Guest Post: Monbiot, Attenborough and Soper on environmental collapse

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, December 6th, 2017 - 44 comments
Categories: climate change, Conservation, disaster, Environment, farming, food, global warming, Media, science, sustainability, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags: , , ,

George Monbiot is an informed, fearless and independent journalist. This is what he has written recently about climate change.

Which of these would you name as the world’s most pressing environmental issue? Climate breakdown, air pollution, water loss, plastic waste or urban expansion? My answer is none of the above. Almost incredibly, I believe that climate breakdown takes third place, behind two issues that receive only a fraction of the attention.

This is not to downgrade the danger presented by global heating – on the contrary, it presents an existential threat. It is simply that I have come to realise that two other issues have such huge and immediate impacts that they push even this great predicament into third place.

One is industrial fishing, which, all over the blue planet, is now causing systemic ecological collapse. The other is the erasure of non-human life from the land by farming.

And perhaps not only non-human life. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, at current rates of soil loss, driven largely by poor farming practice, we have just 60 years of harvests left. And this is before the Global Land Outlook report, published in September, found that productivity is already declining on 20% of the world’s cropland.

David Attenborough is a highly respected and renowned broadcaster on the natural world.  This is what his most recent show Blue Panet 2 says about climate change.

Industrial pollution and the discarding of plastic waste must be tackled for the sake of all life in the ocean. “Surely we have a responsibility to care for our planet. The future of humanity and indeed all life on earth, now depends on us.”  He has warned that the world’s oceans are turning into a “toxic soup” of industrial waste and plastic, putting the future of humanity at risk …  

Barry Soper is a compromised corporate puppet who earns his money by writing sycophantic articles to please the financial industries who own the media in New Zealand. This is what he wrote about climate change.

In his wretched and petty little article about climate change today , he compares people (like Monbiot and Attenborough) to religious zealots, likens Al Gore to the crazed pastor Brian Tamaki, demeans Prime Minister Ardern by describing her as ‘giggling’ and finishes the article by threatening her with this statement:

Ardern would to do well to reflect on that.”

‘That’ refers to the fact that just 43 percent of Americans think climate change will harm them personally.

It is little wonder so many Americans and New Zealanders are so ignorant about climate change when their source of information for this topic are fools like Soper rather than Attenborough and Monbiot.

Ed

44 comments on “Guest Post: Monbiot, Attenborough and Soper on environmental collapse ”

  1. tracey 1

    If 43% think that climate change will harm them personally that is a good start from a nation that appears to spend huge amounts of money telling them to believe the opposite.

    The irony of Sopers comparison is that one might compare him to a Brian Tamaki follower.

    I always find such statistics interesting. In NZ about as many people get murdered each year as die in workplace accidents. Add in serious/severe impairment and the numbers climb steeply Are more kiwis worried about the rate of serious crime than their workplace? Is more spent on prisons, corrections, justice to assuage this fear when another looms larger?

    • Richard Christie 1.1

      Yes, obviously Soper’s too thick to comprehend the implications of the statistic, that 43% of the population already understand that climate change will hurt them personally.

      That is a huge figure, and it will only grow as the rest of the population catch up.

      Soper’s tactic of fallaciously equating scientific consensus with religious dogma is a tired and cheap trick straight out of every crank group’s playbook.

  2. johnm 2

    1. The sixth great mass extinction of life on this Planet is happening.
    2.Climate Change is accelerating.

    Both of the above will take us out! 🙁

    ” The Great Dying wiped out at least 90% of the species on Earth due to an abrupt rise in global–average temperature about 252 million years ago. The vast majority majority of complex life became extinct. based on information from the most conservative sources available, Earth is headed for a similar or higher global-average temperature in the very near future. The recent and near-future rises in temperature are occurring and will occur at least an order of magnitude faster than the worst of all prior Mass Extinctions. Habitat for human animals is disappearing throughout the world, and abrupt climate change has barely begun. In the near future, habitat for Homo Sapiens will be gone. Shortly thereafter, all humans will die.
    There is no precedence in planetary history for events unfolding today. For example, the near-term ice-free Arctic will represent the first such event with humans on Earth. As a result, relying on prior events to predict the near future is unwise.
    This presentation describes self-reinforcing feedback loops ( i.e. “positive feedbacks”) and other contributors to the on going and near-future global-average temperature rise. The combination of these factors indicates Homo Sapiens will join prior species of humans and myriad other organisms in the dustbin of extinction.

