’t on the surface. BP have been pumping enormous amounts of dispersants into the leak, which are themselves toxic and not fully tested.

      There are also several underwater plumes…

      http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_new_plume

      It’s pretty unrelentingly awful.

    • r0b 9.2
      30 May 2010 at 3:13 pm

      Not really my area, but my guess is it could be possible in principle, but is not “economic”. Mostly because of the huge surface area – might burn as much fuel collecting the surface oil as the oil you collect. And not all the oil is on the surface, a lot of it is in huge underwater “plumes” being carried far off by deep currents”.

    • Bill 9.3
      30 May 2010 at 3:17 pm

      The MSNBC link I put up yesterday has these guys… “Matt Simmons was an energy adviser to George W. Bush, is an adviser to the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, and is a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. Simmon is chairman and CEO of Simmons & Company International, an investment bank catering to oil companies.”…discussing just that. Using tankers and supertankers in sort of the same way as a human bucket chain for bailing…including the plumes.

      They can’t understand why it hasn’t been done. Or why BP are concentrating their energies on a riser pipe that cannot conceivably be the source of the oil spilling into the Gulf.

  10. ianmac 10
    30 May 2010 at 3:51 pm

    Well bugger me. I feel quite chuffed that it may be possible. As for uneconomic, the cost to not do something would be a catastrophe!

  12. infused 12
    30 May 2010 at 9:19 pm

    I’ve said right from the beginning, this pipe was something else. Only Russia have ever drilled so deep. Bp have hit a reserve with preassure they cannot contain. There is no technology that can cap this thing.

    The reason BP are stalling is they still want to get a profit from the oil. hence the releif pipe and wanting to contain it.

    I put $100 they won’t stop this without a nuke exploding down there.

  13. Bill 13
    30 May 2010 at 10:40 pm

    And when your msm isn’t part of the dominant msm you get genuinely informative pieces like this sneaking through.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/oil-spill-seeps-into-the-heart-of-america-1.1031416

    • r0b 13.1
      31 May 2010 at 9:16 am

      That is a good read.

      The media scene in NZ is so depressing. The only independent newspaper (as I understand it) is the Otago Daily Times, and for my money the best broadcaster is RNZ. After that – what is there?

  15. mach1 15
    31 May 2010 at 8:23 am

    infused could well be on the money with the nuke thing, it worked for the Soviets but not without serious consequences

    .

  16. crib 16
    31 May 2010 at 5:57 pm

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

    Kind of sums up the whole it’s not a 1st world country so who gives a shit attitude

    This was posted as a response to one of Trevor Mallars wall posts on facebook

    “Trevor Mallard is glad the super fund bought Shell not BP.”

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    A heart that's full up like a landfillA job that slowly kills youBruises that won't healYou look so tired, unhappyBring down the governmentThey don't, they don't speak for usI'll take a quiet lifeA handshake of carbon monoxideAnd no alarms and no surprisesThe fabulous English comedian Stewart Lee once wrote a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Five ingenious ways people could beat the heat without cranking the AC

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Every summer brings a new spate of headlines about record-breaking heat – for good reason: 2023 was the hottest year on record, in keeping with the upward trend scientists have been clocking for decades. With climate forecasts suggesting that heat waves ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • No new funding for cycling & walking

    Studies show each $1 of spending on walking and cycling infrastructure produces $13 to $35 of economic benefits from higher productivity, lower healthcare costs, less congestion, lower emissions and lower fossil fuel import costs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 99

    Dad turned 99 today.Hell of a lot of candles, eh?He won't be alone for his birthday. He will have the warm attention of my brother, and my sister, and everyone at the rest home, the most thoughtful attentive and considerate people you could ever know. On Saturday there will be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Open Government: National reneges on beneficial ownership

    One of the achievements of the New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership Fourth National Action Plan was a formal commitment from the government to establish a public beneficial ownership register. Such a register would allow the ultimate owners of companies to be identified - a vital measure in preventing corruption, money ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt One.

