“Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?”

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, October 22nd, 2013 - 68 comments
Categories: climate change - Tags:

Lord Nicolas Stern, who wrote a ground-breaking report on the economic costs of climate change against the costs of stopping it (conclusion: stopping it is cheap compared to the cost of not), has changed his mind. Climate change is getting worse, faster, and heading to worse results than he thought. It’s no longer a matter of avoiding disaster, but how bad it gets.

Stern’s quote in the title – “Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?” – really hits me. He’s referring to the odds of catastrophic runaway climate change. This is the situation that we’ve put ourselves in: there’s a good chance it will happen, the only question now is how big we let the risk get.

If we care at all for our futures, and our descendents, we’ve got to act.

68 comments on ““Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?” ”

  1. Ennui 1

    Why Lord Stern did not come to the immediate conclusion that climate change was a direct result (in economic terms) of NOT charging for the use of the commons? The question has always been who pays, or more precisely what are industry and consumers NOT paying for?

    Maybe looking at economics for a cure only teaches us a couple of things: that greed trumps reality, and that the Golden Rule applies (he who has the gold makes the rules). Consequently we might as well give up on economic solutions, it is like tax, nobody wants to pay.

    • karol 1.1

      Yes, this quote from Stern in the linked article:

      But he called for increased investment in greening the economy, saying: “It’s a very exciting growth story.”

      Contradiction, much.

      I saw a report on AL Jazeera this morning, on the pollution in some Chinese cities. This is what has been achieved by off-shoring production to places like China in order to maintain the ailing world industrial-capitalist system.

      • Tat Loo 1.1.1

        Corporate leaders and shareholders maintain the illusion of infinite growth for the well off western public by offshoring the pollution and environmental degradation which results.

        We get the benefits of cheap high tech mass production, Asia and Africa get the downsides of the mines, serf staffed factories, and environmental destruction.

        Fair deal?

      • greywarbler 1.1.2

        And in carrying that production from China to the purchasing country’s destination, bringing in foreign organisms that have escaped from the woodwaste, pallets etc. and have killed off practically all the ash trees in parts of USA and Europe. That is almost all of a large tree species that has evolved over aeons, which would be an important part of balancing global warming and climate change etc. Gone. They can’t save them. Scientists are trying to find a some from the Asian species that have a defence in their genes that enables them to co-exist with the pest. But this will take time, and the trees that have died were well grown ones probably hundreds of years old.

        Bloody free market capitalism, ruins ordinary people’s standard of living, by finding cheaper sources of labour, gives people there a little employment and money to survive on, then ruins their standard of living with practices that degrade their environment. And then moves on and leaves the poor people worse off and the finaglers with fat, smooth fingers. Indonesia – cutting down palm tree groves, spoiling water and people’s ability to live off the land, self-manage and be self-sufficient.

        Which incidentally in NZ was one of the comments that John Banks made about the way poor people should live. Yet he belongs to the $-eyeball group that squeezes all the juiice from the fruit and leaves the empty husk for the people. These money-hungry people have no scruples (a word that has changed meaning from being a very small amount to having doubt about the morality of an action) so everybody ends up with no scruples. Very sad.

        • greywarbler 1.1.2.1

          Thinking further about this business of main chance marketeers going into a place and utilising all the resources and leaving. There are succinct sayings about this – one would be Shoots, Roots and Leaves.

          A more Classical one would be I Came, I Saw and I Conquered which could be adulterated in a common way as I came, I saw, and I conked’er.

  2. Tat Loo 2

    If we care at all for our futures, and our descendents, we’ve got to act.

    Excellent sentiment, unfortunately the capitalist run, yield maximising, quarterly focused economic system disagrees. And to date, their advocates have proven more influential than any countering voices.

    For instance, look how many governments and major corporations around the world are pushing for a steady state economy, with no growth in resource, energy or carbon use. Not many, are there, I fear.

    • MrSmith 2.1

      “pushing for a steady state economy,”

      The current monetary system would soon collapse without growth and inflation, so we have designed a system which is now past it use by date, but unfortunately to many people are addicted to it now and will not go without there fix, well not without a fight.

      • Tat Loo 2.1.1

        Correct. Reminds me of:

        You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

        And a steady state economy is actually not sustainable at current levels anyways…2.9B short tons of coal used p.a., etc. But it’s a damn sight better than this exponential growth curve that we think we can manage.

