Government announces project that will significantly reduce coal consumption

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, May 22nd, 2023 - 102 comments
Categories: chris hipkins, climate change, Environment, ETS, greens, james shaw, labour, science - Tags:

This is huge.

The Government has done a deal with the owners of New Zealand Steel that will see the company replace its coal fired furnace with a renewable energy supplied electric arc furnace.

From Radio New Zealand:

NZ Steel’s Glenbrook plant will install an electric arc furnace – halving its coal use – in what the government is calling the country’s largest ever emissions reduction project.

Half of the coal being used at the site will be replaced with electricity to recycle scrap steel.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced plans for the project at a media briefing at the site in south Auckland this afternoon.

NZ Steel – which employs 4000 people in its New Zealand and Pacific operations – is the country’s only producer of flat rolled steel products for the building, construction, manufacturing and agricultural industries. It produces about 670,000 tonnes of steel each year for products that include roofing and structural beams.

Under the announcement today, the company will receive up to $140 million from the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund and it will foot the bill for the rest of the cost, which has not been specified.

The agreement has three components:

  • Base build funding support up to $110m
  • An extra $10m commissioning funding incentive paid if NZ Steel can get the furnace running by January 2027
  • A further $20m of performance funding paid if NZ Steel can achieve a further 800,000 tonnes of emissions reductions by 31 December 2030 above the base amount committed to in the agreement

The government says the project means 800,000 tonnes of pollution can be removed from the atmosphere each year – the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars off the road. It will also achieve over 5 percent of all New Zealand’s required emissions reductions between 2026-2030 and and 3.4 percent within the third emissions budget (2031-2035).

The deal is the sort envisaged by the Emissions Trading Scheme.  Set a price for Carbon, collect money from the large emitters and then use the funds to reduce emissions.

Expressions have been and will be expressed about this being corporate welfare but the bottom line is that this is a significant portion of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

And we need the steel.  As Ad pointed out wind farms need mines, and steel.

The last two years have seen reductions in the country’s greenhouse gas emmisions.

Christopher Luxon clearly thinks he could have done a better deal.  From Rachel Sadler at Stuff he is quoted as saying this:

“I thought that announcement was outrageous, actually, because it just says to me that this is a Government that’s got its priorities all wrong. Just this week, this Budget couldn’t find money to actually help support Kiwis going through a tough cost of living crisis. But all of a sudden they can find $140 million as a subsidy paid for by Kiwi taxpayers and give it to a large foreign, multinational, profitable company.”

It was money from the ETS and paid by polluting kiwi taxpayers.  The money is from a contestable fund that has made a number of grants already.

But National clearly thinks that lazy rhetoric is a viable political option.

What I would like to know is what would they do?  After all they do promise to a country where industrial processing plants are powered by clean electricity, not coal.

And the clock is ticking and the need to reduce emissions has never been clearer or more urgent.  They owe it to the country to say exactly what they would do and what they would change.

Congratulations to the Government.  By this one deal it has taken a significant step to its goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030.

102 comments on “Government announces project that will significantly reduce coal consumption ”

  1. Ad 1

    Appreciated this morning that the funding for this came from the emissions fund ie from polluters not taxpayers.

    I would like to hear a more concrete commitment from BlueScope to staying in the country.

    Also I would like to have heard a more fulsome commitment by the CEO of Contact to ensuring no electricity generated by coal. That would also put pressure on Genesis at Huntly to shift to gas rather than importing brown coal.

    I guess this is just one of those industries that we have to keep subsidising if we are going to have local steelmaking in the country.

    So congratulations to Prime Minister Hipkins, and to Ministers Woods and Shaw. A really good post-budget hit.

    • Gosman 1.1

      That is like stating we don't pay GST because businesses do. Businesses factor in the cost of Carbon credits in to their financial models and pass on much of the costs to the end consumer.

      • Ad 1.1.1

        Not if NZSteel can't compete against imported steel, as they can't at the moment.