    Feel Free to remove this comment if too upsetting! 🙂
    You can tell it upsets the hell out of me! 🙁

  3. Macro 3

    Good article Ed.
    You know that off the West Coast of the South Island there is a garbage pit of waste in the Tasman Sea that is affecting a large population of NZ’s Marine life?
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/201768760/junk-food-plastic-pollution-is-a-growing-threat-to-seabirds
    We have banned plastic bags from our household – and I urge all readers here too to do the same. It’s not difficult. Carry a shopping bag like your mum used to do, and have some good paper bags to use to pack your loose fruit and veg. Have your own cup which you can wash and reuse when buying your take away coffee – far more cool than the paper cups which, by the way, are not recyclable.
    Little actions like these can mount up to a lot when most people practise them.

  4. Andre 4

    Fearless, independent, and informed Monbiot may be. But not enough to include overpopulation by humans in his list of threats.

    • Pat 4.1

      over population could not occur without the carbon emitting based energy systems the wealthy west (predominantly) has developed. I consequently believe over population is a symptom (albeit one that compounds and feeds back) of anthropomorphic climate change.

      Monbiot makes his case
      http://www.monbiot.com/2009/09/29/the-population-myth/

      • Andre 4.1.1

        Yet it remains a simple fact that every human needs the output of a certain amount of land for survival.

        One of the saddest moments I’ve experienced was visiting the Kakamega Forest in Kenya, one of the last remnants of an important ecosystem type. A local, basically a subsistence farmer, guided us around. Then he talked about how the forest was continually shrinking by being cleared by his neighbours. Then he talked about his six kids. I asked how his six kids would support themselves when they grew up. His response – the Lord will provide some of the forest land for them and their families.

        Even if the aliens send us an Elysium so we can offload the wealthiest mega-wastrels, say the top 10% of the world’s population (and that’s going a long way down the scale to probably include you and me), then the problems from overpopulation only get deferred a few generations at best.

      • greywarshark 4.1.2

        Oh fuck nothing can be done then.

  5. Ad 5

    Really sad to be living among Waitakere Kauri forest this morning.

  6. Tricledrown 6

    Soper a back waters media mercenary .
    As opposed to Attenborough an internationally recognised expert.
    When Royal Ditch Shell and Mobil Exxons own internal science proves humans are causing global climate change.
    It shows how easy it is to buy influence.

  7. Ad 7

    Thankfully no one in this government gives a flying fuck about Soper.

    • Ed 7.1

      Agreed.
      It is just that a lot of people read Soper in the Herald , watch Hosking on TV and listen to Leighton Smith on the radio.
      And some people believe them.

      https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1404/S00081/social-media-outrage-at-seven-sharp-climate-science-denial.htm

      • tc 7.1.1

        You can’t alter the leeming mentality as there’s a sense of validation agreeing with other shallow thinkers and those easily outraged by the everyday.

        Best anecdote is to offer an alternative of trusted quality so when shits get real it acts as a source of reliable info.

        IMO that’s when the lightbulb goes on inside heads about being led rather than informed.

        • Unicus 7.1.1.1

          Let’s be realistic – geriatric trash like Soper and his low rent wife work for Fairfax to provide locally produced support propaganda in the interest of their employers political and buisiness clients

          Fairfax operates in New Zealand is a conduit of Australian capital interests – it tells New Zealanders an Australian story on behalf of those interests . As in Australia this vile monopoly devotes itself to destroying progressivism – in particular undermining the influence and power of the Labour and Green Partiys

          Fairfax is an unconscionable media monopoly which must be dismantled and banished from New Zealand

        • greywarshark 7.1.1.2

          LED lighbulbs casting brilliant beams on our dark corners.

        • In Vino 7.1.1.3

          I am not sure that Leemings would like you describing their customers as you do… (The smiley face did not come through.)

  8. mary_a 8

    Excellent article Ed. Thanks.

    Soper makes a bigger fool of himself than usual, by going up against the likes of Monbiot and Attenborough, both exceptional learned intelligent men, renowned and highly respected experts in their own fields. Whereas Soper is nothing but a distorted product of a fake news msm … still pushing the ignorant ultra Tory perspective on the future of the planet.

    “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn …”

  9. Bill 9

    Monbiot can write some good stuff, but he also writes some trash. And I wouldn’t call him “independent” – not by any stretch of the imagination.

    Attenborough’s definitely a “Johnny come lately” (but hey).

    Al Gore’s right up there with Christiana Figueres (that’s not a good thing in case you were wondering).

    The exchange between Gore and Ardern was sycophantic and a tad embarrassing.

    Soper’s “whatever”.

    Anyway, the reason people are somewhat lackadaisical about AGW is less about which opinion column writers are given prominence and far about science being subjected to political interference and pressure such that scientific reports (not basic research) get bent over backwards to accommodate political imperatives.