        • weka 2.1.1.1

          So instead of trying to get from Capitalist/perpetual growth-based Economy to a Steady State Economy, we need to find the stepping stone. Where is it that we can realistically get to from where we are now, that takes us in the right direction for moving on to a SSE?

          • Ennui 2.1.1.1.1

            Good question: I dont think people will be too keen to “regress” which is how they will take change. Maybe when the availability of things we take for granted is again in perpetual question their expectations may change.

            I have tried to envisage what the new resource strapped world will look like…if we took the major products of industrialization out of the mix and looked back at a craft based economy we could look a bit like early colonial NZ…not such a bad thing.

            • Tat Loo 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Good questions. All change has costs. The question is, what are the proposed benefits?

              Also think about the “regressions” brought about over the last 30 years. Twin income households which can’t make ends meet. Working poor. Cheaper goods but fewer jobs and lower paid. Ability to go out shopping 24/7 but less job security and more precarious employment. Small towns like Shannon and Oamaru hit by unrecoverable job losses, tearing the heart out of rural communities. Government and private debt levels inexorably climbing etc.

              Of course, the neolibs sold these changes with the promise of a “brighter future”. Bwahahaha.

              • Bill

                If discrete groups of people arranged their affairs and physical living spaces so that the group became the economically engaged unit as opposed to the exhalted individual as we have at present, then all types of consumption – from produced goods to electrical power, jobs, transport and fuels – all would plummet dramatically.

                But *you* want your punt at the kiwi dream with its whatever acres, beads, bangles and measures of success. And to throw your lot in with others, well…they’re all thieving bastards who’d rip you off, pull you down and hold you back, right? I mean we know this. It’s what Capitalist market economies openly encourage and reward..the selfishness and the cunning.

                And the simple step that would recognise those traits as mere cultural or economic constructs that would fade and wither under conditions where they weren’t rewarded is, for some reason or other, a step we are fearful to take. Maybe we secretly enjoy being selfish and cunning fucktards? That must be it I guess.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  And the simple step that would recognise those traits as mere cultural or economic constructs that would fade and wither under conditions where they weren’t rewarded is, for some reason or other, a step we are fearful to take.

                  For some strange reason we believe the rich psychopaths when they say that they’ll leave and then we’ll have nothing rather than pointing out to them that if they leave they will leave with nothing.

            • MrSmith 2.1.1.1.1.2

              Yes the old standard of living must to keep improving mustn’t it, when we probably need to start with education revolving around things like you can’t have a better standard of living without first providing evidence it can be done sustainably, but of-course we could, as we are, all just get drunk on greed and fuck everyone else.

              Until we start honestly talking about humans self-interest I fear nothing will change, i always remember a trick we used to play on my grand father he was deaf as a post but whisper “here’s $20 granddad” and he suddenly could hear.

  3. muzza 3

    As long as those who control the monetary and financial systems are calling the shots, there is only going to the outcomes they decide and desire!

    Little to nothing is what it it appears to be, and carping on about the state of the worlds environment, as if the masses have the capability to influence it under current tact, is wearing thin.

    Evil is in control, lies and deceit, the go to plays…

  4. King Kong 4

    So I guess in order to show how seriously you take this you will have sold your car and refuse to travel by plane. New tech consumables would probably be a no no as well.

    If I truly believed something like this I would hope that I had the courage of conviction to live my life as an example for others to follow. At least it would be a demonstration of how serious I believed the issue to be.

    Not seeing much of this from “the believers”. And no, growing a stupid beard doesn’t count.

    • karol 4.1

      Really? How do you know?

      And it’s not about “never”, but about cutting back as much as possible. You should try it.

      • King Kong 4.1.1

        Well that is convenient.

        From now on in my house we will turn the oven off when we are am not using it. Maybe then my family can also walk around like these pious heal the world types (am still going to request that my wife waxes her clacker though)

        • Rogue Trooper 4.1.1.1

          something still stuck in your throat…

        • karol 4.1.1.2

          Oh, please. Again I say, what evidence do you have that many of us don’t use and/or buy material resources sparingly?