        • Gosman 1.1.1.1

          You are discussing a different thing then. What you are wanting is for NZ to have a Steel industry not that we will reduce our carbon emissions.

          • Incognito 1.1.1.1.1

            No, we (the Government) want a steel industry and reduce carbon emissions.

            • Gosman 1.1.1.1.1.1

              I've told you that this deal won't make a difference to our overall carbon budget. That is set by the ETS and all this does is free up carbon credits to be used by others in another area of the economy.

              • Incognito

                And I have already told you that you’re talking porkies. If you keep ignoring information provided by others who are silly enough to engage with you still then you classify as troll.

                • Gosman

                  I have addressed the information provided by others. We have a carbon budget that is based on our international obligations agreed at Climate change conferences like Paris. We have set up the ETS as the mechanism to meet our obligations. The most the agreement with NZ Steel does it reduce the likelihood that someone has to purchase carbon credits on an international carbon market. This just means we are paying someone overseas to reduce carbon emissions rather than doing so in NZ but the net effect in the World is essentially the same.

                  • Incognito

                    No!

                    800,000 tonnes less emissions into the atmosphere each year is real and a real 5% of all NZ’s required emissions reductions between 2026-2030 and 3.4 percent within the third emissions budget (2031-2035), as per OP.

                    You cannot deny this nor wish it away. What NZ Steel does with its NZUs doesn’t let other polluters off the hook until this nation as a whole has met its targets. FYI, I believe that on current trajectory NZ is going to miss its agreed international targets.

                    Stop blowing hot air!

                    • infused

                      It makes zero difference.

                      China churned out about 390 million tonnes of coal last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday, equivalent to 13.04 million tonnes per day. That leapfrogged the previous peak of 12.89 million tonnes in September, and was up from 12.36 million tonnes a year before

                      Until other countries are bought inline, this is for nothing.

                      [When you quote, you must provide a link. Or take a ban – Incognito]

                    • Incognito []

                      Mod note

                    • Incognito []

                      We have a moral and legal obligation to reduce its greenhouse emissions, regardless of what other countries do, because we have signed up to international agreements that commit us, together with the signatories, to taking action on climate change and supporting global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. New Zealand also has a high carbon footprint per capita. We cannot afford to be complacent or irresponsible about our contribution to climate change, which is already affecting our environment, economy, and society.

                      You sound like a binary absolutist denier of Climate Change and any efforts to combat it.

                    • RedLogix

                      @Incognito

                      I believe targets based on Carbon footprints/capita are the wrong measurement because it is trivial to achieve if you simply revert to pre-Industrial zero carbon economies and the mass poverty that physics imposes on this.

                      The correct measurement is Carbon/Unit GDP which includes human development and welfare in the mix.

                      As for doing ‘our fair share’ you are in a strict moral sense correct. Yet the commenters above also have a valid point – the only thing that matters is total carbon emissions globally.

                      And while taking a moral stand is well and good, it counts for little if others treat it with contempt.

                      And before you attempt the absurd stretch of calling me a climate change denier – my view is firmly located in the measures necessary to solve the problem. As contrasted to ideologically nice virtue signals.

                    • Incognito []

                      @ RedLogix

                      Thank you for sharing your beliefs (incl. your old red herrings). None of it changes the fact that NZ has a legal and moral obligation to meet its targets. I don’t believe it is compulsory for you to sign up to those targets as individual and commit to what Government, on our behalf, has decided as necessary. Your lack of enthusiasm has been noted.

                      Meanwhile, NZ does what’s in its power to reduce harmful emissions and continue to apply pressure on others when & where appropriate to do the same – it’s called Realpolitik. If you wish to call this ‘virtue signalling’ then so be it. Nobody with even an ounce of integrity will be swayed by lazy labels thrown at them.

                      Tangible action to mitigate disaster vs. whining about others not pulling their weight and running off in a huff to sulk in a corner is like mature adults vs. whining 5-year olds. Adults look upward and forward and take responsibility as they see fit; 5-year olds play in their sandpits with other 5-year olds – the contrast is obvious.