    This project analyzes security politics in three peripheral democracies (Chile, New Zealand, Portugal) during the 30 years after the end of the Cold War. It argues that changes in the geopolitical landscape and geo-strategic context are interpreted differently by small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Tea and Toast

    When the skies are looking bad my dearAnd your heart's lost all its hopeAfter dawn there will be sunshineAnd all the dust will goThe skies will clear my darlingNow it's time for you to let goOur girl will wake you up in the mornin'With some tea and toastLyrics: Lucy Spraggan.Good ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • NLTP 2024 released – destroying pipeline of shovel ready local projects

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Waka Kotahi yesterday released the latest National Land Transport Plan (NLTP) for 2024-27. The NLTP sets out what transport projects will be funded for the next three years, including both central and local government projects. As expected given the government’s extremely ideological transport policy, it’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago
  • Can Brown deliver his roads

    The Government’s unveiling of its road-building programme yesterday was ambitious and, many would say, long overdue. But the question will be whether it is too ambitious, whether it is affordable, and, if not, what might be dropped. The big ticket items will be the 17 so-called Roads of National Significance. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • New paper about detecting climate misinformation on Twitter/X

    Together with Cristian Rojas, Frank Algra-Maschio, Mark Andrejevic, Travis Coan, and Yuan-Fang Li, I just published a paper in Nature Communications Earth & Environment where we use the Computer Assisted Recognition of Denial and Skepticism (CARDS) machine learning model to detect climate misinformation in 5 million climate tweets. We find over half ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • Excerpting “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies.”

    In the late 2000s-early 2010s I was researching and writing a book titled “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Chile, New Zealand and Portugal.” The book was a cross-regional Small-N qualitative comparison of the security strategies and postures of three small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • Hating for the Wrong Reasons: Of Rings of Power, Orcs and Evil

    A few months ago, my fellow countryman, HelloFutureMe, put out a giant YouTube video, dissecting what went wrong with the first season of Rings of Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ6FRUO0ui0&t=8376s). It’s an exceptionally good video, and though it spans some two and a half hours, it is well worth your time. But ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago
  • Climate Change: “Least cost” to who?

    On Friday the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released their submission on National's second Emissions Reduction Plan, ripping the shit out of it as a massive gamble based on wishful thinking. One of the specific issues he focused on was National's idea of "least cost" emissions reduction, pointing out that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Israeli Lives Matter

    There is no monopoly on common senseOn either side of the political fenceWe share the same biology, regardless of ideologyBelieve me when I say to youI hope the Russians love their children tooLyrics: Sting. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Luxon Cries

    Over the weekend, I found myself rather irritably reading up about the Treaty of Waitangi. “Do I need to do this?” It’s not my jurisdiction. In any other world, would this be something I choose to do?My answer - no.The Waitangi Tribunal, headed by some of our best legal minds, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Just one Wellington home being consented for every 10 in Auckland

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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Container trucks on local streets: why take the risk?

    This is a guest post by Charmaine Vaughan, who came to transport advocacy via her local Residents Association and a comms role at Bike Auckland. Her enthusiasm to make local streets safer for all is shared by her son Dylan Vaughan, a budding “urban nerd” who provided much of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    7 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #35

    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 25, 2024 thru Sat, August 31, 2024. Story of the week After another crammed week of climate news including updates on climate tipping points, increasing threats from rising ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • An Uncanny Valley of Improvement: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episodes 1-3 (Season ...

    And thus we come to the second instalment of Amazon’s Rings of Power. The first season, in 2022, was underwhelming, even for someone like myself, who is by nature inclined to approach Tolkien adaptations with charity. The writing was poor, the plot made no sense on its own terms, and ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Alcohol debris and Crocodile Tears

    I write to you this morning from scenes of carnage. Around the floor lie young men who only hours earlier were full of life, and cocktails, and now lie silent. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • When Do We Look Away?