          You are shadow boxing with you own unreliable assumptions:

          eg. haven’t taken a plane ride since about 2006. Use my car only a couple of times a week, for some essential journeys. Walk a lot and take public transport. Don’t invest in a lot of hardware or other technological things. Grow a small amount of veges…. etc, etc.

          Could we do more? probably. Could more people do more to live environmentally sustainable lives? Undoubtedly.

          Instead of making diversionary arguments, maybe you should look at what could be done to make a positive difference.

          And your sexism isn’t appreciated.

    • miravox 4.2

      A while ago you said people on this site were middle-aged losers who still lived with their mums (so immediately that’s a smaller environmental footprint than your draughty old Thorndon villa, btw).

      Now we have the wherewithal to own cars and travel by plane. Make your mind up.

    • stever 4.3

      “The perfect is the enemy of the good” said someone…

      Just because we can’t be perfect (i.e. for example do nothing that emits any CO2) doesn’t mean we should not all try!!!!

      How hard is it to understand that?

      Unless, of course, all you want to do is a raise a false dichotomy in order to give a reason for doing nothing.

      • King Kong 4.3.1

        It is you lot that are giving the reason for doing nothing. “Catastrophe abounds but we won’t do anything drastic until everybody does”. Typical lefties, no personal responsibility.

        I recycle, have just installed an energy efficient central heating system and walk to work. Tell me what else I have to do.

        • McFlock 4.3.1.1

          vote for a government that will control emissions and limit fossil fuel mining, rather than encouraging both.

          • viv k 4.3.1.1.1

            You could advocate for a rapid change to a renewable energy powered society, instead of talking crap about expecting people who are trying to change the current system to exit the system.
            The ‘you use fossil fuels so no one should listen to you’ line is ridiculous. We have to do what we can to make it possible for society to run on renewables, then everyone can reduce their carbon footprint. And until Parliament is run virtually as a video conference, the Green MPs have to fly there.

          • King Kong 4.3.1.1.2

            In other words pay up in cold hard cash on artificially more expensive power and still consuming the same amount whilst the poor go without.

            Genius.

            • McFlock 4.3.1.1.2.1

              Well, more expensive power in the short term will make investment in developing alternative forms of power more attractive, and therefore cheaper, sooner.

              As opposed to your alternative which gives you a sense of moral superiority but in actuality is farting before a thunderstorm.

              more expensive power and still consuming the same amount

              Nice to know you believe that the supply/demand concept is bunk though, monkeyboy. Don’t tell your friends at the sewer that capitalism doesn’t work – they’ll call you a communist.

            • Draco T Bastard 4.3.1.1.2.2

              Renewable energy is inherently cheaper because it doesn’t use up finite resources. The dollar value placed upon fossil fuels is, as matter of fact, many times below what it should be. This is another example of the free-market failing as it prices pretty much everything incorrectly.

        • captain hook 4.3.1.2

          stick you r head in abucket of water three times and only pull it out twice.

    • Rogue Trooper 4.4

      more than just beardies

  5. Bill 5

    Sitting waiting for a bus last week and became aware that all I could hear was the noise of engines burning petrol putting CO2 into the air. And it didn’t cease or abate – just kept going. And most of those engines were pumping CO2 in the interests of transporting one person, where? To the supermarket, dairy or some other incidental point on a circular journey back to square one?

    Maybe some were on their lunchbreak from a job involving a building needing heated or machinery run and CO2 produced so that they could ‘make money’ to pay a mortgage and bills because….well, why? Are we really so sunk in the mindset of economic enslavement that we are ‘content’ to spend time engaged in relatively meaningless, CO2 rich tasks just to get money; tasks and their associated activities that entail the shutting down ‘a million and one’ possible futures?

  6. Bill 6

    Is it worth pointng out that Stern is being far too rosy in his prognosis? The chances of avoiding really, really fucked up levels of warming are running, according to the science, at about 40/60. Which in Russian Roulette terms equates to about 3 bullets in a 6 bullet chamber, not 1 or 2.

  7. ghostrider888 7

    “If this is isn’t what you see
    It doesn’t make you blind
    If you don’t want to believe
    You don’t have to try

    Alive in the Superunknown

  8. johnm 8

    1970 2 bullets in the chamber of Climate Chaos Disaster.
    1980 3 bullets in the chamber of Climate Chaos Disaster.
    1990 4 bullets in the chamber of Climate Chaos Disaster.
    2000 5 bullets in the chamber of Climate Chaos Disaster.
    2013 6 bullets in the chamber of Climate Chaos Disaster.