                      PS I prefer talking with adults

                    • RedLogix

                      Exactly what are you referring to as a 'red herring'?

                      And are you arguing that somehow total global carbon does not matter? That somehow only the emissions from New Zealand are worth discussing?

                    • Incognito []

                      I’m not interested in chasing red herrings
                      No
                      No

                    • RedLogix

                      Well that leaves everyone floundering.

                    • Incognito []

                      No, I answered the two (leading) questions (and refused to be pulled into a wild red herring chase).

                      I cannot help it if this doesn’t satisfy you or leaves you floundering.

                      Have a nice day.

                    • RedLogix

                      Just why would acknowledging that total global carbon matters be so difficult for you?

                      Because in 2022 China built two new coal burning power plants per fucking week.

                      https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1160441919/china-is-building-six-times-more-new-coal-plants-than-other-countries-report-fin

                      Have a nice day.

                    • Liberty Belle

                      "Meanwhile, NZ does what’s in its power to reduce harmful emissions…"

                      Not to a degree that is even remotely significant in the context of climate change.

                      " and continue to apply pressure on others when & where appropriate to do the same"

                      Are you serious? NZ? Do you seriously believe that NZ engage in some kind of economic self flagellation will be even remotely interesting to China? To India? They laugh at us.

                    • Incognito []

                      You managed to sneak this one in while I prepared & activated your 10-day ban.

                      To quickly answer your questions:

                      Yes No No

                      Thanks for the diversion of red herrings – I have seen quite a few red herrings and strawmen lately, so it must be the season.

                  • LibertyBelle

                    The planned reduction in volumes for the NZU auctions are set out at
                    https://environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/areas-of-work/climate-change/ets/nz-ets-market/setting-unit-limits-in-the-nz-ets/#coverage-of-the-overall-limit.

                    Are you arguing that unless that planned reduction in volume is incremented by a further 800,000 tonnes before the commissioning of the new furnace, that the 800,000 tonnes saved will just be picked up other emitters through the ETS?

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 1.2

      "Appreciated this morning that the funding for this came from the emissions fund ie from polluters not taxpayers. "

      This money is 100% public money, owned by all of us (including 'tax payers') that could have been used in any way in the public interest. Instead it is being handed to a private multinational that makes in excess of $1b per annum profit, while they emit vast pollution.

      We should regulate (or price pollution properly) and where the polluter's won't cooperate, nationalise or shut them down and spend the money on alternative industries. The already-wealthy should not be getting such gifts from the public purse.

  2. Gosman 2

    Please explain how this will impact our overall carbon budget given that this is driven by the ETS and freeing up carbon usage in one area of the economy will just drive the price of carbon credits down and mean others can use more of it?

  3. Gosman 3

    It seems to me people don't understand how the ETS works including our current Minister for Climate Change. That is disturbing. Unless these actions are accompanied by a reduction in the overall Carbon allowance that we have already agreed to this won't really impact our emissions profile at all.

    • mickysavage 3.1

      It is cutting 5% of emissions. It is being paid for by ETS contributions. If industries continue to want to pollute they will need to buy credits. And the price of credits will go up over time.

      • Gosman 3.1.1

        It doesn't alter our overall carbon budget. It just frees up 5% of the carbon usage to be used by other activities.

        • Incognito 3.1.1.1

          What ‘other activities’?

          • Gosman 3.1.1.1.1

            Whatever the ETS decides. That could be a coal burning thermal power plant if people buy enough carbon credits.

            • Incognito 3.1.1.1.1.1

              That’s an evasive answer and you’re making up things as you go.

              • Gosman

                You are asking me what someone buying carbon credits on NZ's ETS will choose to do with them. I don't know. How am I meant to work that out? Do you have an idea of what all the carbon credits are used for in NZ?