    And it is the feeding back to us of the resultant rose tinted “compromise”; the deceitful fiction that gets pulled straight out from synthesis reports, that keeps us (including politicians) trucking along happily enough.

    • So your saying bill that the scientists messages are diluted politically and corporately and then shown and thrown, by a compliant media and commentariat, back to a interested but ultimately illinformed public and this is why shit all is being done about climate change.

      • Bill 9.1.1

        The synthesis reports (IPCC etc) get bent out of shape trying to accommodate political “necessities” and then media pick up on what’s in those reports.

        Kevin Anderson has given thorough explanations of how politics interferes with the science, and given many detailed examples that show how that interference leads to the publication of dangerously misleading reports….that governments then set policy by.

        So no, it’s not so much that messages are diluted. They are concocted.

        Even so, with the rosy message, governments should still be scrambling. There are many reasons as to why they aren’t – iInstitutional inertia, lack of acknowledgement for just how dire the situation is, political cowardice, lack of imagination etc.

    • rhinocrates 9.2

      (but hey)

      In the absence of any verified unicorn sightings, that’s what the world has to work with. Better to take it than leave it.

      I sometimes like to use the analogy of square wheels. Push a cart with square wheels and it’s hard to move, but keep pushing and eventually the corners start to wear off until they’re octagonal. Eventually they’re round and the cart moves smoothly./ The thing is not to give up and wait for the wheels to magically become round because the wheels are square, but to keep pushing. Accept the compromise today but only today and keep pushing.

      Maybe it’s because I’m a pessimist in the short term and an optimist in the long term.

      • Bill 9.2.1

        My “but hey” is basically in accord with what you’ve said – it’s what we got.

        Square wheels just fcking scrape btw. They never lose the corners – they just become oblongs over time. Unless…well, use some smarts and employ levers to ‘walk’ the cart instead of pushing it 😉

        • rhinocrates 9.2.1.1

          Well here’s hoping that the rabble of the left can walk and chew gun at the same time. Whatever works, so good luck whatever you do and here’s hoping that everyone else does whatever they can do.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 9.2.1.2

          How did cultures that didn’t invent the wheel move big rocks around?

          Answer: by dragging them. I can’t find the video of a bunch of archaeologists and locals and a couple of donkeys dragging a building-sized boulder along a cobbled road, but they get it up to jogging pace on the flat from a standing start (and it had been standing there since whatever happened centuries ago to make it stop).

          It can be done.

          • Bill 9.2.1.2.1

            Egyptians didn’t drag blocks of stones into position on the pyramids.

            Big ramp with however people dragging 10 tonne blocks? How much material has to go into the ramp? Much more than went into the pyramid.

            What happens when those doing the pulling come up against the pyramid? How does the block continue to get pulled?

            Well, the Egyptians didn’t have to ponder those things.

            Think ice hockey stick. That’s a lever, right? Have x number of people on each side of the block working in concert. When the levers are in position, rotate them and the block ‘slides’ forward on the movement of the ‘blades’. Think of rowing a boat, but instead of everyone acting in unison, every second person is half a turn behind or ahead of the person next to them. That block travels at a fair clip 😉

            If you want to raise it up (like up the side of a pyramid), then rotate the ‘blades’ to a vertical position and stop. Insert blocks in the gap you’ve created and let the block rest back down on the blocks. Rinse and repeat.

            (Obviously, create ‘hollows’ or ‘grooves’ so you can get the blades of the levers under the block in the first place)

            Christmas Island. Apparently locals say or said the statues “walked” to their final position. Seems we’ve kinda forgotten a once commonplace technique for moving stuff. It’s much more controlled and efficient than rollers that just crap out on uneven ground, don’t work on sand, and get out of control on inclines.

            An English guy who was an engineer ‘rediscovered’ the technique and demonstrated it (maybe in the 70s?) after becoming frustrated at the nonsense depictions of people building pyramids.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 9.2.1.2.1.1

              This was in South America: still can’t find the video, it’s part of a documentary about pre-Columbian irrigation and architecture.

              They didn’t need ramps: they had another problem altogether…

              …they moved them, dragging them with muscle power using thick ropes; nor were the roads along which they hauled them level, but very rough mountains with steep slopes over which they were moved up and down with sheer human strength.

              Garcilaso de la Vega.

              • Bill

                Yeah OAB. And if a bunch of archaeologists had approached stuff in Easter Island (I mistakenly referred to Christmas Island above) or Egypt, they come up with similar “brute force” solutions…usually including a fair dollop of slaves, whips and chains.

                Put an engineer on the case and you get an engineering solution to what is quintessentially an engineering problem.

                Read through my previous attempt to describe the workings of levers and then have a look again at the supposed problems of “very rough mountains with steep slopes”.