    IMHO We are past the talk stage, now it’s how will we adapt to the inevitable?


    http://guymcpherson.com/2013/01/climate-change-summary-and-update/

    Look what’s happening to Australia now: severe bush fires in the Spring.
    http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/20
    So much for Tony (Ignorance is strength) Abbott’s famous statement “Climate Change is Crap” Mate! Keep rolling out the coal exports Feck the great barrier reef! Mate

    • Tat Loo 8.1

      Abbott just terminated the Climate Commission. And now he is dealing with fires on the scale of a state emergency.

      It’s this irrational decision making by and inability to respond of our ruling class which is leading us to disaster.

      And get this: Tony Abbott is a volunteer fire fighter and he’s been helping out on the front line. Looks like fighting fires will be the hallmark of his PM’ship.

      • joe90 8.1.1

        The Climate Commission wasn’t the only thing he cut.

        The Abbott government has tightened the eligibility requirements for bushfire victims to receive recovery funds in a move that Labor has described as ”heartless” and ”an absolute nonsense”.
        People who have been cut off from their homes or who have no electricity have not been deemed eligible in the first round of disaster payments determined by Justice Minister Michael Keenan.

        http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/government-limiting-recovery-funds-heartless-20131020-2vv36.html

      • greywarbler 8.1.2

        It gives you great photo ops standing beside a blonde female fire fighter? with long hair carefully arranged around her shoulders! and not a smut of soot on her face (what can be seen of it under the thicket of hair. But blonde tick, young tick, in yellow safety jackets tick, in front of fire service vehicle tick, great shot of Our Man Getting His Hands Dirty. I think he was backburning for quite a few hours.

        Anyway a better look than that dozy politician sheila last big fire. Sitting around watching it all on the tv or something giving the feeling that she wouldn’t be seen dead out there, though some public and firefighters were.

      • muzza 8.1.3

        Abbott will be the PM who signs Oz into the TPPA, by looks of it!

        Fire lighter, not fire fighter!

      • Murray Olsen 8.1.4

        Tony Abbott’s front line help consists of having his photo taken in a yellow coat, eating lunch, and disappearing. The firemen on the ground are fairly scathing of his efforts.

    • johnm 8.2

      Basically the Planet is fucked off with us and, and, and We may not survive its anger, keep talking suckers! We’re shooting ourselves with 6 full chambers bye bye Humans, but keep yacking on fools.

      • greywarbler 8.2.1

        johnm
        I’m worried that we will not leave the planet till we have destroyed it. We want to live on until our neurons melt. Unfortunately our blue planet and all the other living beings on it, with their own consciousnes, lives, beauty, purpose and their future populations may not survive us and our destructive, malicious thoughts as we compete for our last big olympiks.

        And the oil drillers cast the term ‘science fiction’ at Greenpeace scenario about our coast, just as they would say comic book. The speaker on Radionz this morning was so ignorant that he doesn’t realise that many of these stories, and comic books too, are outlining what will happen to people in largely unimagined but possible scenarios.

        The satellites now so common were an Isamov imagined story once weren’t they?

    • johnm 8.3

      How do we deal with inevitable Climate Chaos? Guy McPherson.
      Presentation at Boulder Colorado.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEGlYXumguI

      “I delivered a presentation on climate chaos in Boulder, Colorado on the evening of Wednesday, 16 October 2013. The result is embedded below, with thanks to hosts and facilitators Jenny Ferry, Carolyn Baker, Jenelle Green, Dan Green, Deanna Meyer, and Patrick O’Leary (and also thanks and apologies to those I’ve doubtless forgotten).”

      • Chooky 8.3.1

        cant hear the sound, not sure why….dont think it is a fault at this end ( however as I am a tech retard this is possible)

        ..if the sound on this presentation is fixable( and it is not just dummie me at this end) i would appreciate this being posted up again at a later date…maybe in Open Mike ?