                • Incognito

                  Finally, some honesty! So, then why are you making these unsupported assertions if you don’t know what is going to happen on the ETS market?

            • mickysavage 3.1.1.1.1.2

              But they get more and more expensive. There is only a set amount of credits. They become more expensive as time goes by if industry does not significantly reduce CO2 output.

              • Gosman

                Yes and the Government has just provided a subsidy to free up 5% of the total to be used by another player or players in the economy rather than NZ Steel. Ultimately the owners of NZ Steel benefits twice because it gets 140 – 160 million (depending on any targets it meets) from the Government plus it doesn't need to purchase as many Carbon credits to carry out activities.

                • Ad

                  I think we just have to suck it up.

                  That's about as policy as it gets.

                  I don't think anyone understands the impact on the carbon price.

                  Minister Shaw says Treasury inputted all the way, together with I think it was KPMG; the business case will make for interesting reading.

                  There was more in the RNZ interview this morning between Guyon Espiner and Minister Shaw.

                  • Gosman

                    James Shaw avoided answering the question when it was put to him (TWICE!) by Guyon Espiner whether Treasury thought this was a wise use of Taxpayers money. That suggests they were not impressed with the business case. As for KPMG's involvement, they will produce a report that will tell you what you want to hear if you pay them enough.

                    • Ad

                      I'm happy to wait for the advice to be released.

                    • Incognito

                      Meanwhile, you’re flapping your wings in a dark echo chamber listening to your own shrieks believing they come from above.

  4. Tiger Mountain 4

    Look, I appreciate the “rah rah” factor, and the projected real world effects as Micky describes re emissions and steel production, but this is still Corporate Welfare laid bare. The boss class will not do anything much of their own volition unless there is a benefit to shareholders, or, they are forced to.

    NZ Steel has had much taxpayer support prior as well, they also have a high level of unionisation–up around 95% for non managerial staff which is pretty damn good. I noticed Mike Fuge Contact Energy, in some of the interview cycle, he was ex CEO at Marsden Pt. Refinery who left when NZ Refining were unwilling to develop a green energy division on site.

    If this Govt. were not so keen on the ailing “Partnership model” they would eject Rio Tinto forthwith and put the infrastructure in place to redirect that power to other users.
    And…time to restore power generation and supply to full public ownership. The retailers are having the country on.

    • Ad 4.1

      It's not too hard to argue that we need corporate welfare in the country because we are a small, narrow, remote, vulnerable, path-dependent economy and we can't do without some key local manufacturers.

      Even with the corporate welfare we still need to protect them from Chinese steel dumping.

  5. Jack 5

    The rich Tesla owners need to hold out for a bettter corporate welfare deal. They only get a 10% subsidy. Looks like 50% is the new corporate welfare rate.

    • Ad 5.1

      People who don't own Teslas are getting more government subsidy per person than we've seen in the last thirty years. Did you not read the budget?

  6. Incognito 6

    Luke Malpass over at Stuff:

    It also sets up a simple question for Labour to ask National: this is $140m to get rid of 800,000 tonnes of emissions in one fell swoop. How else are you going to do that?

    He also provides a good balance:

    Of course the previous National government was not immune from a bit of corporate welfare: film subsidies go straight from New Zealand taxpayers to attract global film companies. There was the deal with Sky City casino for a convention centre. And much besides.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132104082/corporate-welfare-or-coinvestment-role-of-state-back-in-play-for-election

    In fact, his whole (long-ish) piece is worth a read.

    • newsense 6.1

      They don’t care about climate change so nothing they say about it has coherency.

      As well the looming $24 billion bill that could hit us if we do little seems a mite more than 100 million.

      But apparently National are good at this kind of thing…

    • Mike the Lefty 6.2

      That's right.

      When National pays a subsidy it is called "investment".

      When Labour pays a subsidy it is called "corporate welfare".

  7. RedLogix 7

    A welcome step in the right direction and well done to everyone who got this over the line.