    Hi,The first time I saw something that made me recoil on the internet was a visit to Rotten.com. The clue was in the name — but the internet was a new thing to me in the 90s, and no-one really knew what the hell was going on. But somehow I ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • The decades just fly by

    You turn your back for a moment and a city can completely transform itself. It was, oh, just the other day I was tripping up to Kuala Lumpur every few months to teach workshops and luxuriate in the tropical warmth and fill my face with Char Kway Teow.It has to ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • 2024 Reading Summary: August

    Completed reads for August: Aesop’s Fables (collection), by Aesop Berserk: Volume XXV (manga), by Kentaro Miura Benighted, by J.B. Priestly Berserk: Volume XXVI (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVIII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXIX (manga), by Kentaro Miura ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Is recent global warming part of a natural cycle?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is recent global warming part ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • White Noise

    Now here we standWith our hearts in our handsSqueezing out the liesAll that I hearIs a message, unclearWhat else is there to decide?All that I'm hearing from youIs White NoiseLyrics: Christopher John CheneyIs the tide turning?Have we reached the high point of the racist hate and lies from Hobson’s Pledge, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The Death Of “Big Norm” – Exactly 50 Years Ago Today.

    Norman KirkPrime Minister of New Zealand 1972-1974Born: 6 January 1923 - Died: 31 August 1974Of the working-class, by the working-class, for the working-class.Video courtesy of YouTubeThese elements were posted on Bowalley Road on Saturday, 31 August 2024. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • Claims and Counter-Claims.

    Whose Foreshore? Whose Seabed? When the Marine and Coastal Area Act was originally passed back in 2011, fears about the coastline becoming off-limits to Pakeha were routinely allayed by National Party politicians pointing out that the tests imposed were so stringent  that only a modest percentage of claims (the then treaty ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand Honours Maori King ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • The Principles of the Treaty

    Hardly anyone says what are ‘the principles of the treaty’. The courts’ interpretation restrain the New Zealand Government. While they about protecting a particular community, those restraints apply equally to all community in a liberal democracy – including a single person.Treaty principles were introduced into the governance of New Zealand ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Only Other Reliable Vehicle.

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    1 week ago
  • A Big F U to this Right Wing Government

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    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: James Shaw’s legacy keeps paying off

    One of the central planks of the previous Labour-Green government's emissions reduction policy was GIDI (Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry). This was basically using ETS revenue to pay polluters to clean up production, reducing emissions while protecting jobs. Corporate welfare, but it got the job done, and was often a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Gravity

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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Ditch the climate double speak and get real

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The Government announced changes to the Fast-Track Approvals Bill on Sunday, backing off from the contentious proposal to give ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to August 30

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest science of changing sea temperatures and which emissions policies actually work; on the latest from Ukraine, Gaza and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • This Govt’s infrastructure strategy depends on capital gains taxes & new road taxes

    Billions of dollars in value uplift was identified around the Transmission Gully project, but that was captured 100% by landowners and not shared to pay for the project. Now National is saying value capture should be used for similar projects. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/ Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 30-August-2024

    Kia ora and welcome to the end of another week. Here’s our regular Friday roundup of things that caught our eye, in the realm of cities and transport. If you enjoy these roundups, feel free to join our growing ranks of supporters by making a recurring donation to keep the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Table Talk: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.

    “That’s the sort of constitutional reform he favours: conceived in secret; revolutionary in intent; implemented incrementally without fanfare; and under no circumstances to be placed before the electorate for democratic ratification.”TO SAY IT WAS RAINING would have understated seriously the meteorological conditions. Simply put, it was pissing down. One of ...
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    1 week ago
  • Big Norm and Chris Hipkins

    It’s 50 years ago today that “Big Norm” Kirk died of a heart attack in Wellington’s Home of Compassion. Home of Compassion. Although he was Prime Minister for only 623 days, he has an iconic place in New Zealand history, particularly Labour history. When Labour leaders like Jacinda Ardern recite ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • Government progresses response to Abuse in Care recommendations

    A Crown Response Office is being established within the Public Service Commission to drive the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. “The creation of an Office within a central Government agency was a key recommendation by the Royal Commission’s final report.  “It will have the mandate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Passport wait times back on-track

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says passport processing has returned to normal, and the Department of Internal Affairs [Department] is now advising customers to allow up to two weeks to receive their passport. “I am pleased that passport processing is back at target service levels and the Department ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointments to the FMA board

    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister has today announced three new appointments and one reappointment to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) board. Tracey Berry, Nicholas Hegan and Mariette van Ryn have been appointed for a five-year term ending in August 2029, while Chris Swasbrook, who has served as a board member ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • District Court judges appointed