  9. +1 Johnm

    But I think Guy McPherson would say that 2007 was the year of the full chamber…

    “…On the topic of tipping points, we crossed the Rubicon in 2007 at about 0.76 C warming. At this point, according to David Spratt’s excellent September 2013 report, “Is Climate Already Dangerous?” Not only had Arctic sea-ice passed its tipping point, but the Greenland Ice Sheet may not be far behind, as the Arctic moves to sea-ice-free conditions in summer. Glaciologist Jason Box, an expert on Greenland ice, agrees. Box was quoted in a 5 December 2012 article in the Guardian: “In 2012 Greenland crossed a threshold where for the first time we saw complete surface melting at the highest elevations in what we used to call the dry snow zone. … As Greenland crosses the threshold and starts really melting in the upper elevations it really won’t recover from that unless the climate cools significantly for an extended period of time which doesn’t seem very likely.”

    If you think we’ll adapt, think again. The rate of evolution trails the rate of climate change by a factor of 10,000, according to a paper in the August 2013 issue of Ecology Letters. And it’s not as if extinction events haven’t happened on this planet, as explained in the BBC program, The Day the Earth Nearly Died.

    The rate of climate change clearly has gone beyond linear, as indicated by the presence of the myriad self-reinforcing feedback loops described below, and now threatens our species with extinction in the near term. Anthropologist Louise Leakey ponders our near-term demise in her 5 July 2013 assessment at Huffington Post and Canadian wildlife biologist Neil Dawe joins party of near-term extinction in an interview 29 August 2013 and ** musician-turned-activist Sir Bob Geldof joins the fray in a Daily Star article from 6 October 2013. ** In the face of near-term human extinction, most Americans view the threat as distant and irrelevant, as illustrated by a 22 April 2013 article in the Washington Post based on poll results that echo the long-held sentiment that elected officials should be focused on the industrial economy, not far-away minor nuisances such as climate change…”

    http://guymcpherson.com/2013/01/climate-change-summary-and-update/

    • weka 9.1

      MacPherson’s prognosis of human extinction is theoretical. He claims evidence, but it’s not there any time I’ve gone looking for it. What I find is his extrapolations and projections from his own pain. He may very well be right, but he hasn’t proven that yet and he does the world a great disservice speaking as if he has. As do people who quote him as knowing the Truth.

      I’m also curious why you bother commenting on a political blog if we are all doomed. What’s that about?

      • red rattler 9.1.1

        Weka, what a ludicrous argument.

        “Extrapolations and projections from his own pain”.

        You think that McPherson is making this up because he feels bad about something?

        Speak for yourself.

        All scientific projections about the future are extrapolations on past and existing trends informed by what causes those trends. Anything else is superstition and ignorance.

        “…If you’re too busy to read the evidence presented below, here’s the bottom line: On a planet 4 C hotter than baseline, all we can prepare for is human extinction (from Oliver Tickell’s 2008 synthesis in the Guardian). Tickell is taking a conservative approach, considering humans have not been present at 3.5 C above baseline (i.e., the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, commonly accepted as 1850). According to the World Bank’s 2012 report, “Turn down the heat: why a 4°C warmer world must be avoided” and an informed assessment of “BP Energy Outlook 2030” put together by Barry Saxifrage for the Vancouver Observer, our path leads directly to the 4 C mark. According to Colin Goldblatt, author of a paper published online in the 28 July 2013 issue of Nature Geoscience, “The runaway greenhouse may be much easier to initiate than previously thought.” Furthermore, as pointed out in the 1 August 2013 issue of Science, in the near term Earth’s climate will change orders of magnitude faster than at any time during the last 65 million years…”

        McPherson thinks we cannot avoid 4.0 C. but that doesn’t stop him acting as if he could stop it. For him industrial civilisation has to collapse now. To me that is a euphemism for the fall of capitalism.

        So lets debate global warming, why would we shut up and wait till the end with our heads in the sand. We may not survive but lets give it a shot. I won’t go easily unless we take out capitalism on the way. Who knows if this will be enough, but it sure will be a consolation. Let’s die standing up fighting for humanity as part of nature and not homo stupidus in the fossil record of the Anthropocene.

        • red rattler 9.1.1.1

          Video of Guy McPherson’s latest talk addresses what do we do now?
          Act!
          http://guymcpherson.com/2013/10/presentation-in-boulder-colorado/

          • weka 9.1.1.1.1

            “All scientific projections about the future are extrapolations on past and existing trends informed by what causes those trends. Anything else is superstition and ignorance.”