    Now we just have to convince the rest of the world to follow suit; because carbon atoms do not have a little label on them saying "Made in New Zealand".

    • Gosman 7.1

      This makes little to no difference to NZ's carbon budget. This just allows other users of carbon to get access to use it at a cheaper rate.

      • roy cartland 7.1.1

        I think this is a worthwhile point, if accurate. Have you got any more insight into this Gos?

        It's like those little aerolon things on the end of plane wings. They don't reduce pollution; they just increase fuel efficiency, causing cheaper and hence more flights.

        • RedLogix 7.1.1.1

          Yup. That's an example of Jevon's Paradox.

          While any engineer is going to chase improved efficiency, there in any given system there is a limit to how much this can be improved. Basic thermodynamics enforces this. We will always consume energy, and at some fundamental level our ability to control our environment, to generate human development, requires that we consume energy. No amount of magical thinking can avoid this.

          Or as MS says in the OP – we need steel. Or any of the myriad other materials and processes that make modernity possible.

          We will continue to use energy, and when you account for the energy requirement of the developing world, we need a LOT more of it, no matter how efficient we become. The only option that works is to decarbonise that energy supply.

          • roy cartland 7.1.1.1.1

            So does that mean, as Gosman is implying, that the coal-use saved, will just be used somewhere else? Since we have that budget, we'll just use it up?

            If so, then reduction is a red herring, it should be total cessation, right?

            • RedLogix 7.1.1.1.1.1

              More or less yes.

              But total cessation of what?

              • roy cartland

                Of coal use.

                I guess that even if it doesn't actually change emissions, it is proof of concept for when coal use is ceased.

                • RedLogix

                  Yes. The entire climate change debate hinges around whether the developing world chooses coal or nuclear to power it's future. That is pretty much all that matters – everything else is a nice to have.

                • Gosman

                  The ETS sets the limit that NZ has for carbon usage. The Government sets that limit based on the international agreements it signs up to and has committed to achieving. That is unaffected by this agreement.

                  • Incognito

                    That is unaffected by this agreement.

                    Duh!

                    It is a big step towards meeting the targets in the agreements.

                    • Gosman

                      The ETS is set up to meet the targets in those agreements. If the targets are not met for the country then the government (or other parties) have to purchase more carbon credits from international sources.

                    • Incognito []

                      So, we as a consuming & producing country must meet the targets. If/when NZ Steel meets its target of becoming carbon neutral it can auction off its surplus NZUs. We, incl. NZ Steel, are a long way of meeting our targets.

                      Are you a Climate Change denier, by any chance? You sure act like one.

                    • Gosman

                      I am extolling the virtues of the ETS so how does that make me a Climate change denier?

                    • Incognito []

                      I cannot fathom your stubborn denial of a real reduction, yearly, of 800,000 tonnes of emissions into the atmosphere. It does sound like CC denier lunacy. However, if you have another/better explanation for your wilful pig-headed ignorance then be my guest.

                      You seem to have little grasp of the ETS.

      • Incognito 7.1.2

        How do you work this?

        The price of NZUs is based on supply and demand (https://www.climatecommission.govt.nz/get-involved/new-content-page/what-is-the-nz-ets/). The supply of NZUs is limited and will drop over time in line with NZ’s emissions reduction targets. The demand for NZUs depends on the level of emissions from different sectors.

        It doesn’t necessarily mean that NZ Steel will sell their NZUs to other emitters, as they may choose to hold onto them for future use instead of trading them on the domestic market (https://www.canopy.govt.nz/market-forest/carbon-credit-market/).

        The deal with NZ Steel will also increase the demand for electricity, which may increase the emissions from the electricity sector if it is not generated from renewable sources. This in turn may increase the demand for NZUs from the electricity sector to offset their emissions.

        The overall impact of all industry sectors on the NZ ETS market will depend on how much they reduce emissions, how much they increase electricity demand, and how they manage their NZUs.

        Instead of asking your inane questions and making unsupported assertions, why don’t you bring something constructive and tangible to the discussion?