                Or think of Stonehenge. From Wales to Wiltshire (some 100 – 150 miles) by dragging? I’d be picking a combination of water borne barges and … levers.

                I’ll try to find some reference to their use, but not altogether hopeful. I came across the technique in a book I got from Christchurch library 20 odd years back. Apart from the author being an English engineer, the only other thing I remember is that he had a real passion for imperial measurements because they displayed a useful degree of interconnectedness and complexity that was absent from metrics (apparently).

                edit – a ten tonne block would require 2000 men hauling 50kg each. Or a couple of dozen with suitable levers.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  It took surprisingly few people (including the distinctly non-muscular, pasty archaeologists) to pull the block along. The cobbled causeway provides further evidence that this is how the stones were moved.

                  Moving the Henge stones from Wales to Wiltshire probably involved using sleds, rollers etc. At this time, the pre-Columbian people only used wheels in toys rather than engineering.

                  The reason I brought them up is that they achieved seemingly impossible feats without even so much as a square wheel.

                  • Bill

                    Peter Hodges is the guys name. I can only find book reviews.

                    There’s nothing seemingly impossible about the very precise masonry in your link btw.

                    There’s a huge difference between dragging shit over a cobbled surface and a huge range of other surfaces I can think of (friction co-efficients).

                    Rollers and sleds are crap if you don’t have optimum conditions.

                    And then there’s the description of Herodotus (from here) Under the heading “The Power to Move the World”

                    Curiously, Hodge’s idea fits with Herodotus’s description that “they raised the remaining stones by machines made of short pieces of wood” and “they removed the machine, which was only one and portable, to each range in succession, whenever they wished to raise the stone higher”

                    And for the hell of it, this short 5 min vid shows Wally Wallington demonstrating a number of techniques that allow a single pesron to shift huge loads…including his neat demonstration of him standing a 8.7 tonne slab single handed 😉

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsoYkGb7p28

                  • One Anonymous Bloke

                    seemingly impossible; cf: the meaning of words.

                    I’d I thought it was impossible I’d’ve said so. The aforementioned documentary also provided evidence of how the interlocking stonemasonry was done.

                    friction

                    No shit Sherlock, hence the reference to ice and water below.

                    • Bill

                      Yeah. I got the word “seemingly”. I included it in my response. The stonework’s very impressive.

                      I also got the piece about the ice and water. It’s neat. (Works under some given conditions)

                      I can’t understand why you appear to be hanging somewhat to the notion that peoples just dragged shit around though. There are many, many ways to shift things.

                      Economicus liberalus doesn’t have any kind of a monopoly on ingenuity…n’fact there’s an argument that we’ve become so specialised and fragmented in our learning and activities that we’re quite a way aways from “ingenious” these days.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      hanging somewhat to the notion

                      I’m not. I’m saying that these specific people in this specific place at this specific time solved the problem (of transporting stone from quarry to city) by building a cobble-stone causeway, thereby reducing friction, and that live demonstrations with huge quarried blocks left in place on said causeway have verified that it’s a lot easier than might first appear.

                      This in the context of Rhino’s analogy of the square-wheeled cart: the thing is not to give up and wait for the wheels…

                      PS: neat video btw.

                      PPS: Economicus liberalus doesn’t have any kind of a monopoly on ingenuity

                      Hence “cultures that didn’t invent the wheel…”? That’s the whole point: there are so many different ways to approach the problem than “waiting for the wheels”.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  PS: The Chinese used ice and water.

                  123 tonnes: 48 men.

    • left_forward 9.3

      I’m lackadaisical about AGW but certainly not Anthropogenic Global Warming. I think there are too many acronyms polluting our planet.
      Attenborough is definitely a what? Is this irony too?

  10. R.P. Mcmurphy 10

    soper is really becoming sclerotic when he starts to point the finger and threaten. anybody.
    soper is becoming gin soaked and inane and is loosing touch with all reality

  11. Obtrectator 11

    No wonder the Herald no longer gives anyone the chance to comment on its articles, when it prints that sort of tosh.

    My personal take on things (almost certainly off the beam, but wotthehell, let’s put it out there and see) is that the planet can support only a finite amount of biomass, and that the higher the proportion of it that’s tied up in units of humankind, the less there is left over for everything else, including the lower levels of the food chain which is our foundation, not an optional extra.

    Finally, a quote from somewhere on YouTube: “Mother Nature is the ultimate quartermaster, and she ain’t got any secret reserve stores”.

  12. Grant Henderson 12

    Climate breakdown, air pollution, water loss, plastic waste – none of these apply to us folks, ‘cos we live in clean, green New Zealand.

    Well, that’s the official line, anyway,

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    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
    1 hour 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
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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