            Maybe, but science is not value or bias free either. McPherson’s bias needs to be overtly recognised.

        • weka 9.1.1.2

          “You think that McPherson is making this up because he feels bad about something?”

          No, I don’t. I think that McPherson believes that humans WILL go extinct and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent this now. It’s fine he believes that, and his belief if based on intelligent analysis of the situation. But he’s not god, and there is no way for anyone at this stage to KNOW what is going to happen. It’s not fine that he presents impending extinction as fact. Which is what he does.

          As for projecting from his pain, he appears to be part of a movement that now sees our situation as irredemable and therefore best practice is to come to terms with this and prepare for our doom. Again, that’s fine for him to hold that view. I just think that people need to know that his arguments are theoretical, and that his view influences what he presents.

          I notice that you didn’t answer my question:

          “I’m also curious why you bother commenting on a political blog if we are all doomed. What’s that about?”

          I think that McPherson’s view, and people posting him as Truth, is a form of scaremongering that is counter-productive. Most humans will shut off in the face of a future that is hopeless and that they have no control over. AGW is hard enough for people to cope with mentally and emotionally, without also telling them that we are all going to die quite soon (plus their kids and grandkids). McPherson appears to have moved substantially from the “our actions might make a difference” to “it’s too late for our actions to make a difference”.

          It’s big of him for sure, to keep acting in the face of his belief in extinction. Most people don’t have that capacity and IMO what he presents will make it more likely for them to do nothing, or to party while the band plays on.

  10. tricledrown 10

    King Kong wow being reasonable.
    Well done you are doing well no doubt we can all improve.

  11. Philgwellington Wellington 11

    Xox
    I look everywhere and can’t find the door. It’s a nightmare and I can’t wait to wake up.

  12. karol 12

    Dr Salinger, Climate Scientist, is talking at Auckland Uni tonight, 6pm, Owen Glenn building.

    Also talking,Professor Glenn McGregor (Professor of Climatology, University of Auckland) and Dr Jan Sinclair (Massey University, Albany)

  13. Rhinocrates 13

    Ah, Russian Roulette – if you must play it, do it with a revolver and not an automatic. Now, however, it looks like we might be a arguing not about the number of bullets, but the calibre.

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  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    3 days ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    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 month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

    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 climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation; and special guest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Have We an Infrastructure Deficit?

    An Infrastructure New Zealand report says we are keeping up with infrastructure better than we might have thought from the grumbling. But the challenge of providing for the future remains.I was astonished to learn that the quantity of our infrastructure has been keeping up with economic growth. Your paper almost ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago
  • Councils reject racism

    Last month, National passed a racist law requiring local councils to remove their Māori wards, or hold a referendum on them at the 2025 local body election. The final councils voted today, and the verdict is in: an overwhelming rejection. Only two councils out of 45 supported National's racist agenda ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Homage to Simeon Brown

    Open to all - happy weekend ahead, friends.Today I just want to be petty. It’s the way I imagine this chap is -Not only as a political persona. But his real-deal inner personality, in all its glory - appears to be pure pettiness & populist driven.Sometimes I wonder if Simeon ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Government of deceit

    When National cut health spending and imposed a commissioner on Te Whatu Ora, they claimed that it was necessary because the organisation was bloated and inefficient, with "14 layers of management between the CEO and the patient". But it turns out they were simply lying: Health Minister Shane Reti’s ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all

    Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024

    Welcome to another Friday and another roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. As always, this and every post is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew. If you like our work and you’d like to see more of it, we invite you to join our regular ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies; Excerpt Four.

    Internal versus external security. Regardless of who rules, large countries can afford to separate external and internal security functions (even if internal control functions predominate under authoritarian regimes). In fact, given the logic of power concentration and institutional centralization of … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • A Hole In The River

    There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...

    My conclusion last week was that The Rings of Power season two represented a major improvement in the series. The writing’s just so much better, and honestly, its major problems are less the result of the current episodes and more creatures arising from season one plot-holes. I found episode three ...
    4 days ago
  • Who should we thank for the defeat of the Nazis

    As a child in the 1950s, I thought the British had won the Second World War because that’s what all our comics said. Later on, the films and comics told me that the Americans won the war. In my late teens, I found out that the Soviet Union ...
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #36 2024

    Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...
    4 days ago
  • Media Link: Discussing the NZSIS Security Threat Report.