        • mickysavage 7.1.2.1

          Second that.

          Asserting the deal has no effect when clearly it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% makes absolutely no sense.

          • Incognito 7.1.2.1.1

            Thanks.

            I think Gossie is conflating NZU price with how much crap is blown into the atmosphere. The former is an artificial construct to reduce the latter and only the latter matters (but not to Gossie, for whom only the former seems to matter or matter most).

          • Gosman 7.1.2.1.2

            It won't reduce NET GHG emissions in NZ at all. It frees up 5% of our allocation to be used elsewhere. If you want to reduce our NET emissions (the actual figure that matters after all) then the target for the ETS needs to be reduced.

            • Incognito 7.1.2.1.2.1

              OMG! You’re exasperating!

              5% of the yearly reduction of emissions (i.e. the target) means we have to achieve another 95%, every year. In effect, you’re arguing not to reduce emissions because it will get us closer to the target! Let’s not pay off the mortgage because if we reduce the principal to zero we have no mortgage to pay off anymore! Woe is me!

              • Gosman

                The target is not moving. All that is moving is one of the major emitters won't need to buy carbon credits to enable it to carry out their activity. Those carbon credits are still available though.

                • Incognito

                  The target is not moving.

                  Correct, it is set (for now). The NZ Steel deal means we move closer to the target.

                  All that is moving is one of the major emitters won't need to buy carbon credits to enable it to carry out their activity.

                  NZ Steel may be moving closer to its target or continue paying for NZUs. This is their decision based on their reasons/reasoning. It has been suggested that without this deal they could have (would have?) ceased their NZ-based activities.

                  Those carbon credits are still available though.

                  To whom? NZ Steel can use them as they see fit. As a nation, we may have to buy fewer credits on the international market.

  8. Incognito 8

    Rod Oram over at Newsroom:

    And BlueScope and NZ Steel will continue to investigate the use of hydrogen and natural gas processors for reducing ironsands to produce iron then steel. This is the main pathway to decarbonisation that the steel industry is pursuing worldwide. If it turns out to be feasible, commercial deployment is at least decade away, he added.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/govt-offers-nz-steel-30m-more-in-performance-bonuses-for-bigger-faster-emissions-cuts

    • RedLogix 8.1

      Agreed. Direct hydrogen conversion is the path forward for steel. A lot of work is going on in Australia to produce enough clean hydrogen to support this.

      • adam 8.1.1

        CSIRO was doing a lot of that research in Queensland, didn't they come up golden on production and other supply chain issues?

  9. Mike the Lefty 9

    What would National do?

    That's easy.

    Nothing.

    That's what National does best.

  10. Ad 10

    This is a really interesting signal to Rio Tinto.

    If Labour can do this for NZSteel which is about 1% of our entire economy's GDP, can it also generate the same kind of deal for Rio Tinto's Tiwai Soutland plant to get something like $140 million to accelerate their conversion to hydrogen to power a smelter furnace?

    Maybe it's because Rio Tinto have turned themselves into a pariah by screwing us for so long, playing us for many years that they will leave when they then don't, and leaving their poisonous crap everywhere.

    I would not put it past Parker to hold the line against Rio Tinto Southland while Woods did the deal with NZSteel, just to make the FUCK YOU point nice and obvious.

  11. Stuart Munro 11

    Do we really have enough hydro power for NZSteel? If not, coal at NZSteel will be substantially less carbon emitting than coal at Huntly to create the required electricity.

    I expect domestic electricity consumers will pay the price yet again.

    As for conversion to hydrogen, heavens forfend! https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2022/01/hydrogen-future-clean-energy-or-false-solution#:~:text=Hydrogen%20is%20an%20inefficient%20use%20of%20clean%20electricity&text=Using%20renewables%20to%20produce%20hydrogen,when%20direct%20use%20is%20feasible.