    Attorney-General Hon Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new District Court judges. The appointees, who will take up their roles at the Manukau Court and the Auckland Court in the Accident Compensation Appeal Jurisdiction, are: Jacqui Clark Judge Clark was admitted to the bar in 1988 after graduating ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government makes it faster and easier to invest in New Zealand

    Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour is encouraged by significant improvements to overseas investment decision timeframes, and the enhanced interest from investors as the Government continues to reform overseas investment. “There were about as many foreign direct investment applications in July and August as there was across the six months ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand to join Operation Olympic Defender

    New Zealand has accepted an invitation to join US-led multi-national space initiative Operation Olympic Defender, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. Operation Olympic Defender is designed to coordinate the space capabilities of member nations, enhance the resilience of space-based systems, deter hostile actions in space and reduce the spread of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government commits to ‘stamping out’ foot and mouth disease

    Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says that a new economic impact analysis report reinforces this government’s commitment to ‘stamp out’ any New Zealand foot and mouth disease incursion. “The new analysis, produced by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, shows an incursion of the disease in New Zealand would have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Improving access to finance for Kiwis

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    3 days ago
  • Prime Minister pays tribute to Kiingi Tuheitia

    As Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII is laid to rest today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has paid tribute to a leader whose commitment to Kotahitanga will have a lasting impact on our country. “Kiingi Tuheitia was a humble leader who served his people with wisdom, mana and an unwavering ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Resource Management reform to make forestry rules clearer

    Forestry Minister Todd McClay today announced proposals to reform the resource management system that will provide greater certainty for the forestry sector and help them meet environmental obligations.   “The Government has committed to restoring confidence and certainty across the sector by removing unworkable regulatory burden created by the previous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • More choice and competition in building products

    A major shake-up of building products which will make it easier and more affordable to build is on the way, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Today we have introduced legislation that will improve access to a wider variety of quality building products from overseas, giving Kiwis more choice and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Joint Statement between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand 4 September 2024, Seoul

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    4 days ago
  • Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the goal for New Zealand and Korea

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    4 days ago
  • International tourism continuing to bounce back

    Results released today from the International Visitor Survey (IVS) confirm international tourism is continuing to bounce back, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey says. The IVS results show that in the June quarter, international tourism contributed $2.6 billion to New Zealand’s economy, an increase of 17 per cent on last ...
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    4 days ago
  • Government confirms RMA reforms to drive primary sector efficiency

    The Government is moving to review and update national level policy directives that impact the primary sector, as part of its work to get Wellington out of farming. “The primary sector has been weighed down by unworkable and costly regulation for too long,” Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  “That is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Weak grocery competition underscores importance of cutting red tape

    The first annual grocery report underscores the need for reforms to cut red tape and promote competition, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “The report paints a concerning picture of the $25 billion grocery sector and reinforces the need for stronger regulatory action, coupled with an ambitious, economy-wide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government moves to lessen burden of reliever costs on ECE services

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the Government has listened to the early childhood education sector’s calls to simplify paying ECE relief teachers. Today two simple changes that will reduce red tape for ECEs are being announced, in the run-up to larger changes that will come in time from the ...
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    5 days ago
  • Over 2,320 people engage with first sector regulatory review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says there has been a strong response to the Ministry for Regulation’s public consultation on the early childhood education regulatory review, affirming the need for action in reducing regulatory burden. “Over 2,320 submissions have been received from parents, teachers, centre owners, child advocacy groups, unions, research ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government backs women in horticulture

    “The Government is empowering women in the horticulture industry by funding an initiative that will support networking and career progression,” Associate Minister of Agriculture, Nicola Grigg says.  “Women currently make up around half of the horticulture workforce, but only 20 per cent of leadership roles which is why initiatives like this ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government to pause freshwater farm plan rollout

    The Government will pause the rollout of freshwater farm plans until system improvements are finalised, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announced today. “Improving the freshwater farm plan system to make it more cost-effective and practical for farmers is a priority for this ...
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    5 days ago
  • Milestone reached for fixing the Holidays Act 2003

    Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says yesterday Cabinet reached another milestone on fixing the Holidays Act with approval of the consultation exposure draft of the Bill ready for release next week to participants.  “This Government will improve the Holidays Act with the help of businesses, workers, and ...
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    5 days ago
  • New priorities to protect future of conservation

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    5 days ago
  • Faster 110km/h speed limit to accelerate Kāpiti

    A new 110km/h speed limit for the Kāpiti Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS) has been approved to reduce travel times for Kiwis travelling in and out of Wellington, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy. ...
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    5 days ago
  • IVL increase to ensure visitors contribute more to New Zealand

    The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) will be raised to $100 to ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Matt Doocey and Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka say. “The Government is serious about enabling the tourism sector ...
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    6 days ago
  • Delivering priority connections for the West Coast

    A record $255 million for transport investment on the West Coast through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will strengthen the region’s road and rail links to keep people connected and support the region’s economy, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “The Government is committed to making sure that every ...
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    6 days ago
  • Road and rail reliability a focus for Wellington

    A record $3.3 billion of transport investment in Greater Wellington through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will increase productivity and reduce travel times, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Delivering infrastructure to increase productivity and economic growth is a priority for our Government. We're focused on delivering transport projects ...
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    6 days ago
  • Record investment to boost economic and housing growth in the Waikato

    A record $1.9 billion for transport investment in the Waikato through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will create a more efficient, safe, and resilient roading network that supports economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “With almost a third of the country’s freight travelling into, out ...
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    6 days ago
  • Building reliable and efficient roading for Taranaki

    A record $808 million for transport investment in Taranaki through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will support economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Taranaki’s roads carry a high volume of freight from primary industries and it’s critical we maintain efficient connections across the region to ...
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    6 days ago
  • Supporting growth and resilience in Otago and Southland

    A record $1.4 billion for transport investment in Otago and Southland through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will create a more resilient and efficient network that supports economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Transport is a critical enabler for economic growth and productivity in Otago ...
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  • Delivering connected and resilient roading for Northland

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    6 days ago
  • Top of the South to benefit from reliable transport infrastructure

    A record $479 million for transport investment across the top of the South Island through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will build a stronger road network that supports primary industries and grows the economy, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “We’re committed to making sure that every dollar is ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government delivering reliable roads for Manawatū-Whanganui

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    6 days ago
  • Restoring connections in Hawke’s Bay

    A record $657 million for transport investment in the Hawke’s Bay through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will support recovery from cyclone damage and build greater resilience into the network to support economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “We are committed to making sure that ...
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    6 days ago
  • Transport resilience a priority for Gisborne

    A record $255 million for transport investment in Gisborne through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will support economic growth and restore the cyclone-damaged network, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “With $255 million of investment over the next three years, we are committed to making sure that every transport ...
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    6 days ago
  • Prioritising growth and reduced travel times in Canterbury

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  • Supporting growth and freight in the Bay of Plenty

    A record $1.9 billion for transport investment in the Bay of Plenty through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will boost economic growth and unlock land for thousands of houses, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Transport is a critical enabler for economic growth and productivity in the Bay of ...
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  • Getting transport back on track in Auckland

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  • Record investment to get transport back on track

    A record $32.9 billion investment in New Zealand’s transport network through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) will create a more reliable and efficient transport network that boosts economic growth and productivity, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “New Zealanders rejected the previous government’s transport policies which resulted in non-delivery, ...
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  • Consultation is open on gambling harm strategy

    Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey has welcomed the start of Gambling Harm Awareness Week by encouraging New Zealanders to have their say on the next three-year strategy to prevent and minimise gambling harm.  “While many New Zealanders enjoy gambling as a pastime without issue, the statistics are clear that ...
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  • JOINT STATEMENT FOR THE OFFICIAL VISIT OF NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER CHRISTOPHER LUXON

    1.    Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim hosted Prime Minister Rt. Hon Christopher Luxon on an Official Visit to Malaysia from 1 to 3 September 2024. Both leaders expressed appreciation for enduring and warm bilateral ties over 67 years of diplomatic relations. The Malaysia – New Zealand Strategic Partnership 2.    The ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

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