    I was interviewed by Mike Hosking at NewstalkZB and a few other media outlets about the NZSIS Security Threat Report released recently. I have long advocated for more transparency, accountability and oversight of the NZ Intelligence Community, and although the … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • How do I make this better for people who drive Ford Rangers?

    Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • A missed opportunity

    The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Nicola Willis Seeks New Sidekick To Help Fix NZ’s Economy

    Synopsis:Nicola Willis is seeking a new Treasury Boss after Dr Caralee McLiesh’s tenure ends this month. She didn’t listen to McLiesh. Will she listen to the new one?And why is Atlas Network’s Taxpayers Union chiming in?Please consider subscribing or supporting my work. Thanks, Tui.About CaraleeAt the beginning of July, Newsroom ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Inflation alive and kicking in our land of the long white monopolies

    The golden days of profit continue for the the Foodstuffs (Pak’n’Save and New World) and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 5:The Groceries Commissioner has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The thermodynamics of electric vs. internal combustion cars

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler I love thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is like your mom: it may not tell you what you can do, but it damn well tells you what you can’t do. I’ve written a few previous posts that include thermodynamics, like one on air capture of ...
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.

    The notion of geopolitical  “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Venus Hum

    Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • I Went to a Creed Concert

    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • Nicola Willis’s Very Unserious Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

    Open to all with kind thanks to all subscribers and supporters.Today, RNZ revealed that despite MFAT advice to Nicola Willis to be very “careful and deliberate” in her communications with the South Korean government, prior to any public announcement on cancelling Kiwirail’s i-Rex, Willis instead told South Korea 26 minutes ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Satisfying the Minister’s Speed Obsession

    The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...
    6 days ago
  • What if we freed up our streets, again?

    This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago
  • No Alarms And No Surprises

    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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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 ...
    7 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
    7 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 ...
    1 week 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
    1 week 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 ...
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week ago
  • Just one Wellington home being consented for every 10 in Auckland

    A decade of under-building is coming home to roost in Wellington. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday September 2:Wellington’s leaders are wringing their hands over an exodus of skilled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week 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
    1 week 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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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. ...
    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 ...
    1 week ago
  • 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.

    An Elite Leader Awaiting Rotation? Hipkins’ give-National-nothing-to-aim-at strategy will only succeed if the Coalition becomes as unpopular in three years as the British Tories became in fourteen.THE SHAPE OF CHRIS HIPKINS’ THINKING on Labour’s optimum pathway to re-election is emerging steadily. At the core of his strategy is Hipkins’ view ...
    1 week ago
  • A Big F U to this Right Wing Government

    Open to all - deep thanks to those who support and subscribe.One of the things that has got me interested recently is updates about Māori wards.In April, Stuff’s Karanama Ruru reported that ~ 2/3 of our 78 councils had adopted Māori wards in NZ.That meant that under the Coalition repeal ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 weeks ago

  • Action to grow the rural health workforce

    Scholarships awarded to 27 health care students is another positive step forward to boost the future rural health workforce, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality health care and this Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Pharmac delivering more for Kiwis following major funding boost

    Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour has welcomed the increased availability of medicines for Kiwis resulting from the Government’s increased investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the Government,” says Mr Seymour. “When our Government assumed office, New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Sport Minister congratulates NZ’s Paralympians

    Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has congratulated New Zealand's Paralympic Team at the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in Paris.  “The NZ Paralympic Team's success in Paris included fantastic performances, personal best times, New Zealand records and Oceania records all being smashed - and of course, many Kiwis on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 days ago
  • Improving access to finance for Kiwis

    5 September 2024  The Government is progressing further reforms to financial services to make it easier for Kiwis to access finance when they need it, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.  “Financial services are foundational for economic success and are woven throughout our lives. Without access to finance our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 days ago
  • Joint Statement between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand 4 September 2024, Seoul

    On the occasion of the official visit by the Right Honourable Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand to the Republic of Korea from 4 to 5 September 2024, a summit meeting was held between His Excellency President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the goal for New Zealand and Korea

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. “Korea and New Zealand are likeminded democracies and natural partners in the Indo Pacific. As such, we have decided to advance discussions on elevating the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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