  12. Thinker 12

    Been scanning all of Gosman's contributions and couldn't decide which one to hook my response to, so decided to add it at the bottom.

    I'm neither a physicist, a chemist, nor and accountant, so my knowledge of the carbon credit system is limited. I don't know whether there are smoke and mirrors here, or not.

    But, I like to try to find simplified comparisons to help me understand complex things. I'm comparing this one-off, massive deal to the EV subsidy that the government is giving on electrified vehicles. Seems to me to work the same way and (Gosman) the EV subsidy seems to be open to the same kind of criticism you're making about NZ Steel – just grossly smaller.

    So, what will help me sleep at night is the fact that, while not every country has an NZ Steel, many are doing EV subsidies. So, I'm assuming the concept must be ok and I think maybe some of us are being overwhelmed by the big numbers.

    • Gosman 12.1

      You are correct this is similar to the EV subsidy which is itself a waste of time and money and does not reduce our NET GHG emissions one iota..

      • Incognito 12.1.1

        800,000 tonnes only exist in an Excel spreadsheet, they are not real. NZ Steel is not real. Nothing is real. Nothing we do is real. Where is my blue pill?

  13. bwaghorn 13

    """The government says the project means 800,000 tonnes of pollution can be removed from the atmosphere each year –

    Surely this is worded wrong.

    Not releasing 800,000 tonnes is different from removing 800,000 tonnes??

  14. bwaghorn 14

    I just a bit vague on it, can you(any one) confirm that the GIDI fund is holey funded by a tax on carbon? And is that fund completely separate from the ets?

  15. barry 15

    It is a good thing, that NZ steel will be able to compete with overseas producers with a lower carbon footprint BUT…

    In practice it means that we are recycling steel here instead of sending it overseas for recycling. It reduces NZ emissions, but not worldwide emissions.

  16. FAB mouse 16

    Some farmers who don't won't to be forced to pay for some (or all or any) of the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture must be getting very angry with right wing politicians who don't won't businesses to be helped by government. They are currently getting help from government to avoid paying their share of NZ's emissions…

    Where does "Corporate welfare" start and end? Some farms make a lot of money. Maybe not as much as NZ Steel but still…

  17. adam 17

    My goodness Mickey, did you have to put a pix of scomo up? You almost made me melt my pc monitor with the rage that erupted from my mouth. Took me a while to calm down.

    That Tory train wreak, has stuffed up more lives than any other PM in Australian history – a Litany of suicides. The extension of drug cartels across the pacific with his 501 laws. And as you so keenly point out, a public disaster on environmental issues with a massive expansion in oil and coal exploration.

    The man is the personification of Mammon in the 21st century.

  18. Incognito 18

    Climate Change Commissioner Rod Carr is obviously not smoking the right stuff.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018887709/climate-commissioner-current-pathway-will-not-get-us-there [3 weeks before Budget-2023]

  19. Incognito 19

    Tom Pullar-Strecker over @ Stuff has a say on the deal with NZ Steel.

    The deal between the Government and NZ Steel should lower global emissions even only if for that reason, but the biggest effect may be to put a smaller proportion of global carbon emissions on the New Zealand ledger.

    […]

    It is conceivable that if it doesn’t receive the government grant it might just shut up shop.

    […]

    Would NZ Steel have joined them, or closed the plant, without the promised grant?

    Who other than NZ Steel’s Australian owners, Bluescope, could know for sure?

    I think it is a fair and balanced piece.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132108154/the-real-deal-on-nz-steel-climate-change-win-or-corporate-welfare

    • Ad 19.1

      If I get the energy I'll do a piece on some of the ways government directly alters and forms deals with private business.

      This scale of state 'intervention' isn't something we see very often, but of necessity it happens to many leading NZ corporates.

      • Incognito 19.1.1

        That would be great.

        I have a Post 95% finished on Tax cuts vs. universal social welfare but a long power cut on Saturday threw a spanner in the works. It can wait a little longer.

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  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    57 mins ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    3 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    8 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
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